February 1st, 2009
Los Angeles Times: Labor’s real fight
Union membership in the U.S. has grown, but inside the nation’s leading unions, serious battles rage.
By Harold Meyerson
By one measure, last Wednesday was that rarity of rarities for American labor: a good day. The measure was that of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, which announced that union membership actually increased by 428,000 in 2008. After decades of decline, the uptick in union membership signaled that some unions, at least, have figured out how to organize, despite relentless employer opposition and toothless worker-protection laws.
By another measure, though, Wednesday wasn’t a good day at all for American unions. In Oakland, the Service Employees International Union — with nearly 2 million members, the nation’s most vibrant union and California’s largest — took direct control of one of its stellar locals, the 150,000-member United Healthcare Workers West, ousting the elected local officers, who in turn announced that they would seek to form a rival union to the SEIU.
January 29th, 2009
La Opinión: Ruptura total de UHW y SEIU
La dirigencia del Sindicato de Trabajadores Sanitarios (UHW West-SEIU), que fue disuelta un día antes por la dirección nacional del Sindicato de la Industria de Servicios (SEIU), a la que se encuentra afiliada, contraatacó ayer renunciando a esta organización y dando a conocer su intención de formar una nueva organización.
January 28th, 2009
San Francisco Bay Guardian: Ousted UHW leaders form the NUHW
There’s a new union in town, National Union of Healthcare Workers (NUHW), which was formed today by the United Healthcare Workers leadership team that was yesterday ousted by UHW’s parent union, Service Employees International Union. NUHW might as well stand for the New UHW.
January 28th, 2009
Healthcare workers in California announce formation of new national union
Oakland, Calif.—Responding to demands from thousands of rank-and-file healthcare workers across California, the democratically elected executive board of SEIU United Healthcare Workers West resigned membership from SEIU and today announced the formation of a new organization, the National Union of Healthcare Workers (NUHW).