BREAKING: SEIU turning its back on AFL-CIO...for now

Mary Kay Henry, the incoming president of the Service Employees International Union is squelching rumors of a re-unification with AFL-CIO, according to Politico.

In an attempt to address the speculation concerning a possible re-unification, Henry sent a letter (in PDF) to her fellow Change to Win 'partners'

In her letter, Henry writes:

SEIU has had no discussion about returning to the AFL-CIO.  The needs of hardworking women and men in this country transcend conversation about the configuration of the labor movement and instead call on us all to work together in the interest workers and their families.


SEIU remains strongly committed to our relationship with our Change to Win partners and we look forward to strengthening those relationships in the weeks and months to come.

So, the SEIU is turning its back on reconciliation for now.  This probably shouldn't surprise too many as Mary Kay Henry hasn't even officially taken office yet.  However, it would seem unlikely that the SEIU will stay out of the AFL-CIO forever.

As the last split in the House of Labor lasted 20 years, we'll give this one a little bit more time.
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“I bring reason to your ears, and, in language as plain as ABC, hold up truth to your eyes.” Thomas Paine, December 23, 1776

For more news and views on today’s unions, go to LaborUnionReport.com.

Is this Some Sort of April Fool's joke? SEIU's Stern calls a truce in the union wars

Given that this is April Fool's Day, we cannot be certain whether this is a joke.  So, without much commentary, we'll give you the scoop, as reported by BeyondChron, a pro-union website.

...SEIU President Andy Stern told a group of janitors yesterday that his union will immediately cease its attacks on UNITE HERE, and avoid negative campaigning in elections against NUHW. Stern acknowledged that he was “wrong when I thought we could fight NUHW and UNITE HERE without weakening our ability to organize new workers. These internal union battles have distracted us from working to pass the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA) and comprehensive immigration reform.”

UNITE HERE President John Wilhelm was skeptical about Stern’s about-face, saying he “would see how this plays out on the ground.” NUHW President Sal Rosselli was even more doubtful: “it’s great that SEIU is finally withdrawing the blocking charges that prevented workers from choosing their union. But the real test is whether Stern sticks to peace if workers vote en masse to leave SEIU for NUHW.”

Andy Stern surprised his critics yesterday with an unexpected announcement that SEIU would cease trying to raid workers from UNITE HERE, and would instead stick to organizing in its core jurisdictions of building services (i.e., janitors) and health care workers. In addition, while Stern said that SEIU would vigorously compete with NUHW in California, SEIU is withdrawing all of its blocking charges so workers could freely choose between the two unions.

Stern, it should be noted has been at odds with the majority of the nation's union bosses since his breaking up of the AFL-CIO in 2005 and is currently involved in a 'scorched earth' campaign against the former leaders of one of his most powerful locals.  The former SEIU-UHW leaders have gone on to form their own union called the National Union of Healthcare Workers (NUHW) and the SEIU currently has them on trial.

Again, as stated above, we do not know if today's BeyondChron story is some sort of April Fool's joke or if, indeed, Andy Stern is calling for a cease-fire among union bosses.

In either case, we'll get you more scoop in the coming days.
__________________

“I bring reason to your ears, and, in language as plain as ABC, hold up truth to your eyes.” Thomas Paine, December 23, 1776

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For more news and views on today’s unions, go to LaborUnionReport.com.