[lbo-talk] more bad press for SEIU

John Thornton jthorn65 at sbcglobal.net
Fri Jan 9 15:41:16 PST 2009


Doug Henwood forwarded:
> Washington Post - January 9, 2009
>
> Troubles in Service Workers' Union May Dim Hopes for Labor
> By Alec MacGillis
> Washington Post Staff Writer
>
> The SEIU is contending with corruption allegations involving several
> appointees of President Andy Stern, including the president of a Los
> Angeles local who was fired for allegedly funneling money to his
> relatives and friends.
>
> The union has also been linked to the federal investigation into
> Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich (D), who was taped speculating about
> getting a job with an SEIU-led labor alliance and who met with a top
> SEIU official to discuss filling Obama's Senate seat. There is no
> allegation of SEIU wrongdoing, but the episode has drawn attention to
> the union's reliance on cultivating politicians.

I'm always a bit uncomfortable when I read shit like this.

Maybe SEIU will be found to have done something illegal with Blagojevich or his staff but right now the evidence for this is zero so bringing it up repeatedly only serves to undermine ALL union support rather than focus concentration on improving unions. Constantly trying to link Blagojevich with unions seems counterproductive.

While I agree that unions need to be held to a higher standard that they currently are union officials are held to a much higher standard than corporate officials in spite of the fact that they must by necessity move in the same circles. Getting agitated by "union corruption" without explaining that Uncle Sam's union rules work to encourage such behaviour strikes me as a bit.

It's a bit like criticizing Hamas right now. Even if the criticisms are valid what purpose is served? Criticisms of SEIU should primarily remain focused within the union community where it might accomplish something but articles like this can serve no positive function that I can see.

John Thornton



More information about the lbo-talk mailing list