Justice for All
Letter from Leslie Frane, Executive Director, SEIU Local 503, OPEU
Dear Sisters and Brothers:
I want to give you an update on the SEIU Convention, which took place last week. Our delegation of 32 members and staff represented our local well and managed to have a good time also!
There’s lots of detailed information about the convention proceedings on the SEIU website at www.seiu2008.org. I encourage folks to check out the website, which has some terrific video clips of Senator Obama, Andy Stern, and others addressing the convention. There are also clips of members telling incredible stories. That was my favorite part of the convention—hearing from members whose lives have been transformed by the union, and those whose lives we have the potential to change in the years ahead. My personal favorite moment was a joint presentation done by a Latina janitor and an African American security guard from Los Angeles. They talked about how the janitors’ support for the security guards’ organizing drive broke down the racial tension caused by the perception that Latinos had displaced African Americans from the better paying janitorial jobs. Another high point was when, from the podium, a global organizing agreement covering 400,000 janitors on four continents was signed with ISS, the largest janitorial company in the world. It was dramatic to have the agreement signed before our eyes, and it underscored the fact that our focus on global organizing is yielding real results affecting hundreds of thousands of workers.
A number of 503 members spoke, including Barbara Casey and Portia Moye on the importance of politics, Bruce McCutcheon on nursing home organizing, and Paula Allen on our private equity work. We won an award for our stellar track record in increasing contributions to CAPE. Delegates from other locals were clearly impressed with the work we are doing at 503.
The “Justice for All” program passed overwhelmingly. We reelected the current leadership team (Andy Stern-President; Anna Burger-Secretary Treasurer; Eliseo Medina, Tom Woodruff, Mary Kay Henry, and Gerry Hudson—Executive Vice Presidents). In addition, two new Executive Vice Presidents were elected: Annelle Grajeda and Dave Regan. A new—and impressively diverse--team of Vice Presidents and International Executive Board members were elected, including Alice and me as Vice Presidents.
The core goals of Justice for All include:
- Organizing 500,000 workers over the next four years, with a focus on the south and southwest
- Electing Barack Obama and getting health care reform and the Employee Free Choice Act passed in the first 100 days of his administration
- More national coordination of strategies, especially when it comes to organizing, with teams of elected local leaders making key decisions
- Establishing Member Resource Centers to improve representation and to free up staff and member leaders to prioritize member involvement and leadership development
- Goal of 10% of members in leadership roles and 50% in some way engaged in union activity
- Becoming a leading voice for quality public services
- Strengthening our global work and our ability to organize multinational companies across national boundaries (especially in security and cleaning sectors)
- Involving more members in politics and in organizing
- Prioritizing accountability in our political work
- More investment in building and sustaining community coalitions with a goal of building a permanent progressive majority
There was plenty of debate and controversy at the convention both inside and outside the hall. Outside, there was a picket by members of a Puerto Rican union that is competing with an SEIU-affiliated Puerto Rican union in an election to represent teachers on the Island. Inside, meetings went into the evenings on two of the three days. Hundreds of rank and file members got up and spoke passionately from the microphones on a wide array of issues. A group of delegates, led by Sal Rosselli, President of United Health Care Workers-West, presented an alternate program which they called The Platform for Change. Criticizing the Justice for All Program as a “top-down, corporatist unionism model”, they submitted their own resolutions and ran candidates for a number of leadership positions but did not prevail. I thought Andy Stern did a good job of making sure that dissenters had ample time at the microphones, first at the divisional breakouts, then during committee meetings, and then during the convention. There were also hundreds of side conversations in the halls and shuttle buses, e-mails and phone calls to delegates, and leafleting of hotels: lots of opportunities for delegates with different perspectives to share their opinions.
The conversation was pretty polarized, sometimes generating as much heat as light, but it was clear that at the end of the day, the overwhelming majority of delegates considered the two platforms and chose to support the “Justice for All” program. I don’t have numbers, since the votes were done by standing, but the split seemed to me to be about 80 to 90% in favor of Justice for All. Our delegation discussed and voted among ourselves on each issue. We reached consensus on most, though not all, of the resolutions. On the core “Justice for All” resolutions and the candidate election, we were unanimous and voted proudly to support the resolution and the Stern slate. I think we left the convention feeling like our union is on the right track, and we are excited about the possibilities and challenges ahead of us. I’m looking forward to more conversation about the Convention at our next Board meeting!
In unity, Leslie Frane, Executive Director of SEIU Local 503, OPEU