SEIU plans to form new union
Service Employees International Union announced plans Friday to unite 240,000 home care and nursing home workers in California in a single local union. Leaders at SEIU-United Healthcare Workers West, a feisty health care local that represents 140,000 long-term care and hospital workers in the state — and would lose almost half of its membership if the new union local is formed — immediately fired off a petition asking for a membership vote on disaffiliation from the international union.
The escalation of a nasty internal rift at SEIU over organizing and negotiating tactics comes at a time of high-stakes contract negotiations and threats of budget cuts in Sacramento that could have a drastic effect on hours and wages for health care workers. With a big clock ticking on the $42 billion state budget deficit, efforts by SEIU to form a new local union and UHW to disconnect from the fold will play out over the next few months.
The international union has tapped executive vice president Eliseo Medina and Michael Holland, an attorney with experience in union reorganizations, to draw up an implementation plan and timeline for the new statewide local within 30 days. A disaffiliation vote could be scheduled as Continue reading ‘A Nasty Internal Rift at SEIU’
