Saturday, November 14, 2009

SEIU's Game Of Risk

With this new front being opened in the SEIU War of the Worlds, I thought it would be helpful to have a handy diagram of just where SEIU is fighting its battles and against whom they fight. Fortunately, the folks at Labor Pains have been able to provide a handy map that quite accurately portrays Andy's order of battle:



(click on the map to enlarge)

Another layout of the current troubles that we all face with Andy's Army can be found at the Fresh Juice blog, which has the following to say:

The National Union of Healthcare Workers (NUHW) has charged the SEIU with intimidating immigrants in a recent Fresno union election. NUHW has been seeking to break away from the undemocratic SEIU. According to the NUHW, SEIU has engaged in violence and worker intimidation. They are not the only victim of SEIU’s plundering. It is no wonder that the SEIU is pushing to eliminate secret ballot elections (designed to prevent this very kind of coercion) by backing Card Check Forced Unionization (the perversely named “Employee Free Choice Act”).

NUHW has been seeking to break away from the undemocratic SEIU’s top-down-control structure. NUHW accuses the SEIU of using scare tactics and violence to keep workers from voting to leave SEIU, and of illegally coercing Bank of America into giving the SEIU an $88 million credit line (despite federal law prohibiting financial ties between employers and unions attempting to organize their employees). Their latest complaint alleges that the SEIU intimidated immigrant workers – coming to their homes several times a day, questioning their legal status, and threatening deportation or loss of wages and benefits if they voted to leave SEIU. “It’s disturbing to watch SEIU eat its own like this,” says NUHW’s attorney.

NUHW is not SEIU’s only victim. Elsewhere, SEIU is besieging breakaway rival UNITE HERE. SEIU has spent millions attacking rivals who accuse it of strong-arm tactics, including coercion, threats, and harassment. Why is SEIU doing this? They are after plunder – “prime Manhattan real estate, considerable cash reserves and a majority stake in Amalgamated Bank in New York, which has more than $4 billion in assets.”

SEIU’s intimidation tactics make clear that they are pushing to eliminate secret ballot elections because it facilitates their piracy. SEIU’s tactics give lie to their recently leaked talking points that claim we need “employee free choice” (election-free union intimidation) because “working families” (code name for unions) are being victimized by “a company-dominated system” that “denies workers a free choice” (secret ballot elections designed to prevent intimidation). Even their fellow unions make it clear that SEIU is an anti-democratic organization that threatens and intimidates working families – the neighborhood bully.

Those "talking points" referred to above are an indication of what pro-EFCA people should say when confronted by opposition to EFCA. Needless to say, what they say on the "yes" side of the ledger, they would typically say "no" to when dealing with NUHW...



I particularly like, in the "yes" column, the entry that says that we need to make sure that "workers can have a free choice to join together in a union without management interference or intimidation." Another good one is their claim that the "company dominated system we have today" is one that "denies the workers a free choice." I'm sure, of course, that SEIU and the Zombies will fully and completely implement those precepts in the upcoming vote at SRMH, right? (/sarc)

One other note to the Plague - if you ever put on a document...

FOR INTERNAL USE ONLY - NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION

...all you are doing is guaranteeing that it gets external use, and will be distributed as widely as possible - and not in any way that you would like. The 'tubes are like that, ya know?

3 comments:

  1. Sierra,

    In your quest to slam SEIU (which they richly deserve), please be careful to not promote anti-Union arguments.

    Yes, SEIU is hypocritical in supporting Employee Free Choice - except if those employees choose NUHW. But you can make the point without quoting right-wing, anti-Union websites like "Fresh Juice", which view any attempt by Unions to organize new members as a "dues grab"

    And, yes, SEIU acted thuggishly in Fresno. But you can make that point without promoting Ken Hamidi, who is admittedly anti-Union. Keep in mind, Hamidi is a non-member of SEIU who attempted to barge into an SEIU sponsored event at the Union hall with a videocamera. SEIU may have handled it clumsily, but a Union has the right to keep non-members out of its events.

    Not every enemy of your enemy is your friend.

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  2. Well, what can you say? SEIU is the most disgusting so-called union in the country. The SEIU has no morals, ethics or credibility among working families. Instead of fighting for workers, SEIU has alligned itself with the bosses in order to grow their membership. But this strategy has only alienated and divided workers while their wages and benefits are being erroded with SEIU's total consent and approval.

    My advice to home healthcare workers and healthcare workers in general is to shun SEIU. Avoid the Plague if you want to retain a living wage. Vote NUHW, the real union with your best interest at heart.

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  3. Your stuff is good, but those are some pretty heinous sites you're linking us to.

    ReplyDelete

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