Stepping down as president and executive director, Vicky Hedderman and Jane McAlevey urge union members to heal divisions and work together to build a stronger union

Las Vegas – Calling it “an opportunity for a new beginning,” the president and executive director of SEIU Nevada last night submitted their resignations at a meeting of the union’s executive board.

“Far too much time and energy has been focused on personality issues rather than on the important work of improving the lives of our members,” President Vicky Hedderman and Executive Director Jane McAlevey said in a joint letter of resignation. “We believe it is time to move beyond the current situation so that our members can continue to win the improvements they deserve.”

Noting the many accomplishments of the union during the last several years, including standard-setting wage increases and record-high political activism, Hedderman and McAlevey urged the members of SEIU Nevada to heal divisions within the union and to work together to build a stronger union that can “continue to win the improvements they deserve.”

Effective July 1, Shauna Hamel, the union’s executive vice president and a nurse from St. Rose, will become president of SEIU Nevada and serve out the current term.

“Our union achieved many great victories under Vicky’s and Jane’s leadership, and their departure is a great loss,” said Hamel. “With all the challenges we face now, we need to unite and speak with one voice. My goal is to build bridges by reaching out to all of our members, listening to their concerns and ideas, and getting their input on how to make our union stronger, more transparent, and more responsive to our members’ needs.”

While SEIU Nevada’s executive board conducts a search for a new executive director, Vicky Baca, a coordinator for the Public Division of SEIU, will serve as interim director. Baca is a longtime nurse and former president of a New Mexico health care union with more than 30 years’ experience in organizing and collective bargaining in both the health care and public service sectors.

In accepting the resignations of Hedderman and McAlevey, SEIU Nevada’s executive board also adopted a resolution calling on the union to foster greater unity, democracy, and respectful debate among the membership.

In addition, the 17,500-member local union’s leadership body reaffirmed commitments to campaign vigorously on behalf of 45 federal and local pro-worker candidates, support improvements in the state whistleblower laws, and win standard-setting contracts in negotiations with Catholic Healthcare West’s St. Rose hospitals, the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, and six other employers currently at the bargaining table.


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