top
Central Valley
Central Valley
Indybay
Indybay
Indybay
Regions
Indybay Regions North Coast Central Valley North Bay East Bay South Bay San Francisco Peninsula Santa Cruz IMC - Independent Media Center for the Monterey Bay Area North Coast Central Valley North Bay East Bay South Bay San Francisco Peninsula Santa Cruz IMC - Independent Media Center for the Monterey Bay Area California United States International Americas Haiti Iraq Palestine Afghanistan
Topics
Newswire
Features
From the Open-Publishing Calendar
From the Open-Publishing Newswire
Indybay Feature
Mon May 18 2009 (Updated 05/20/09)
Fresno Is Ground Zero in Labor Struggle
Union Members Say: "SEIU Go Away, NUHW Is Here to Stay"
Local healthcare union activists charge that the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) is run by unelected, out-of-town bureaucrats who negotiate sweetheart deals behind closed doors with corporate CEOs. Organizers and members of the National Union for Healthcare Workers (NUHW) believe labor unions should be militant, member-driven organizations that fight for better pay and benefits for their members. They are in a David-and-Goliath-like struggle with SEIU (aka Goliath), which has everything money can buy, but NUHW (aka David) has a secret weapon - the support of the workers.

Fresno is ground zero in this struggle over the future of the union movement because more than 10,000 home care workers will vote in June to decide which union will represent them. This is the first major election in the country where workers will get to chose between NUHW and SEIU. The outcome of this election will determine whether home care workers will have a grassroots democratically elected union or one that imposes leadership from the top down.

SEIU, which is based in Washington D.C., took over the local home care workers union in a trusteeship that took place on Jan. 27, 2009. As a result of the trusteeship, the elected leadership of SEIU-United Healthcare Workers-West (SEIU-UHW) was removed, members and their supporters were forced out of their own union hall and SEIU appointed new "leaders" for SEIU-UHW. When the takeover happened, most of the staff of SEIU-UHW left and, along with thousands of healthcare workers, formed NUHW.

photo Read more and view photos
2024-06-11 If Passed, Measure J Will Ban "Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations" Front Page | North Bay / Marin | Government & Elections | Animal Liberation2024-06-11 Activists Stand in Solidarity with Horses Who Lost Their Lives at Race Track Front Page | East Bay | Animal Liberation2024-06-11 Two Years After Shireen Abu Akleh Was Killed, There Still Is No Justice Front Page | Anti-War | Media Activism & Independent Media | San Francisco | International | Palestine2024-06-11 Crisis Team Provides Students with Non-Police Response to Mental Health Crises Front Page | Police State & Prisons | Health, Housing & Public Services | Education & Student Activism | California | Santa Cruz Indymedia2024-06-11 Only a Couple of Thousand Adult Leatherback Turtles Remain in the Pacific Ocean Front Page | Environment & Forest Defense | San Francisco | Peninsula | North Bay / Marin | North Coast | California | Animal Liberation | Santa Cruz Indymedia2024-05-25 Demonstrators Denounce Tech Giant's Contracts with Israeli Military Front Page | Anti-War | Peninsula | U.S. | International | Palestine2024-05-13 Actions Call on Biden to Declare a Climate Emergency and End Fossil Fuels Environment & Forest Defense | Global Justice & Anti-Capitalism | Education & Student Activism | San Francisco | Peninsula | California | U.S. | Palestine2024-05-08 Resistance to Deceptive Forest Service Measure Is Growing Front Page | Environment & Forest Defense | Central Valley | California | U.S.2024-05-08 Regulators Fail to Protect Schoolchildren from Repeated Exposure to Dangerous Pesticides Environment & Forest Defense | Racial Justice | Health, Housing & Public Services | Labor & Workers | Education & Student Activism | Santa Cruz Indymedia2024-04-24 Across the Globe, Students Set Up Encampments in Solidarity with Palestinians Front Page | Police State & Prisons | Anti-War | Education & Student Activism | Central Valley | San Francisco | South Bay | East Bay | Peninsula | North Bay / Marin | North Coast | California | U.S. | International | Palestine | Santa Cruz Indymedia2024-04-09 Deal Described as One of the Most Significant Urban Land Back Victories in US History Environment & Forest Defense | Racial Justice | East Bay
We are 100% volunteer and depend on your participation to sustain our efforts!

Donate

$40.00 donated
in the past month

Get Involved

If you'd like to help with maintaining or developing the website, contact us.

Publish

Publish your stories and upcoming events on Indybay.

IMC Network