Email: Something Stinks At SEIU

**this email is a little long but, you should read this from "EMMA" This was sent during the hospital distrubance. Humber went to vote today (Hummmm).**

Brothers and Sisters,

There have not been any missives from Emma in a while. But I think it is high time that folks started talking about what's happening out there at SEIU Local1.Canada. As members and supporters of the labour movement, we need to know what's happening and we need to do what we can to support union democracy and build stronger unions.

Things at Local 1 are a complete shambles. From across the province, all we keep hearing are complaints:

It's taking months or years for grievances to get to arbitration; at downtown hospitals, it's not uncommon for it to take a year just to get to step 2.

Reps are either so overworked they don't have time to provide service to their units, or they're the handpicked "flunkies" of President Sharleen Stewart and don't bother doing much of anything

Sharleen and her cronies just keep on firing folks and our dues keep on paying for the secret settlements for their wrongful dismissals - in the last two years, the local has spent hundreds and hundreds of thousands of dollars in payouts to staff who have filed wrongful dismissal grievances; I can't tell you how many hundreds of thousands because Sharleen and company won't release that information - even to the Executive Board

Here's what we know for sure, though... she's terminated legal counsel, the chief negotiator on the staff union, half a dozen organizers, Ron Roscoe - who used to be president of 532 and was running the Hamilton office, a number of reps. They've all filed grievances or launched law suits and those that have been settled have been settled with cash payouts from Local 1 that come with gag orders. Here's my question, if those folks weren't fired unjustly then why is Sharleen Stewart wasting my dues paying out huge settlements. And just how much has she paid out? That money should be used to provide services to members.

Sharleen decided to close down the National organizing office, so she laid off all the organizers working there. Of course, her brother Ken Evett was hired by Local 1. So now, our dues pay out $75,000 in salary and benefits to Sharleen's brother and the same amount or more to her daughter Richelle. And that doesn't include per diems and "expense accounts" and gas money.

There are no opportunities for members to speak out about any of this because there are rarely meetings of the members any more. Nobody I know can remember when the last regional meeting was held. And unit meetings don't give us a chance to talk to folks we don't already know. The whole goal of the local is to keep members in the dark and keep us apart.

Even the committees we used to serve on are being turned into tiny little elitist groups. They've done away with the political action committee and invented something called MAP (the memebers' action program). Not only are they unwilling to pay members who are seconded from work to assist with campaigns, they are actually demanding that members who join this new committee pay an additional $60 in membership fees. This is shameful. How much more of our money do Sharleen Stewart and her cronies need to get their hands on?

The service we're getting at our units just keeps getting worse and worse, but our money is used for everything except supporting our members. Reps drop grievances and don't even bother to tell the stewards. They call meetings and don't bother to show up.

Last month, there was a day of action to help influence the opening of hospital negotiations with OHA. Barely a handful of members showed up at most sites. More embarrassingly, the organizers and reps who were supposed to attend didn't show up either. So, folks were left standing on the sidewalks with no pickets, no pamphlets, and no idea of why they were wasting their lunch hours when Sharleen's hand-picked few didn't even bother to show up.

The organizing department at Local 1 spends a gigantic chunk of our dues and for what? They've barely managed to organize any new units in the last two years. And those they have organized, by and large, still don't have contracts.

Sharleen Stewart sends out press releases and tells us that she's sent a huge chunk of our dues south of the border to support SEIU's American presidential campaign, but she is so poorly respected here in Ontario that she can't even get the Ontario Hospital Association to sit down and negotiate with her.

This last little while, there has been a newly formed union - The Ontario Workers Union - trying to get members from the hospitals to change unions. I never thought I'd say this, but I think the time may have come. This new union has been formed by ex Board members, staff, members, and stewards of Local 1 and says they want to offer some positive democratic options for members. Well, I think it's about time.

Of course, Local 1 is doing what it always does in the face of any sort of democratic choice or option. What I'm hearing from my friends in the hospital units is that Sharleen has got dozens of organizers and staff out at the hospitals trying to discourage members from signing cards with this union. And how are they doing that? Well, they can't stand on their record and say what a great job they've done. If they'd done a great job, members wouldn't be so anxious to switch unions. So, instead they're telling lies and using scare tactics. They're telling folks that if they join a different union, they'll lose benefits, see wage cuts, layoffs, etc etc. Well, here's a news bulletin. Read the labour laws of this province. When workers choose to leave their union and join another during the open period, there's an absolute freeze in place. Everything stays the same until there's a new contract. It's basically a guarantee that workers will do better with their new union, because they're guaranteed an improvement on the status quo.

In addition to the lies, Sharleen is using her other favorite scare tactic - the huge lawsuit. She's slapped two of the founding officers of the new union with a $5 million lawsuit. Because she knows she can't afford to let members make an honest democratic choice. So, she'll waste our money suing folks who are trying to give us a choice and a chance to build something better.

The last time members of SEIU tried to break away and have a more democratic union, which means: broader members consultation on a regular basis, financial accountability more direct servicing and legal services and keeping our money in Canada, SEIU spent $10 million dollars (yes, you read that right, $10 million) scare- mongering members away from forming their own union. They also launched expensive lawsuits and called in staff from across the country and the US to help prevent members from exercising their democratic rights. Is that a responsible use of your dues money? She's spending our money to prevent us from having the chance to make our own choice.

Some of the organizers and staff that Sharleen has deployed to try to stop folks from joining the new union are telling members that they shouldn't join a union that doesn't even have business cards. Well, here's my thought.... I'd rather join a union that didn't waste money on fancy paint jobs on expensive vehicles for its executive and directors to ride around in, and bells and whistles, and mugs, and baubles. I'd rather join a union that put workers first and spent our money on us, instead of on luxury accommodations for them. By the way, the new union does have a website (www.ontarioworkersunion.com ), even if they don't have fancy letterhead.

Here's an idea. Take the tens of thousands of dollars (maybe more) that this lawsuit is costing and spend it on servicing the hospitals better. Then workers wouldn't be tempted to join a new union.

I'm not asking folks to jump unions. I'm suggesting that we all weigh our options carefully and hear what the new union has to say and judge Local 1.Canada (I wonder how much it cost to change the name of the union? That was probably tens of thousands of dollars of our dues money spent so Sharleen could have more bragging rights) by its past performance and its willingness to be open and honest. If there's nothing to hide, then there's no reason these questions shouldn't be answered.

So, I ask publicly once again for some short sweet answers from Sharleen Stewart:

How much is she paying herself as president of the local, as national president, in bonuses, in expenses, in per diems?

How much are the other executive officers making, including the new RPN division head?

How much is she paying the various directors and Manny Carvallho, her special assistant?

How much money has the organizing department spent in the last two years?

How many new members have they organized? I notice on the website, a big hullaballoo about some RNs that were organized at Fairview Nursing Home but it doesn't say how many. I'm guessing it's probably half a dozen. So, I ask at what cost?

How many members have we lost to de-certification?

How much money have we paid out in settlements to terminated staff?

How many times have we been sued or charged with Human Rights complaints?

How much are we blowing on legal fees to deal with Sharleen's firing rampages, or to try to silence people trying to exercise their democratic options?


There are many more questions than these that need answers. But getting this information would be a decent start.


In solidarity,

emma
Date: Tue, Jul 14, 2009 at 1:16 AM