March 3rd, 2010
San Francisco Bay Guardian: SF leaders condemn SEIU tactics
By Steven T. Jones
San Franciscans seem to be turning against Service Employee International Union and its national President Andy Stern this week, first with the vote by SEIU Local 1021 members to oust Stern’s leadership team [1], and now with a letter signed by a broad array of top political officials condemning SEIU tactics against the National Union of Healthcare Workers.
March 3rd, 2010
More than 100 S.F. leaders call on SEIU-UHW to respect workers’ rights in upcoming union elections
Citing complaints of intimidation and harassment, elected officials and community leaders ask SEIU-UHW to agree to ground rules that guarantee free choice for healthcare workers
SAN FRANCISCO—More than 100 San Francisco elected officials and community leaders—including State Senator Mark Leno, Assemblymembers Fiona Ma and Tom Ammiano, and 10 out of 11 San Francisco Supervisors—have called on SEIU-UHW to respect healthcare workers’ rights in upcoming elections for San Francisco caregivers to choose between SEIU and the National Union of Healthcare Workers (NUHW).
They’ve released an open letter asking SEIU to agree on fair ground rules to make sure workers aren’t harassed or threatened.1
“Fair Election Agreements are a community standard for union elections in San Francisco,” said Aaron Peskin, Chair of the San Francisco Democratic Party and former President of the Board of Supervisors.
“All we are asking is for SEIU-UHW to negotiate rules of conduct, like those they have asked us to support in every one of their elections over the past decade. They should have no difficulty in doing so unless they intend to engage in conduct they have historically denounced.”
March 3rd, 2010
More than 100 elected officials and leaders call for fair elections to join NUHW
116 San Francisco elected officials, community leaders, and allies have written an open letter to SEIU-UHW’s trustees. These leaders have called on SEIU to put an end to the intimidation and harassment of caregivers, and they’ve asked SEIU to agree to fair ground rules for our elections. Signers include 10 of the 11 San Francisco […]
March 2nd, 2010
In These Times: SEIU’s mega-local meltdown
By Steve Early
The 1021 reformers also made a point of declaring that they “will not spend a penny” of “precious local resources” to “raid or attack other unions.” They criticized SEIU for “spending tens of millions of our dues dollars” on such fights; a reference to Stern’s costly and controversial wars with UNITE HERE and the new National Union of Healthcare Workers (NUHW), which is gaining ground on SEIU in California health care.
As Poon told Labor Notes readers: “We will have to deal with a huge task of rebuilding a union in a new direction.” “Even in better times this was difficult,” [Roxanne] Sanchez agrees. “But, with our local union in such disorder and our International union so estranged from its members, it will be a formidable challenge.”
March 1st, 2010
Beyond Chron: rejecting Stern appointees, SEIU1021 members give reformers election sweep
by Randy Shaw, Mar. 01, 2010
In a striking blow to SEIU’s national leadership, the reform “Change 1021” slate defeated Stern appointees and won all of the major offices and near total control of the Executive Board. It was the first election since SEIU’s International Executive Board merged ten California locals into one three years ago, creating one of the union’s largest primarily public employee locals. Longtime SEIU reformer Roxanne Sanchez won the top position of President in a landslide (3054-1458), Sin Yee Poon defeated Stern appointee Damita Davis-Howard 2141 to 1445 for the key position of Chief Elected Officer (akin to Executive Director), and controversial incumbent James Bryant was defeated by Alysabeth Alexander for Political Action Chair.
The one-sided outcome follows staggering SEIU defeats at Santa Rosa Memorialand Kaiser Sunset Hospitals, and reflects growing worker opposition to SEIU’s increasingly top-down, undemocratic approach. SEIU 1021 will now become part of the growing movement toward more democratic unionism in California, joining UNITE HERE, NUHW and other unions in promoting this trend. As Sanchez put it after the victory, “workers will now have real power in this organization that they did not have before.”