SEIU Watch

by | Apr 8, 2010 | Healthcare, Labor Relations Ink

The SEIU vs. NUHW court battle is raging on at the moment, and until it has ended, we won’t spend much time covering the blow-by-blow of the contest. It was telling that within the first week of the trial, the SEIU was forced to admit that many of the tactics it was accusing its former local members of, were actually not illegal! To save face, the SEIU dropped many of their accusations, and lowered the damage amount they were seeking from $25 million to around $5 million. Carl Finnamore, who has been attending the court sessions, had this to say after witnessing the opening sessions: It is said that clarity emerges the victor when an idea is challenged and submitted to critical examination. We shall see that theory tested after the next two weeks of trial when the jury renders its verdict, due around April 9. But certainly we can say with confidence that the court of public opinion has already voted against SEIU’s heavy-handed tactics against UHW, formerly one of the country’s most democratic and militant unions. We can also say with confidence that the issues being argued by plaintiffs’ high-priced attorneys would have been better served if SEIU president Andy Stern had allowed an organized democratic discussion and debate among the 65,000 long-term healthcare workers of UHW. Instead, all the discussion has been compressed into one small courtroom, where 26 dedicated union activists await their fate. While struggling in the courtroom, the SEIU continues to struggle in the work place as well. At TLC Health Network in Irving, NY, the union withdrew a petition for union election, once again not allowing the nurses to deliver the nail in the coffin. According to a TLC statement, “After months of delays and aggressive campaign tactics, SEIU has once again denied TLC nurses the right to cast their ballots; putting union interests above the nurses right to vote.” In a bizarre twist of tactics, rather than potentially lose around 600 members at USC University Hospital to the NUHW, the SEIU is pushing to make the hospital a union-free facility! According to union pundit Randy Shaw, “SEIU is assisting a stridently anti-union employer to ensure that when the election does occur, a majority of workers choose ‘no union’ over ‘NUHW.’” In the corporate arena, it is not so clear whether SEIU is winning or losing. Despite an outstanding loan of over $94 million, Stern and company is ratcheting up its corporate campaign machine against the proverbial hand that feeds it, Bank of America. Some have suggested that Stern will use these tactics to renegotiate the terms of the loan, or even have some of the debt waived. It remains to be seen what the outcome of this dicey move will be. Only on the political front is it apparent that the SEIU is “winning.” According to Stern, he was told directly by President Obama that healthcare “reform” would not have passed without SEIU efforts. [flashvideo provider=youtube file=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dZvHeeJOy1o&playnext_from=TL&videos=iV80V3xBhBo /] Stern appears to be attempting to convert this ingratiation into a government takeover of American’s private 401(k) retirement plans. Teaming up with the left-leaning Economic Policy Institute, and the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare, SEIU’s plan, called “the Retirement USA Initiative,” is in essence a European-style government pension plan.

INK Newsletter

APPROACHABILITY MINUTE

GET OUR RETENTION TOOLKIT

PUBLICATIONS

Archives

Categories