I've written about the dispute between Workers United and UNITE-HERE before. Earlier this week, workers called on union leaders to resolve the dispute.
Unionized workers in Chicago and around the United States today called on their leaders to end a dispute between their embattled labor groups.
In a meeting at the Hyatt Regency Chicago this morning, six workers explained that the ongoing dispute hurts their negotiations with employers and the labor movement as a whole.
Chi-Town Daily News
Here are a few workers calling for an end to the dispute between UNITE-HERE and Workers United:
"UNITE HERE delegates have an opportunity to put their union back on track, organizing workers and supporting members. If they do the right thing, we can help build a better world for working families. If they don't support arbitration and ending this fight, they are hurting all of us," says Chicago Laundry Worker and Workers United member Margarito Diaz.
"The company is taking advantage of the fact that our old union and new union are fighting right now, and they are acting like we have no union. They tell people 'you don't have a union' but they are still taking some worker's dues and putting them in an escrow account," says Curtis Jethro, a gaming worker from St Louis. "This infighting is only hurting us folks who are trying to organize. It's not good for anybody."
"My shop has been without a contract for 6 years, which has been really bad for us. The company thinks they can do anything they want and they are violating the contract right and left," explains Ramon Leos, a banquet server from Los Angeles. "Our local has been sending people all over the country to fight Workers United, when they should be at our shop fighting for us. This fight needs to end so our real fight-for a good contract-can begin."
In the video are:
Curtis Jethro, a Workers United member who works at a casino in St. Louis;
Roman Leos, a UNITE HERE member and banquet server from Los Angeles; and
Ernest Lemond, a UNITE HERE member who works at the Detroit airport.
Two of the workers are from UNITE-HERE and one from Workers United.
Lemond said he was not taking sides by being there, and that he only wants a resolution to the fight between his union and Workers United.
"I'm pro-worker," he said. "There's enough blame to go around."
Chi-Town Daily News
The fight between Workers United and UNITE-HERE is not just a union dispute but a problem for the entire progressive movement. It is harming workers.
"This is obscene to me — that union dues are being spent to fight each other," said Earnest Lemond, a Chicago native who works for an airline catering company in Detroit. "We need to take care of the members."
Chi-Town Daily News
Earlier this month, Raynor, Workers United President Edgar Romney and SEIU President Andy Stern sent UNITE HERE President John Wilhelm an open letter asking that he submit to mediation to settle their differences.
Wilhelm has refused such overtures, arguing that he would not put the future of his union at the hands of an arbitrator.
Chi-Town Daily News
EFCA has a provision requiring arbitration if a company and union don't agree on a first contract within a set number of days. There's a labor civil war going on. If arbitration is good enough for workers, it should be good enough for unions and their leaders.
Several labor leaders have asked the unions to submit to binding arbitration if they cannot find a settlement. They include George Tedeschi, President, Graphic Communications Conference/IBT, President Randi Weingarten of the American Federation of Teachers, UAW President Ron Gettlefinger and James Clancy, President of the National Union of Public and General Employees (NUPGE).
Workers and Progressives Can't Afford Labor Civil War
United Auto Workers President Ron Gettlefinger hits the nail on the head with this in his letter to Bruce Raynor (Workers United) and John Wilhelm (UNITE-HERE):
As you well know, the attacks and counterattacks in court, in the media, and within the labor movement have become increasingly bitter and destructive. And they are doing increasing damage to workers, not only to those you represent, but to all of us.
Workers and Progressives Can't Afford Labor Civil War
Here's some background on the split in my previous diaries:
Danny Glover, Worker Activism, and a Growing Split in Labor.
A New Union is Born: Workers United (w/ Danny Glover video)
Labor Leaders Call for UNITE/HERE Union Divorce
It's time for both sides to resolve their issues through arbitration.