In its latest deplorable action, the Service Employees International Union bused in hundreds of its purple clad staff to break up a conference of union members and activists Saturday night in Dearborn, Mich.
Ironically enough, union democracy and empowering workers was one of the themes of the conference, sponsored by the magazine Labor Notes, that SEIU and its President Andrew Stern attempted to close down.
With this latest act of physical aggression, SEIU escalated its campaign against registered nurses and the California Nurses Association/National Nurses Organizing Committee, many of whose RN leaders were at the conference, and whose executive director Rose Ann DeMoro was the scheduled speaker at the dinner attacked by SEIU.
"There is an ugly pattern here of physical abuse and tactics of intimidation that have no place in either our labor movement or a civilized society," DeMoro later said.
DeMoro canceled her appearance at the event to coordinate support for CNA/NNOC leaders in California after Stern and SEIU began sending roving bands of staff to the homes of CNA/NNOC RN board members in California Thursday and Friday, stalking and harassing them.
In Dearborn Saturday night, at least seven busloads, carrying up to 800 SEIU staff in purple jackets and T-shirts drove up to the Hyatt Regency Hotel where the banquet hosted by Labor Notes was culminating a weekend conference on topics including union democracy, health care reform, and encouraging the resurgent growth of labor.
Upon unloading from the buses, the hundreds of picket-sign wielding staff stormed the hotel and pushed their way through doors to break into the ballroom where the event was being held.
While breaking in the building, the SEIU staff, now joined by SEIU staff inside the building, physically assaulted a group of union members and activists at the door.
As Labor Notes themselves noted in a press release: A recently retired member of United Auto Workers Local 235, Dianne Feeley, suffered a head wound after being knocked to the ground by SEIU International staff and local members. Other conference-goers--members of the Teamsters, UAW, UNITE HERE, International Longshoremen's Association, and SEIU itself--were punched, kicked, shoved, and pushed to the floor.
As the SEIU staff broke into the hall, some three dozen CNA/NNOC nurses and leaders, there to attend the conference, including Malinda Markowitz, RN, a member of CNA/NNOC's Council of Presidents, who was scheduled to speak in DeMoro's place, were whisked out the back of the hall for their safety, leaving in vans. The atmosphere was so tense that hotel cooks tried to climb into the vans to join them for fear of their own safety.
The evening assault at Labor Notes followed a day of disruption by SEIU staff at workshops throughout the day at which various CNA/NNOC members were on panels or participants.
"I am disgusted with the tactics of SEIU and their total disrespect for what was going on here -- members from multiple unions who were discussing an agenda to fight the increased corporate attacks on working people," said Markowitz. "It's clear their only agenda here was to disrupt and try to divide labor and workers. Physical violence is absolutely unacceptable."
"I am absolutely appalled, to have a union coming in here with tons of people ramming down doors. If they have these kind of resources, why aren't they using them to help people in the trenches rather than attacking nurses and other working people," said Danielle Magana, RN, an NNOC member from San Antonio, Tex.
"If I were a nurse here I would not join such an aggressive union," said Prudencia Mweemba, an RN from Zambia who is a PhD candidate at Kent State who was attending the conference. "What they did today showed me they are irresponsible. I don't see how they can represent people with such an attitude."
"Had I not seen this with my own eyes I would not have believed it," said Kimberly Helmick, an Ohio RN. "SEIU did a big injustice to all the labor movement people who were here."
The attack on a conference, in which union democracy was a major topic, coincides with growing efforts by Stern and SEIU International to suppress dissent in his own union and signing contracts with employers that limit the voice of SEIU members at the workplace.
SEIU contracts with nursing home chains, for example, have limited the ability of caregivers to protest and report unsafe conditions. Within SEIU, Stern has been engaged in targeting dissenters and seeking to limit participation at his international convention in June.
Another example, she noted, was SEIU's pact with a Catholic hospital chain in Ohio where SEIU had the employer file for an election to impose SEIU as its handpicked union for RNs and other staff. The deal also barred employees from discussing the election or the union. Ultimately, Stern and the employer cancelled the election when the deal was exposed in part because of CNA/NNOC criticism of the deal, the pretext of the Michigan attack Saturday night.
For more information about SEIU's efforts on behalf of employers, see www.ServingEmployersInsteadofUs.org.
Follow Deborah Burger on Twitter: www.twitter.com/NationalNurses
Though they claim to be non-profit, it is strictly an accounting trick. They still pay high salaries to their executives. They still report an overage which is supposed to go back into the business and which YOU MIGHT THINK THIS MEANS IT GOES TO THE POOR, IT MOST CERTAINLY DOES NOT. It goes to open other facilites, pay salaries, pay lobbing groups to support their point of view, pay anti-labour attorney’s, virtually anything an corporate owned facility might do, a non-profit can also do. With their misleading title intact. They can and do screw their employees with every it as much vehemence as any for profit and perhaps a bit more because many of them will sanctimoniously proclaim, THIS IS GOD’S WILL.
Well, to answer that you have to understand something about corporate law. The articles or incorporation say that the WHOLE PURPOSE OF HAVING A CORPORATION IS TO MAKE MONEY FOR THE SHAREHOLDERS. Therefore, if you are a corporate healthcare company…IT IS YOUR ONLY JOB TO MAKE MONEY FOR YOUR SHARE HOLDERS…IT IS NOT YOUR JOB TO BE CONCERNED ABOUT THE WELLFARE OF YOUR EMPLOYEE’S.
So, if you understand that the corporation is not legally required to look to the benefit of it’s employees, indeed, it is legally required to look to the benefit of its stockholders, than you can understand WHY THE HOSP CORP IS NOT INTERESTED IN PAYING MORE MONEY OR BENEFITS TO ITS EMPLOYEES….THIS DOES NOT BENEFIT STOCK HOLDERS.
Andy Stern, by ignoring this most basic economic trueism, SCREWS HIS MEMBERSHIP….WHY????? BECAUSE, HE IS RUNNING FOR A HIGHER OFFICE!!!! AND NUMBERS, QUANTITIES MATTER MORE TO HIM THAN THE ACTUAL PRINCIPLE OR THE DETAILS OF CONTRACTS.
Check out this story on the LA Times website: http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2008/04/battle-of-the-n.html. It shows the CNA's concern about SEIU's protest in Michigan for what it really is. Their organizers dressing up like nurses to sneak into hospitals where nurses had already chosen to unit with their coworkers and SEIU, and their staff member being arrested for assaulting SEIU staff.
Here are the facts:
* Most of the SEIU members who traveled to Dearborn to express their disapproval of the CNA’s tactics were women. They were primarily home care workers, nursing assistants, and other caregivers. Some brought their children with them.
* They had gathered at the conference hoping to voice their disapproval of the CNA’s anti-union campaign in Ohio that stripped more than 8,000 hospital workers of the opportunity to freely choose whether to form a union with SEIU.
* Despite efforts to prevent the health care workers from making their voices heard, the rally was a peaceful one. Protestors talked to individual conference attendees about what happened in Ohio. They chanted “union busting is disgusting.â€
* At no time did they engage in or witness the kind of activities described by the CNA.
--posted by Nadia, SEIU staffer
If the rally was peaceful, why was a retired UAW member sent to the hospital with a head injury? Why do several attendees and eyewitnesses report being shoved, kicked, pushed, slapped, and punched by SEIU thugs?
SEIU's behavior is a new low for the labor movement and evidence of why RNs want no part of your union.
From the Girl in the Photo at Dearborn, Michigan (Part I)
I am an organizer with SEIU 1199 WOK who was at the protest in Dearborn. I am from a union family. My dad is a nurse, and an SEIU member. I have seen my picture posted on the internet today, and used against me, my union and the people I care about. I want to tell you my story.
I have worked on the campaign to help CHP workers win fair organizing rules from their boss since I started working at the local in June, 2005. Knowing what it meant for the caregivers, housekeeping staff, maintenance workers, and all the other people I know who have been fighting for their union for three years - to watch that all go up in smoke due to the unprincipled union-busting of Rose Ann Demoro's CNA was just beyond upsetting. I drove up to Dearborn, Michigan to protest the fact that an organization that says it's committed to union democracy was honoring the architect of this union-busting as the keynote speaker at their banquet. And I wanted the real union people at the Labor Notes conference to hear what happened in Ohio, not the barrage of lies the California Nurses Association keeps putting out everywhere.
On the bus on the way to the rally, bus captains read a set of ground rules stressing our total commitment to non-violence. I planned on walking into the meeting room and protesting the CNA's union busting in Ohio. Our group included many women and a lot of people brought their children. None of us imagined we would be assaulted by the men at the Labor Notes conference!
Once I was off the bus, we marched up to the locked glass doors and chanted. My sign was pressed up against the glass and I was watching a group of people with Labor Notes name tags pool together to watch us. We were all pressed up there for about a minute when someone opened the doors. I entered through the second set of doors and was heading toward the banquet room. Our plan, and my own goal, was to march peacefully into the board room and support our CHP Sisters as they spoke and handed out literature about their stolen right to vote for their union.
Ken Paff, leader of Teamsters for a Democratic Union (who has no dog in the SEIU vs CNA conflict) has written an account of the SEIU violent assault on the conference.
see
http://tinyurl.com/5u4yg8
and scroll down
The union community needs to demand that Andy Stern apologize, repudiate violence, take responsibility for his union going so far off the rails and resign.
My union told me this was a good thing because the employer cannot intimidate employees with an open ballot system, I countered with "now the intimidation is coming from the union", with an open ballot would you vote against something that a "majority" of the employees want? It would be hard when you have hot heads that think only their opinions matter and the union mentality is that all is fair when it comes to union business including intimidation, would you feel safe standing up holding a vote card that says NO and all in the room immediately know who voted and how?
If open ballots are such a good thing then why do the Democrats not demand an open ballot system for ALL elections including Congress AND President?
The Democrats are just as much to blame for the SEIU situation as the members of the SEIU, afterall the actions of the Democrat controlled Congress has emboldened unions such as SEIU.
Employees should have the right to make a choice without intimdation from the employer OR union.
George Miller and ALL of the 99% of Democrats AND 6% of Republicans that back this bill should be THROWN OUT OF OFFICE immediately.
"Why Do Kids Have Tantrums?
(http://www.kidshealth.org/parent/emotions/behavior/tantrums.html)
Temper tantrums range from whining and crying to screaming, kicking, hitting, and breath holding. You should consult a doctor if...
The tantrums arouse a lot of bad feelings.
The tantrums increase in frequency, intensity, or duration.
The child frequently hurts himself or herself or others.
The child is destructive.
The child displays mood disorders such as negativity.
Kids who are in danger of hurting themselves or others during a tantrum should be taken to a quiet, safe place to calm down. This also applies to tantrums in public places.
Remember, tantrums usually aren't cause for concern and generally diminish on their own. As kids mature developmentally and their grasp of themselves and the world increases, their frustration levels decrease.
Occasionally a child will have a hard time stopping a tantrum.
Kids may be especially vulnerable after a tantrum when they know they've been less than adorable.
Even the most good-natured toddler has an occasional temper tantrum. Unlike adults, children don't have the same inhibitions or control."
Andy, is that you?
Time to go home.
"I am not unaware that leaders betray, and sell out, and play false." ~Mother Jones
Ms. Burger also cites the Labor Notes press release.
Her account is validated by other independent sources. It is ACCURATE!
http://libcom.org/forums/news/seiu-international-goons-attack-labor-notes-conference-13042008
Your post complains about protesting a lot, but you don;t mention why the SEIU is protesting you. As I've read it, the California Nurses' Association has been targeting other unions' members and trying to peel them off - see http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/headline/biz/5685564.html and
http://www.laborradio.org/node/8146
Why are you going after AFSCME and the SEIU's members?
It doesn't advocate for violent demonstrations at public or private conferences or harrassment, and malicious injury of workers!
The leaders and members of CNA/NNOC are 95% female as is he nursing profession. Our organization has a feminist, collective governing structure with an elected board of 35 direct-care RNs and a new presidency model called the "Council of Presidents" which is a shared presidency of 4 RNs (all women)
As a women’s organization we believe disputes are best resolved through discussions not violent confrontations
In an escalation on Friday, women leaders of CNA/NNOC were harassed at home by SEIU staff. Then yesterday, 800 SEIUers literally crashed through security and broke up the Labor Notes conference in Detroit.
A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words
http://www.flickr.com/...
T
he pictures speak volumes about how extreme was this assault directed at Rose Ann DeMoro and women leaders of CNA/NNOC. In order to be in California to respond to the harassment at leaders’ homes, Rose Ann did not attend the conference. RN leaders did and their accounts and more information can be found at www.calnurses.org.
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