NUHW Goes National, Winning Union Elections in Michigan

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from In These Times:



NUHW Goes National, Winning Union Elections in Michigan
By Mike Elk


Among those seeking to reform trade unions, there is often a debate about whether or not trade unionists should try to reform unions from the inside or simply leave and form their own. Often the task of reforming a union from the inside can be difficult, as union leaders can make challenges to leadership difficult, if not impossible, in some cases.

For years, Sal Roselli, the former president of United Health Care Workers (UHW), a large Service Employees International Union (SEIU) local in California, found himself frustrated with his efforts to reform the union's organizing model, which he felt did not give rank-and-file workers proper decision-making power. Eventually, Roselli and over 100 shop stewards were kicked out of SEIU leadership positions in California after SEIU trusteed their local in January 2009.

Immediately following that action, Roselli and several thousand UHW workers decided to form a new union to implement their vision of trade unionism: the National United Healthcare Workers (NUHW). “In reality, we were forced to leave the union and had no other choice but to form our own union,” Roselli admits.

During the last three years, Roselli and a team of shop stewards were able to get 9,000 former UHW-SEIU members to join NUHW through a series of hard-fought decertification elections, through which workers switched their allegiances from SEIU to NUHW. NUHW has resisted concessions at big hospital chains like Kaiser Permante while SEIU has accepted concessions. Last fall, SEIU members crossed a picket line at a Kaiser Permanente facility set up by NUHW members and members of another union, National Nurses United in California. ...............(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.inthesetimes.com/working/entry/12491/nuhw_goes_national_winning_union_elecitons_in_michigan/