| All
is not well in SEIU
at Kaiser Permanente facilities in California. In recent
weeks, more than 75 shop stewards resigned their positions
and announced their support for the National Union of Healthcare
Workers (NUHW)
in an upcoming election among 43,500 Kaiser workers. Mass
resignations came in the wake of a series of SEIU mass firings
and purges of its own elected stewards and bargaining committees.
Although
Andy Stern is retired as president of SEIU, the union remains
in utter disarray. Since the Andy Stern takeover of the
once-respected union, a cloud of mistrust has descended
over union affairs at Kaiser Permanente. There is bitterness
and animosity among employees who, not so long ago, were
friendly co-workers in a single union.
Why
are hospital workers, once united, fighting among themselves?
What has gone wrong at SEIU in California and Washington?
What
It Was Like Before the Stern Takeover
The
hostilities in our labor union today are new. A few years
ago, our union was united. In those days, before the Stern
takeover, our union was united. Relationships were warm
and civil. Differences were tolerated. No one was removed
or purged for holding a wrong opinion. No one was vilified
for disagreements with leadership. We all believed, and
our faith was vindicated by victory, that union clout comes
from active membership, not from big shots with money in
Washington.
Think
back a little. Recall union life prior to the Andy Stern
takeover of SEIU, prior to Washington�s intervention in
our California locals. If you worked at a Kaiser facility
ten years ago, you may remember the camaraderie and solidarity
that prevailed among us. The MAs, LVNs, the lab technicians,
the secretaries, operators, the environmental service personnel,
the X-ray technologists�all of us were proud to work together
in a noble enterprise�the fostering and saving of human
life.
Our
150,000-member local, then called UHW-West (now it is called
NUHW, the name that will appear on the ballot) was large
and strong. Its elected leader, Sal
Rosselli, a champion of bottom-up democratic unionism,
was popular, and highly respected throughout the labor movement.
In his early years, Sal worked with Dorothy
Day of the Catholic Worker. He served two years in the
Peace Corps. He became president of the highly successful
union Local 250. Sal led thousands of health care employees
in a march across the Golden Gate Bridge under the banner:
�Healthcare Is a Human Right.� Sal was always one of us.
Sal combined nuts-and-bolts organizing skills with democratic
vision, and he taught us that democracy is a mighty force,
that democratic unions have tremendous clout.
It
was Sal�s team (now called NUHW) that won the historic 5-year
contract with Kaiser in 2005, a contract still considered
the gold standard in the hospital industry. The contract
provided employment and income security, statewide seniority,
a second �defined contribution� plan, fully paid healthcare
for workers and their families, a real voice in staffing
and patient care. It also ended the two-tiered wage system
in Northern California.
Autocratic
Purges Changed Everything
When
Stern took over SEIU in Washington, after he instituted
absentee rule of California locals, everything began to
change�for the worse. Stern was an autocrat. He repudiated
the principles of democratic unionism espoused by Sal. For
Stern, power comes from the top down, and union locals are
mere pawns to be moved around like chess pieces. He forced
some locals to merge, and he also tried to split unions
that were united. His confusing, arbitrary directives from
3,000 miles away had one common trait: defiance of the wishes
of local membership. And when Stern met resistance from
California local unions, he became vindictive. Not really
a surprise. Power politics is nothing if not ruthless. In
response to rank-and-file activism and input, SEIU�s Washington
office launched mass removals and purges, so massive that
SEIU began to resemble a Moscow Politburo cleaning house.
Throughout
California, business reps, elected stewards, dedicated union
activists that served us for years, were fired and vilified.
Shop stewards are the soul of a union. Their work is hard
and often tedious. They file grievances, attend long meetings
into the night, negotiate with managers, reconcile differences
among employees, and build internal unity during contract
campaigns. Stewards serve but don�t get paid. In the Stern
blitz, (reminiscent of a McCarthy era in labor), stewards
were removed from Hayward, Orange County, Bellflower, Roseville,
Stockton, Sacramento, Walnut Creek, Vallejo, the Call Center,
Woodland Hills, Santa Clara, and more. The threats have
not ended. The removals were swift and vindictive, sowing
fear and confusion. The message from the politburo was obvious:
anyone who agrees with Sal and democratic unionism will
face reprisals. Loyalty oaths were imposed on workers across
the state.
As
if to flout its unlicensed power, Washington fired Sal Rosselli
shortly after he was re-elected by a landslide by his own
membership. Sal was the most persistent champion of membership
democracy in the nation.
SEIU�s
Washington clique put the California local into �trusteeship,�
dismantling the most successful union in the California
hospital industry�UHW (now NUHW). Washington seized local
offices, evicted the members, brought in cops against our
own workers, seized the assets, assets that are now being
used to pay big money for robocalls, slick mailers, paid
lobbyists flown in from out of state. One hundred members
of the union�s elected Executive Board were fired. Washington
proceeded to break up bargaining teams, elective organizations
that make our union strong.
Juan
Gonzalez, the widely read columnist for the New
York Daily News, called
the Stern blitz �a
stunning assault on democracy within his own union.�
He was right.
Even
CBS commented on Stern�s �top-down management style,� his
�aggressive, hard-driving tactics.� CBS called Stern one
of the most �polarizing
leaders in labor.� Here CBS was right.
Rarely
have so few caused so much damage and pain to so many employees
in so short a time.
The
SEIU slash-and-burn campaign crippled our local unions and
jeopardized the benefits in our 5-year contract, the contract
negotiated by Sal and many of the current staff members
of NUHW. SEIU is losing clout because a disunited union
is a weak union.
We
Want Our Democratic Union Back
The
time has come to take a stand. We want our democratic union
back, the union that kept us united, the union that draws
massive clout from an active membership. We want our elected
stewards, who were dismissed by fiat, restored to their
positions, so that they can defend the benefits that they
fought for and achieved on our behalf. Those who crafted
and codified the five-year contract are the most able to
protect and extend its benefits. At the same time, the tiny
clique that disunited us, that overthrew our contract-builders,
are the most likely to squander our historic achievements.
We
want to restore stability to our union and workplace. We
want to heal rifts and recreate an atmosphere of tolerance
and mutual respect. We want to restore membership control
of our destiny.
The
coming election will test our commitment to democracy. Union
democracy is fundamental to real union power.
Nor
is the upcoming election a choice between lesser evils.
On the contrary, NUHW is a beacon of hope in our faltering
economy.
Not
only did NUHW win the best and most comprehensive hospital
contract in California Kaiser�s history, the contract whose
benefits we all take for granted today, it also became the
model of membership-powered unionism, earning the admiration
of other unions throughout the U.S.
We
are lucky that such dedicated, experienced organizers are
ready to serve us when we vote for NUHW.
Co-signers:
Beverly
Griffith, EVS,
Odell
Hunter, EVS,
Sandy
Mims, Telecommunications Operator
Alta
Bates Summit Medical Center, Oakland, CA
Click
here
to contact the authors of this commentary.
|
Aug
26, 2010 - Issue 390
is
published every Thursday
