THE SERVICE EMPLOYEES INTERNATIONAL UNION
is one of America’s largest labor unions, but could it also be one of the country's worst employers?
A Union Steeped in Controversy
ROTTEN APPLE?:
Discrimination Allegations Plague Prominent SEIU Local.
The Worst Employer in America?:
Accusations of sexual harassment, union busting, and brutal work environment plague the SEIU.
TERMINATION TOWN?:
Allegations of Wrongful Termination and Retaliation at Los Angeles-based SEIU Locals.
TV Commercial Slams SEIU for $20 Minimum Wage Hike
March 29, 2024 | LABORPAINS.ORG TEAM
Today, the Center for Union Facts released a new ad highlighting the devastating impacts of California’s new $20 minimum wage for fast food workers, which goes into effect Monday. It will run in the coming days as a television and digital ad buy in the Los Angeles and Sacramento markets. The tongue-in-cheek video features fast food […] ...
Today, the Center for Union Facts released a new ad highlighting the devastating impacts of California’s new $20 minimum wage for fast food workers, which goes into effect Monday. It will run in the coming days as a television and digital ad buy in the Los Angeles and Sacramento markets.
The tongue-in-cheek video features fast food workers “thanking” the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) for the damaging and inconsistent law, leading to higher prices, business closures, and layoffs. In fact, California restaurants are already killing jobs and cutting hours ahead of the increase.
The SEIU was behind the bill that created the California Fast Food Council as well as the new $20 wage—a hike that continues to be championed by Gov. Gavin Newsom despite fierce opposition from impacted workers, employers, and economists.
The California Fast Workers Union is based in Washington, D.C., not California; it’s not a legal labor union and can’t bargain with employers; and it represents far less than one percent of the state’s fast food workforce. For more on CUF’s take on the SEIU’s fake union, read our recent OC Register op-ed here.
A CUF survey of California restaurant workers released in March found that the workforce isn’t aligned with the SEIU’s agenda. We asked restaurant workers what they thought of the $20 wage hike and its potential consequences. Below are some key findings:
- 60 percent said it would lead to higher prices;
- 51 percent expected fewer shifts or hours scheduled;
- 40 percent anticipated staffing cuts;
- 39 percent predict fewer new highers.
The SEIU alleges that restaurant employees face an abusive environment, and do not feel they are heard at their place of work. The same survey asked these workers to share their experiences working in the restaurant industry. Here’s what they had to say:
- 92% enjoy working at their restaurant;
- 76% feel that their concerns are heard;
- 95% feel safe at work;
- 88% have the tools they need to solve problems at work.
SEIU Heir Apparent April Verrett Has History of Criticism and Controversy
Today, the Center for Union Facts released a new report on the potential next leader of the Service Employees International Union.
The New York Times recently noted that outgoing Service Employees International Union (SEIU) President Mary Kay Henry’s replacement could be April Verrett, a high-ranking SEIU member. Verrett has been the president of SEIU Local 2015 (2019-2022) and is the current secretary treasurer of the SEIU International (2022-present).
But Verrett is a controversial figure even within her own union. She presided over two of the largest union staff strikes in American history and has been associated with several conflicts.
In 2022, SEIU Local 2015 staged a strike against union leadership – notably President April Verrett – with workers complaining about management using union busting tactics and retaliating against its own employees. After the strike, several of the high-profile organizers were fired.
In 2023, issues with Verrett and SEIU staff members seemed to follow her to the union’s headquarters in Washington D.C. Workers accused management – notably April Verrett and Mary Kay Henry – of utilizing “corporate tricks and delay tactics” to prevent negotiating with their own employees.
Verrett’s issues were not just relegated to her own employees protesting the union, she was also implicated in hiring a disgraced union leader and was featured in a lawsuit for wrongful termination by a former employee who alleged discrimination and retaliation.
Unfortunately, it looks like SEIU members can expect more of the same with a president like April Verrett – a hypocritical leader with a track record of promoting bad actors and condoning the same union-busting tactics she condemns companies for carrying out.
Will Local 11 Condemn Its Ally’s Anti-Semitic Candidate?
A key ally of Unite Here Local 11, the Democratic Socialists of America, Los Angeles (DSA-LA) recently endorsed a radical school board candidate who praised an anti-Semitic book and liked a speech that called Jews “satanic.”
Kahllid Al-Alim, a candidate for the Los Angeles Unified School District Board and an SEIU 721 member, claimed in an Oct. 18, 2022, X post that the anti-Semitic book The Secret Relationship Between Blacks and Jews should be “MANDATORY Reading in Community Schools.”
The Secret Relationship Between Blacks and Jews falsely posits that Jews played a disproportionate role in the slave trade. The book was once called the “bible of the new anti-Semitism” in the pages of the New York Times. In 2018, Al-Alim also liked an X post of a Louis Farrakhan speech in which he calls Jews “satanic.”
The DSA-LA previously posted a message highlighting its parent organizations support for Palestine, a post that came just one-day after the Hamas terrorist attack.
Unite Here Local 11 has several ties to the DSA that go back years, this has included a close relationship throughout the hotel strikes in 2023 and the union’s support for DSA-LA candidates – most notably Nisha Raman and Hugo Soto-Martinez.
DSA-LA started a strike fund for Local 11.
A Unite Here Local 11 spokesperson touted the arrests of DSA members as a show of “solidarity.”
Local 11 even allowed the DSA’s Phoenix based operation to use its headquarters for a 2024 rally promoting a speaker from an organization that reposted “All Out For Palestine” the same day as the horrific Hamas terrorist attack on Israel.
Hotel workers deserve to know where Unite Here Local 11 stands on the fight against anti-Semitism and the union should issue an immediate condemnation of its ally’s endorsement of an anti-Semitic candidate.
LEARN ABOUT THE SEIU’S HISTORY
POOR LEADERSHIP
SEIU leadership has been accused of tolerating harassment and even retaliating against employees who speak out. Crime, corruption, and infighting have also plagued the top ranks of leadership at the SEIU.
MISTREATING EMPLOYEES
The SEIU has been accused of treating its own employees worse than the corporations the union seeks to unionize. The SEIU’s employees have even made claims that the union employs union busting tactics.
FAILING ITS MEMBERSHIP
The SEIU has been accused of doing little for its members, ignoring their needs for strike pay while milking them for dues and focusing very little on improving its members quality of life.
CONTROVERSIES
The SEIU has been involved in a number of controversies. These include incidents of harassment and violence, as well as assaults on rival unions, such as its hostile takeover of united healthcare.