New Prescription for a Healthy Union Movement

[Omaha Steve]

http://exceptionmag.com/politics/advocacy/000846/new-prescription-healthy-union-movement

By Carl Finamore | May 01, 2009

It’s not every day that a new national union is formed in the United States. But that’s exactly what happened on April 25 in San Francisco. If the National Union of Healthcare Workers (NUHW) turns out as planned, it’s a date for the history books.

“You will be able to tell your grandchildren in years to come,” NUHW leader Sal Rosselli boldly predicted to 700 cheering delegates, “that you attended the founding convention of a five-million member healthcare workers’ union.”

The convention approved a Constitution and elected interim officers which are basic legal requirements for certification by the Federal government. Provisions of the new Constitution include the right to elect and recall officers and stewards, regular membership meetings and an extensive steward structure and training program.

They are now off and running with their first scheduled election only a few weeks away.

At stake are 10,000 homecare workers employed by the California county of Fresno, four hours south of San Francisco. It’s a contest that pits the upstart NUHW directly against the powerful two million member Service Employees International Union (SEIU), the bargaining representative of the Fresno group.

These public workers are very dissatisfied with SEIU’s plan to place them in a separate local divided from other union healthcare workers at hospitals and clinics across California.

FULL 3 page story at link.