Washington State, the hub of many of the home health care workers that SEIU siphoned dues from for years, has passed a union-backed bill that will allow the state to hire a private company to help manage the growing caseload of home caregivers. Once these workers move into the private sector, they will be exposed to new contract negotiations that could potentially remove their ability to opt out of paying union dues.
Mary Kay Henry
In Chicago, members of SEIU Local 73 are making progress in their attempt to
end the two-year-long trusteeship being held over their local by the International. Officially, the trusteeship was only supposed to last for 18 months. Now more than 20 months have passed and Mary Kay Henry has refused to give up control. Looks like her time is almost up though. Earlier this month, a federal judge “encouraged [SEIU and the members who are suing it] to negotiate conditions for reasonably prompt resumption of local control, and free and fair elections.” Another hearing is scheduled soon. Dave Regan continues to wreak havoc. Most recently, by trying to be the ‘big man on campus’ and effectively encouraging 21 unions and the 45,000 employees they represent to step aside from a 20 year long labor partnership amongst the 34 unions who represent Kaiser Permanente employees. Adrienne Enghouse, president of the Oregon Federation of Nurses and Healthcare Professionals, one of the
unions leaving the coalition, put her reasoning bluntly when she said: “There’s no point of being part of a coalition if you don’t have a relative voice.”
