April 22nd, 2010
Prison Health Services workers join NUHW
Kim Tovar, Medical Records Technician, Prison Health Services
Prison Health Services workers at the Glenn Dyer Detention Facility and Santa Rita Jail voted 66 to 59 to join NUHW! It was a close election and we fought hard to win every last vote of support.
When the ballots were counted this afternoon, we knew that we were uniting in the strongest union for ourselves and our families.
We did this even though SEIU thought they’d scared us out of voting for NUHW. PHS is another one of the facilities SEIU hand-picked to vote first because they thought we would lose.
But after all SEIU said and did, we made up our own minds and made the choice that was right for us.
April 21st, 2010
Workers at Prison Health Services vote NUHW in stunning upset
Against all odds, workers prevail at facility chosen by SEIU to vote first
Oakland, Calif.—Prison Health Services workers at the Glenn Dyer Detention Facility and Santa Rita Jail became the newest members of the National Union of Healthcare Workers (NUHW) today in a 66-to-59 vote that was a stunning upset against the SEIU.
“I’m so ecstatic,” said Kim Tovar, a medical records technician at Glenn Dyer. “When I saw we’d won, I just couldn’t believe it. After everything SEIU did to scare us and divide us, we showed that healthcare workers really do want a democratic union that we control. Today the division ends, and we can start uniting our co-workers to win on the issues that are most important to us at PHS.”
April 21st, 2010
Strong showing for NUHW at four Bay Area nursing homes bodes well for future elections
Support for new union endures, even among workers chosen by SEIU to vote first
Oakland, Calif.—Workers at four Bay Area nursing homes owned by Pratap Poddatoori made a strong showing today in an election to change their union from SEIU to the National Union of Healthcare Workers (NUHW). The vote was 82 for NUHW, 85 for SEIU, and 4 votes for No Union, meaning neither side won more than half the votes cast. The labor board will schedule a runoff if there is still no majority after the issue of 13 contested ballots is resolved.
Despite coming up a few votes short of a clear victory, workers say they are proud they had a chance to vote and demonstrate their support for NUHW at facilities that SEIU officials claimed were firmly under SEIU’s control. On the eve of the election, SEIU even resorted to cutting a deal with the employer to give certain workers wage increases in order to buy their votes—a violation of federal law that could result in the National Labor Relations Board overturning the election.
“We proved them wrong,” said Linda Brown, a certified nursing assistant at Kyakameena Nursing Home. “SEIU wants to pretend workers don’t support NUHW. But they picked us to vote first, and they still couldn’t win. Our votes show how committed we are to taking back our union.”
April 20th, 2010
In These Times: Andy Stern, the man with a plan who lost his way
By Stephen Franklin
Nor did Stern’s federation do a better job of organizing, as it had promised.
One of the myths about the break-up was that the dissidents wanted to spend more on organizing and less on politics. That was a myth that somehow found a life among news reporters and union leaders.
The reality was that SEIU did spend more organizing—but also spent even more on politics. Some of it worked, and Stern’s close ties with the White House are proof of that. And sometimes it backfired; witness the union’s support for disgraced and impeached Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich.
No other unions joined the dissidents in their new federation, as Change to Win leaders had predicted. And the new federation’s own unity soon crumbled.
April 16th, 2010
Washington Post: At the peak of his influence, SEIU chief set to leave mixed legacy
By Alec MacGillis
“A combination of events destroyed what ought to have been a great legacy for Andy,” said John Wilhelm, the head of Unite Here, the hotel and garment workers union, with which the SEIU is feuding. “Andy could have been a really great labor leader. He’s a smart guy with a lot of abilities and a strong strategic sense. But something happened to the guy. It says in Scripture that pride goeth before the fall, and that’s what happened here.”