Labor Legend Dolores Huerta Rips SEIU For Worker Intimidation
HuffingtonPost First Posted: 08- 3-10 01:01 PM | Updated: 08- 3-10 04:01 PM
A legend of the labor movement stepped into the turmoil engulfing organized labor in California on Tuesday, pressing the new head of the Service Employees International Union to call off the war that has been raging on the West Coast over control of union workers.
In an open letter, Dolores Huerta wrote President Mary Kay Henry, thanking her for putting an end to SEIU’s “mistaken campaign of aggression” against UNITE HERE, but charging the union with “a coordinated effort by SEIU leaders in California to deny thousands of healthcare workers their federally-protected right to organize with the National Union of Healthcare Workers (NUHW).” [UPDATE: Scroll down for the SEIU response.]
Huerta, the matriarch of organized labor, is perhaps the most respected figure in western labor circles, often referred to as “the female Cesar Chavez” for co-founding the United Farm Workers. Huerta first endorsed the NUHW’s campaign in May 2009. Her letter raises the profile of the issue for Henry, who is now responsible for the campaigns launched by her predecessor, Andy Stern. Henry became president of SEIU in April, defeating a Stern protégé for the position.
Read Huerta’s letter here.
The SEIU’s Michelle Ringuette responds:
Rhetoric aside, the facts matter. In a terrible economy, 43,000 SEIU-UHW members who work at Kaiser have won industry-leading pay, 9% raises over next 3 years, protected healthcare benefits through 2013 and job security. NUHW officials – ousted from SEIU in 2009, found liable in federal court for their efforts to destroy SEIU-UHW and fined $1.57 million – continue to try to undermine Kaiser workers and the gains they’ve earned. SEIU-UHW will stand side by side with these workers and defend their 65-year proud history of quality care and jobs at Kaiser.
Read the full story at HuffPo.
