Tagged: health

Nationwide, the percentage of workers who are in unions has dropped to around 11 percent according to January report by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.  That’s lowest rate in nearly a century. But the Service Employees International Union has been bucking the trend in recent decades – it’s the fastest growing union in the United States.

Since 1996, 1.2 million workers have joined SEIU nationally. Today, SEIU national represents 2.1 million.   Here in Washington state the SEUI has six locals with more than 100,000 members, up from about 40,000 in 2001. 

The union represents nurses, child care workers, public school employees and janitors.   Plus, Local 775 is the biggest, with around 43,000 members who are long-term care workers, home health aides, and nursing home aides.  

Ross Reynolds talks with David Rolf, president of the Seattle-based Local 775 of the Service Employees International Union for health-care workers. 

The National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence reports that in the US over 23 million people over the age of 12 are addicted to alcohol or other drugs. Not only that, a recent Columbia University study found that only 1 in 10 of these people actually seeks treatment for drug addiction. And most of the time, the treatment doesn’t work.

Ross Reynolds sits down with Dr. Jim Walsh, the medical director of Addiction Recovery Services at Swedish Medical Center’s Ballard campus to talk about what does work.

Placenta Offers Insight Into Autism Risk
New autism research shows that babies born with a high genetic risk for the disorder were more likely to have abnormal folds and creases in their placentas.  However, Dr. Harvey Kliman says that it is much too early to say that an examination of the placenta could be used as a definitive test for autism at birth.

VB6: Eat Vegan Before 6:00 At Night
Could you eat vegan? If you could, research strongly suggests you’d be healthier, weigh less and perhaps even have a sharper brain. But could you find the discipline? Mark Bittman has a plan for you. The New York Times food columnist has written "VB6: Eat Vegan Before 6:00 To Lose Weight and Restore Your Health …. For Good."

What Plant, Where And When?
We are in the midst of plant-sale season. So how do you choose the perennial in spring that will survive the summer and look great next year? The Greendays gardening panel has some simple rules to follow for picking the right plant and taking care of it.