Is labor fighting its own civil war?

The Civil War in U.S. Labor: Birth of a New Workers' Movement or Death Throes of the Old?
By Steve Early
Haymarket Books
ISBN 978-1-60846-099-1

Reviewed by Mike Matejka

Union membership continues to shrink in the U.S. Blame it on a bad economy, but labor needs a renewal to survive.

One union that held bright promise to lead that effort was the Service Employees International Union (SEIU). But for the last five years, SEIU has been bogged down in internal battles that have cost millions.

SEIU was labor’s fair child in the late ‘90s and early 2000s. The union was growth-oriented and organizing janitors, nursing home and health care workers. Its former President, John Sweeney, was AFL-CIO President. After watching labor’s numbers dwindle, SEIU’s bold organizing efforts, led by former President Andy Stern, seemed a model for a revitalized and growing union movement.

The Civil War in U.S. Labor raises questions about SEIU’s growth and tactics. In its quest to gain members and work with management, is the union short-changing low-paid health care workers? Some local unions were put under trusteeship. Author Steve Early questions whether this was done because of fraud, or because those locals were criticizing Stern’s leadership. Currently, SEIU is battling former California SEIU members, who reorganized themselves into the National Union of Healthcare Workers, with both fighting over representational rights in California hospitals. SEIU established national call centers, where members could call 1-800 with their grievances and complaints. The author asks if this is really the most effective way to build a union and handle members’ questions.

There are really two books here; one is the story of SEIU’s rise and a critique of its tactics and leadership. Another is a much narrower book, a chronicle of 60s radicals, like Stern and the book’s author, who became labor activists, now often on opposing sides. There is another sub-story of labor-supportive professors and academics, and their critique or support for SEIU.

This book is probably not popular with SEIU partisans. Early, a union reform advocate, has his own biases, plus a daughter who is a former SEIU California staffer. He is, however, honest about his viewpoint, which allows the reader to carefully gauge his opinions.

The larger questions this book raises are healthy discussion points. How should a union structure itself democratically? How closely should unions work with management to end anti-union campaigns and try to organize new workers? When members question their own organization, what is the balance between giving those voices a fair hearing and insuring the union does not appear weak and divided?

This book deserves a careful reading, raising provocative questions as labor struggles to maintain its rights and ensure its relevance to its members and the nation.