SEIU President to Join with Rep. Green, State Elected Officials to Support ...

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.houstonjanitors.org/stern-and-green-10252006/

SEIU President Andrew L. Stern to Join with Rep. Green, State Elected Officials to Support Striking Houston Janitors

Houston -–Andrew L. Stern, President of the 1.8 million Service Employees International Union, will join with Congressman Gene Green and State Representatives Garnet Coleman, Ana E. Hernandez, Dora Olivo, County Commissioner Sylvia Garcia, and Houston City Council Member Adrian Garcia on the picket line to support Houston janitors on strike.

Contract talks for more than 5,300 janitors ended last Tuesday with Houston’s five largest cleaning companies refusing after months of negotiations to propose even modest pay and benefit improvements to janitors currently making only $20 a day. In addition, the cleaning companies are facing an investigation by the federal labor board over charges they illegally fired and intimidated janitors who have been involved in their union.

[BleedingHeartPatriot]

1. Big kick for Andy Stern. He broke from the AFL-CIO because he

recognized that there is a whole other group of workers who need unionizing (janitors, sales clerks, IT folks, etc.) and were being ignored.

Thank you Andy Stern. MKJ

[Gman]

3. Sorry, but no he didn't

Stern jumped because of his ego. SEIU is not the only union to try to organize janitors, nor is the first time its ever been tried. I walked a picket line in Los Angeles over Justice for Janitors like 12 years ago.

[Omaha Steve]

4. The bread and roses strike????

If so I am so glad to meet you!

[BleedingHeartPatriot]

5. I was a member of SEIU and now supervise SEIU, as well as AFL-CIO

(UFCW) employees.

And, I walked the picket line as a UFCW employee.

SEIU is making its mark. I'm sorry you have problems with Andy Stern, but at least he recognized that labor needed to change their course. MKJ

[Gman]

6. My problem with Stern is that

nothing is ever fixed by breaking it up. Stern & Sweeney got what they wanted when they beat Tom Donahue and Barbara Easterling. They railed (and rightly so) about Lane Kirkland and how the Fed needed to change. So now SEIU et al were in control of the destiny of the Fed but they don't have a helluva lot to show for it 10 years or so later. IIRC, Stern even took over as president of SEIU when Sweeney became the Fed president. So instead of being accountable, Stern drags SEIU out of the Fed. I guess Stern thinks he should be president of the Fed but he knows that will never happen.

I now consider SEIU no better than the Teamsters and Stern is a flake.

[bobbie]

7. That "flake" is heading the fastest growing union in the country

By far.

[Gman]

2. Don't forget Rep. Green is a card carrying member of the

CWA!