pms wrote:
>
>
> Just think of the media presence this money could buy. Think what one
> little decently funded community outreach office in a hundred towns,
> helping non-union folk, in everyday ways, could do to make the US of A a
> union town. It really makes me sick.
>
> If the union rank and file took to the streets to demand refunds, half the
> population would be knocking on the union door. If union folk have no
> control of leadership, why should the people think they have any power?
>
> Someone who remains loyal to the Union idea, dispite having waited on three
> union officials at the Airport Sheraton.
>
I was at Ralphs grocery yesterday in the checkout line. Ralphs and Hughes have merged into one chain. There were only three cashiers working stations and long lines of people waiting to get out when this man and his wife struck up a conversation. He said after the merger they did not need to provide service - he was in marketing himself. I asked him why did he say that. He said, oh the unions sold them all out in these merger deals. He added that was a reason that we were all in such bad shape.
I don't usually get these kind of straight forward remarks from people, but it reminded me of the unionization of homecare workers.
Having watched the SEUI get into the unionization of homecare workers, I can point to one clear cut example of how they sold out their own. The strategy has been to get Public Authorities established county by county for the locals to collectively bargain with for increases in workers wages(who now get minimum wage), which badly need raising.
When the union and legislators worked together in Sacramento to construct the language for the creation of the public authority however, the state was exempted from having to pay any portion of a pay increase, which meant that the counties, if they wanted to raise wages, would have to come up with the money. Since in LA a 50 cent wage translates into over 20 million dollars, I never thought the workers would get a raise because the county has been cutting hospital and social services for about four years due to a financial crunch. I could not believe that the SEIU was so naive to NOT know that shifting the burden onto the counties was a loser for their workers. They should have insisted that the state pay a share of a wage increase.
So far in LA, no worker wages have been raised. Meanwhile, the union will gain membership - thousands of dues paying homecare workers( about a half million dollars per month in dues in LA county alone). In some cases paying $12 a month dues will mean that a worker's pay will drop below minimum wage which in turn will cause more hardship, because this line of work is rarely full time, it is often less than part time. I hope the home care workers will MAKE the union see to it that they get a better deal, though there is little hope for pay increases without major legislative changes in Sacramento.
Marta Russell