-By Warner Todd Huston
So, the convention has barely started and we already have the goons at the top of the SEIU trying to shut down the voice of its own members. The UHW folks are one of the alternative voices of the Services Employee International Union and they have been trying to encourage the union to reject the top-down style of leadership — more like dictatorship — of SEIU president Andy Stern.
So, the UHW folks made a nice little flier to hand out to their fellow members at the convention in San Juan so that their ideas might be heard and considered. And what do they end up faced with almost immediately? An attack on them by the commisar’s office, Androvich Von Stern. (All hail our leader!)
As Lisa Tomasian a shop steward for the UHW reports from San Juan:
Irony started the day for UHW members when the first thing we saw at the Convention was our very own Platform for Change flier—but with a different look. Big red superimposed letters screamed “WARNING—leadership representing 90% of SEIU members oppose this platform! Don’t be fooled!”
Fooled? We’ve been more than open about what we’re proposing. We’ve been putting our proposals out by mail and online for months now. Does that sound like we’re trying to fool anyone?
Imagine that. Merely wanting to be heard and have their issues discussed in an open and democratic manner? THE NERVE! Don’t these lowly rank and file members realize that they are stepping on Von Stern’s EMPIRE!
How could they be so, **shudder**, “democratic”!!? In a UNION, yet!