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Author Topic: RNs Condemn Violent Service Union Attack at Michigan Event
CUPE_Reformer
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 7457

posted 14 April 2008 10:53 AM      Profile for CUPE_Reformer   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
RNs Condemn Violent Service Union Attack at Michigan Event

[ 14 April 2008: Message edited by: CUPE_Reformer ]


From: Real Solidarity | Registered: Nov 2004  |  IP: Logged
Cueball
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 4790

posted 14 April 2008 11:46 AM      Profile for Cueball   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
Shades of 33.
From: Out from under the bridge and out for a stroll | Registered: Dec 2003  |  IP: Logged
unionist
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 11323

posted 14 April 2008 01:02 PM      Profile for unionist     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
These are incredible disruptive tactics by the SEIU if the reports are accurate - and the reports appear unfortunately to be accurate. Here are a couple articles from Labor Notes (the conference organizer):

Members Decry Loyalty Oaths, Cozy Deals: Reform Movement Forms in SEIU

and about the conference disruption:

SEIU International Backs Away From Debate, Attempts Disruption at 2008 Labor Notes Conference.

And here is a press release from the SEIU:

SEIU Members Stand Up for the Future of the Labor Movement and the Interests of All Workers, in which they say:

quote:
Hundreds of Service Employees International Union (SEIU) members from across the country joined in protest tonight, renouncing recent actions by the California Nurses Association (CNA: 25.30, -0.37, -1.44%) to interfere in other unions' organizing efforts. SEIU members made their voices heard during the Labor Notes Conference in Dearborn, Michigan, where CNA Executive Director Rose Ann DeMoro was scheduled to speak but cancelled at the last minute, anticipating the scrutiny her actions were expected to receive. ...

"At a time when the economy is in a downward spiral, when income inequality and economic uncertainty are at record levels and when only 12.1 percent of the U.S. workforce has union representation, we simply can not abide by union-busting and member poaching between unions."


They say they sent 800 SEIU members to "participate" in the Labor Notes convention... Pretty ugly.


From: Vote QS! | Registered: Dec 2005  |  IP: Logged
arm chair critic
recent-rabble-rouser
Babbler # 14761

posted 17 April 2008 05:53 AM      Profile for arm chair critic     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
Maybe if the SEIU would provide competent representation to their members and stop signining yellow dog agreements in Ohio and California their existing members might not be so actively engaged in getting out of the SEIU.
Maybe if they provided education to their front line representatives and stopped hiring unqualified freinds and relatives to staff jobs their members wouldnt be looking for a new home.
I now have the priviledge of representing nearly 2300 former SEIU members and I have heard no regrets or any worker or former SEIU leadership person in our Local advocate going back(ward) to the SEIU.
My Union is far from perfect but if any one of our workplaces wanted to vote democraticly to leave, we would not stand in their way. And we certainly would not bring out the goons to intimidate other trade unionists that we disagee with.

From: London | Registered: Nov 2007  |  IP: Logged
unionist
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 11323

posted 17 April 2008 06:05 AM      Profile for unionist     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
quote:
Originally posted by arm chair critic:

My Union is far from perfect but if any one of our workplaces wanted to vote democraticly to leave, we would not stand in their way.

While I have no first-hand experience within the SEIU, I have to wholeheartedly agree with the above statement - including the "far from perfect" comment applied to my own union.

I have experienced units leaving our union to go with another, and substantially more going the opposite direction. In both cases, I have heard union leaders (on both sides) whining and crying and complaining about "raiding" - time and energy which could be better spent in representing and leading workers effectively so that they are not tempted to union-shop in the first place.

My attitude toward unions has long been the same as toward political parties - the organization must be loyal to its members before it can expect their loyalty in return.


From: Vote QS! | Registered: Dec 2005  |  IP: Logged
huberman
rabble-rouser
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posted 18 April 2008 06:48 AM      Profile for huberman     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
And why do we allow (foreign) unions like the SEIU to operate in Canada? Can't Canadian unions do a better job? Why aren't Canadian unions calling for unions like this to be shut down in Canada and sent back home across the border (along with Walmart, Home Depot etc.).
From: NAFTA | Registered: Apr 2007  |  IP: Logged
munroe
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Babbler # 14227

posted 18 April 2008 02:33 PM      Profile for munroe     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
Really, the question should be whether the SEIU is a "union" in the Canadian context. Goons are unwelcome as are autocratic idiots like CLAC.
From: Port Moody, B.C. | Registered: Jun 2007  |  IP: Logged
aka Mycroft
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Babbler # 6640

posted 18 April 2008 05:33 PM      Profile for aka Mycroft     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
A dissident in SEIU Local 1 has been sending this email out to union staff and members.

quote:

From:
Date: Fri, Apr 18, 2008 at 12:16 AM
Subject: SHAME on SEIU

Sisters and brothers,

As the national convention draws close, it's sad that nothing has changed inside the doors of SEIU in Canada or the US. While some few of the locals in Canada set a real example for democratic unionism, the largest SEIU Local 1.on (which has now changed its name to SEIU Local 1Canada) continues its downhill trajectory with poorer and poorer service, less and less member power, more outlandish spending, fewer new members, and an ever more humilating record of ill-treatment of its own staff.

Sadly, what's rotten at SEIU Local 1 Canada seems to be a reflection of what's happening at the International level. Some members there have begun speaking out. Let's hope some of us here in Canada can find our voice and do the same.

I urge you to check out this website: http://www.servingemployersinsteadofus.org/ Some very interesting stories of what's happening in the US. Unfortunately, I think the same sorts of things are happening here.

Here in Ontario, Local 1continues to make backroom deals with employers. Weak deals with little in them for local units and virtually no input from bargaining unit members.

And the Organizing Department continues to be a joke. Despite the fact that we voted a giant sustained increase to the organizing budget - committing a sizable chunk of our dues to bringing in new members, the Organizing Department at Local 1 has only managed to certify one unit in all of 2008 - a tiny little unit with around 40 members. Forty new members at a cost of hundreds of thousands of dollars, with a staff led by a director, a deputy director, and two coordinators (one Sharleen Stewart's daughter, Richelle and the other her hand-picked favorite, Leanne Bradshaw who did Sharleen's dirty work during last year's field staff strike). This "leadership" team commands a team of 7 or 8 organizers, most of whom are taking home $70,000 plus a year. Between them all, they've managed to organize fewer than 50 new workers in nearly four months. It would be a joke if it wasn't our dues going down the drain.

To make matters worse, there are still thousands of newly organized workers who don't have first contracts - many for well over a year. Not only are they in a position to start decertifying, but they're being "hung out to dry" because all kinds of promises were made to them by organizers when they voted to certify and those promises aren't being kept. They're left at the mercy of angry employers without the protection that a collective agreement will give them.

But the biggest embarassment of all for our union is staff relations. As Sharleen and her cronies continue to try to consolidate their iron grip on power at the local and the national, and maintain total control of the pursestrings, while keeping the membership in the dark - they continue to systematically "terminate" or drive out hard-working, effective staff who were getting their jobs done but who cared more about the members or labour unionism than they did about kissing the proverbial back ends of the "leadership."

The latest and greatest tactic is to dismiss staff while they are off on sick leave. Ask Sharleen and her ilk how many staff have been terminated or had their working relationships with the local or national "severed" while they were off on sick leave. Or just how many have had their employment "severed." Count among those who have left Business Agents, Legal Counsel, Organizers, Secretaries, and Finance Department staff. All of these in addition to those who were terminated immediately after the strike.

Most of these cases are still being grieved or in arbitration. What has it cost us so far and how much will it cost when it is all over? And when it's all over, how much damage will have been done to our union by the humiliating revelations made in front of arbitrators and in the public eye. These same arbitrators who will be hearing about how SEIU Local 1.on and the national office mistreat their own staff will also be the ones deciding the grievances of our bargaining units. The damage will be irreparable.

And ask the president why she doesn't want us to know exactly how much money she gets paid from our dues. Shouldn't there be transparency about how our dues are spent? Don't we have a right to know how much of our cash she takes home in travel, per diems, food and entertainment expenses, car allowance, insurance, salary from the local, salary from the national, and other cash and perks. And exactly how much is being doled out to the other executive members and directors. It's our money. If there's nothing to be ashamed of, why are we being kept in the dark.

The questions that still need to be asked are simple....

why can't we organize new members (virtually every other local in Canada has organized more new members than Local 1 Canada this year - as a side note: how much will it cost to change the local's name to Local 1 Canada; I bet that little bit of vanity costs tens of thousands of dollars in legal fees to change names at the OLRB, and costs associated with stationary etc)?

how much money has Sharleen Stewart paid out to terminated or "severed" employees since she was appointed president of Local 1 and how many employees have been terminated? How many "severed" employees are still in the midst of the grievance procedure or in arbitration?

Why do her friends and relatives get power, promotions, and an easy ride? (Just how much of our dues actually go to her daughter, her brother, her friends and close "personal associates")?

how much money does she collect?

Make no doubt about it, SEIU Local 1 Canada has the potential to be a great union, with strong proud members moving forward together. Unfortunately, unless something changes that potential will not be realized and our money will continue to be squandered, while the service and support we get as members continues to disintegrate.

I'm addressing this email to Sharleen Stewart directly. I invite her to answer my questions and pledge that I'll pass those answers on to everyone who has received this message.

In solidarity,
-emma





From: Toronto | Registered: Aug 2004  |  IP: Logged
Cueball
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Babbler # 4790

posted 18 April 2008 06:20 PM      Profile for Cueball   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
A story to watch closely.
From: Out from under the bridge and out for a stroll | Registered: Dec 2003  |  IP: Logged
huberman
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 14076

posted 18 April 2008 07:57 PM      Profile for huberman     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
The only solution seems to be to shut down this disaster. Do any Canadian unions operate in the U.S.; especially with so many allegations (and video) of wrongdoing as this one?

How can you expect a foreign corporation, corporate union or business to ever treat people as anything more than colonial subjects to suck money from? Every country must have their own domestic unions, and then they can co-operate on an international level. Foreign unions (especially U.S. ones) are no better than foreign U.S. corporations operating in Canada (Walmart, Home Depot etc.). Union imperialism is no better than corporate imperialism (much worse actually in many ways).

Canadian unionists need to loudly and clearly call for 100% full domestic control and independence of Canadian unions without foreign (especially poisonous U.S.) corporate/union influence. No other self-respecting nation allows this to happen - where are Cdn unionists in calling for an end to this?

[ 18 April 2008: Message edited by: huberman ]


From: NAFTA | Registered: Apr 2007  |  IP: Logged
huberman
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 14076

posted 18 April 2008 08:33 PM      Profile for huberman     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
This is just great - this type of thing will ruin the name of Canadian unions if they don't totally distance themselves from SEIU and call for them to be deported:

Nurse Union Wins Order to Restrain Rival Union
By Steven Greenhouse
New York Times
April 18, 2008

http://www.servingemployersinsteadofus.org/ (under 'SEIU in the News'

This paragraph was most striking:

The executive director of the union, Rose Ann DeMoro, said, “It’s a disgrace that a labor organization would engage in this level of deplorable behavior against an organization that is predominantly women and nurses.”

-- what do they do to those who are not women and nurses?

[ 18 April 2008: Message edited by: huberman ]

[ 18 April 2008: Message edited by: huberman ]


From: NAFTA | Registered: Apr 2007  |  IP: Logged

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