UHW unveils proposals for SEIU convention
April 10th, 2008Healthcare workers leading a movement to restore democracy to the nation’s largest union have unveiled their proposed amendments to SEIU’s constitution, which will be considered at the union’s upcoming convention in June. At the convention, delegates will debate all proposed amendments and determine the policies that will shape the direction of our national union for the next 4 years. UHW’s amendments are a way to ensure that the principles of our Platform for Change become guaranteed constitutional rights within SEIU.
Download the proposed amendments [PDF]
Our proposed amendments have been submitted to SEIU and will be debated at the SEIU national convention this June. SEIU holds a national convention every 4 years and the convention delegates constitute the highest decision making body in the union. At the convention, delegates will debate all proposed amendments and determine the policies that will shape the direction of our national union for the next 4 years. UHW’s amendments are a way to ensure that the principles of our Platform for Change become guaranteed constitutional rights within SEIU.
Platform for Change
Adopted by the SEIU United Healthcare Workers West Executive Board on January 4, 2008
? Union Democracy: One Member, One Vote
? Organizing the Unorganized in our Core Industries with Active Participation of
Worksite Leaders
? Improving the Lives of Healthcare Workers and Those We Care For
? Power for Workers in Our Society
What is SEIU?
SEIU is our national union – an umbrella organization headquartered in Washington D.C. made up of 178 local unions, including our local union United Healthcare Workers-West (UHW). SEIU has over 1.8 million members in North America that are employed in health care, property services, and the public sector. UHW is one of the largest local unions in SEIU. We are also the oldest healthcare workers union in the United States and we’ve been a part of SEIU since the 1930s.
CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT
TO ENHANCE MEMBER RIGHTS IN THE COLLECTIVE BARGAINING PROCESS
WHEREAS, the SEIU Constitution affirms the members’ “right to participate in the union’s bargaining efforts,” but only guarantees their right to ratify collective bargaining agreements; and
WHEREAS, the SEIU Constitution declares that workers should have “a meaningful voice in decisions that affect them” and it is self-evident that among the most important decisions that affect union members are those which occur during the collective bargaining process; and
WHEREAS, the SEIU Constitution further declares that we must provide “meaningful paths for member involvement and participation” in the affairs of their union through democratic processes and affirms the principle that “our power and effectiveness depend upon the active participation and commitment of our members”; therefore
BE IT RESOLVED THAT the SEIU Members Bill of Rights and Responsibilities in the Union (and other articles and/or sections affected by this amendment) of the SEIU Constitution shall be amended to provide specific mechanisms and procedures whereby those members who are covered by specific collective bargaining agreements are guaranteed a meaningful “right to participate in the union’s bargaining efforts,” specifically the right to approve not just final contracts, but also any agreement that affects directly or indirectly their wages and working conditions and also the right to approve initial contract proposals and to elect members of bargaining committees.
Submitted by United Healthcare Workers – West on March 24th, 2008
CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT
TO CREATE A NATIONAL STRIKE FUND
WHEREAS, it is understood that a strike is the ultimate weapon in the event of a struggle between workers and their employer; and
WHEREAS, the success of any strike depends on the resolve of strikers to remain united and maintain solidarity; and
WHEREAS, employers would be less likely to take on a union that is able to guarantee appropriate strike benefits in the event of a strike; and
WHEREAS, ability to provide adequate strike benefits for strikers may be beyond the capacity of any single local union; and
WHEREAS, for a union of our size, it is now time to create a national strike fund consistent with many of the great industrial unions; therefore
BE IT RESOLVED, that SEIU constitution will be amended to provide for a strike fund to be financed by $1 per member per month out of the per capita tax currently paid to the International Union for the purpose of creating a National Strike Fund.
Submitted by United Healthcare Workers – West on March 24th, 2008
CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT
TO ESTABLISH COLLECTIVE BARGAINING STANDARDS FOR INDUSTRY DIVISIONS
WHEREAS, workers who do the same work deserve to earn the same wages and benefits and enjoy the same high standards of working conditions regardless of where they work or who they work for; and
WHEREAS, winning these standards requires building real power for workers through organizing the unorganized as well as developing a collective bargaining program that will win these standards at the bargaining table; and
WHEREAS, the coordination of collective bargaining is best accomplished through the Industry Divisions; therefore
BE IT RESOLVED, that Article XV, Section 17 (and other article and/or sections affected by this amendment) of the SEIU Constitution will be amended to require each Industry Division to establish democratically minimum contract standards and the program for winning those standards through training, staff development and other measures necessary to carry out these objectives as well as the systems of accountabilities to ensure that these objectives are carried out.
Submitted by United Healthcare Workers – West on March 24th, 2008
CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT
TO ESTABLISH PROCEDURES FOR COORDINATED BARGAINING AND ORGANIZING THROUGH UNITY COUNCILS
WHEREAS, the consolidation of industry-wide, multi-employer, or on single-employer multistate collective bargaining and organizing can not only give rise to greater union bargaining power, but also serve as a vehicle to drive industry standards designed to improve the lives of workers; and
WHEREAS, preserving and expanding the connection that workers have to their union through structures that promote worker democracy is something our International Union should effectuate; and
WHEREAS, it is possible simultaneously to promote both objectives: collective bargaining and organizing on a broader basis affecting large numbers of similarly situated workers without sacrificing members’ rights to belong to, and participate actively in, dynamic and democratic local unions; therefore
BE IT RESOLVED that Article VIII, Sections 1(e) and 1(f ) of SEIU Constitution (and other articles and/or sections affected by this amendment) shall be amended to provide for the creation of, and to provide an operational structure for, Unity Councils (based on the structure adopted in 2005 by the Health Systems Steering Committee and approved by the International Executive Board) to oversee coordinated multi-employer organizing and collective bargaining within given industries, as well as with large single-employers operating multiple facilities in diverse locations, through a process that includes per capita voting in the event a policy committee consisting of representatives from all participating local unions cannot reach consensus; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that following new Article attached hereto*, or close semblance thereof drafted by Union legal counsel in order to conform the language to fit within the existing constitutional framework without changing its basic intent, shall be added to the SEIU Constitution.
* Complete amendment with attachments at www.seiuvoice.org.
Submitted by United Healthcare Workers – West on March 24th, 2008
CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT
TO BUILD NATIONAL ORGANIZING PROGRAM WHILE BUILDING LOCAL UNION ORGANIZING CAPACITY
WHEREAS, the local unions that make up our International Union recognize the significance of organizing the unorganized to build power and raise standards for workers; and
WHEREAS, over the last decade, we united to create local organizing programs through the creation of the twenty percent (20%) local union organizing program; and
WHEREAS, over the last decade, we united to create Unity Funds financed through a $5 per member per month assessment to finance national organizing programs that go beyond the islands of strength that currently exist in our International Union; and
WHEREAS, Article XV, Section 16(a) of the SEIU Constitution currently requires every local union to allocate and spend twenty percent (20%) of its operating budget (after payment of all per capita tax obligations) on organizing new members into the Union; but
WHEREAS, the International Union has recently sought to raid these local organizing funds and to require that a portion be contributed to its national organizing fund, in addition to the $7.65 per member per month per capita tax, as well as the $5 per member per month Unity Fund contribution into which every local is already contributing members’ dues dollars, without first having made the requisite finding required by Section 16(b) that the local has failed to allocate and spend its earmarked fund for organizing in accord with the principles of the industry division; therefore
BE IT RESOLVED that Article XV, Section 16 (and other articles and/or sections affected by this amendment) of the SEIU Constitution shall be amended to provide that no local union may be required to remit any portion of its twenty percent (20%) organizing budget to any other union entity unless and until the procedures set forth in Section 16(b) have been followed and the requisite finding has been made.
Submitted by United Healthcare Workers – West on March 24th, 2008
CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT
TO INSURE THE MEMBERS’ RIGHT TO APPROVE MERGERS, TRANSFERS AND OTHER INTERNAL-UNION JURISDICTIONAL AND STRUCTURAL CHANGES
WHEREAS, under its current leadership the SEIU is undergoing a restructuring process that is consolidating members employed in specific industries and/or by specific employers in larger locals in order to achieve greater strength in the collective bargaining process; but
WHEREAS, this process, if administered improperly, may dilute and undermine the democratic accountability members exercise over their local and international leadership, therefore making the union less accountable to the membership; and
WHEREAS, decisions to dissolve or merge locals or transfer members from one local to another can be made to promote high ranking union officials’ personal political agendas by rewarding some local officers while punishing others based on considerations unrelated to the welfare of the affected members; and
WHEREAS, recommendations to dissolve or merge locals or transfer members from one local to another, if truly in the best interest of the membership will be recognized as such and approved by members whose locals are affected by such changes, therefore
BE IT RESOLVED that Article XIV, Section 4 (and other articles and/or sections affected by this amendment) of the SEIU Constitution shall be amended to provide that jurisdictional and structural modifications, including mergers and transfers, should occur only after investigation and analysis by genuinely independent third parties who, after furnishing detailed findings demonstrating that uniform and objective criteria have been met, to recommend specific changes, followed by their adoption by the IEB, and their approval by majority vote of the members of an affected local union on a local-by-local basis.
Submitted by United Healthcare Workers – West on March 24th, 2008
CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT
TO ESTABLISH OBJECTIVE CRITERIA FOR DETERMINATION OF JURISDICTION
WHEREAS, resolution of questions related to local union and other bodies’ jurisdiction currently rests with the International Executive Board; and
WHEREAS, there is currently no objective criteria stipulated that the International Executive Board is expected to rely on to make such an important decision; and
WHEREAS, decisions of this magnitude should be based be beyond personalities and politics, and should be based on objective criteria; therefore
BE IT RESOLVED, that Article XI, Section 6 (L) (and other articles and/or sections affected by this amendment) of the SEIU Constitution shall be amended to provide the following objective criteria to be the basis of the International Executive Board decision: a) A Local Union’s demonstrated ability to organize in an industry; and b) A Local Union’s demonstrated ability to raise and win industry standards for its members; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that prior to an International Executive Board decision, an affected Local Union may request the appointment of independent Fact Finder who shall make a factual determination, including interview and review of material submitted by
a Local Union(s), as to whether a Local Union(s) has met the criteria, and such Fact Finder shall submit his or her report to the IEB prior to its decision.
Submitted by United Healthcare Workers – West on March 24th, 2008
CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT
TO EFFECT DIRECT ELECTION OF INTERNATIONAL OFFICERS
WHEREAS, in a truly democratic union the members elect their officers, particularly those officers who are constitutionally vested with broad authority to effect structural changes in their union and to play an important role in the negotiation of collective bargaining agreements establishing the wages, hours, and terms and conditions of its members’ employment; and
WHEREAS, the SEIU Constitution declares that workers should have a meaningful voice in the governance of their union through democratic processes but insulates the top leadership from direct accountability to its membership; and
WHEREAS, officers of the International Union should be held accountable by all members of the Service Employees International Union; therefore
BE IT RESOLVED that Article V of the SEIU Constitution (and other articles and/or sections affected by this amendment) shall be amended to provide for the direct, secret mail-ballot election of all International officers, including the International President, International Secretary-Treasurer, International Executive Vice-Presidents, International Vice-Presidents and International Executive Board members by their respective constituent members, one member/one-vote, no less than four months but no more than sixth months following the International Convention, during which candidates have been nominated by the delegates at the International Conventional and who have received at least five percent of the secret ballots cast through the nomination process at the International Convention, may stand for election.
Submitted by United Healthcare Workers – West on March 24th, 2008
What's At Stake?
Some SEIU national leaders in Washington DC are moving in a direction that differs from our vision and guiding principles of union democracy and building power for workers and our families. This troubling path jeopardizes our ability to organize workers and bargain better conditions for our members and the patients, residents, and consumers we care for.
SEIU’s national leaders also want to pull nursing home and homecare members out of our local union. Separating long-term care workers from acute-care workers would leave them behind with second-class standards, and dilute our power in the healthcare industry.
? Top-down approach vs. Bottom-up approach
? Centralized national control vs. Union democracy among strong local unions
? Limited member voice and vote vs. Real member participation in decision-making
Let’s make our voice heard at the SEIU Convention this June!
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