The tireless members of United Healthcare Workers (UHW) will be on the march again this weekend, in what’s likely to be one the largest anti-trusteeship protests in
Vil San Mateo ap òganize rasanbleman "Hands Off Our Union" sa a, yon sekans nan rasanbleman anvan yo nan San Jose, Manhattan Beach, Oakland, ak lòt kote. Dram UHW ki dire lontan an (prèske yon telenovela kounye a) te kòmanse nan mwa mas lè Stern te akize kritik li ki pi pale, Prezidan UHW Sal Rosselli, pou plizyè ofans tankou rankontre an kachèt ak Rose Ann DeMoro, ki nan California Nurses Association. , yon lènmi ark nan sa Stern te rele yon fwa li "Lame Mòv." (Konte trayizon-ak-konplo sa a depi lè yo te abandone nan yon "akizasyon" SEIU ki depase Rosselli.)
In
It was a clever move for Stern to hire a "nationally respected labor expert and former U.S. Secretary of Labor" to preside over what UHW members are calling a "kangaroo court."
This is the first time that a prominent outsider has been enlisted to facilitate such a take-over. Used again and again, Stern’s trusteeship powers have demonstrated the limits of union democracy protections under the Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act (LMRDA), a federal law that
Initially, SEIU’s local union take-overs and make-overs (aka "purging and merging") were lauded by labor activists and academics for getting rid of "old guard" fiefdoms and giving the union "new strength and unity." Trusteeships have also been praised for installing a younger, more diverse officialdom (often recruited from outside SEIU) which has helped make the union
Three thousand miles away from
Lokal 509 se te yon chanpyon nan "New Strength and Unity Plan" Stern lè li te premye adopte an 2000. Kòm yon pati nan yon konplike re-aliyman 2003 nan afilye SEIU nan Massachusetts, lokal Templeton a menm fidèlman aksepte transfè move konseye nan 1,500 ki fèk. -rekrite manm soti nan 509 nan yon lòt lokal (ki te trete yo tèlman mal nan U-Mass ke yo te finalman kite SEIU pou rantre nan Asosyasyon Pwofesè Massachusetts). Jouk jounen jodi a, Templeton pa vle "sone konplètman negatif" sou sendika nasyonal la paske "mwen renmen fason yo te òganize janitors yo... e mwen panse ke pwogrè yo te fè nan òganizasyon, espesyalman travayè ki pa peye yo, se bèl bagay."
By 2004, however, Templeton was beginning to have doubts about giving "Stern more power to reorganize and trustee locals." Previously, he recalls, "there had to be corruption, malfeasance or undemocratic activity but, after New Strength Unity, they could trustee for almost any reason." To curb this trend, Templeton came to SEIU’s national convention in
"*SEIU dwe etabli direktiv ki klè ak konsistan pou mete sendika lokal yo anba administrasyon. Administrasyon yo dwe itilize sèlman kòm dènye rekou nan ka koripsyon oswa malfezans grav epi pa janm pou rezon politik.
*SEIU dwe ankouraje pwosesis kote yo ankouraje manm klas yo pou yo kandida pou pozisyon dirijan yo.
*SEIU pa dwe entèfere nan eleksyon lokal yo lè li fè aranjman pou administratè yo, ofisye pwovizwa nonmen yo, anplwaye oswa nenpòt lòt moun ki pa travay kounye a oswa ki fèk nan jiridiksyon lokal la pou kandida pou biwo lokal yo.
*Nenpòt ofisye lokal pwovizwa dwe sèvi nan kapasite sa a pou pa plis pase yon ane, epi li p ap elijib pou kandida pou yon pòs sòf si moun sa a se yon manm akoz li aktyèlman oswa dènyèman anplwaye nan jiridiksyon inite negosyasyon lokal la."
Nan kontèks politik SEIU jodi a, Templeton te sa ou ta ka rele yon "anti-fachis twò bonè" (sa vle di yon nanm fanmi ansyen radikal Ameriken ki te peye yon gwo pri pou reziste, nan fen ane 1930 yo, ranvèsman Repiblik Espayòl la paske yo pa t bezwen Dezyèm Gè Mondyal la pou avèti yo sou danje dominasyon diktatoryal yo). Menm si konparezon istorik sa a sanble yon ti jan debòde (wi, nou konnen ke Andy Stern se pa Hitler oswa Mussolini), istwa a ti kras li te ye nan eksperyans lokal 509 la tou pre lanmò, ki te swiv disidence konvansyon Templeton an 2004, pre-figi pi mal la. eprèv UHW jodi a.
Like UHW, after its challenge to Stern at this year’s SEIU convention, Local 509 soon found its own autonomy threatened. Stern dispatched a key operative to
Stern’s preferred repository for the social workers was a 45,000-member organizational oddity called the National Association of Government Employees (NAGE), a former independent union now operating in more than 40 states as SEIU Local 5000. Not surprisingly, the president of NAGE, David Holway, is the product of a Stern trusteeship, plus
Holway has plenty of income to report himself (plus homes in
Menm jan travayè swen alontèm UHW yo pa t vle anyen fè ak nenpòt lokal ki te dirije pa Los Angelean ki te tonbe kounye a, Tryone Freeman (gade CounterPunch, 3 septanm 2008), 509ers lokal yo te reziste anpil pou yo te absòbe nan fyèd Holway a. Finalman, yo te gen siksè (an pati ki te ede nan mobilizasyon manm kont fizyon an ak tout piblisite negatif Holway t ap resevwa nan Globe a.) Men, siviv 509 a kòm yon antite otonòm te gen yon pri.
The post-Templeton administration at 509 (which includes several long-time labor lefties) absorbed the lesson that bucking Stern doesn’t pay. They noticed that indigenous leadership of other major Boston-based SEIU affiliates was rapidly disappearing. Like NAGE, the other three leading "locals" all emerged from trusteeships or mergers with ex-staffers in charge, who owed their jobs to Stern, his second-in-command, Anna Burger, or Dennis Rivera, director of SEIU’s health care division.) So, at this year’s SEIU convention in
Ironically, that’s the same way Ray Marshall went along to get along (with the labor establishment) during his four years as chief enforcer of laws designed to protect workers’ pensions and their union rights. During the late 1970s,
Menm jan ak tout sekretè DOL depi 1959, Marshall te gade tou sou bò kote disidan sendika yo t ap lite pou yo simonte malere limitasyon Tit III LMRDA a ki, yon fwa yo te enpoze yon administrasyon—menm pou rezon politik revanj—, pran kontwòl la "yo pral sipoze. dwe legal pou yon peryòd de 18 mwa." (Nan SEIU, gras a itilizasyon konbine administrasyon yo, fizyon lokal yo, ak/oswa transfè manm fòse yo, kèk moun k ap travay nan zòn Boston yo te prive de dwa pou yo vote pou ofisye sendika lokal yo pandan senkan). )
Kounye a,
The right of members to disagree with union leaders—to speak out for or against their ideas and actions, free of retaliation—is more strongly embedded in Title I of the LMRDA. That’s why UHW members have now filed suit against Stern under this section of the law, as part of their take-over defense. Before he leaves
Steve Early se yon veye SEIU ki baze nan Boston, k ap travay kounye a sou yon liv pou Cornell University Press sou wòl aktivis ane swasant yo nan SEIU ak lòt sendika yo. Li te patisipe nan efò refòm sendika depi 1972, kòm yon òganizatè, avoka, edikatè travay oswa jounalis. Li ka jwenn nan [imèl pwoteje]
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