In the event that anybody is interested in stupid things like facts, here are a few that might help us to recognize that Fitch's portrait of consumer-directed homecare workers is at least distorted. You all can decided whether those distortions are facilitated by sexism...
1. In the first place, only a minority of states operate Medicaid waivers that even permit family care-giving. The idea that organized (or unorganized) consumer-directed homecare workers are by and large just family is wrong, plain and simple. Incidentally, a majority of consumers report that they prefer non-family caregivers; one of the frequently-cited benefits of these authorities is that by creating a large pool from which consumers can choose,a lot of disabled people get independence from family for the first time in their lives.
2. Nor do most homecare workers wish to be merely part time or work for only one consumer. One of the frequently cited benefits of the public authorities through which this workforce gets organized is that by rationalizing and systematizing the homecare delivery system, authorities help workers to string together full-time employment.
3. I'll also note that two of the largest and longest established authorities -- those in Washington and Oregon -- were created by voters through state-wide ballot initiatives and not by Andy Stern, though I wonder what's so wrong with workers using their money and leaders to make politics work for us for a change.
4. While Fitch doesn't bother to relate any data about homecare workers' gains under the authorities, but the suggestion is that such gains are minimal. In fact, through the twin miracles of collective bargaining and group purchasing, thousands of workers have received health insurance for the first time ever. They have workers comp insurance for the first time ever. Their wage increases range from decent to impressive. Some authorities have formalized training programs that create career ladders so folks can move from personal assistant to CAN or LPN. Well, you know I could go on and on but honestly, I grow weary of debates that are wholly unmoored from empirical reality.
My point isn't that the SEIU does everything right and that all discussion thereof has to be laudatory. It isn't that the public authorities are beyond criticism. But some basic commitment to understanding what the fuck we're talking about before we pass judgment would be refreshing.
-----Original Message----- From: lbo-talk-bounces at lbo-talk.org [mailto:lbo-talk-bounces at lbo-talk.org] On Behalf Of Dennis Redmond Sent: Friday, July 29, 2005 4:10 PM To: lbo-talk at lbo-talk.org Subject: Re: [lbo-talk] Fitch on The Split
Doug forwarded:
> <http://slate.msn.com/id/2123481/>
>
> A More Perfect Union?
> Why Andy Stern isn't helping the American labor movement.
> By Robert Fitch
> That's the figure his press people give out. But government
> figures - based on numbers supplied by SEIU - show that the actual
> number was 1.1 million. So, he has added only 700,000 members.
Which government figures are these? Citations, please.
> Despite the impression left by Bread and
> Roses - the 2000 film starring Adrien Brody as the SEIU organizer who
> gets the beautiful Latina janitress -
(Groan). Pilar Padilla, who is Mexican, is the star. And it's the other way around, she was the one who went after him. A highly symptomatic misreading, which sort of fits the rest of the article.
> SEIU's organizing performance
> in its core private sector field has been less than spectacular. The
> union claims it has more janitors than ever. But according to the
> Department of Labor there are 4.4 million building service workers in
> the United States. Only 225,000 belong to SEIU.
The SEIU's Justice for Janitors campaign has done a wonderful job of organizing. The healthcare workers campaign has also made huge strides. Those are real achievements.
> After a
> decade's worth of organizing politicians in Sacramento - ex-Gov. Gray
> Davis got $625,000 from SEIU - and also the Los Angeles County Board
> of Supervisors, Stern persuaded them to create an agency that would
> serve as the employer for home-care workers.
Stern didn't persuade anyone to do anything. The homecare workers organized themselves and fought a long, arduous campaign for recognition.
> Meanwhile, the election produced for SEIU
> what is now very likely the largest local in America, with 115,000
> members and nearly $30 million in yearly cash flow. Stern's Los
> Angeles Local 434B is now bigger than the entire United Mine Workers
> - once America's largest union. The problem is they have very little
> to show for their dues.
But they have a contract, so the next task is to improve that contract.
SEIU, like any big organization, has its share of problems and foibles. But they are out there organizing and winning battles. They're also one of the more diverse unions, both in terms of membership and leadership. That's something to build on.
-- DRR
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