Workers Rights and Corporate Accountability A Leader at the Point of Union Growth and Criticism - New York Times
Andy Stern has been hailed in some quarters as the nation’s top labor leader largely because his union, the Service Employees International Union, has added members faster than any other, 800,000 over the last decade.
But the president of one of the union’s biggest locals has begun a public war with Mr. Stern, accusing him of having a “growth at any cost” mentality that has shortchanged union members.
That official, Sal Rosselli, whose local represents 140,000 health care workers in California, says Mr. Stern has made too many concessions on benefits and working conditions in persuading employers to agree not to fight unionization drives. The union has organized hundreds of facilities and grown membership to 1.9 million.
“An overly zealous focus on growth — growth at any cost, apparently — has eclipsed S.E.I.U.’s commitment to its members,” Mr. Rosselli wrote in a letter to Mr. Stern. Mr. Rosselli complained that Mr. Stern had had top officials negotiate deals with national health care corporations, depriving rank-and-file workers of adequate say in their contracts. In December, Mr. Rosselli quit as president of the union’s 600,000-member state council in California after he grew convinced that Mr. Stern wanted to push him out.