Compare and Contrast...

In advance of their upcoming founding convention, NUHW has placed on its website its prototype Constitution and By-Laws, and have placed a form for which feedback can be given.

Included in the document are:

• Member rights and responsibilities (including an explicit right to approve contracts and elect bargaining committees).
• Definitions of what it means to be a member, as well as a steward.
• A definition of what the dues will be for NUHW members.
• A clear statement of the election procedure for stewards and officers.

The entire document is designed to make clear that the priority for NUHW is the members it serves, and not a faceless, soulless, infallible-by-fiat bureaucracy. Officers of the union are required to take the following oath:

“I, ___________, accept my responsibility as an elected representative of the National Union of Healthcare Workers. I pledge upon my honor that I will faithfully observe the Constitution and Bylaws of the National Union of Healthcare Workers.

I pledge to do everything in my power to properly represent the members, including organizing the unorganized workers within my industry. I agree to defend to the best of my ability the principles of trade unionism; to work to improve the lives of working people in my community, and to assist in electing to government office officials who will serve the interests of the membership and the community.

I will not knowingly wrong a member or see a member wronged if it is in my power to prevent it. I also pledge that I will work to the best of my ability to provide effective and responsible leadership to the members I am privileged to represent.”

I'd like to compare the proposed NUHW Constitution with that of Zombie UHW, but that document no longer exists. The reader is referred to the SEIU master Constitution - the one which indicates that you are held captive in SEIU if only seven people decided they want to remain in SEIU.