-By Warner Todd Huston
Andy Stern has a plan. But, if you are in a local he doesn’t like, don’t expect your local to be “allowed” to stay in existence. Because if there is one thing that Andy Stern doesn’t like it’s union members that think they have a say in their own union. And if they don’t like it, he’ll make them just go away.
Sounds distinctly Mob-like, doesn’t it?
Well, to many of the members of the Service Employees International Union, Mob-like is exactly what it’s like.
Take JuanAntonio Molina who belongs to a United Healthcare Workers local in San Francisco. The UHW was swallowed by the SEIU but originally told that they would stay in control of their own local affairs.
How times change.
Now the SEIU has decided to take Mr. Molina’s union local and eliminate it, rub it out, put it on ice, if you will. And the bigwigs at the SEIU HQ didn’t even ask nicely. You see, Mr. Molina’s local is now being controlled from SEIU HQ in Washington D.C. not at the local level like it always has been and the potentate in the D.C. office has deemed Mr. Molina’s local unworthy. And Molina isn’t a bit happy about it.
Democracy is the backbone of any union, and it is only through democracy that we in UHW are strong. We have built strong political support because we first have support from our membership. We elect our own stewards and bargaining team members. In negotiations, we the members decide by voice and by vote (one member, one vote). And recently we homecare workers voted to stay in UHW so we can be with our sisters and brothers who work in hospitals.
Now in Puerto Rico, during the SEIU convention, the International leadership has proposed changes that remove the power of members. They made a proposal to cut our local in half, making a local exclusively for nursing home and homecare workers. And unbelievably, this plan is called “Justice for All”! The right to stay within our union (UHW) should only belong to us members, and at no time should International top leaders decide for members.
Democracy? No democracy need apply when Andy Stern has a plan.
And yet, they would do this to us without a democratic vote!
Yes, Mr. Molina. They do indeed.
Is this justice for all? Do you believe in being ordered what to do? Who should decide which union I belong to?
No, Mr. Molina. It isn’t. But, let’s ask King Andy. He’ll help you out with that little question.
One has to feel for the UHW folks. They’ve been sold a bill of goods. Andy Stern has bigger fish to fry, though. Sadly, “democracy” just isn’t on the menu.
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Warner Todd Huston is a Chicago based freelance writer, has been writing opinion editorials and social criticism since early 2001 and is featured on many websites such as newsbusters.org, townhall.com, New Media Journal, Men’s News Daily and the New Media Alliance among many, many others. Additionally, he has been a frequent guest on talk-radio programs to discuss his opinion editorials and current events. He has also written for several history magazines and appears in the new book “Americans on Politics, Policy and Pop Culture” which can be purchased on amazon.com. He is also the owner and operator of publiusforum.com. Feel free to contact him with any comments or questions : EMAIL Warner Todd Huston