Last Friday, labor activist Bill Fletcher was a Democracy Now guest and brought to light some troubling developments at SEIU, an organization that has been one of the cylinders of the Democratic turnout engine, and one that we definitely need peak effort from this cycle. Bill specifically mentioned a battle between SEIU and a seemingly unlikely target, UHW West. SEIU president Andy Stern is diverting resources one would like to see spent smashing John McCain into putting the UHW local into trusteeship. The local isn't taking this (apparent) power grab lying down, taking more dollars and more bodies off the front lines and attracting the attention of enemies like Stop the ACLU.
Sadly, this isn't the end of the bad news. SEIU has had to devote still more resources to California to oversee the trusteeship and investigation of Local 6434 over a real finance scandal, a move which is already prompting concern over the waste of weaponry that should be trained squarely on our favorite hot little number from a cold place. More ominous is this story from the L.A. times: SEIU spending scandal spreads to Michigan. Sounds real cheery, huh?
SEIU's response to these unfortunate developments is everyone's favorite: a "comprehensive ethics reform initiative". *yawn*. Meanwhile at least one California Congressional GOP'er is calling for an investigation. I guess we in Georgia are "fortunate" in that our unions are (hopefully) too busy fighting for life to engage in this kind of nonsense. This stuff really hurts labor organizing and credibility. Hopefully we won't have to put Andy Stern's name on a list of "People On Our Own Freaking Side Who Cost Us the Election".
6 Responses to “Not all well at SEIU”
SEIU has been having all kinds of trouble outwest.
F*ck how much benefit they are or aren't giving to Democrats its a damn shame that workers are the ones hurting.
I should also add that SEIU has been i think the only union to not have declining membership in the past five years.
and if i could add the tone of this is labor is only good for electing Democrats, that should be its focus.
Whatever.
SEIU has been in trouble for a long time. Ralph Nader and others have written prominently on this, about how its bosses are getting extravagantly paid and are getting a bit close to management at the cost of its workers -- and how they've joined into a "national healthcare" effort that's basically calling for a subsidy giveaway to the HMO's.
But I want to add I agree with INR that it seems like we're trying to blame SEIU for the election or maybe say they're relevant only to get Democrats elected. That really is understating the importance of organized labor's role in advocating for, well, labor.
I did say "This stuff really hurts labor organizing and credibility." What definitely sucks, regardless of how the election turns out, is that Wal-Mart is undoubtedly going to use this in their next batch of anti-union videos. Didn't mean to make it sound like SEIU's only good for winning elections.
Agreed