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I'm sitting here at the San José Convention Center at the annual SEIU-UHW West leadership conference, with thousands of members gathered to plan for their union's future. UHW has a lot of momentum, is engaged in a lot of organizing work to unionize more workplaces, and are among the leading progressive groups in the state at a time when we desperately need such allies.
And they're facing the threat of losing their elected leadership to the SEIU International, which is attempting to place UHW under trusteeship. The International accuses UHW of financial improprieties involving an "educational fund" segmented for a possible health care ballot initiative. UHW leaders and many outside observers believe the charges are groundless. The next move is a hearing on September 22-23 UPDATE: Yesterday Stern announced the hearing has been moved to September 26-27.
These developments dominate the meeting, but the rank and file members I've talked to seem resolute in their desire to defend union democracy. A group of allied reformers from other SEIU locals, SMART, have a significant presence here, a reflection of the intense battles going on within the broader SEIU movement regarding union democracy.
Whatever the outcome, there is a strong commitment to democracy among the 2,000 members here - democracy in the workplace, democracy in their union, democracy in their nation. Despite the internal politics that is an extremely positive sign. The labor movement has been at the forefront of social democratic politics in this country for over 100 years. When labor is strong, progressive politics are strong. Which makes the SEIU's efforts to trustee UHW all the more disappointing, as we need unions to be laser-focused on this election and on the policy battles that will begin as soon as the dust settles in November.
Several Democratic politicians have already spoken at the convention, and more will be here tomorrow. Steve Westly spoke on behalf of the Obama campaign, exhorting members to sign up to help canvass for the campaign, particularly in Nevada and New Mexico. Kamala Harris and Jerry Brown are speaking tomorrow. I'll have more coverage of their remarks at that time. |
