It is no secret that labor unions are in business to funnel dues collected from members into the pockets of unions officials and staff, instead of putting that money to work on behalf of those members. Here’s a quick recap of some of SEIU’s recent financial shenanigans. SEIU Local 1000 put forth a new proposal that would give union officers stipends for the work they do for the organization. In a broad sense, the proposal provides a valid argument; it’s the details that seem a little, well, greedy. Union officers already get 100% paid leave from their “day job” in order to conduct union business. They are now proposing that they get stipends on top of it. How did they come up with the value of the stipends? By making their total pay equal to or more than the highest paid employees in their organization. This would more than double, and in a couple cases, triple these officers current income. It’s safe to say these officers might be pushing it a little, but we do have to give props to Local 1000 for one thing – at least they are letting their members weigh in on the decision of how their dues money is distributed. As we all know, this isn’t always the case. For example, in 2014 SEIU gave $1.5 million to a North Carolina shell group called Carolina Workers Organizing Committee. Carolina Workers Organizing Committee then took $1.12 million of that money and gave it to Action NC. Action NC is a financial backer for Moral Monday. The Moral Monday group regularly protests a wide array of what they deem unfair treatment, discrimination, and adverse effects of government legislation. Their protests involve various acts of civil disobedience. So the question is, what about the members who don’t support the Moral Monday movement? Why should it be okay that this is what their dues money is being spent on? Perhaps they have issues closer to home they need the union’s help with. Perhaps they just want what they paid for – representation. Speaking of which, the CEO of Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center in Los Angeles just laid off the hospital’s whole Respiratory Therapy Department, most of which are paying members of SEIU-UHW. So how did one of the largest union locals in the country handle this attack on their member’s livelihoods? According to an article published by RT Focus: “When it came to the termination of the respiratory department, their union was at best, largely ineffective or at worst, terribly silent.”
