Apr 06 2009
Union Organizers Picket Their Own
The Labor Department released unemployment figures on Friday that showed that the nation’s economy shed yet another 663,000 jobs in March. Since December 2007, the current recession has claimed 5.1 million jobs in the United States bringing the economy to its highest unemployment rate since 1983. Although the majority of job losses are from construction, manufacturing, professional and business services, a decision by the fastest growing union in the U.S. to lay off its own employees has sparked protest. In March, the Service Employees International Union announced plans to layoff 75 of its national field staff and organizing employees. In response, members of the Union of Union Representatives marched outside of SEIU’s Washington D.C. headquarters and have filed charges of unfair labor practices with the National Labor Relations Board. SEIU President Andy Stern claimed the layoffs were not prompted by internal finances and instead were based on a planned reorganization of resources that would have the D.C. office primarily dedicated to political lobbying. The UUR contends that the budget problems are in fact the reason, citing among other expenditures, the millions of dollars spent on supporting Obama’s presidential campaign in 2008.
GUESTS: Sarah Solis, Union Organizer and chief steward of the UUR, Helen Sanders, organizer with SEIU facing layoff, former rank and file worker, Malcolm Harris, President of the UUR
3 Responses to “Union Organizers Picket Their Own”
Thank you, for letting this be heard people need to know that seiu is just a big company. doing what big companys do. But we shall keep on FIGHTING,
The unfortunate lie is that SEIU says this move is based on the re-organization as voted in by its members. The truth to the matter is that the members did NOT know that doing it The Andy Stern’s way “Justice For All” was in fact voting to fire the same organizers that brought them into the membership of SEIU’s union. Justice: Is the capricious act of how leadership in a labor movement increases their finances and subsequently provides less services for their bamboozeled dues paying members. The lie: that if asked members can not even tell you what they were in fact voting for, it was just a fun trip to the caribean for them.
SEIU IS SPENDING ALL OUR DUES MONEY ON POLITICAL AGENDAS AND ATTACKING ITS OWN MEMBERS IN CALIFORNIA. ANDY/ANNA ARE THE CEOS OF SEIU NOT MUCH DIFFERENT THAN WALMART! FOR ALL OF YOU ORGANIZERS/STAFF THAT GOT LAID OFF SORRY HOPE YOU WERE’NT IN PUERTO RICO ATTACHING UHW/ NOW NUHW ON THE TRUTH!KARMA.