SEIU's Andrew Stern and open discussion in the labor movement?

I attended the personal democracy forum conference in NYC on Monday,
5/16/05 where Andrew Stern of the SEIU was interviewed about his blog.

Here's an excerpt from the report I wrote about the interview with
Stern and some questions I raise about the importance of SEIU taking
serious the potential of online processes to provide for open discussion
for union members.

The longer report is "THE INTERNET AND POLITICS US STYLE: Personal Democracy
Forum in NYC May 16, 2005" It was published in OhmyNews 5/19/06
The url is at the end of the article.

It was interesting that when Stern was asked about the current union movement
he referred to the fact that basically unions are now one party entities
and that there is a need for democracy within them. That was very
interesting to see that he recogized this.

The excerpt follows:

"The program included an on stage interview with Andrew Stern, the
president of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU). The SEIU is
a labor union for service workers in the public and private sectors. SEIU is
one of the labor unions in the US exploring how to use the Internet. Stern
has a blog "Unite to Win" where he and other labor union officials post
articles. A number of people comment, not only on what has been posted by
Stern, but also on numerous other issues.(2) For example, there is a debate
ongoing within the US labor movement over whether labor union resources
should be used to organize the unorganized (Stern's position) or put toward
electoral politics (the position of John Sweeny, the President of the
AFL-CIO). This is a narrow set of choices, however, and doesn't necessarily
include what members of labor unions would see as the priority. The SEIU
blog provides a place where members can post their concerns, even if there
is no response from those who are in the leadership of either SEIU or the
AFL-CIO. Most important, members can post their concerns anonymously, even
though some who post on the blog may complain about anonymous postings.
Following is an excerpt from a post on the need for democratic processes
and rights within labor unions and some brief discussion on the issue of
anonymous posting. From the SEIU blog:

"A question I have with respect to what SEIU is
proposing with regard to its difference with the
AFL-CIO is how the SEIU proposal affects and
regards current union workers.

I know of a situation in 1199/SEIU where union
members don't have union meetings. The only
meetings are the delegate meetings. The workers
at the site are told if they file a grievance
they will be fired. And there are clear examples
that workers who file grievances are put into
formal discipline.

Does the SEIU's plan include any commitment on the
part of the union to more democracy for
members?...." (3)


In response to this post an 1199/SEIU organizer complained about the fact
that the union member was posting anonymously.

"(....)By the way, open discussion and dialogue is a joke when
you don't put your name to your claim. So don't respond
anonymously." Nick Allen, SEIU organizer

Another 1199/SEIU member responded that it was often necessary for a union
member to be able to post anonymously:

"Those of us who aren't relentless brown-nosers and are willing to
speak against corrupt and undemocratic bureaucrats face considerably
more danger in stating our opinions than you do, Nick." Another 1199'er

When Stern was asked about the fact that people post their responses
and complaints on the blog. He responded that it was democracy to have
people post and to keep the posts online. In answer to a question about
how the narrow nature of the blog form makes it difficult to keep track
of the various issues introduced by those who respond, Stern said that
he was exploring how to have more of a discussion format.

As part of his presentation, Stern described earlier efforts of a
local labor union he headed to include in a contract the ability of each
member to purchase a computer for $100.

Also he explained that he didn't feel the prevalent practice of top down
unionism was appropriate for current times. He believed there had to be
change in the labor movement to meet the needs of our times.

While Stern expressed his views on needed changes to the labor movement,
one can't help wondering whether he recognizes the challenge to utilize
the Internet to hear from members of unions about what change they feel
is needed. Can he offer a discussion forum online and participate in it
so that he is in a conversation with the members and others who post. Is
there any way that there can be such an online conversation on the SEIU
web site, and a means for the conversation to influence the future program
of the SEIU?

The labor movement in the US is in serious trouble. It includes a decreasing
portion of the ranks of workers in the US. Also there are serious complaints
by workers who are in unions about the nature of the democratic structures
that the unions make available to the membership. In such a situation,
there is a growing need for grassroots input into the program and practices
that the leaders advocate.

The discussion on the SEIU blog is not yet a means for the grassroots to
make this input, but some of the discussion on the blog provides insight
into the serious problems that exist in the US labor movement. Because of
the Internet and the online conversation it makes possible, it is possible
to broaden both the nature of the conversation and the numbers of those
from the ranks of the workers who will be welcomed into the process. Can
the SEIU leadership meet this challenge?

from the notes:

(2)http://www.seiu.org/blog/

(3)http://www.unitetowinblog.org/comments/2005/3/21/91545/6720/20#20

http://english.ohmynews.com/ArticleView/article_view.asp?menu=A11100&no=227041&r
el_no=2&back_url=
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ronda(at)panix.com

Netizens News
http://www.ais.org/~jrh/netizens.news

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