SEIU Members for Democracy

SEIU Members for Democracy connects rank and file groups across the country who are working for democratic change and grass roots leadership by and for workers. We seek a return to transparency, financial accountability, open debate, and one member, one vote self-governance, with term limits for all elected SEIU leaders. 

One site, one voice, for a strong and democratic labor movement.

This site is a portal for SEIU and other union groups fighting for democratic labor reform. This site reports back on the democratic labor reform movement for the education of rank and file members.

News Feeds

See our Democracy4SEIU Bloglines news feeds for the latest local and national news on the crisis in SEIU: http://www.bloglines.com/public/Democracy4SEIU 

Top Stories 

(See our Democracy4SEIU news feeds page for our Archive of Top Stories. See our Puerto Rico Convention page for 2008 SEIU International Convention reports and information about the FMPR/Puerto Rican teachers and their plight.)

New! Organizing the organized? A worker at Chicago's Stroger Hospital looks at the latest SEIU raid on the rival CNA union - SocialistWorker.org, August 20, 2008 - http://socialistworker.org/2008/08/20/organizing-the-organized

New! Edwards won't attend big St. Paul Labor Day event: The union organizing the event said it will celebrate workers' achievements with music and other speakers - by Randy Furst, Star Tribune, August 19, 2008 - http://www.startribune.com/local/stpaul/27115859.html?elr=KArksi8cyaiUncacyi8cyaiUiD3aPc:_Yyc:aUU

New! Worker's Paradise: Tips Can Help Companies Deal With Unions - by Arnold M. Knightly, Las Vegas Business Press, August 18, 2008 - http://www.lvbusinesspress.com/articles/2008/08/18/news/iq_22995010.txt

(8-17 event) Report Back and Video on the 2008 SEIU International Convention - Including Comments by Reform Delegates and a Video Report Covering the Attack on the FMPR teachers - Sunday, August 17, 2008 at 6 p.m., First Unitarian Church of San Jose, 160 N 3rd Street, San Jose, CA. For more information contact: seiu521membersfordemocracy(at)gmail.com - PDF of leaflet

New! Spending Issue Raises Concern for SEIU Plans - by Kris Maher, Wall Street Journal, August 16, 2008 - http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121885048662946367.html

New! U.S. Investigates L.A.-Based Union's Election - by Paul Pringle, Los Angeles Times, August 16, 2008 - http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-union17-2008aug17,0,5401444.story

Formal Charges Against SEIU Local 721 Appointed Leaders - by Ron Tanner and Arturo Diaz, August 14, 2008 - PDF of letter to Stern and Berger

NLRB Backs SEIU-UHW in Nation’s Largest Organizing Drive - by Randy Shaw‚ BeyondChron.org, Aug. 13‚ 2008 - http://www.beyondchron.org/articles/NLRB_Backs_SEIU_UHW_in_Nation_s_Largest_Organizing_Drive_5972.html

A Response to the Times - by Tyrone Freeman, TyroneFreeman.com, August 12, 2008 - http://tyronefreeman.com/2008/08/11/response-to-the-times/#comments (Freeman removed his blog comments-SM4D)

SEIU Local 521 Members for Union Democracy - New SEIU reform blog posted, August 12, 2008 - http://521membersfordemocracy.blogspot.com/

Investigation of Spending by Care Workers' Union is Sought. Caregivers' advocates react to report on United Long-Term Care Workers and its chief, Tyrone Freeman - by Paul Pringle, Los Angeles Times, August 12, 2008 - http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-union12-2008aug12,0,1469274.story

Schwarzenegger Sues Controller Over Pay Cuts - by Steve Lawrence/AP, San Francisco Chronicle, August 11, 2008 - http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2008/08/11/state/n144927D28.DTL&tsp=1

SEIU's Freeman Faces Scrutiny - Sacramento Bee, August 11, 2008 - http://data.sacbee.com/capalert/login.html?prv=http3A//www.sacbee.com/static/weblogs/capitolalertlatest/014499.html

City Of Los Angeles SEIU Members Create New Union Reform Blog (Fight for 347 site taken down) - Dan Mariscal, cityoflosangelesseiumembers.com/blog, August 9, 2008 - http://cityoflosangelesseiumembers.com/blog

A Test for Union Leadership - by Joe Mathews, New America Foundation: The Blockbuster Democracy Blog, August 9, 2008 - http://www.newamerica.net/blog/blockbuster_democracy 

Union, Charity Paid Thousands to Firms Owned by Official's Relatives - SEIU Pres Stern's Key CA Operative Tyrone Freeman Linked To Corruption Scheme - by Paul Pringle, LA Times, August 9, 2008 - http://www.latimes.com/news/la-me-union9-2008aug09,0,6048769,full.story

SEIU Local 6434 Faces Financial Criticism - (blog entry) by Robert in Monterey, Caltics.com, August 9, 2008 - http://www.calitics.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=6618

Stanford Prevails in Unfair Labor Case: SEIU Local 715 Engaged in Unfair Labor Practices - (author unknown), San Francisco Business Times, August 8, 2008 - http://www.bizjournals.com/sanfrancisco/stories/2008/08/04/daily52.html

UHW Elected Long Term Care Leaders Call for Tyrone Freeman's Resignation, New Leadership at SEIU Local 6434 - Letter submitted to D4S by Maya Morris, UHW Executive Board member, August 7, 2008 - PDF of letter to SEIU International Executive Board.

Behold the SEIU: What Does a Radical Labor Union Look Like? - by David Macaray, CounterPunch, August 7, 2008 - http://www.counterpunch.org/macaray08072008.html

The Secret Money Project: What's a 527, Anyway? - by Peter Overby, NPR, August 7, 2008 - http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=93368983

The Secret Money Project: Union Operative Advocates And Gains Power - by Peter Overby, NPR, August 7, 2008 - http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=93357018

SEIU Lawsuit Raises Further Questions About Governor Schwarzenegger’s State Employee Wage Order - Kyle Samia, California Progress Report, August 7, 2008 - http://www.californiaprogressreport.com/2008/08/new_seiu_lawsui.html

Hospital, Workers Argue Union Status: SEIU No Longer Recognized; Workers Pursue New Election - by Joanna Xu, Stanford Daily, August 7, 2008 - http://daily.stanford.edu/article/2008/8/7/hospitalWorkersArgueUnionStatus

AFL-CIO Ends Rift and Endorses Long Thompson - (author unknown), Chicago Tribune, August 7, 2008 - http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/wire/chi-ap-in-governorsrace-un,0,1602106.story

The Gov's Casmalia Connection - Today's Editorial, The Lompoc Record, August 7, 2008 - http://www.lompocrecord.com/articles/2008/08/07/opinion/080708c.txt)

State Workers Union Sues Governor, Again, Over Layoffs - Mathew Yi, San Francisco Chronicle, August 6, 2008 - http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/08/06/MN0C1269RP.DTL&tsp=1

State Employees Union Sues Over Late Checks - by Kevin Yamamura, Sacramento Bee, August 6, 2008 - http://www.sacbee.com/111/story/1137108.html

State Workers File Third Lawsuit Against Executive Order - by Elizabeth Bishop, News10.net (Sacramento ABC affiliate), August 6, 2008 - http://www.news10.net/news/story.aspx?storyid=45971&catid=2

Will Call Center Servicing Solve Labor's "Customer Satisfaction" Problems? - by Steve Early, ZNet, August 5, 2008 - http://www.zmag.org/znet/viewArticle/18347

SEIU Members Feel Unwanted Pressure - Marlene Jones, RN, Wall Street Journal, August 5, 2008 - http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121790229024312465.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

Wal-Mart: Not a Teamster Player - by Scott Reeves, Minyanville.com, August 4, 2008 - http://www.minyanville.com/articles/MSFT-WMT-airlines-DELL-gm-F/index/a/18313

The Secret Money Project: The Organizations - Profile: Service Employees International Union - by Will Evans, NPR, August 4, 2008 - http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=93022369

The Debate Over Private Equity in Banking - by John Carney, DealBreaker.com, August 4, 2008 - http://dealbreaker.com/2008/08/the_debate_over_private_equity.php

State Workers Protest at Governor's Home - (Author Unknown), CBS2.com, August 4, 2008 - http://cbs2.com/local/State.Workers.Picket.2.786569.html

Worker's Union Files Suit to Block Schwarzenegger’s Layoff Order - by Michael Rothfeld and Susannah Rosenblatt, Los Angeles Times, August 2, 2008 - http://www.latimes.com/business/careers/work/la-me-cuts2-2008aug02,0,3843808.story

Unions Sue Over Layoffs, Pay Cuts - by Dan Thompson, The Associated Press, August 2, 2008 - http://www.venturacountystar.com/news/2008/aug/02/unions-sue-over-layoffs-pay-cuts/

Union Fights Governor on Pay Cuts, Layoffs - by Mathew Yi, Samantha Sondag, San Francisco Chronicle, August 2, 2008 - http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/08/01/MNSP123N0H.DTL&type=politics

Union sues to reverse state layoffs: The SEIU's suit was one of at least 3 actions designed to counter Gov. Schwarzenegger's order to lay off 10,000 employees, including a protest featuring a big pink slip addressed to the governor - by Michael Rothfeld, Los Angeles Times, August 1, 2008 - http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-sacto2-2008aug02,0,2721351.story

(See our Democracy4SEIU news feeds page for our Archive of Top Stories from previous months. See our Puerto Rico Convention page for 2008 SEIU International Convention reports and information about the FMPR/Puerto Rican teachers and their plight.)

Share Your Vision

If you are working for a return to democratic leadership within your SEIU local, we want to hear from you.

• Send us a link to your reform Web site or blog
• Send us photos of your reform events
• Share your YouTube video links

Not an SEIU local? We also want to hear from our brothers and sisters who are working for democracy in other unions!

Kudos

SEIU Members for Democracy sends a big 'thank you' to our California fire fighters, law enforcement officers, and allied safety professionals, who have been on the job day after day, week after week, during the recent California wildfires:

CDF Fire Fighters - http://www.cdf-firefighters.org/who-we-are.htm

California State Fire Fighters Association - http://www.csfa.net/

International Association of Fire Fighters - http://www.iaff.org/

California Peace Officers' Association - http://www.cpoa.org/

California State Sheriffs' Association - http://www.calsheriffs.org/

California Association of Highway Patrolmen - http://www.thecahp.org/

California Law Enforcement Associations - http://www.post.ca.gov/library/other/associations.asp

(If we have we have inadvertantly left a group off of this list, please contact us at democracy4seiu@gmail.com)

Members are the Foundation of a Strong Union 

Has paid union staff (or paid union leadership) at your local ever worked a union job in your field?

Do you have a voice in how your dues money is being spent?

Do paid union staff make more money than you (or other rank and filers) do?

Are you notified about Executive Board, bylaws, and other meetings so you can observe or attend?

Do you have access to board minutes and motions so you know how your union is being run?

Is there a fair voting process at your union with mail ballots so all can participate?

Was your union president (or executive board or chapter chair) recently elected by represented rank and file members?

Do organizers and union managers support members who are advocating for democratic union principles?

Are members informed that 'lost time' is subtracted from their retirement years of service?

Are retirees (and those who have been injured on the job) treated with respect?

Does a majority vote by members take place before major changes occur at your union?

Does your union engage in union raids, despite the wishes of already organized workers?

If your answer is 'no' to any of these questions, we invite you to view our reform links page to see how other SEIU members are working for democractic reform across the nation. Our labor files page looks at reformists and events in other unions.

We support non-violent change and want our union leaders to be examples of the best that democratic unionization has to offer.

"When people are involved in something constructive, trying to bring about change, they tend to be less violent than those who are not engaged in rebuilding or in anything creative. Non-violence forces one to be creative; it forces any leader to go to the people and get them involved so that they can come forth with new ideas. I think that once people understand the strength of non-violence— the force it generates, the love it creates, the response that it brings from the total community—they will not be willing to abandon it easily."

-Cesar Chavez