-External organizing for new members is rightly the priority, but SEIU doesn't always put enough emphasis on the internal organizing with your existing membership. -Staff should be worked a bit less hardcore so more people can remain organizers for decades instead of years. -Fuck Andy Stern, I hope he retires tomorrow. No, today. Certainly he and his team have a great record administrating the organizing juggernaut but he frequently makes fucked-up assertions that in fact run counter to the union's stated position. I have no trust in him politically. Anyone on the exec board would make a better union prez than he is now, except maybe Burger. Unfortunately, the gossip does seem to indicate she might be maneuvering to get it. -On issues like single payer healthcare, I do think it makes sense to help pass what compromises are politically feasible to make general improvements. But I also think a social movement can make such compromises while still affirming principles and goals and continuing to move towards them. I.e., if we can't get nationwide single payer then lets' get whatever we can to broaden coverage, but let's still try to get single payer, and say its what we'd prefer, and pass it where it might be possible. -I wish SEIU would more consciously position itself as part of the left. Like UNITE HERE and 1199. -There's plenty of truth to what people say about members not being involved enough in the creation and implementation of these big complex campaigns and strategies. Easier said than done, but, we should do better.
Jim, I'll concede that Esther's piece is more balanced than anything
> I've said, but it's a lot harder on SEIU than anything you've ever
> conceded either. The stuff on the California single payer and
> staffing bill fights is very damaging to SEIU, as is the Roselli-UHW
> stuff. The description of Rivera as part of an impressive
> "braintrust" set me back a bit; Rivera is very clever, but he fits
> right in with the growth at any cost model. And as I recall you and
> other pro-SEIU listmembers rejected criticisms of the employer
> agreements; they come off rather badly in the article. She also
> reports that more than half of SEIU's growth comes from deals with
> politicians; as I recall, SEIU apologists squealed at Bob Fitch's
> characterization of these as payback for campaign contributions, but
> it's looking more and more like Fitch had a point. So I'll concede
> that I was unfair on Ohio (though I'm still mystified about how all
> this effort evaporated in three days of CNA mischief), if you concede
> the points I've just listed.