LaborPains.org

As cities across California and moreover, the entire state face financial obligations they can’t meet, the city of LA was on the cusp of reducing costs when the SEIU stepped in to bully another union.

Heaven forbid that the city of LA should be able to reign in employment costs and that another union be able to accept a deal the SEIU isn’t happy with.

According the the LA Times:

“Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and his top budget advisers thought they negotiated a labor contract last week that would begin to address the steadily rising cost of employee healthcare benefits. But that deal, reached with the 4,800-member Engineers and Architects Assn., has come under attack from members of another civilian employee union, which contends that the agreement contains “unprecedented and dangerous” concessions and should be rejected.

With the Engineers and Architects voting on the tentative agreement this week, organizers with Service Employees International Union Local 721 have begun warning that the proposed pact is part of a larger effort to “divide and conquer” the city’s civilian employee groups.”

The head of the beleaguered union says that behind the SEIU’s interest in the deal is their ongoing attempts to raid his union. So much for the “new directions” under Mary Kay Henry:

“Any move by one union to interfere with the negotiations of another union will ultimately backfire,” Szabo said, “because the city is likely to impose these healthcare provisions and more on those who opt out of the deal.” Michael Davies, interim executive director of the Engineers and Architects, said the Service Employees International Union is opposing the deal as part of its push to raid his union’s membership. Last fall, nearly 2,000 workers from his organization moved to the SEIU.

The SEIU and UNITE-HERE have settled up. Made peace. Cut ties.

According to the press release from the SEIU:

“The Service Employees International Union (SEIU), Workers United and UNITE HERE today announced a settlement agreement on behalf of the unions’ members and elected leadership that will bring to a close the protracted dispute between the unions. [...]

The agreement provides clarity and resolution to a divisive issue in labor, and at the same time, enables each union the opportunity to increase its focus and resources on addressing the larger problems faced by members and workers who have no union.”

The equally generous statement (with a side of smarmy) John Wilhelm:

I am pleased to report we have reached a binding agreement with SEIU that brings an end to nearly two years of hostilities. I credit new SEIU President Mary Kay Henry for personally devoting her energy to making this agreement.  For the sake of workers and the labor movement, I hope that this is the first step in making SEIU the great Union it can be under her leadership. [...]

And it restores to UNITE HERE the bulk of the financial assets that have been tied up in federal court, including the Manhattan real estate. UNITE HERE and SEIU agreed to seek approval from federal regulators to transfer ownership of the Amalgamated Bank to SEIU-affiliated Workers United.

The Amalgamated Bank, which UNITE brought to the table so willingly six years ago when merging with HERE was probably the grand prize in this labor war, and the SEIU won. Some would say that acquiring it was the goal along. Just ask Bruce Raynor, who according to Mary Kay Henry was integrally involved in the negotiations.

Almost one month ago to the day, it was announced that Andy Stern had joined the staff of Siga Technologies Inc. He wasn’t done yet. It was announced today that Mr. Stern will be gracing the good people of Georgetown with his…research.  According to the school:

The past president of one of the largest unions in North America will join the Georgetown Public Policy Institute (GPPI) as a senior research fellow beginning Aug. 1.  GPPI announced the appointment of former Service Employees International Union (SEIU) President Andy Stern to the position, for which he will conduct and coordinate research efforts on a number of social policy issues, including wage reform, labor policy, and retirement security.

And the answer to your burning question? No, Andy Stern will ever turn in his purple for the blue and grey.

Remember the the Hollywood strike of 2007-2007 by the Writer’s Guild of America. Your favorite show probably had a strangely short season. Plot lines were truncated. Favorite shows on the cusp of being renewed were canceled.  It produced Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog. Colbert, Stewart, and Conan (remember him) fought. And we learned that some late night hosts aren’t funny; their writer’s are. It was a dark time.

It goes with out saying, then, that no one  wants to see another strike in Hollywood, except perhaps the Teamsters. They may shut down Hollywood in the coming weeks:

“”If they’re  [the Teamsters] counting on the producers caving, that’s the wrong strategy,” a studio-side source said. “A strike is entirely possible.” The low-profile Teamsters Local 399 represents several thousand drivers who move everything from production equipment to star trailers and electrical generators. No drivers means no equipment, and no equipment means no film or TV production. The Teamsters also represent casting directors and others, and the negotiations also include craft workers such as electricians. A walkout would idle these key workers as well as drivers. A strike would be the third Hollywood work stoppage in less than three years, following a 100-day writers strike in 2007-08 and a Screen Actors Guild (SAG) stalemate in 2008-09 that led to a suspension of most movie production.

It would be the first Teamsters action since a series of strikes during the 1980s. Unless the producers hire replacement workers – a contingency they already are preparing for – production would grind to a halt.”

Everybody does it. When you work for the government and your personal interests or background (or even future employment opportunities) conflict with your ability to do your job, you have to recuse yourself. End of story.

It’s commonly practiced; we could even say it’s ethical. Well, leave it to NLRB board member and union favorite Craig Becker to break with “tradition” and weigh in on cases involving the SEIU. See, it’s perfectly legal to weigh in on the goings-on of a particular local affiliated with the union that you worked for at a national level. And ne’er the two shall meet.

Back in February, here’s what was said during the hearing with the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee on February 2, 2010, according to Bloomberg:

“Republican Senator John McCain of Arizona said he hoped Becker would recuse himself if confirmed from any case involving the SEIU, a labor union that spent $80 million to help elect Obama. Becker said he would recuse himself from such cases for two years if confirmed.”

You are more than welcome to listen to the entire hearing HERE to find the exact moment and the exact quote, but I’d say the promise is pretty clear.

Here’s the rub. Since February, Becker has apparantly changed his mind:

Craig Becker, former general counsel for the SEIU, was a controversial appointee to start with, owing to his radical and anti-democratic views on union power. But surely, Badertscher’s lawyers thought, he’d recuse himself from a case involving the SEIU. Becker refused to do so. In fact, he was part of a three-member panel that reviewed the SEIU/Pomona Valley case, and he has made it clear that he intends to continue involving himself in cases involving his former employer.

“There are 13 or 14 cases in which we’ve sought recusal for Craig Becker,” says Patrick Semmens, legal information director for the National Right to Work Foundation (NRWF), which represented Badertscher.

A pair of political races in Florida are a microcosm of the battle being waged for the soul of our nation’s public school system. Sensing that he was on the verge of losing the Republican nomination for Senate, Charlie Crist opted to veto SB6 — a bill that would have brought massive reforms to Florida’s school systems — throwing his lot in with teachers unions and others opposed to reform. His opponent, Marco Rubio, has made that veto a central part of his campaign and raised $4.5 million in campaign funds last quarter.

The Republican candidate for governor, meanwhile, is promising that SB6 will not only return, it’ll be stronger than before. Bill McCollum announced his education platform last week, and it’s a doozy:

Republican gubernatorial candidate Bill McCollum announced his education platform Friday, saying he wants to make it easier to fire teachers by eliminating tenure and base their pay raises on classroom performance instead of seniority.

McCollum would also increase standards for teachers in the state’s voluntary pre-kindergarten program for 4 year olds, expand a program that gives corporations tax breaks for providing private school scholarships for low-income students and require most high school students to take at least one course online.

Politicians are finally starting to realize that tenure is a real and serious problem for our nation’s schools. Florida has become an interesting petri dish; it will be fascinating to see if Rubio and McCollum are able to translate their ideas for education reform into support from the public.

Sandwiched in the middle of a bit of NAFTA-hating, AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka took the time remind everyone, anyone, who would listen that EFCA is still around. From the Wall Street Journal:

“Mr. Trumka said union leaders did discuss the proposed Employee Free Choice Act with Vice President Biden. The measure is a union-backed bill that would make it easier for unions to organize workers for collective bargaining. The bill is stalled in Congress, opposed by Republicans, conservative Democrats and business groups. Mr. Trumka said Mr. Biden assured labor leaders Wednesday that he and the White House were still committed to the legislation.”

I remember Richard Trumka’s battle cry last month at the UAW conference:

“We won’t quit until the EFCA becomes the law of the land and everyone who wants a union can have a union,” Trumka said.

Or a month before that in The Hill:

“The union leader was bullish on its chances of passage, saying there will be a vote on the bill this year and it will pass.”

Perhaps Mr. Trumka has alarm on his phone that reminds him to bring it up at scheduled intervals?  Like “Note to self: Harp on EFCA today. Be positive and aggressive. Smile.”

Sometimes I think there is never a more abrupt reminder that sometimes unions….stink….than when the garbage starts piling up in idyllic suburban neighborhoods. The Teamsters know this. From the Wall Street Journal:

A deal that would have brought laid-off sanitation workers back on the job was voted down by the Teamsters Union local that represents them Wednesday night. The city has been struggling to pick up its trash since the beginning of the month, when a union fight, budget cuts, the heat wave and the Fourth of July holiday all came together to hinder trash pickup. [...]

The city is trying to get more crews out, said David Simpson, the mayor’s spokesman.[...]  They also keep calling in sick. Forty-eight workers pick up trash on a normal day in Yonkers. Forty-six called in sick Tuesday. [...] “We are left to assume that members of the Teamsters union, individual members, have taken it into their own hands to protest the budget cuts that are going into effect,” Mr. Simpson said.”

They also don’t seem particularly eager to clear things up. The Teamsters seem set on letting the wound fester. From yesterday:

“The offer is still on the table for the Teamsters union, which voted down a deal Wednesday afternoon that would have restored twice-a-week garbage pickup and all sanitation jobs. The mayor tried to get in touch with the union but had heard nothing back from them yesterday, Simpson said, adding that the current administration offer on the table “may not be available for long.”

Image courtesy of TorontoCityLife.