Staff members of the Service Employees International Union, one of the nation’s largest labor organizations, have accused it of union-busting and mounted a stepped-up campaign against it in the last week. The staffers have walked out, hung a banner from the union’s Washington D.C. headquarters accusing it of hypocrisy, and attacked it on social media.
“What happens when @SEIU management refuses to listen to their own employees? We get loud, we stand strong, we walk out! We refuse to tolerate SEIU’s hypocritical #unionbusting behavior,” the workers tweeted Friday from their account @unionstaffSEIU.
What happens when @SEIU management refuses to listen to their own employees?
We get loud, we stand strong, we walk out! ?️?
We refuse to tolerate SEIU’s hypocritical #unionbusting behavior. #1u pic.twitter.com/bzsIGoFmeD
— Unionized staffers at SEIU HQ & NIPF (@UnionStaffSEIU) September 13, 2019
The SEIU is one of the most prominent activist unions and a major funder of Democrats and liberal activism, donating $41 million in the 2018 election cycle alone.
The staffers walked out against SEIU on Monday, the same day they hung a banner from the union’s D.C. headquarters that that said, “SEIU Stop Union busting bargain a fair contract.”
The disgruntled staffers have even created a GoFundMe “SEIU Employees Strike Fund” website to support their effort to go on strike against the union. “We have now raised more than half of our initial goal of $10,000 for our supplemental strike fund so that the union staff @SEIU headquarters have the resources we need to go on strike!”
The SEIU staffers are part of Office and Professional Employees International Union Local 2, which represents 8,000 office workers in the Washington D.C. area, including workers for many for unions. OPEIU Local 2 has been fighting with SEIU throughout the year, claiming that the larger union has sought to “destroy” it by misclassifying the workers.
SEIU said it tried to negotiate in good faith with the staffers and it “absolutely respects” their right to walk out. “SEIU headquarters staff represented by OPEIU Local 2 have rejected a contract that we are proud to have been able to offer,” a SEIU spokesperson said in a statement to the Washington Examiner. SEIU said it made an offer that included raises, lifetime job security upon five years of service, and improved healthcare and pensions.
The staffers have alleged that SEIU has systematically shrunk the bargaining unit the union represents by more than 50% over the last decade. They alleged the union has dismissed some workers and falsely classified senior staffers as managers ineligible to collectively bargain. The staffers alleged that SEIU has even outsourced office work in order to undermine their bargaining unit.
Representatives from OPEIU Local 2 could not be reached for comment.
