SEIU

Service Employees International Union (SEIU) is a labor union representing about 2.2 million workers in over 100 occupations in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico[2]. SEIU is focused on uniting workers in three sectors: health care (over half of the union's members work in the health care field), including hospital, home care and nursing home workers, public services (local and state government employees), and property services (including janitors, security officers and food service workers).

SEIU has over 150 local branches. It is affiliated with the Change to Win Federation and the Canadian Labour Congress. SEIU is based out of Washington, D.C., and has several internal divisions which include: Communications, Government Affairs, New Media, Organizing, Political, Global Strength, Pension/Benefits, Community Strength, Research, and Legal.

The union states that its top priorities are to stand up for working families to help bring economic relief to millions across the country, fix the nation's broken health care system, and fight to guarantee workers' rights on the job. SEIU is sometimes referred to as the "purple ocean" at political events because of the union's easily recognizable purple shirts. The union is also known for its Justice for Janitors program and strong support for Democratic candidates.

Last revised June 2011.