> No that's not what he said. He said that organizing home care workers
> was very different from organizing conventional workers. With
> conventional workers, you have to contend with hostile employers
> (unless you've pre-signed some sweetheart deal), which can be very
> hard. With home care workers, campaign contribs to Dem politicians
> can be exchanged for recognition. Actual gains for the workers are
> apparently slim to none, but SEIU gets to tout an uptick in density.
Haven't we been through this before? As a refresher, see Lisa Frank's response to many of these same issues two years ago:
http://mailman.lbo-talk.org/2005/2005-July/016269.html
On what Fitch has actually said, from an article published in Slate:
"Stern has also boosted his rolls with workers who aren't really workers at all . . . But most of those home-care workers are parents and children who got government money for taking care of family members or close friends. They didn't provide nursing services but simply bathed and fed their disabled children or elderly parents. Most home-care workers are part-time, working for one client. Their average pay is less than $700 a month (now minus dues to SEIU)."
http://slate.msn.com/id/2123481/
What you write (prior to the "actual gains" part) is certainly true, but there's a very ugly element to what Fitch is arguing which shouldn't be minimized or dismissed.
As far as wage gains go, the IL link I pointed you to referenced a $1 per hour increase for workers currently averaging $7.80. My calculator tells me that's a 13% increase. Hardly something to sneeze at. Not the industry I work in at SEIU so I don't know these facts cold, but I believe LA County homecare workers earned around $6.25 when they first organized. $9 per hour now is a 44% increase over 8 years. Obviously no one is going to get rich at that wage and there is much work still to be done, but suffice it to say these workers -- primarily female and primarily people of color -- would not have witnessed such gains over the years without organizing and flexing their newly developed political muscle. How someone who claims to be on the left side of the political spectrum can interpret this as yet another instance of debilitating union corruption is beyond me.