JULY 23, 2008 - On July 23, 2008 the United States District Court in Los Angeles dismissed a lawsuit by SEIU against ten (10) of its members in a southern California local. SEIU, based in Washington, D. C. had filed the suit to try to silence reformers within the union, according to Ms. Rosie Byers, a member of the Executive Board of the local, known as United Health Workers (UHW).

She additionally stated that “The charges made against local union members had no legal basis. The only purpose of the suit was to harass and discredit members of UHW who had spoken out against Andy Stern’s and Anna Burger’s backroom deals with corporations that hurt healthcare workers and our patients.”

The action by the international was filed just before its quadrennial convention in June 2008 in an effort to stifle demands from locals and members for democracy within SEIU, a commodity sadly lacking. The ten victims of lawsuit abuse by SEIU were publicly advocating for the prevention of sweetheart deals without input from the members and for requiring that members actually contribute to bargaining and have a chance to vote on any proposed contract, positions opposed by SEIU.

The afore-mentioned convention was the source of much dissent and criticism as noted in a New York Times article on June 1, 2008. In the article, the Times notes that SEIU “is about to jettison a time-honored union tradition – having members go to their union representatives with their questions and grievances. The delegates are expected to vote to have members rely on call centers instead to handle their problems.”

This approach means that those workers represented by SEIU will not be able to have a labor representative, called a business agent by some unions, visit them in the workplace to discuss possible grievances or other work issues.

By contrast, EAA provides knowledgeable labor representatives who are assigned to particular City departments, are very familiar with the conditions unique to each department, know the HR personnel, and anticipate HR’s position on most issues. This allows for more effective representation and a personal touch totally absent from the call center approach.

The full text of the article on dismissal of the lawsuit is available at the SEIUvoice.org website:
click here

The full text of the Times article is available at the New York Times website:
click here