Scurry on over to TNR to read Brad Plumer's fascinating analysis of the issues underlying Andy Stern's dispute with Sal Roselli, the head of United Health Care-West in California. In short, Roselli believes Stern is focusing too much attention on growing the union movement nationally -- even if it means cutting deals with employers -- and too little attention on the priorities of existing members. Stern responds that workers will never have real bargaining power on issues such as pay and benefits as long as competitors in their sector are non-unionized. The solution, he contends, is consolidating power and resources with a focus toward national growth and policy change.
From Brad's piece, here's an example of how the de-localization of the union movement can harm individual workers:
The new mega-locals can also be unresponsive. Four years ago, nurses in Local 660 in Los Angeles complained that their hospitals weren't following California's new staffing law--nurses there told me they were often handling many more than the mandated maximum of six patients at a time--and began agitating for change. When support from the local leadership came too slowly, a reform slate mounted a challenge in the next union election, winning a number of seats. But the local was later merged into a larger, 90,000-member local sprawled out around southern California, and the reform movement died. Joel Solis, a nurse who helped lead the fight over staffing ratios, says that members now find themselves disconnected from the union that is supposed to represent their interests. "Our issues aren't being taken care of," he says. Although most locals have adjusted fairly well, sporadic complaints have cropped up in places like Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Oregon, with some locals electing to leave SEIU after complaining about forced mergers and out-of- touch leadership.
Brad doesn't really come down on any side of this conflict. After all, a union movement unresponsive to individual workers is hardly accomplishing its goals. But remember that a very small number of Americans enjoy representation in the workplace -- just 12.1 percent. If that number doesn't increase dramatically, as Stern posits, unions will not be able to substantially transform policy areas such as health care, sick leave, maternity leave, retirement security, and the like.
--Dana Goldstein
