For several months now, SEIU United Healthcare Workers-West has held itself up as a paragon of progressive, member-driven, democratic unionism. At the same time, it has engaged in attacks on SEIU’s national and local union leaders, questioning their commitment to union democracy and member participation.

This week, we learned how little respect UHW appears to have for its members, and democracy.

In January, UHW passed a special rule that intentionally excluded more than 98 percent of UHW’s rank-and-file members from running for delegate to the SEIU International Convention--a violation of multiple federal laws because it undermines member democracy.

After SEIU called upon UHW to re-run the election, to ensure all its members had an opportunity to run for a delegate position, UHW has agreed to do so. However, it characterizes the disenfranchisement of almost all its members as a simple mistake.

Forgetting to add detergent to the laundry is a mistake.  Putting the milk back in the cupboard and the cereal box in the fridge is a mistake. Intentionally barring 98 percent of your members from having the opportunity to have a say in their union’s future and a voice at a union convention is no mistake.

A letter to one of these members explains why you excluded rank and file members from running for the local’s convention delegation, stating “…UHW specifically did this to insure that the people who know the most about the Union and are most actively involved in it would be delegates…

UHW purposefully set up its election because it didn’t feel it could trust rank-and-file members with the responsibility of being a delegate, or the judgment they might exercise in making decisions. This is not only profoundly hypocritical, its undemocatic and paternalistic.

Today, leaders of three SEIU local unions called upon UHW’s Delegate Election Committee to apologize to UHW members for their deliberate and undemocratic effort to exclude the rank-and-file from participation in delegate elections for the SEIU International Convention. 

“It has become clear it was not a mistake to deny UHW-W members the ability to run for delegate and participate in our union’s convention.  UHW-W’s response to members’ complaints about rank-and-file disenfranchisement speaks volumes about the value UHW-W places on union democracy and the respect it has for members’ opinions. 

Read the full letter here>>