SEIU Members for Democracy

SEIU members are responding to many changes and challenges within their locals and in SEIU as a whole.

Many members do not feel safe speaking out since the new appointee culture within SEIU has discouraged critical thinking and open debate, inferring that members who are questioning leaders or seeking answers are somehow anti-union. We do not agree.

We honored to present the viewpoints of sisters and brothers who have contacted us regarding their experiences in SEIU. Their comments appear below.

On Corruption Attributed to Tyrone Freeman at SEIU Local 6434 - August 10, 2008

I think that what Stern & Company does about this should be compared to what they tried to do with Sal Rosselli. Let's see them throw the book at Freeman, one of their insiders. I also think that the Department of Labor should take close look as to whether some International honchos had any knowledge or should have had knowledge of what was going on. Stern sure seemed to keep a real sharp eye on Rosselli's books. Did they do the same with Freeman's books? If they did, why did it take the LA Times to break the story? Something just doesn't quite add up here.

- Dan Mariscal

SEIU Staff Disrupts Labor Notes Conference - Attendees Injured  - April 14, 2008

Below is a first-hand account from Ken Paff, the national director of Teamsters for a Democratic Union:

A few people have asked for the real deal on the disruption at the Labor Notes conference by a group of SEIU officials and members.  Here it is, for those interested...

SEIU Officials Have a Blast

It was a weird scene: busloads of SEIU officials and members trying to bust into a conference of labor progressives --bullying, punching and chanting in a scene that gave me flashbacks to the Teamster officialdom of yesteryear.

I had heard that SEIU officials would storm the Labor Notes conference at its Saturday evening banquet, which would be packed, long sold-out. It was also the big fundraising event for Labor Notes, something that the organizers were no doubt quite concerned about. The SEIU picked that time because Rose Ann DeMoro, head of C.N.A. had been slated to speak at the banquet.

I told a few friends, including a Labor Notes staffer, that the reports were probably exaggerated. But the Labor Notes staff took it seriously, and made a statement at the Saturday morning session, before Anita Chan and Baldemar Velásquez spoke, that there could be problems, and appealed to all to debate and discuss contentious issues, but that no disruptions would be tolerated. I knew there were about 13 SEIU officials who arrived as a group on Friday and registered. Two friends of mine had experienced in workshops the obnoxious participation of these folks. One co-worker told me they were rude disrespectful, but not at the level of real disruption. I figured if they disrupted the banquet, the crowd would spontaneously holler ‘respect’ or ‘let her speak’ and they would be embarrassed and subdued. Was I wrong.

When the invasion occurred, I was far from the action. I was peacefully eating my salad with 900 others (there were 1100 at the conference but the banquet hall couldn’t hold all of them so they didn’t sell banquets past the limit.) I was near the podium and far from the doors where the confrontation took place.

My reports below are based on hearing from careful observers on the spot; where they conflict with press releases, consider the source. At least 3 buses of SEIU officials and members arrived, either all or mostly from 1199 Ohio . Some SEIU reps and organizers were recognized by participants. A few in the advance line, at the point of confrontation, wore bandana masks to avoid ID or pictures, but in at least one case, an LN participant pulled the mask off the SEIU official. There were 200 at most. The C.N.A press release said 500, and the SEIU press release said 800; so the C N A exaggerated, and the SEIU (they surely knew the number) simply multiplied by four.

They arrived at exterior glass hotel doors near the banquet hall. They beat on the glass and chanted while hotel staff eyed them from inside, a bit removed from Labor Notes participants, who were in the banquet room or still streaming into it.

One of their inside people slipped past the hotel staff and opened the door from the inside, and they flooded in.

The delay there gave some participants time to organize a thin line of defense across the three sets of double doors leading into the banquet hall. The doors were closed and volunteer participants stood guard at them, some with locked arms. The Labor Notes staff had recruited a number of these people, including several long time Teamsters who have seen duty with Teamster thugs.

The advance line of SEIU staffers led the chanting group forward and pushed and punched and tried to break in, and almost did. My friend Dan Campbell had his glasses broken from a glancing punch.

Several Teamsters and others who remember "BLAST," the "Brotherhood of Loyal Americans and Strong Teamsters" of the mid-1980s, inevitably discussed the scene by way of compare-and-contrast with that Teamster goon squad. Campbell told me that they were a light-weight version of BLAST. The conference volunteers managed to hold their ground, although they were vastly outnumbered.

Jim West, now a professional photographer and formerly a Labor Notes editor, said they were determined to break in and disrupt, and almost succeeded.

Several Labor Notes participants were assaulted or injured. One was Dianne Feeley, a retired Detroit auto worker. She was assaulted and knocked down, leaving her face covered in blood. She was taken to the ER, but was able to come back to the conference the next day.

She seems an unlikely target for SEIU officials chanting about union busters, since Dianne had helped organize a couple hundred participants to go to the American Axle strike line earlier that day. She retired from American Axle a few years ago and has been on their picket line regularly over the past 7 weeks.

Another BLAST parallel was the composition of the SEIU force. It was led by officials, but many behind them were rank and file members who had been "mobilized." A friend talked to some of them and found out they didn’t know that they were brought to invade a national (and international) labor event. One said they were told it was a meeting of union busters. A few had children with them, so they were hardly prepared for a confrontation. Minus the children, this was generally the BLAST composition: the well-organized union staff up front, and behind were rank and filers who may or may not know who or why they were attacking.

I became aware of what was happening when I saw from across the hall the doors closed, but one came open and SEIU signs and a loud commotion were at the opening. Simultaneously one of their insiders sneaked on the podium and grabbed the mike and started yelling about union busters. A retired Teamster, Gary Brooks, who films for Labor Beat, was up front and I heard him startle her by saying put down his personal mike "before you break it." Two Labor Notes staffers escorted her off the stage. The hotel wait staff passed the "assemble" signal and abruptly left the hall, retreating to the kitchen area to avoid any potential violence.

It was clear that they intended to muscle their way into the crowded room and disrupt by marching, chanting, encircling, taking over the podium, etc. In that, they failed. Within minutes they left, chanting "We’ll be back"

The SEIU press release on this disgraceful disruption was other-worldly. Has Leebove gone back to work for them? It states that "Open debate serves an important role as we work to strengthen our movement. The Labor Notes Conference is the right time and place to discuss our differences." Say what?

Were they bussing in confused (a.k.a. "mobilized") members led by staffers to bust into a full banquet, to "discuss and debate?"

They easily could have "discussed and debated," and their inside group did just that, though apparently not in a way designed to convince, more to show how verbally tough they are. The SEIU International could have asked to lead a workshop or send a speaker.

The Teamster BLAST squad, which in 1983 did break into a TDU convention and disrupt and delay it, also issued a press release from Leebove saying they were there to debate.

Here’s who they were going to disrupt and silence, had they succeeded:

First, De Moro wasn’t there. She didn’t show, apparently anticipating some kind of problem. The Labor Notes staff showed a 4-5 minute video of her giving greetings to the event. The SEIU officials knew this long in advance, as it was announced in the morning session, presumably with their inside force listening.

The speakers that evening were assembled next to the podium at the time of the disruption. They were

*       A disabled (due to lung disease) building trades unionist, a 9-11 rescue volunteer, who has devoted himself to winning benefits and recognition for the 9-11 rescue workers and those in other disasters.

*       The Local 235 American Axle & Manufacturing strikers. Three strike leaders and activists took the stage for a short and rousing speech.

*       The workers at the Baltimore Camden Yards who are part of United Workers of Baltimore who won a living wage for the stadium cleaners.

*       Three members of the New York Taxi Workers Alliance.

If only those "mobilized" SEIU rank and filers could have heard these folks, they might have found they had a whole lot in common with the speakers and the conference attendees.

I thought the conference was terrific. I wasn’t there most of Friday, but attended all three main sessions and three excellent workshop sessions and was able to meet and make contacts with some impressive people.

I know almost nothing of the flash point of the C.N.A – SEIU dispute in Ohio . I certainly know the unions have been at odds off and on for years. Whatever the merits of the SEIU International’s viewpoint, sending a squad to disrupt a labor conference for the "crime" of having the head of C.N.A speak there was a disgusting move, and a dangerous one if it continues to happen.

I can’t help but think there was something about the gathering itself that seemed threatening to the SEIU International. I think De Moro is on the AFLCIO Executive Council, but I doubt the SEIU will be disrupting there chanting that John Sweeney is a union buster for sitting with De Moro. The C.N.A. is on good terms with the Teamster leadership in Northern California . Will the SEIU International be busting up any meetings they may hold with De Moro present?

Their press release was headed "SEIU Members Stand Up for the Future of the Labor Movement." Doesn’t seem like a future that I’m interested in. I saw it in the past, and would like to keep it there.

Background on the Crisis in SEIU from Dan Mariscal, Fight for 347:

"An interesting question was asked of me by a fairly new Local 347 member during my workshift. He asked why we need to fight this merger and why we shouldn't just accept progress; "Why hang on to the old way of doing things?", he said. I wanted to know how much about this "progress" he knew about, so I asked him if he knew who the head of his union is, and he replied; "isn't it Julie Butcher?". I asked him, "does the name Andy Stern ring a bell?" He said, "not really".

At that point it dawned on me howimportant it was to let the members know what is going on, not just at a local level, but what's REALLY going on and what role Fight For 347 is playing.

First, let me introduce you to Mr. Andy Stern. Andy is President of Service Employees International Union (SEIU). That means he makes the decisions about SEIU at a national level. He's the one who can make changes that will affect all SEIU locals in the county and in all the states where SEIU has locals. Any changes that any SEIU locals make may have to meet with his approval. He also has the power to put a local into trusteeship.

Trusteeship is when he appoints someone to take over the day to day operation of the local and also takes control of the dues money. That also means that he can dissolve any elected board and oust any duly elected official and staff. Yes, he's got that much power. But he does have a "rule book", if you will. It's the International's Constitution and Bylaws, but as we're finding out,
some of these rules are being seriously contorted.

Next, let me introduce you to Ms. Annelle Grajeda. Mr. Grajeda was director of SEIU Local 660 which represents the employees of the County of Los Angeles, numbering about 55,000. Local 660 had an elected board which Ms. Grajeda answered to. Now that 660 was merged into SEIU 721, a previously non-existent SEIU local, Ms. Grajeda has been "appointed" president of 721 and now answers to Andy Stern. She has also "appointed" her own board members to this new Local 721. Own our local, Local 347 with about 9000
members, was taken over by 721. Our 347 elected officers and board members were ousted and our dues money (about $6M a year) is now in 721's control.

Now, let me introduce you to Mr. Sal Rosselli. Sal is president of United Health Care workers-West (UHW), numbering 150,000 members, which is also part of SEIU. He was once President of the SEIU state council until he opposed the Health Care legislation that Andy & Schwarzenegger supported. That Bill ultimately died in the senate, but Andy didn't appreciate Sal's opposing viewpoint, however well founded. Sal was ultimately forced out of the SEIU State Council. Sal began speaking out against the erosion of union
democracy within SEIU, and really pissed Andy off. Sal ultimately resigned from the International Executive Board, which he was also a member of, because he no longer wanted to be part of the effort to erode our SEIU member-based power and control. Turning SEIU into a corporate run union, if you will.

As a matter of fact, there is now a grass roots movement of other SEIU members, activists and leaders that are banding together to preserve their members control over their union. Some, like us, have created their own websites and have linked up with like-minded SEIU members. It has now evolved into a serious threat to Andy's leadership.....and it's still growing! Check out the websites that have sprung up:

[info@seiu-uhw.org][www.reformseiu.org][www.seiuvoice.org][http://finance.groups.yahoo.com/group/fightfor347/][www.democracy4seiu.org/].

It's not just us, people. We're talking thousands, here. How does all this effect us as City employees? It shows us the direction that we're headed for, if nothing is done to change this direction that we're headed in. If an insider, like Sal, bails out because of what he knows about our direction, we can't and mustn't ignore this. Some may view this as a personal fight between Andy and Sal,
but the way the merger of our own local was attempted gives us an important clue.

Did we get to vote as a local whether we wanted to merge our Local 347 to form the new 721? Is this what our City employee union members really wanted? Did we know that our elected 347 Board would be dissolved? Are there still City employee/union members, who still don't know that anything has changed? Shouldn't we, as City employees, be the ones who decide how we're represented and by what organization?

Those are some of the issues that will be addressed by the upcoming Employee Relations Board hearing on April 28, 2008. This could be history-making stuff, ground-breaking and precedent setting decisions may come out of this ERB hearing.

The right of City employees to make these kinds of decisions regarding their representation is what's at stake here. Shouldn't City employees have the right to decide who's going to represent them, if the organization that WAS representing them, changes?
THAT'S WHAT WE'RE FIGHTING FOR!

So the next time a fellow employee/union member asks why Fight For 347 is fighting, tell them that if we don't do it, who will?" - Dan Mariscal, Fight for 347 http://finance.groups.yahoo.com/group/fightfor347/

http://www.reformseiu.org/2008/02/rank-and-file-smart-activist-reports.html - Michael T. Rivera reports back on the 2008 Take Back America Convention held on March 17-19 in Washington, D.C. The Take Back America Convention is sponsored by progressive groups that seek to address issues such as job creation, education, healthcare, social justice, a healthier environment, energy independence, retirement security, and a more democratic society.

"In my opinion, when my Public Employees Association joined SEIU, now Local SEIU 1107, it was for the purpose of gaining strength through collective action.  Now, SEIU has changed their direction without member input and no longer wants members to be the driving force in the union. SEIU International Board action is a betrayal of member trust, and is anti-member.

The International wants our monthly per capita payments, cope contributions, but not our input.

Taxation without Representation is tyranny or, more appropriately called, a DICTATORSHIP."

http://www.reformseiu.org/2006/02/what-brought-me-to-reform-movement-and.html - What Brought Me to the Reform Movement and S.M.A.R.T., by former SEIU 521 Santa Clara County Library Chief Steward, Catherine Alexander

"Thanks for all of the information you have on your website!  I'm glad to see more stuff like this about the problems in SEIU.  I'm an SEIU member from Portland and I'm interested in what I can do to help out.  We've had problems that sound pretty similar to those members have in other places in SEIU, and a group of us have been meeting to discuss them."

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