SEIU United Long Term Care Workers (ULTCW) Salutes the Work of Women on International Women's Day

Recognizes hard work of home care and nursing home workers

LOS ANGELES, March 8, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- On the 100th anniversary of International Women's Day, SEIU United Long Term Care Workers (ULTCW) salutes the economic, political and social contributions of women around the world.  Whether as teachers, civic leaders, mothers, politicians or home care workers, women's contributions make a difference in communities large and small around their world.  Their hard work not only helps to support their families, but the many struggling economies around the world as well.  

"On this International Women's Day, I am proud to honor the women of ULTCW and all the other millions of women who go to work every day for their families and their communities," said Laphonza Butler, President, ULTCW.  "Our members, who work as dedicated home care and nursing home workers, work long hours, sometimes seven days a week to ensure that their patients, some of the most vulnerable in the state, receive quality care.  Their service should be rewarded on this day and every other day."

The first International Women's Day was started in 1911 by the Socialist International party as a day to demand a woman's right to vote and to hold public office, as well as the right to work and to vocational training.  Since that time, there have been great strides for working women.  Unfortunately, there is still a long way to go to reach equality.  According to the United Nations, women account for 70 percent of the world's poor and six in 10 women experience physical and/or sexual violence in their lifetime.  In the U.S., according to the Institute for Women's Policy Research, women still earn, on average, just 77 percent that of men.  

SEIU United Long Term Care Workers (ULTCW) is California's leading long term care organization dedicated to providing and protecting quality care for some of our most vulnerable residents. SEIU ULTCW represents 180,000 in-home care providers and nursing home workers throughout California, making it the largest union of long term caregivers in California and the second largest SEIU Local in the nation.

Contact:  Kerry Townsend Jacob, Communications Director, 213-280-9496

SOURCE SEIU United Long Term Care Workers