Sal Rosselli, President
SEIU United Healthcare Workers- West
Leading tomorrow's labor movement. Sal Rosselli is the President of SEIU United Healthcare Workers-West (UHW), the largest and fastest growing healthcare union in the Western United States. UHW has a membership of over 130,000 caregivers in the hospital, nursing home and homecare fields and is the result of the unification of SEIU Local 250 in Northern California and SEIU Local 399 in Southern California. Rosselli helped lead the effort to create the new union, which is a beacon for a labor movement struggling to revitalize itself. Both locals had a proud history of accomplishments, and the new unified union will build on that legacy. UHW, because it is statewide, will be better able to protect patient care and good jobs and advocate in the legislative arena for high quality healthcare for all Californians.
Adapting to a changing industry. As healthcare transformed from small community-based hospitals to an increasingly corporatized, consolidated industry, Rosselli was one of the first union leaders to respond to the negative impact on the quality of care. He has focused on organizing and empowering workers across the entire industry to gain bargaining strength, a strategy reminiscent of the efforts of the Congress of Industrial Organizations to organize entire factories in the 1930s as a response to the rise of mass production. In addition, Rosselli has helped to develop industrywide standards. The standards, for example, have compelled hospitals to use worker input to set safe staffing levels, provide medical coverage for the children of employees and establish a training fund.
A history of compassion. Rosselli's commitment to build a movement of working people has its roots in the New York Hospitality House. In 1969, Rosselli lived and worked with Catholic Worker Movement founder Dorothy Day, cooking meals and providing shelter for the homeless. During his time working with Day, Rosselli affirmed and clarified his beliefs in social justice, compassion, democracy and non-violence. Catholic Worker communities are known for their support of human rights and labor unions, especially Cesar Chavez's United Farm Workers Union. Day wrote about the communities: "Our rule is the works of mercy. ... People say, 'What is the sense of our small effort?' They cannot see that we must lay one brick at a time, take one step at a time."
Community leader. After leaving the Catholic Worker community, Rosselli was involved in a range of social movements before joining SEIU in 1980. In 1971, he spent a year as a VISTA volunteer in southeast Indiana, organizing social and economic programs for low-income communities. He was president of the San Francisco Community College Student Government Association and the student member of the college's governing board from 1979-80. He served as president of the Alice B. Toklas Lesbian/Gay Democratic Club in 1984-85, a period which saw the club's membership grow to the largest in the country. Rosselli has also been a leader in the effort to defend affirmative action and civil rights and is a national director of Jesse Jackson's Rainbow/PUSH coalition. He now plays a leading role in advancing social justice issues, including achieving high quality healthcare for all and promoting peace.
Rosselli has been selected for lifetime inclusion in Who's Who in America, and named by San Francisco Focus magazine as one of the 100 most influential people in the Bay Area. Rosselli is a national vice president of SEIU and is vice chair of its healthcare division, which represents over 900,000 healthcare workers throughout the U.S. He serves as a vice president of the California Labor Federation of the AFL-CIO.
Rosselli's vision for the future includes: Achieving high quality, affordable healthcare for all, promoting higher healthcare standards in the nursing home, hospital and homecare industries, and uniting all healthcare workers throughout California and the nation into one union.
