Issue link: https://nnumagazine.uberflip.com/i/198525
JIM WEST SEIU:2 4/24/08 12:34 AM Page 13 Though this confrontation may appear sudden and unexpected, it is just the lid blowing off a pot of dispute between CNA/NNOC and SEIU that's been roiling for quite some time. The bottom line is that CNA/NNOC and SEIU, meaning the international organization under Stern and not necessarily SEIU locals, have diametrically opposed visions of what unions are and how they should operate. An estimated 1.2 million, or 80 percent, of America's nurses are still non-union. CNA/NNOC believes that the future of the nursing profession, which must include protections for patients, such as ratios, and for nurses, such as pensions, depends on registered nurses finding empowerment by organizing through a professional union that, without compromise, fights for their rights as working women and men. SEIU, in contrast, believes that the future of its members and its organization lies in forming partnerships with employers by adopting and supporting their business priorities. In order to add members, SEIU has consistently shown it is willing to barter away worker APRIL 2008 rights. SEIU has opposed pensions in favor of employee savings plans, and has offered "no-strike" guarantees to many employers. In exchange for the ability to unionize nursing home workers in California, SEIU agreed to not only support greater Medi-Cal reimbursements for nursing home operators, but to lobby against crucial patient safety reforms and discourage its members from criticizing nursing home conditions. In New York, it joined with the Greater New York Hospital Association to support the closure of more than a dozen hospitals and other facilities instead of fighting for its members' jobs. SEIU's work as a labor union is weakening to the point that, in certain areas, it is moving toward replacing labor reps with customer service reps working out of call centers. Grievance advice has been outsourced to call centers, which members must contact if they are having a problem at work. Leading members through a series of questions, the call center employee determines whether or not the issue is W W W. C A L N U R S E S . O R G REGISTERED NURSE 13