SEIU Mega-Mergers in California Move Members To Organize Caucus

Last year, Service Employees (SEIU)President Andy Stern started a website called “Since Sliced Bread.” Now, it looks like he’s intent on slicing up the grand state of California into a few SEIU megalocals. How soon this happens and who decides is now a matter of intense debate in all levels of current SEIU locals.

Mergers have been happening in SEIU around the country for several years. Some locals have been involved in the planning, while others have had almost no discussion among the rank and file.

Hearings on the California merger process began in March. The hearings, organized by SEIU leadership, were designed to get input from the members, but it wasn’t clear how this input would be accounted for during the merger process.

ASSESSING MERGER MANIA

So, also in early March, a meeting was called by rank-and-file SEIU members in San Francisco, to assess the democracy of “merger mania.” Present at the meeting were representatives from northern California locals 2579, 790, 415, 1000, and United Healthcare Workers West (UHW). Attendees ranged from the rank-and-file to executive board members to one local president. Sal Rosselli, president of UHW, also attended.

Many members voiced concerns over the pace of the mergers, which SEIU leaders are pushing to have finished in time for the state primary elections in June. They have warned that locals must merge quickly and make the removal of Governor Schwarzenegger by Democrat Phil Angelides our number one priority.

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The discussion reflected most members’ lack of information about the mergers, as well as their growing anger. Some even raised the possibility of decertifying from SEIU.

Rosselli assured those present that decisions would be made based on what was best to raise contract standards and not what was good for union leaders. He said that the International Executive Board position was not a “top-down strategy.”

One rank-and-file member noted that, so far, merger meetings have focused on how to support Angelides, and have hardly mentioned how to win better contracts. He pointed out that his local covered workplaces as diverse as a bookstore and a Planned Parenthood clinic, and he wondered how union officers in Washington, D.C. could determine which merger would serve these members’ interests.

INTERNAL ORGANIZING?

One homecare worker reported that her members were concerned that with all the focus on organizing non-union workers, internal organizing within the union might take a back seat. This, she said, could be particularly bad for homecare workers, who do not have a common workplace or even up-to-date contact lists for their co-workers.

Those present decided to begin organizing a statewide democratic caucus within SEIU that would fight for transparency and more member participation in all decision-making—including around mergers. They said that this period of change within SEIU offers tremendous possibilities for growth and strength, but also presents the risk of more top-down control.

The Caucus for Democracy can be reached at lvpsf [at] igc [dot] org.