Here is a story to file away in the event you ever find yourself dealing with a union campaign involving SEIU. According to this press release from NUHW (SEIU's competitor) in a recent election SEIU used a number of tactics that it routinely accuses employers of using to intimidate and disenfranchise voters.
The election was ordered after self-directed care aides who were SEIU members petitioned for an election to leave SEIU and have NUHW become their representative. What ensued was a massive organizing campaign in which SEIU spent ten million dollars and flew in a thousand staffers to try to win the election. In the end, SEIU won, but only by two hundred or so votes.
In the aftermath of the campaign, workers are coming forward to describe the questionable tactics used by SEIU. According to these homecare workers, SEIU threatened members that if they voted to decertify SEIU and certify NUHM as their union, they would lose their health insurance benefits, their hours, and their wages. These are all things SEIU routinely accuses employers of doing in campaigns.
More importantly, this type of activity is illegal. The workers stated that even after warnings, the SEIU staffers kept making threats. They used phone calls, letters, in-person visits, etc. to keep making these threats. The article linked to above details even more tactics that were allegedly employed by SEIU in this fight.
This is pretty interesting, because as NUHW and SEIU keep fighting, the unions true colors are coming out. An interesting point for employers and others to consider - if SEIU is such a wonderful, pro-worker union, why do they have to threaten their own members in this fashion. Something else to keep in mind - SEIU is willing to engage in many questionable practices to win an organizing campaign; imagine how the EFCA would make it even easier for them to win when they are willing to go to these lengths to win. Legislators, and the public, need to be made aware of this type of activity. It puts the EFCA, and other related issues, into the proper context. (It also seems to support the EFCA-Iranian elections comparisons made elsewhere.)
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