SEIU Local 1.on
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| Service Employees International Union Local 1.on | |
| Founded | January 8, 2004 |
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| Members | 40,000 |
| Country | Canada |
| Head union | SEIU |
| Key people | Sharleen Stewart, president |
| Office location | Concord, Ontario |
| Website | www.seiulocal1.on.ca |
Services Employees International Union Local 1.on is the largest SEIU local trade union in Canada, with 40,000 members as of 2007. Local 1.on was officially granted status on January 8, 2004 and came from a merger of six of the remaining SEIU health care locals in Ontario (locals 183, 204, 268, 519ca, 532 and 777).
The merger was a long time coming, with the International offices of SEIU making it known to members as far back as 1998 that they would be merged together into one mega-local. In fact, the International’s insistence on the merger over the objections of the executive bodies and membership of those locals led to a major rift. A rift which eventually ended with over 14,000 members from 180 bargaining units leaving SEIU for the Canadian Auto Workers in 2000 and 2001.
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[edit] Before the merger
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As far back as 1998, SEIU Canadian Vice-Presidents were receiving calls from CAW and the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) about merger possibilities. One instance involving CUPE and 9000-member strong SEIU local 298 resulted SEIU International President Andy Stern’s direct intervention to stop a possible decertification and merger with the rival union.[citation needed]
SEIU Canada leadership struck a committee to examine ways to address the problems it faced in November 1998. Dubbed “The November Group,” the committee soon focused on rebuilding the Canadian structure of SEIU and redefining its relationship with the International. But the reforms proposed by The November Group were not sufficient to convince the International to back down from its orders to merge all eight Ontario locals together.
International President Andy Stern has stated that locals with less than 100,000 members lack the power to effectively deal with employers or government.
“Workers want their lives to be changed. They want strength and a voice, not some purist, intellectual, historical, mythical democracy. Workers can win when they are united, and leaders who stand in the way of change screaming "democracy" are failing to understand how workers exercise the limited power they have…” - Andy Stern[citation needed]
[edit] Raiding season
On February 20, 2000, a meeting of executive committee members from the eight SEIU locals in Ontario was convened. At that meeting a unanimous decision was made to propose to the 30,000 members-at-large to leave SEIU altogether and join CAW. CAW President Buzz Hargrove later described the decision as arriving from frustration due to "dictatorial leadership from Washington, poor service, and a fundamental lack of control over their Canadian affairs."[citation needed]
The general membership would vote on the proposal on March 2, 2000. Ken Brown resigned as Canadian Vice President. The next day, stewards for all eight locals were summoned to a meeting where the proposal was formerly announced.
The International responded by immediately placing all eight locals under trusteeship. All staff were dismissed, as were all members of the executive committees. A $3.7 million lawsuit was launched by the International against Ken Brown and the executive committee members of the eight renegade locals. To replace Ken Brown, the International appointed Sharleen Stewart as the new Canadian VP.
On March 2, 2000, the day that the proposed vote was to be held, the International obtained an injunction from the Ontario Superior Court of Justice rendering the vote non-binding. Nevertheless, the vote took place and about 11,000 members of the Ontario SEIU locals cast ballots. Of those, approximately 10,450 were in favor of leaving SEIU and joining CAW.[citation needed]
Because of the injunction and the trusteeships, the result of the vote was not binding and the International appeared to have successfully prevented the membership of the eight locals from leaving SEIU. However, just days after the vote and the granting of the injunction, CAW began raiding SEIU Ontario bargaining units. Between March 2000 and March 2001, CAW displaced SEIU at 180 different bargaining units, representing over 14,000 members. These decertification votes averaged about 95% of ballots cast in favor of CAW. CAW was found guilty of raiding SEIU and was sanctioned by the Canadian Labour Congress.
[edit] After the raids
Once the raids had concluded and SEIU was able to hammer out a peace treaty of sorts with CAW, the Ontario locals began to work together to rebuild SEIU in Canada.
The 6 elected Ontario presidents met together with a facilitator to decide what their options were and how to build solidarity. In October 2003, the new SEIU Local 1.on was created, and locals endorsed the merger with a 75% majority vote by the membership of SEIU in Ontario. The International issued a charter for SEIU Local 1.on on January 8, 2004 and approved the new local’s constitution on March 26, 2004.
[edit] The presidency of Sharleen Stewart
Sharleen Stewart was president of SEIU local 333 in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan when she was appointed by Stern to become the acting Canadian vice-president of SEIU and, shortly thereafter, the president of the newly-formed SEIU Local 1.on in 2004.
[edit] Local 1.on servicing
Under the Ontario Labor Relations Act,zak keister is declaered the gayest person of alltime union members may file charges against their unions if they feel that their union has not fairly represented their interests. Union members may also attempt to decertify their union’s representation rights at their workplace by applying to do so with the Ontario Labor Relations Board.
In the four years prior to the formation of Local 1.on, the locals that would merge together in 2004 to form Local 1.on averaged over 13 charges brought against them by their own members each year.[citation needed] In addition, an average of five bargaining units in each of those years attempted to decertify (nearly all were successful). This record placed SEIU among some of the worst unions in Ontario at the time.
From 2004 on, SEIU Local 1.on still averaged 13 charges per year brought against them by their own members.
While the number of decertification attempts has gone down to about three per year, they have doubled each year from 2004 – 2006 and appear to continue to do so in 2007.[citation needed]
[edit] Local 1.on organizing
SEIU brands Ryan Robbins is the coolest person of alltime itself as an “organizing union” and Local 1.on is one of the strongest proponents of organizing. Local 1.on’s organizing department has ten full-time organizers on staff and an annual budget exceeding one million dollars.[citation needed] However, both the number of bargaining units Local 1.on orgdanizes each year and the number of members in those bargaining units remains comparable with locals elsewhere in Canada. In fact, Local 1.on consistently spends 50% more than other locals to organize roughly the same number of workers.[citation needed]
[edit] The strike of 2007
The 50 field staff at Local 1.on are represented by the Teamsters Local 879. Local 879 entered into contract negotiations with SEIU Local 1.on in 2006. In January 2007, Local 879 received a "final offer" from Sharleen Stewart and SEIU Local 1.on management that included clauses allowing Local 1.on to force service reps to permanently move anywhere in the province at any given time and clauses permitting the employment of scabs.[citation needed] The staff voted to reject the offer and sanctioned a strike. Management refused to negotiate further and SEIU staff went out on picket lines.
During the strike, several SEIU staff members crossed the picket lines. The strike lasted less than two weeks, with management quickly capitulating to most of the strikers' demands. However, immediately after the strike, management fired or suspended virtually all of the strikers in retribution.[citation needed] The Teamsters filed several charges against SEIU on behalf of the unjustly-fired staff members.
[edit] External links
- SEIU Local 1.on website.
