UNITE HERE Fends Off Attacks, Puts SEIU on DefensiveRandy Shawbyline‚ May. 04‚ 2009Last week saw a flurry of activity in UNITE HERE’s ongoing struggle to preserve its membership and jurisdiction. As SEIU dispatched organizers to disrupt UNITE HERE organizing efforts at Phoenix’s Sheraton Convention Center Hotel, UNITE HERE responded by distributing flyers to SEIU’s public employees in the city telling them what their union was doing to undermine hotel workers. Negotiations between the two sides broke off on April 30, leading UNITE HERE President John Wilhelm to charge that SEIU was “insisting on taking a large number of UNITE HERE members in hotels and gaming, as well as the right to organize in the hotel industry competitively with us.” SEIU President Andy Stern issued a public appeal for Wilhelm to continue negotiations, and offered to submit all outstanding issues to binding arbitration. Wilhelm responded on May 1 that no International union has ever submitted its future to arbitration. Wilhelm also asked, if Stern favored binding arbitration, “Why didn’t SEIU propose arbitration in your dispute with United Health Care West and Sal Rosselli”? One development over the past weeks is undisputed: UNITE HERE is now putting SEIU on the defensive, shifting the debate from an internal union fight to a broader challenge to SEIU’s overall direction. |