tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-83965132009-12-08T23:46:33.236-05:00Reflections on the US labor movement and the struggle for union democracy. By the founder of the Association for Union Democracy, Herman Benson. http://www.uniondemocracy.orgHerman Bensonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15992230282844577682noreply@blogger.comBlogger57125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8396513.post-49189830690011452442009-09-28T00:00:00.006-04:002009-09-28T19:54:08.512-04:00

By now there is something to be learned from the bitter internecine battles that embroil Andy Stern of the SEIU, Sal Rosselli of the new National Union of Healthcare Workers, John Wilhelm of UNITE HERE, and Bruce Raynor of Workers United. It is becoming clearer that this is no mere struggle for power among ambitious union leaders. It involves a sharp challenge to Stern's favored conception of a

Herman Bensonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15992230282844577682noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8396513.post-63083290466783425822009-09-17T02:11:00.002-04:002009-09-17T02:14:26.008-04:00

Rich Trumka, now AFL-CIO president, had a fine reputation when he was president of the United Mine Workers; and he has been a good militant voice for the AFL-CIO as secretary treasurer; and he will surely be a good workers' representative as AFL-CIO president. In any event, it is hard to think of a better choice.But as Rich ascends, it is a proper time to remember where he came from and how he

Herman Bensonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15992230282844577682noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8396513.post-87194555162797402082009-09-08T01:45:00.001-04:002009-09-08T01:48:52.251-04:00

by Herman Benson How things have changed for Andy Stern in five years! In 2004, he was the hottest labor celebrity in town. He was about to lead a coalition of major unions out of the AFL-CIO into the rival Change to Win, reorganize and galvanize his own SEIU, organize low-paid immigrants and minorities, and revive a declining labor movement. Labor activists , some out of the civil rights

Herman Bensonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15992230282844577682noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8396513.post-10263182146514622612009-09-04T00:27:00.001-04:002009-09-04T00:35:13.782-04:00

Four locals in California, with a combined membership of 40,000 janitorial service workers, were ordered by SEIU President Andy Stern to join together in a new district council called United Service Workers-West. Here is something drastically new in the SEIU. Unlike the various mega locals created earlier by Stern by dissolving several locals into one, these four locals each retain a separate

Herman Bensonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15992230282844577682noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8396513.post-33082095207913298182009-08-04T23:39:00.002-04:002009-08-04T23:43:37.255-04:00

By Herman Benson An unwritten gentlemen's agreement seems to regulate relations among top labor leaders: "You can run your union as you see fit, even honestly, and I will never criticize you publicly. In return, you will never criticize me for running my union as I see fit." But that code of conduct seemed to be seriously breached when fourteen international union leaders and many local ones ---

Herman Bensonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15992230282844577682noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8396513.post-30678586198365512922009-05-10T22:35:00.001-04:002009-05-10T22:41:34.682-04:00

On his trips to China, Andy Stern may have learned how to hone his union managerial skills. The authoritarian rulers of China go beyond simply punishing critics; they go after the victims' lawyers to teach other lawyers the painful consequences of helping dissidents. Stern can pay well to hire an army of his own lawyers to harass lawyers who represent his opponents. When the 150,000-member

Herman Bensonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15992230282844577682noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8396513.post-8916339526358823802009-03-07T20:16:00.002-05:002009-03-07T20:20:58.102-05:00

Andy Stern's dream house is collapsing; but he hopes to pick up the pieces. Such is the implication of reports in the New York Times and Wall Street Journal.UNITE/HERE, one of the pillars of Change to Win, the coalition that Stern led out of the AFL-CIO, is being chopped to bits by blows of mutual recriminations between its two warring top leaders. The union had been formed as a marriage, now

Herman Bensonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15992230282844577682noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8396513.post-5616466875518402372009-03-01T12:11:00.002-05:002009-03-01T12:14:40.473-05:00

Excerpt from a recent article by Herman Benson published in Dissent Magazine--SOME YEARS ago, when it became obvious that the labor movement was in trouble, when membership figures were dropping, academics came up with novel ideas to provide some measure of protection for unorganized workers. Only one suggestion was rooted in unionism as we know it. That was the idea first advanced by Clyde

Herman Bensonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15992230282844577682noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8396513.post-15506846553956272142009-02-05T18:36:00.003-05:002009-02-08T07:35:49.955-05:00

SEIU President Andy Stern used findings by Raymond Marshall to justify his takeover of UHW-W. "We're acting on Ray Marshall's recommendations," he told the Wall Street Journal. Stern had hired Marshall, a professor and former secretary of labor, to conduct hearings and make a recommendation for the disposition of his trusteeship charges against Sal Rosselli and UHW. But he didn’t need Marshall

Herman Bensonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15992230282844577682noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8396513.post-38238924354620449412008-11-13T19:39:00.003-05:002008-11-22T08:05:26.095-05:00

After three prominent leaders of the Service Employees International Union were charged with misappropriating hundreds of thousands of dollars from their local union treasuries, the SEIU set up an ethics commission to recommend measures that the union might take to guard against such misdeeds. The commission includes representatives of the union itself and eminent individuals independent of the

Herman Bensonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15992230282844577682noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8396513.post-2795707967263054762008-11-12T23:57:00.000-05:002008-11-12T23:59:24.909-05:00

In March 2008, the UHW-W executive board deposited $500,000 into a trust account with its attorney to provide for legal defense of the local's autonomy and of the democratic rights of its members and officers against the imposition of an illegal trusteeship. In scheduling the trusteeship hearings, Stern charged, "This is an inappropriate use of union monies." The charge that local funds may not

Herman Bensonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15992230282844577682noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8396513.post-90581424173555256742008-11-11T21:02:00.003-05:002008-11-11T21:12:21.343-05:00

AUD recently received this letter by email:An Open Letter of Concern to Andy SternAbout United Healthcare Workers-WestFrom California Educators, Academics, Writers and Worker AdvocatesNovember 9, October 2008Mr. Andy SternService Employees International Union1800Massachusetts Avenue, NWWashington, DC 20036Dear Andy Stern: On May Day, 2008, more than 100 scholars, writers and activists, many

Herman Bensonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15992230282844577682noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8396513.post-88075682599920571012008-10-15T08:32:00.000-04:002008-10-15T08:33:35.974-04:00

My oath on accepting appointive officeTo A... great and A...gloriousAccept my pledge most meritoriousI will obey your every word and noteIf not, you can cut my throat(with thanks to an unknown libertarian poet)

Herman Bensonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15992230282844577682noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8396513.post-7439378666381970772008-10-02T19:19:00.000-04:002008-10-02T19:21:21.730-04:00

The SEIU retained Ray Marshall, former secretary of labor, to preside over the hearings on President Stern’s proposal to place the UHW-W under trusteeship. Marshall is assigned to the job so that the proceedings will presumably be impartial. But who really calls the shots? We ask this question because the OLMS office of the U.S. Labor Department wrote a request to Marshall (note: to Marshall not

Herman Bensonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15992230282844577682noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8396513.post-54159898700979375722008-09-10T19:40:00.002-04:002008-09-10T19:46:10.319-04:00

Paul Garver is disappointed because I did not respond more positively to reports that Andy Stern's ethics commission might request my comments for proposals to strengthen the SEIU ethics code. He writes, "Why don't we accept Andy Stern's offer ...in the spirit of giving this process a genuine test?"But what is there to test? An ethical practices code can be helpful in resolving ambiguities and

Herman Bensonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15992230282844577682noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8396513.post-53735981946837358202008-09-06T18:43:00.001-04:002008-09-06T18:45:17.697-04:00

Someone explained to Steve Greenhouse, N.Y. Times labor reporter, that the SEIU was plunged into a corruption scandal because "Mr. Stern [international president] ... has been preoccupied with politics, unionizing more workers, and combining locals into larger, more powerful groups –actions that critics say have led to less accountability for local leaders." You get the picture? While Stern

Herman Bensonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15992230282844577682noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8396513.post-89213366863947248872008-09-03T18:54:00.003-04:002008-09-05T04:47:25.825-04:00

PRESS RELEASE -- Association for Union Democracy, Inc. FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE September 3, 2008 Media Contacts: Herman Benson, Kurt Richwerger (718) 564-1114 (AUD) info@uniondemocracy.org ------- AUD Proposes Democracy as a Weapon Against Corruption In today's New York Times, the Service Employees International Union announced plans for an internal ethics

Herman Bensonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15992230282844577682noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8396513.post-13235693591904144912008-08-31T09:37:00.002-04:002008-08-31T10:11:49.538-04:00

By imposing a trusteeship and a monitorship over two mega West Coast locals, Andy Stern, SEIU international president, subjects twenty percent of the entire international membership to his disciplinary domination. They make up almost half the union's membership in health care, the SEIU's most important area of concentration. Two locals, but how different their stories! In one, Stern initiates

Herman Bensonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15992230282844577682noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8396513.post-11825067436664979582008-08-06T03:25:00.005-04:002008-08-06T03:29:56.862-04:00

...without it, fair play is impossible. A few members of Sal Rosselli’s own local, United Healthcare Workers-West, have brought charges against him and his administration, accusing them of assorted acts of retaliation against supporters of Andy Stern, international president of the Service Employees International Union. The complainants fear that they can never get a fair trial in their own

Herman Bensonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15992230282844577682noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8396513.post-56642368965314986512008-07-19T00:58:00.008-04:002008-07-19T01:11:13.458-04:00

By Herman BensonTowering cranes are shooting up all over New York City where building construction is booming and some construction workers are dying. A few fall off scaffolds, I-beams, and window ledges; one is buried and suffocated in an illegally dug collapsing trench.After two huge cranes fell in mid-town Manhattan --- one within days of the other --- killing workers and bystanders and

Herman Bensonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15992230282844577682noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8396513.post-39173348272764938812008-04-22T20:18:00.004-04:002008-04-22T20:58:57.922-04:00

By Herman BensonAn angry battle in Ohio between the Service Employees [SEIU] and the California Nurses Association [CNA] calls attention to a proposed new regulation by the National Labor Relations Board that would make it easy for consenting employers to accept, or even welcome, unionization without disturbing their workers with a hostile, confrontational campaign. Up to now, either a union or

Herman Bensonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15992230282844577682noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8396513.post-82669218958260361542008-04-09T17:04:00.003-04:002008-04-09T17:30:35.669-04:00

By Herman BensonAndy Stern, president of the Service Employees International Union and labor’s latest celebrity, seems to be resurrecting a neglected ideology: the concept of a militarized ‘democratic’ centralism. For him and his followers, the hope of imposing it upon a newly invigorated labor movement may be a utopian illusion. For union democracy, it is a nightmare. Hints, but only hints, of

Herman Bensonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15992230282844577682noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8396513.post-62032769307342473042008-04-02T21:44:00.003-04:002008-04-02T22:15:13.152-04:00

By Herman BensonAndy Stern, international president of the Service Employees International Union threatens a trusteeship over the United Healthcare Workers-West and the removal of its president, Sal Rosselli. The reach of the imminent trusteeship is awesome: With 140,000 members, this local enrolls about one-tenth the total membership of the whole SEIU. It represents registered nurses and

Herman Bensonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15992230282844577682noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8396513.post-53872730300403728242008-03-13T23:02:00.004-04:002008-03-13T23:14:36.914-04:00

By Herman BensonThere must be more to it.If in quest of change the Democratic primaries had not lifted affairs into the loftier realm of statesmanship, we would have to conclude that this was simply another example of the tired old horse trading politics that so debases life in America. “Obama has indicated willingness to end federal oversight of the Teamsters.” So reported Robert Novak in the

Herman Bensonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15992230282844577682noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8396513.post-21466271284944072682008-02-14T18:21:00.004-05:002008-02-14T18:37:36.000-05:00

By Herman BensonIn resigning from the executive committee of the SEIU, Sal Rosselli, president of the 140,000-member United Healthcare Workers of California has made serious charges of lack of democracy in the SEIU.As a member of the international executive committee he was bound to keep those criticisms within the limits of that tiny group. He resigns from the committee in order to be free

Herman Bensonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15992230282844577682noreply@blogger.com2