International Union Will Push to Weaken Rank-and-File Members’ Voices
My name is Michael Rivera. I’ve been a Respiratory Therapist for 18 years, specializing in Neonatal and Pediatric Respiratory Care. I’m very concerned about the future of my union, SEIU. This week, I’m going to my first SEIU convention where I’m worried that the grassroots union principles that drew me to get involved will be undermined by SEIU’s Washington-based officials. Along with other UHW members, I plan to post here and at www.seiuvoice.org with updates during the convention.
Our International union leadership has put forward an agenda that they’re calling “Justice For All,” which would strip away many of the safeguards for member oversight and governance. What alarms me most about the “Justice For All” platform is that it institutionalizes the practice of weakening the voice of rank-and-file members in national contract negotiations. Their proposal would replace elected bargaining teams with a team appointed by the International president, and it would limit worker involvement to carrying out a plan that was developed by union officials without member input.
By comparison, UHW’s “Platform For Change” proposals (www.seiuvoice.org) would guarantee the right of members to oversee bargaining at the highest levels, including during national bargaining. We don’t oppose the goals that SEIU leaders have pronounced, such as helping the tens of millions of non-union workers to organize and win the same rights that we have. But we believe the best way to build power and numbers within the labor movement is through worker leadership. Our employers must view our union as being driven by the interests of the members. Our power to create change in people’s lives rests on whether our employers view us as the driving force behind our union’s agenda or whether our employers simply see our involvement as academic.
SEIU Convention Opens Next Week
Every four years, elected delegates come together to determine the direction of our national union. This year, we’re meeting in Puerto Rico. As delegates, we’ll vote on policy resolutions and amendments to the union’s constitution and bylaws, and we’ll elect the officers and executive board members of SEIU. The convention is important because it’s where we set goals and establish a structure that will determine what this union is able to accomplish.
I’m not expecting a very fair or open decision-making process at the convention. We know from prior conventions the event is heavily scripted and delegate votes sometimes look like rubber-stamp approvals for SEIU’s Washington-based officials. We don’t expect to win our “Platform for Change” reforms at this convention. But we do expect to talk to other union members there and to leave with more relationships and greater power so that our movement to reform SEIU will continue to grow even stronger.
Since real debate probably isn’t going to happen inside the convention itself, I’m looking forward to participating here in an open discussion and debate about these important issues.
