Legal Commentary

There's a very thoughtful set of discussions going on at the Daily Kos, started by this post on "Union Strategy, Union Democracy."  The post begins as a discussion of the blog ads by SEIU and its critics that have been popping up on progressive political web sites.  Recently, SEIU's tactics have been attacked by rival union California Nurses Association/National Nurses Organizing Committee, which has accused it of top-down, antidemocratic organizing.  As the post points out:

The SEIU and CNA are expressing a major strategic difference. The SEIU is emphasizing union density -- to have as many workers as possible in the same industry or same area be unionized, because then non-union employers have to raise their wages to compete, rather than undercutting the wages paid by union employers. * * * To achieve this, the SEIU under Andy Stern has become known for reaching cooperative deals with employers in order to reach the greatest number of workers; the CNA argues that these deals go too far and eliminate many of the benefits of union membership, limiting the gains a union contract will make.

The post also mentions the dispute between SEIU leadership and one of its largest locals, United Healthcare Workers-West (UHW).  According to this recent New Republic account, UHW president Sal Roselli has complained that "Stern has made the union too undemocratic, that he has cut secret deals with employers, that he cares more about enlarging the union than serving its existing members."

As the Daily Kos post indicates, these issues are complicated, with many competing factual claims on all sides.  But the controversies raise fascinating questions about the nature of union representation, and the pros and cons of different approaches.  The Daily Kos post ends with this passage:

If the SEIU trustees the UHW, it will have cast serious doubt on its commitment to democracy -- which should be at the heart of representing workers. If, however, they embrace the debate, we might find in this moment of conflict a possibility for real advances, for a robust debate about how to take advantage of the opportunities unions might gain from a Democratic president, for involving workers in a debate about what direction unions should take, for producing healthy competition between different models of unionism as exemplars of each try to demonstrate their advantages to prospective members.

As I have noted recently, now is an opportune time to reconsider our notions of union representation.  SEIU is a perfect example of the "union as provider of representation services" model.  The Daily Kos post, including its many thoughtful commenters, provides a in-depth and balanced look into the costs and benefits of this new model.  I encourage you to check it out.