SEIU Removes Stewards

As many people know, the UHW trustee's started forcibly removing union stewards from Orange County since the beginning of March. Eight and counting.

This has come as a shock to many employees who respected and valued their efforts spent representing them. I am continually having members approach me and ask, "What's going on?. How can this happen?"

It is difficult answering these questions. It is not like these stewards were poor stewards, trouble makers or uninvolved. These individuals are experienced stewards who have worked hard representing members of our union for quite a long time. We have lost our Rep Chair, Chief Steward, and our previous Contract Specialist.

I have worked with these individuals for quite a few years and have great respect for them as individuals and as stewards. In removing these stewards, the trustee's are doing little but harming the individuals these stewards represent and validating the fears members have that SEIU does not care about their voice. The constituents of these stewards did not want them removed and they did not vote them out.

So the question I constantly hear is how did this happen? The answer is simple, our local is under a trusteeship. During this time our local's constitution and bylaws have been removed and all the normal rules have been thrown out the window. When placing our local under the trusteeship the Trustees could have opted to immediately remove all stewards and start a new. They have the right to do this under a trusteeship.

Is it right? I don't think so and from the grumbling I hear from the majority of our members they don't either.

Since the members didn't want it, why did they do it? This is a good question. In our last Steward Council, Dave Regan addressed this issue and his response is they only were removing stewards who refused to not push decertifications and petitions to stop union dues and cope withdrawals.

Unfortunately my experience has shown this is not the case. Yes some of the stewards who were removed were pushing all of the above. However, one of the individuals removed I know for a fact never done any of the above and had been completely silent on the trusteeship issue entirely. Another four of those removed were on the fence on the issue and were only sharing both sides of the issue to members.

I personally was suspended from being able to represent members until meeting with the Union Reps. In my long talk with them, these were not the only three things being asked of me. The direction of my questioning mainly focused upon whether I was ready to go forward with SEIU's agenda or with NUHW. I fully expected to be removed as a steward as those before me. As I explained to them, when it comes to union politics, as always I will continue to take the role of providing my members with as much information pro's and con's and letting them make their own decisions. As a steward, I do not feel it is my role to tell members what to do but provide them with information to help them make their own decisions. The only loyalty I have is to my fellow members and to no leaders. In my mind, our union is the dues paying members not those we pay to represent us.

Surprisingly, they did not remove me. At least not yet. I say this because from what I have seen from the stewards who were removed at my location, they were acting the same. They were just providing the members with information. They were on the fence as far as the NUHW / SEIU UHW issue but SEIU decided to push them off the fence so their feet are firmly planted with NUHW. Quite a few members now feel the same.

These are crazy times... Only time will tell how things will progress.

Brent Hostetler