Posts tagged SEIU HCII
Staffing standard could boost unionization efforts in nursing homes
July 10, 2023 // A looming national staffing mandate for nursing homes could open the door for more labor organizing in a sector where a low proportion of workers are covered by union contracts. Why it matters: Higher pay, better benefits and baseline staff-to-patient ratios could lure more people to a workforce that was hollowed out during the pandemic, organizers say.
Five Years after Janus, Government Unions Are Weaker — and More Desperate
July 5, 2023 // When SEIU HCII, which operates across four states, is removed from the picture, the overall public-sector-union membership in Illinois has decreased by over 10 percent. These declines are not isolated to a single entity but spread across all public employers, with teachers’ unions such as the Illinois Education Association and Illinois Federation of Teachers losing a combined 9.4 percent of their members or fee-payers. AFSCME Council 31 — the union that represented Janus — has seen an 18.5 percent drop. A significant decrease in union membership is a sign that workers are exercising their Janus freedoms. It also means that $25 million didn’t flow into government-union coffers in 2022. This is a financial blow to a movement that’s accustomed to having huge cash reserves to fund the politicking that gets the union bosses exactly what they want. Such a dramatic shift illustrates how many government workers feel underrepresented by their unions, pushing them to distance themselves from groups now charging more and delivering less. Which points up another consequence of Janus: Government unions are in a fight for their lives. Desperation has made them even more polarizing, extreme, and political — and greedy.
ONE-THIRD OF SEIU WORKERS REJECT UNION MEMBERSHIP
June 8, 2023 // At least one-third of workers represented by the Service Employees International Union Healthcare Illinois-Indiana, or SEIU HCII, don’t seem to think the union’s services are worth their money. The union’s website claims it represents more than 91,000 workers in four states, but its most recent report to the U.S. Department of Labor revealed it has fewer than 60,000 members.
Union ties could make or break the Chicago mayoral race
March 23, 2023 // Progressive Brandon Johnson and centrist Paul Vallas, both Democrats, fought through a nine-way race that saw the incumbent mayor fail to make the April 4 runoff. The election is “a movement that unions helped to anchor,” CTU President Stacy Davis Gates told Morning Shift. Johnson, a former public school teacher who’s done paid work for the CTU — his opponents call him a lobbyist — has received millions from teachers’ unions, and is set to receive up to $2 million more from a recently-announced plan to apportion $8 from each CTU member’s monthly dues to PACs for him. Vallas, a former CEO of Chicago Public Schools who’s been criticized for relative conservatism in a Democrat-run town, nabbed endorsements from the local Fraternal Order of Police, firefighters and construction unions.
Minnesota’s union membership hits 14-year high point
August 15, 2022 // Safety and wage issues brought to the forefront during the pandemic are a big reason, union organizers and experts said. But so is the severe labor shortage and a pro-union Biden administration. "We've seen two years of growth. Minnesota's union density is the highest it has been in a decade," said Minnesota AFL-CIO spokesman Chris Shields. "Barring a recession or economic downturn, it's likely we'll continue to see some modest growth." Younger workers are driving most organizing efforts in Minnesota. Half Price Books, Peace Coffee, Minnesota Historical Society, Abbott Northwestern Hospital, Guthrie Theater Foundation, Minnesota United FC Soccer, Aaron Sojourner, W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research, Google Fiber workers,
MORE THAN 38,000 WORKERS HAVE LEFT GOVERNMENT UNIONS IN ILLINOIS
April 15, 2022 // The unions’ own federal reports show 9% of workers have chosen to break away from unions since the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Janus v. AFSCME. More than 38,000 state and local government workers across Illinois have chosen not to join or pay a government union since the U.S. Supreme Court restored that right in 2018 in Janus v. AFSCME.