Unions For All? Another SEIU Affiliate May Be Trying To Bust Its Staff's Efforts To Unionize
This may be yet another example of unions not living up to their values.
By Peter List, Editor | September 5, 2024
One of the largest unions in the nation, the Service Employees International Union (or SEIU), has an expression it likes to use: “Unions For All.” The inference to the expression is that everyone should belong to a union. Well, almost everyone.
It seems as though SEIU affiliates—at least those that employ staffers who are not unionized—prefer to keep their employees non-union.
A Record of ‘Union Busting’…
Earlier this year, for example, when staffers employed by 1199SEIU-NUHW (a large SEIU affiliate representing, primarily, healthcare workers) tried to unionize, the management of their union allegedly engaged in “union busting,” even to the point of bringing in at least one retired union officer to “persuade” staffer into voting against unionizing.
However, after the union staffers voted to unionize in June, as of late August, 1199SEIU management still had not begun negotiating with its unionized staff.
Now, as a different group of union staffers at another large SEIU affiliate seeks to unionize with the same union as the 1199SEIU-NUHW staffers, The News Guild (TNG-CWA), 32BJ union management may be trying to dissuade them from having union representation.
According to the 32BJ Staff Union, on X (formerly Twitter), they “are seeing some signs of union busting at 32BJ, including a petition asking 32BJ staff to say no to ‘outside representation.’”
The union, 32BJ, is a large SEIU affiliate with its main office in New York City. According to its most recent filing with the U.S. Deparment of Labor, the union has 151,543 members, who paid $114,793,192 in dues and agency fees last year.
The union lists 14 officers, as well as a dozen “At-Large Executive Board Members” on its website, all of whom would be considered ‘management’ to their non-union staff.
Though it is unclear who is circulating the petition against unionizing, like other employers, the SEIU 32BJ management is not immune from having unfair labor practices filed against them.
In the case of 1199SEIU-NUHW, multiple unfair labor practice charges were filed against union management.
Although a petition to hold a representation election has not yet been filed with the National Labor Relations Board, it appears that 32BJ management is not willing to voluntarily recognize its staff union either.
[Enlarged images from X]
