OPINION:
Labor unions are cheering on the so-called “summer of strikes.” Employees have walked out and taken to the picket lines, or threatened to, against major employers ranging from Hollywood studios to the United Parcel Service.
But in an ironic twist, the worst boss being protested this season might be a union.
In May, the employee union for the Service Employees International Union’s (SEIU) national headquarters voted to authorize a strike against its employer. Since then, union staff members have been protesting the SEIU and speaking out against the union’s hypocritical treatment of its own employees. The staff’s demand for “pay that keeps up with the cost of living” is a common appeal made by the SEIU in the workplaces it organizes.
It’s not the first time union management has faced an employee revolt.
A similar conflict arose in 2019. The staff launched a pressure campaign and walked out against the labor union, tweeting that they “refuse to tolerate SEIU’s hypocritical #unionbusting behavior.” At the heart of the dispute was the issue of layoff protection, something the SEIU supports for employees countrywide. That is unless you’re on the union’s payroll.
One staffer summed up the situation on Glassdoor.com—a platform that provides current and past employees of a workplace a virtual bulletin board to praise an organization or air grievances. The review noted, “[t]he expressed views and mission of the SEIU are laudable but do not apply to their own employees.” It’s just one example of dozens that call the union out for not practicing what it preaches.
In another instance of inconsistency, the SEIU has been working to outsource its staffing needs, replacing full-time, unionized employees with outside contractors. It’s a tactic the union typically rails against when other workplaces pursue a similar employment structure.
And the plan has had the intended gutting effect. In 2009, the SEIU had 133 unionized staffers working at its national headquarters. Within ten years, that number reportedly fell to just 59.
The SEIU’s union-busting behavior has even drawn ire from other labor bosses. Representatives from the Communications Workers of America and the American Federation of Government Employees joined the staff union on the picket line earlier this summer. The Boston chapter of Starbucks Workers United, an SEIU affiliate known for organizing Starbucks locations, has also spoken out against the union.
The hypocrisy at the SEIU isn’t limited to the national headquarters. It has spread to some of its affiliates. Last year, staffers at Local 2015—an SEIU chapter based out of Los Angeles—went on strike. Employees claimed the union engaged in unfair labor practices by refusing to ratify a new labor contract that addressed workers’ concerns.
The local chapter responded with similar union-busting tactics as the national headquarters. Local 2015 allegedly tried to replace strikers with temporary employees and sent officials to intimidate staffers by driving up and down the picket line. The protest got heated, with the Local 2015 HR manager allegedly hitting a striking worker with her car.
The SEIU isn’t only the union facing allegations of a toxic workplace.
The aforementioned Communications Workers of America recently saw one of its top executives accused by his own colleagues of abusive and harassing behavior. The United Auto Workers union (UAW) allegedly protected the perpetrators of rampant sexual harassment at a Ford plant in Chicago. The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission even sued a local for the Teamsters union for failing to take action against the pervasive harassment of a union business agent.
Labor unions—notably the SEIU—like to point a lot of fingers. But as they scour the country searching for bad bosses, perhaps they should start by looking in their own backyard.
• Mike Saltsman is an owner and partner at Berman and Company.
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