SEIU Elects Mary Kay Henry to Lead 2.2 Million Member Union

The 73-member International Executive Board (IEB) of the Service Employees International Union met in Washington DC on May 8 to elect Executive Vice President Mary Kay Henry the 10th president of the nation’s fastest-growing union. Henry replaces outgoing president Andy Stern.

“Working people are facing hardships we haven’t seen in generations, and we believe SEIU can be an even more effective vehicle for change to help them improve their lives and the lives of the people they serve,” Henry said.

“We will get this done by renewing our commitment to organizing, connecting our members at the grassroots level to our political strength and restoring our relationships throughout the American labor movement – because just like I learned as a little girl in a family of twelve, we can’t go it alone. Everything is better when you can organize a group and make a decision to stand and act on behalf of all workers in this country.”

Henry is noted for working side-by-side with SEIU members – meeting with them at 3 a.m. on night shifts in hospitals, walking picket lines, leading members in contract bargaining, and helping them discover the strength they have when they stand together.

“We will invest in grassroots political action in a sustained way so that we can build a progressive majority from the ground up and link it to the incredible national work of our union.  The best demonstration of this approach was passage of national healthcare reform granting 33 million more Americans access to healthcare,” said Henry.  “We want to link our political strength and our organizing program to stand up on behalf of all workers who are being threatened in this country.”

In 2004, Henry was elected as SEIU’s Executive Vice President. Known best for her organizing skills, Henry’s vision and leadership has helped pave the way to groundbreaking agreements between SEIU and hospital chains such as Beverly Enterprises, Catholic Healthcare West, Tenet and HCA that united tens of thousands of members in SEIU. She was formerly a labor adviser to and member of the U.S. Catholic Conference of Bishops' Subcommittee on Catholic Health Care, and she has played a critical role in the union’s fight to extend state health insurance coverage to children.

Mary Kay Henry is the first woman to hold the position of International President of SEIU.