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SEIU vs NUHW = US unions battle + Bangladesh garment workers uprising.
A Battle for Labour's Future June 2009 By Dan Clawson
SEIU, headed by Andy Stern, is the nation's fastest growing, most visible, most politically potent labour union. Almost every story about SEIU is about some new way that it is on the offensive, launching one or another surprising new initiative, demonstrating its power and creativity. But this is a story about how SEIU is on the receiving end, seemingly outflanked by a new breakaway union, the National Union of Healthcare Workers (NUHW), which appears to be winning unprecedented support from workers and leaving SEIU flat-footed—although SEIU's power and resources may yet enable it to win.
Talking to leaders of the two sides in this dispute is a window into two different visions of the labor movement. When NUHW leaders talk, it is all about the workers and what the workers want; when SEIU leaders talk, it is about the need for labour to be powerful.
If a union is about power and raising wages "for" workers, SEIU can make a compelling case. If a union is about building a better world and developing people's ability to control their own lives, not once every four years, but day-to-day at the workplace—NUHW is far more appealing. The battle between these two unions will definitely produce some blood on the floor and name calling.
There is no question that employers will be delighted and will find ways to quote each side against the other. But I suspect the battle will also leave both unions stronger and more democratic. If democracy and a larger vision are central to unions, NUHW's challenge could be the best news we've had in years. And perhaps—as happened in the 1930s—a battle between unions, combined with the greatest economic crisis in a couple of generations, will again lead to a labour upsurge.
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Critique The Case of Tea Workers in Bangladesh by Lucille Sircar and Shamimul Islam with Philip Gain http:/
seiu vs nuhw, bangladesh garment workers
Last updated 225 days ago by viola wilkins
