SEIU Local 1 Canada

Infobox Union|
name= SEIU Local 1.on
country= Canada
affiliation=
members= 40,000
full_name= Service Employees International Union Local 1.on
native_name=


founded= January 8, 2004
current=
head= SEIU
dissolved_date=
dissolved_state=
merged_into=
office= Concord, Ontario
people= Sharleen Stewart, president
website= [http://www.seiulocal1.on.ca/ www.seiulocal1.on.ca]
footnotes=

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.

Before the merger

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 (despite claims by some that this was not within the jurisdiction of his duties).Fact|date=July 2007

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 SternFact|date=July 2007

In Canada, however, all SEIU members number less than 100,000. So, it was an unclear proposition from the outset whether or not the US model would work for Canadian members.

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."Fact|date=July 2007

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.Fact|date=July 2007

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 President Buzz Hargrove defended their actions, saying that they had no choice but to honour the expressed will of those who had overwhelmingly voted to leave SEIU. Nonetheless, CAW was found guilty of raiding SEIU and was sanctioned by the Canadian Labour Congress.

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.

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.

To date, she has yet to stand before the membership of Local 1.on in a fair and democratic election. After her appointment, several opportunities for presidential elections have been avoided - first with the excuse that the union was rebuilding. As recently as 2007, Stewart postponed executive elections for six months.

Three years after the merger, Stewart will finally face the members in an election at the local's convention in Windsor, Ontario September 18-20, 2007. Interestingly, the constitution that was foisted on Local 1.on, first by the American leadership of the International union, later by Stewart herself, allows virtually noone but Stewart to run for President.

In fact, the constitution requires Stewart's approvals before motions can be brought to the floor by the constitution committee. There is the possibility that members from individual bargaining units can table motions if they have been pre-approved by their units.

Stewart's presidency has been marred by controversy and allegations of nepotism, despotism, and unfair labour practices. These complaints seem to be legitimate in light of the fact that she has hired and rapidly promoted her daughter and close friends, while dismissing several staff members who were in the way of appointments she wished to make. The allegations of nepotism also extend to the National SEIU office where Stewart has hired her brother and other close friends from Saskatchewan - none of whom brought any qualifications to their well-paid union positions.

In her dual role as president of the largest Canadian local and International Vice-President (essentially, President of the Canadian National Office of SEIU outside Quebec), Stewart has a stranglehold on power and seems reluctant to give it up.

Local 1.on servicing

Under the Ontario Labor Relations Act, 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.Fact|date=July 2007 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.Fact|date=July 2007

Local 1.on organizing

SEIU brands 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 of over one million dollars.Fact|date=July 2007 However, both the number of bargaining units Local 1.on organizes 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.Fact|date=July 2007

In 2007, those numbers have been even more startlingly low. With a budget increase to nearly two million dollars, the number of newly organized members has fallen from 2400 in 2006 to just over 800 in the first nine months of 2007.

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.Fact|date=July 2007 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 a week, with management quickly capitulating to most of the strikers' demands. However, immediately after the strike, management fired the unions chief steward, who had many years of service with SEIU and virtually all of the strikers from the Organizing Department in retribution.Fact|date=July 2007 The Teamsters filed several charges against SEIU on behalf of the unjustly-fired staff members.

Those who crossed the picket lines during the strike ("scabbing") were retained. Several have been promoted, including Stewart's daughter Richelle who has now advanced to the top of the Organizing Deaprtment pay grid (which usually takes six years of service) in a scant year, earning more than $20,000 per year more than an organizer with a year seniority would make.

Local 1.on Today

Even before the strike, there were substantial rumblings of discontent from many Local 1.on units. Members complained of poor servicing, and a collective bargaining & representation process that favored quick and cheap resolutions. In short, many members expressed concerns that Local 1.on was a weak union, more intent on creating photo opportunities for its president than dealing with nuts and bolts issues in the workplace. In a series of letters, anonymously authored by several members, Stewart and her executive and senior managers have been scathingly attacked. It remains to be seen whether these letters will have any impact on the stewardship of Local 1.on.

External links

* [http://www.seiulocal1.on.ca/ SEIU Local 1.on] website.

International Homepage www.seiu.com