Union Hunger Strike AGAINST Democracy
Posted on April 22, 2006 at 4:00 pm by Chuck Muth
It isn’t often that you see people on a hunger strike against the right to vote, but the leaders of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) have recklessly led 10 janitors in Florida to do just that.
The 15-day hunger strike is part of a seven-week labor dispute which seeks to impose unionization on janitors employed by Unicco cleaning company and contracted by the University of Miami without a secret ballot vote. Instead, the SEIU is demanding their union be recognized by a “card check” campaign, which denies employees their right to a fair and democratic election and exposes them to union intimidation and coercion.
Now 15 days into the strike — and after four strikers have dropped out due to health concerns, with one suffering a mild stroke — SEIU president Andy Stern has had the audacity to claim that this situation “appears to have only a tragic end in sight” and that “the very person who holds the health and human safety of [the strikers] in her hands is [university President] Donna Shalala.” Furthermore, the SEIU has called on the university to “intervene before somebody dies.”
But as we told United Press International: “SEIU’s rhetoric is akin to that of a hostage taker: Meet my demands or someone might get hurt. While Stern and SEIU attack the university, it is their anti-democratic agenda that is putting employees’ lives at risk.” Meanwhile, Shalala echoed our concern and shot back at in an Op-Ed in yesterday’s Miami Herald:
The SEIU and its supporters are pressuring the university to require Unicco to accept the method that does not guarantee participation by all employees — part of a national campaign by the union. We have said No. The University of Miami — no university, for that matter — could ever argue against an uncoerced election for all workers. Many Unicco employees came to this country seeking freedom and democracy. To deny them the opportunity to exercise the fundamental right of an election would be unconscionable.
The SEIU has historically accepted an election for many South Florida employers, including Pan American Hospital and Cedars Hospital. Why not allow the same kind of election with Unicco? Does the union think that Unicco’s employees are second-class citizens who don’t deserve the right to vote? We don’t believe that; in fact, we believe Unicco has excellent, intelligent workers.
We are devastated that the union is risking the health and well-being of our students and the Unicco employees by sanctioning an activity as drastic as a hunger strike. Hunger strikes have never been used in this country to oppose an election. We have urged both parties to continue daily discussions until this issue is resolved. A free election for or against unionization is a federal statutory right.
We don’t expect this to go away soon. The union is spending millions of dollars, and the protestors are expert event planners — putting all of their time into planning events to attract media attention. But members of the UM community have rights, too. Our students, faculty and staff have the right to teach, attend classes, study, conduct research, work and see patients without being harassed or bullied.
SOURCE: Center for Union Facts
