Saturday, February 7, 2009

Union Democracy

Both NUHW (previously UHW-W) and SEIU claim to be advocating union democracy, but if you look at article XXV on page 89 in SEIU's 2008 Constitutional Amendments you will see something far from democratic.

To paraphrase:

If the majority of a union wishes to disaffiliate or dissassociate from SEIU they must first notify the International 60 days before meeting to hold a vote and give a SEIU representative the opportunity to speak at the meeting. If seven members of the union -- regardless of size -- vote not dissassociate then the local is unable to disaffiliate.


How democratic is that? This language assures that regardless of the wishes of the union, they will be unable to disaffiliate from SEIU.

The article goes on to state if a union does vote successfully to disaffiliate, all funds and assets both real and personal shall become property of the International Union.

1 comment:

  1. Corruption Scandal Hits
    Deputy Trustees’ Local Union


    Hal Ruddick and Lisa Gude, two of the Deputy Trustees appointed by Andy Stern to run SEIU-UHW, are high-ranking officials at SEIU Healthcare Illinois-Indiana, a local headquartered in Chicago with 85,000 members.
    On Monday, SEIU Healthcare Illinois-Indiana’s second highest officer, Executive Vice President Byron Hobbs, was forced to resign after it was discovered that he stole thousands of dollars from union members for his personal use.
    Hal Ruddick is directly responsible for the finances of SEIU Healthcare Illinois-Indiana. He was appointed by Stern to serve as the local’s Secretary-Treasurer, the top official responsible for safeguarding members’ dues money. If thousands of dollars were stolen on his watch, Hal Ruddick should be held responsible.
    This latest corruption scandal raises other serious issues:
    Why are officials from a corrupt Chicago local now in charge of SEIU-UHW as Deputy Trustees?
    How can Ruddick and Gude lead the negotiations for some of SEIU-UHW’s biggest contracts, including Catholic Healthcare West and Windsor Healthcare?
    Shouldn’t Ruddick and Gude go back to Illinois to clean up their mess?

    We deserve proven, effective leaders who are democratically elected and accountable to us.

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