Around a dozen members of the Service Employees International Union gathered outside the Federal Building in Carbondale to urge Senator Dick Durbin to make strengthening the nation's economy his number one priority.
SEIU Internal Organizer Takia Yates says the union - made up largely of home care workers and childcare providers - wants to make sure Congress doesn't cut safety net programs such as Medicaid and Medicare that support low-income families, children and seniors. The union says protecting Medicaid alone is crucial. According to the Economic Policy Institute, if Medicaid funding to the states is cut by just 5-percent, more than 146,000 Illinoisans in the health care industry will lose their jobs in the next 5 years.
