The Washington Post reports:
The Service Employees International Union, considered the most influential union in the nation, has notified the union that represents about 220 of its national field staff and organizers that 75 of them are being laid off. In return, the workers’ union, which goes by the somewhat postmodern name of the Union of Union Representatives, has filed unfair labor practices charges against SEIU with the National Labor Relations Board. The staff union’s leaders say that SEIU is engaging in the same kind of practices that some businesses use — laying off workers without proper notice, contracting out work to temp firms, banning union activities and reclassifying workers to reduce union numbers.
“It’s completely hypocritical,” said staff union President Malcolm Harris. “This is the union that’s been at the forefront of progressive issues, around ensuring that working people and working families are taken care of, but when it comes to the people that work for SEIU, they haven’t set the same standards.”
It gets even better:
SEIU officials say the layoffs are part of a long-running plan to reallocate resources. Its national office will devote more of its resources to lobbying and communications in Washington to take advantage of Democrats’ ascendance. Most organizing would be left to local chapters, where officials say they have identified dozens of openings for the laid-off staff.
“This is not a financial issue,” said SEIU President Andy Stern. “We need to respond to the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity our members created by helping elect President Obama.”
Gallup has a poll out this week showing that 53% of Americans, “generally speaking,” support making it easier for unions to organize. The Gallup poll did not give any details about how the Employee No Choice Act would kill the secret ballot in order to accomplish this goal. We bet those numbers would go down even further when the American public finds out that Big Labor plans to give all their union dues to Washington lobbyists.
