{"id":1875,"date":"2008-09-08T17:21:29","date_gmt":"2008-09-08T17:21:29","guid":{"rendered":"0"},"modified":"2008-09-08T18:43:25","modified_gmt":"2008-09-08T18:43:25","slug":"21st_century_un","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/marcdanziger.com\/?p=1875","title":{"rendered":"21st Century Unions Can Still Have 19th Century Problems"},"content":{"rendered":"

Here in Los Angeles, the SEIU (Service Employees International Union) has been going through some challenges, as the LA Times did what it sometimes does well, and launched an investigation into self-dealing and – in a word, corruption – among the local leadership.<\/p>\n

The national union responded by placing the locals in trusteeship, and retaining former California AG John Van de Kamp (disclaimer: a friend of my wife’s) in charge of an investigation.<\/p>\n

Good for the Times and good for SEIU.<\/p>\n

Here’s an oped in today’s Times<\/a> from Andy Stern, president of the SEIU:<\/p>\n

Recent reports in The Times have raised serious questions about how money from a local chapter may have been misused. The stories accuse Tyrone Freeman, president of Local 6434, of steering payments and contracts to companies owned by his relatives and other financial improprieties.<\/p>\n

\nThe SEIU, deeply troubled by these allegations, immediately launched its own investigation, and, within two weeks, Freeman and his field director had gone on leave and the SEIU had taken over running the local union.<\/p>\n

\nAt the SEIU, we understand that reform, like charity, must begin at home.<\/p>\n

\nOur unions represent some of the hardest-working men and women in America, workers who sweep floors and empty bedpans for a living wage. The first responsibility of every union official is to do what is right by those who pay dues out of their paychecks every week. When we fail in that obligation, our union loses its moral center and its soul.<\/p>\n

\nAny misuse of member dues calls into question the hard work and reputations of thousands of honest and committed rank-and-file members, stewards, local union leaders and staff. What’s more, it hands anti-worker corporations and reform opponents the ammunition they need to defeat workers trying to organize and win fair contracts. <\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I’m at the head of the line when it comes to kicking the Times for its failings, let me be similarly aggressive about cheering them for a success.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The LA Times and the SEIU do good…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/marcdanziger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1875"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/marcdanziger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/marcdanziger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marcdanziger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marcdanziger.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1875"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/marcdanziger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1875\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/marcdanziger.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1875"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marcdanziger.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1875"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marcdanziger.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1875"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}