Mary Kay Henry (born 1958) is an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

labor union A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits (s ...

activist who was elected International President of the

Service Employees International Union Service Employees International Union (SEIU) is a labor union representing almost 1.9 million workers in over 100 occupations in the United States and Canada. SEIU is focused on organizing workers in three sectors: healthcare (over half of members ...

(SEIU) on May 8, 2010.McDonnell, P. "SEIU Picks First Female President", ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the ...

''. May 9, 2010. She is the first woman to lead the union."Powerful SEIU Selects First Woman As President",

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. May 8, 2010; "SEIU Elects First Woman President",

United Press International United Press International (UPI) is an American international news agency whose newswires, photo, news film, and audio services provided news material to thousands of newspapers, magazines, radio and television stations for most of the 2 ...

. May 9, 2010. While serving with the union in

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

, she helped pioneer SEIU's use of

card check Card check, also called majority sign-up, is a method for employees to organize into a labor union in which a majority of employees in a bargaining unit sign authorization forms, or "cards", stating they wish to be represented by the union. Since ...

agreements, non-traditional

collective bargaining Collective bargaining is a process of negotiation between employers and a group of employees aimed at agreements to regulate working salaries, working conditions, benefits, and other aspects of workers' compensation and rights for workers. The ...

agreements,

comprehensive campaign A comprehensive campaign is labor union organizing or a collective bargaining campaign with a heavy focus on research, the use of community coalition-building, publicity and public pressure, political and regulatory pressure, and economic and legal ...

s, and system-wide health care organizing strategies. Henry was included on ''Time''s 100 Most Influential People of 2020.

Early life and education

Henry was born in 1958 in a suburb of

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at t ...

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and t ...

.Evans, M. "United She Stands", ''Modern Healthcare''. November 27, 2006.Vesely, "Doing Their Part for Reform", ''Modern Healthcare''. April 20, 2009. Her father was a salesman and her mother was a

teacher A teacher, also called a schoolteacher or formally an educator, is a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence, or virtue, via the practice of teaching. ''Informally'' the role of teacher may be taken on by anyone (e.g. whe ...

, and both were devout Catholics. Henry credits her faith with giving her an interest in

social justice Social justice is justice in terms of the distribution of wealth, opportunities, and privileges within a society. In Western and Asian cultures, the concept of social justice has often referred to the process of ensuring that individuals ...

issues. The oldest girl in a family of 10 children, she attended Marian High School in

Bloomfield Hills, Michigan Bloomfield Hills is a small city (5.04 sq. miles) in Oakland County in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is a northern suburb of Metro Detroit and is approximately northwest of Downtown Detroit. Except a small southern border with the city of Bir ...

. She gained a favorable impression of labor unions from hearing and reading about the work of the

United Auto Workers The International Union, United Automobile, Aerospace, and Agricultural Implement Workers of America, better known as the United Auto Workers (UAW), is an American Labor unions in the United States, labor union that represents workers in the Un ...

(UAW) in the heavily unionized

automotive industry The automotive industry comprises a wide range of companies and organizations involved in the design, development, manufacturing, marketing, and selling of motor vehicles. It is one of the world's largest industries by revenue (from 16 % ...

. She worked in a local

hospital A hospital is a health care institution providing patient treatment with specialized health science and auxiliary healthcare staff and medical equipment. The best-known type of hospital is the general hospital, which typically has an emergen ...

while in

high school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...

to earn money. In college, Henry initially wanted to become an

urban planner An urban planner (also known as town planner) is a professional who practices in the field of town planning, urban planning or city planning. An urban planner may focus on a specific area of practice and have a title such as city planner, tow ...

. She continued to work in hospitals as an undergraduate student, and also as a medical assistant for the

American Red Cross The American Red Cross (ARC), also known as the American National Red Cross, is a non-profit humanitarian organization that provides emergency assistance, disaster relief, and disaster preparedness education in the United States. It is the des ...

. She earned her

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to si ...

from

Michigan State University Michigan State University (Michigan State, MSU) is a public land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the first of its kind in the United States. It ...

in 1979, majoring in

urban planning Urban planning, also known as town planning, city planning, regional planning, or rural planning, is a technical and political process that is focused on the development and design of land use and the built environment, including air, water, ...

and

labor relations Labor relations is a field of study that can have different meanings depending on the context in which it is used. In an international context, it is a subfield of labor history that studies the human relations with regard to work in its broadest ...

. While in college, she was a volunteer

lobbyist In politics, lobbying, persuasion or interest representation is the act of lawfully attempting to influence the actions, policies, or decisions of government officials, most often legislators or members of regulatory agencies. Lobbying, which ...

for a

grassroots A grassroots movement is one that uses the people in a given district, region or community as the basis for a political or economic movement. Grassroots movements and organizations use collective action from the local level to effect change at t ...

group, and worked alongside union lobbyists on various issues.

Union career

Her first job out of college was with the American Foreign Service distributing

food stamps In the United States, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), formerly known as the Food Stamp Program, is a federal program that provides food-purchasing assistance for low- and no-income people. It is a federal aid program, ad ...

to the needy.Pondel, E. "SEIU Getting Healthier", ''Daily News of Los Angeles''. September 1, 2003. When a member from the

suggested that the way to end hunger was to enable people to obtain well-paying jobs, Henry began considering union organizing. Henry joined SEIU as a

researcher Research is "creative and systematic work undertaken to increase the stock of knowledge". It involves the collection, organization and analysis of evidence to increase understanding of a topic, characterized by a particular attentiveness t ...

in 1980. She had a natural gift for organizing, later saying, "I was always asked to get everybody organized to get on the bus and to get everyone to the dinner table on time."Greenhouse, S. "New Union Leader Wants Group to Be More of a Political Powerhouse", ''New York Times''. May 9, 2010. Her experiences as a health care worker prompted her to work for a union that was involved in health care organizing. She joined SEIU because it was one of the few unions hiring women as organizers at the time. During the 1980s, Henry held 18 jobs within the SEIU in California. She served as the

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17t ...

-area strike coordinator during a 1986 strike by more than 9,000 clerks,

certified nursing assistant Unlicensed assistive personnel (UAP) are paraprofessionals who assist individuals with physical disabilities, mental impairments, and other health care needs with their activities of daily living (ADLs). UAPs also provide bedside care—includ ...

s, and technicians against 14

Kaiser Permanente Kaiser Permanente (; KP), commonly known simply as Kaiser, is an American integrated managed care consortium, based in Oakland, California, United States, founded in 1945 by industrialist Henry J. Kaiser and physician Sidney Garfield. Kaiser Per ...

hospitals and health care facilities throughout California. She helped pioneer SEIU's use of card check agreements , non-traditional

agreements, and system-wide health care organizing strategy. In 1993, she was named director of the 475,000-member health care division of SEIU. Henry was elected to SEIU's Executive Board in December 1995 after President John Sweeney resigned after his election as President of the AFL-CIO. SEIU President Andrew Stern named Henry his assistant for organizing in 1996. Henry was named assistant to then-SEIU Executive Vice President

Eliseo Medina Eliseo Vasquez Medina (born January 24, 1946) is a Mexican-American labor union activist and leader, and advocate for immigration reform in the United States. From 1973 to 1978, he was a board member of the United Farm Workers.Levy, 2007, p. 514; ...

in 1998. She remained active in the union's health care organizing, however, representing SEIU in its talks in 1999 to secure a

agreement with the Catholic Healthcare West hospital chain. More than 17,000 new members at 27 hospitals were organized under that agreement. She was also involved in SEIU's successful negotiations with

Tenet Healthcare Tenet Healthcare Corporation is a for-profit multinational healthcare services company based in Dallas, Texas, United States. Through its brands, subsidiaries, joint ventures, and partnerships, including United Surgical Partners International (U ...

for a card check agreement. She was named SEIU's

Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and cultural region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. It includes the Los Angeles metropolitan area, the second most populous urban ...

organizing director in 2000, the international union's chief healthcare strategist in 2004, and elected an Executive Vice President of the union in 2004."Mary Kay Henry", ''Modern Healthcare''. April 20, 2009. Henry helped oversee what she said in 2005 was a $150 million organizing budget, which SEIU intended to use to organize more than 1 million additional nurses over the next decade. She helped negotiate a " no-raid agreement" between SEIU and the

United American Nurses National Nurses United (NNU) is the largest organization of registered nurses in the United States. With more than 225,000 members, it is the farthest-reaching union and professional association of registered nurses in the U.S. Founded in 2009 th ...

in 2006. In her first 25 years with SEIU, Henry played a major role in organizing drives at Beverly Enterprises, Catholic Health Care West, Tenet Healthcare, and HCA, Inc. Stern relied on her to coordinate and lead important legislative efforts. SEIU Executive Vice President Dennis Rivera took over Henry's healthcare organizing duties in early 2007. Henry and Medina helped plan the breakup of SEIU United Healthcare Workers West (UHW-West), a 140,000-member SEIU local, and force half its membership into a new statewide local which SEIU claimed would have enhanced collective bargaining and lobbying power. UHW-West leaders balked at the plan, SEIU established a trusteeship over UHW-West, UHW-West leaders challenged the trusteeship and established an independent union (the

National Union of Healthcare Workers National Union of Healthcare Workers (NUHW) is an independent, democratic labor union based in Oakland, California, that represents 15,000 healthcare workers in California. It was formed in 2009 after a split with the SEIU United Healthcare Work ...

, or NUHW), and the two unions began fighting over who would represent more than 100,000 employees in 350 bargaining units.Larrubia, E. "Ousted UHW Leaders Form New Labor Group", ''Los Angeles Times''. January 29, 2009.Rhea, S. "A Field of One", ''Modern Healthcare''. May 3, 2010. Henry expressed strong anger at the move to create an independent union.

SEIU presidency

On April 13, 2010, several media sources reported that Stern would resign immediately as president of the union.McDonnell, Pringle, and Nicholas, "SEIU President Andy Stern Reportedly Will Step Down Soon", ''Los Angeles Times''. April 14, 2010.Greenhouse, S. "Andy Stern to Step Down as Chief of Politically Active Union", ''New York Times''. April 13, 2010.MacGillis, A. "At Peak of Influence, SEIU Chief Set to Leave", ''Washington Post''. April 14, 2010. Stern resigned on Thursday, April 15. Anna Burger, SEIU's Secretary-Treasurer and the Chair of the Change to Win Federation, was named SEIU's interim president, to serve for 30 days until the SEIU Executive Board could name a permanent successor. Burger was widely considered to be Stern's likely successor.Carlson, J. "A Stern Farewell", ''Modern Healthcare''. April 19, 2010. Henry was considered a

dark horse A dark horse is a previously lesser-known person or thing that emerges to prominence in a situation, especially in a competition involving multiple rivals, or a contestant that on paper should be unlikely to succeed but yet still might. Origin Th ...

candidate, although likely to challenge Burger for the presidency. Several SEIU insiders urged Dennis Rivera to seek the presidency as well. Stern, however, publicly endorsed Burger for the position.McDonnell, P. "SEIU Rift Opens Over President's Successor", ''Los Angeles Times''. April 27, 2010.McDonnell, P. "Path Cleared for New SEIU Chief", ''Los Angeles Times''. April 29, 2010. Support for Henry's candidacy swiftly grew. Within days of Stern's resignation announcement, four Executive Vice Presidents with the international union sent an e-mail announcing their support for her.Hananel, S. "Powerful Union Closer to Picking New Leader", ''Associated Press''. April 29, 2010. "Mary Kay's greatest strength is her ability to build consensus and create a highly effective team around shared goals and responsibilities. Mary Kay is the type of leader who motivates rather than demands", the note said. The e-mail also cited the need "to return to organizing as our top priority" and "to restore our relationships with the rest of the union movement and our progressive allies."Scanlon, "Meet Big Union's New Boss", ''Washington Times''. May 11, 2010. Twelve days after Stern's announcement, national media reported more local unions representing more than 60 percent of SEIU's 1.9 million members had agreed to support Henry's candidacy.Greenhouse, S. "Grass-Roots Choice Leads Race for Top Union Post", ''New York Times''. April 27, 2010. Among the reasons why local union leaders backed Henry were the desire to have a fresh person in the leadership role, Henry was seen as a consensus builder, Burger was seen as too close to the

authoritarian Authoritarianism is a political system characterized by the rejection of political plurality, the use of strong central power to preserve the political ''status quo'', and reductions in the rule of law, separation of powers, and democratic vot ...

Stern, and Henry was viewed as more focused on organizing new members (while Burger was seen as focused on SEIU's political activity). National press reported that some local and regional SEIU leaders felt Henry would be less likely to continue Stern's local union merger program and more conciliatory to breakaway unions such as those in California. But Burger's backers countered that Henry had never led a local union, had little on-the-ground organizing experience, and had associated with many SEIU staff and elected leaders tainted by recent scandals over financial impropriety. Despite these charges, several large union locals in California and New York backed Henry. Support for Henry also seemed to gain momentum when she told members of the international union's Executive Board that she favored letting local unions, not leaders based in Washington, D.C., set the union's agenda.Weber, J. "Union Leadership Election May Signal Shift in Strategy", ''Washington Times''. April 30, 2010. In a memo sent to SEIU leaders nationwide, Henry said, "Our local unions and divisions should drive our national priorities, not the other way around." On April 28, Burger withdrew as a candidate for the presidency. Burger said she would not resign as the union's Secretary-Treasurer, and endorsed Henry. Mary Kay Henry was elected President of SEIU by the international union's Executive Board on May 8, 2010, to serve the two remaining years of Stern's term. Her original term as President expired in 2012. After her election, Henry said her major priorities as union president would be to advocate for

labor rights Labor rights or workers' rights are both legal rights and human rights relating to labor relations between workers and employers. These rights are codified in national and international labor and employment law. In general, these rights infl ...

immigrants' rights Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not natives or where they do not possess citizenship in order to settle as permanent residents or naturalized citizens. Commuters, tourists, an ...

, and

LGBT rights Rights affecting lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender ( LGBT) people vary greatly by country or jurisdiction—encompassing everything from the legal recognition of same-sex marriage to the death penalty for homosexuality. Notably, ...

. However, she said she did not foresee bringing SEIU back into the AFL-CIO and refused to end the union's battles with its breakaway California locals. A few days after her election, Henry began conducting a review of the duties and assignments of SEIU's top leadership and staff (including Secretary-Treasurer Burger), noting, "It is the prerogative of the president to reassign responsibilities."Murray, M. "Burger Not Yet on the Griddle, SEIU Chief Says", ''Roll Call''. May 17, 2010. Burger denied that she was thinking of quitting the union due to the review.

Awards

In 2019 the winners of the Eugene V. Debs Award were the Fight for $15 and Mary Kay Henry on behalf of the

SEIU Service Employees International Union (SEIU) is a labor union representing almost 1.9 million workers in over 100 occupations in the United States and Canada. SEIU is focused on organizing workers in three sectors: healthcare (over half of members ...

Personal life

Henry is a

lesbian A lesbian is a Homosexuality, homosexual woman.Zimmerman, p. 453. The word is also used for women in relation to their sexual identity or sexual behavior, regardless of sexual orientation, or as an adjective to characterize or associate n ...

, and co-founder of SEIU's Lavender Caucus, a

gay and lesbian ' is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity. The LGBT term is an ...

group within the international union dedicated to improving rights for LGBTQ people within unions and at the workplace. She and her partner, Paula Macchello (a senior strategic organizer with the

International Brotherhood of Teamsters The International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT), also known as the Teamsters Union, is a labor union in the United States and Canada. Formed in 1903 by the merger of The Team Drivers International Union and The Teamsters National Union, the un ...

), are both advocates for

same-sex marriage Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same sex or gender. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 33 countries, with the most recent being Mexico, constituting ...

. She has discussed using her leadership position to advocate for

LGBT ' is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity. The LGBT term ...

rights. She serves on the executive board of

Families USA Families USA is a nonprofit, nonpartisan consumer health advocacy and policy organization. Co-founded founded in 1981 by Ronald Pollack, the first executive director, and Philippe Villers, the organization's current president, Families USA's advo ...

, a non-profit consumer health care advocacy organization."About Us", Families USA
Accessed 2010-05-21. Henry used to be a labor adviser to the Catholic Health Care and Work Subcommittee of the

United States Conference of Catholic Bishops The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) is the episcopal conference of the Catholic Church in the United States. Founded in 1966 as the joint National Conference of Catholic Bishops (NCCB) and United States Catholic Conference (US ...

. '' Modern Healthcare'' magazine, an influential trade publication in the U.S. health care industry, named Henry as one of its "Top 25 Women in Healthcare" in 2009.

References

External links

SEIU official website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Henry, Marykay 1958 births American women trade unionists Catholics from Michigan Date of birth missing (living people) LGBT people from Michigan Living people Michigan State University alumni People from Wayne County, Michigan Presidents of the Service Employees International Union Trade unionists from Michigan