Randy Shaw on the UNITE/HERE Divorce...

...also has some things to say about Our Glorious Maximum Leader:

Just as the assassination of the Archduke Ferdinand plunged allied countries into World War I, so has Raynor’s frustrated ambitions brought SEIU and HERE into open warfare and destroyed the Change to Win Labor Federation. While Stern insists that SEIU is not engaged in any attacks against HERE, Wilhelm filed anti-raiding charges with Change to Win against SEIU on April 3 on the grounds that said union was “interfering with the collective bargaining relationships of UNITEHERE members.”

Reports are rampant of SEIU members infiltrating HERE-organized facilities in Phoenix and Pittsburgh, and while SEIU disputes these claims, the fact that they are so widely believed means that Raynor has succeeded in creating a major and likely permanent rift between the two unions most aligned on immigrant rights, EFCA and a range of progressive issues.

Good work, Bruce. Just as the UFW and the Teamsters were not morally and politically equal when they battled for farmworkers allegiance in the 1960’s and 1970’s, nor are UNITE and HERE equally at fault here. If Raynor wanted out, he could have acted with respect. Instead, he has opened up a Pandora’s Box of false accusations which will hurt union organizing and the labor movement for years to come.

Mr. Shaw was puzzled as to why the union press isn't investigating this story further, and theorizes that nobody wants to be caught in the middle of a budding, nasty fight - and he then proceeds to wade into the middle of the fight, and finds both Bruce Raynor and Andy Stern wanting.

Well, The Plague cares not for your opinion, sir. All that is required of you proles in the press is to pay heed and commit all required slavish devotion to Our Glorious Maximum Leader, for he is Andy, Whom Can Do No Wrong.