by Chris McLaughlin
British trade unions were warned at the TUC congress to be aware of international mergers following claims that attempts by an American “Roman Empire” union to raid other organisations’ members on a massive scale threatens to undermine the labour movement in the United States.
Delegates were told that the Service Employers International Union, which under the leadership of Andy Stern broke up the 50th anniversary of the AFL-CIO by leading 4.6 million workers out of the organisation, has used underhand and unconstitutional methods to poach members.
Debbie Anderson, international officer of the hotels and gaming union Unite Here, told a fringe meeting organised by the GMB that the SEIU’s philosophy was to turn the labour movement into a “corporate friendly, top-down body with little or no membership involvement and on a path that has done great damage to the labour movement”.
Mr Stern has built the 1.8 million-strong SEIU into the fastest growing union in the US, forming the hub of a federation representing six million workers, including drivers, food workers, carpenters, hotel workers, labourers, janitors and health care workers.
After initial increases in the low wage sectors, workers are signed up to “partnerships” with companies which severely restrict their rights to operate freely as trade unionists.
Ms Anderson said that the hostility deployed in campaign tactics by SEIU were “truly astonishing”. She accused the union of using funds raised by Unite Here to contact its own members in a negative campaign to persuade them to switch.
Leaflets were sent to members’ home addresses and cold-calling telephone campaigns were deployed in industrial sectors not represented by SEIU, which has a low membership reach in its own jurisdiction.
One leaflet, sent to Unite Here’s hotel sector members, was in the form of a “Do Not Disturb” sign hung on a bedroom door to insinuate that Unite Here was not interested in getting a fair deal for its members. Other tactics, according to Ms Anderson, have included smear campaigns, personal home visits, website attacks and the hiring of union-busting consultants.
The SEIU has been widely condemned by US union leaders. GMB leader Paul Kenny told the meeting that his union had been approached by SEIU several years ago with an offer of a “blank cheque” to help the union out of its then financial troubles.
The offer was turned down because the conditions would have given the SEIU the right effectively to take over the union.
