In our last Friday Five edition, we touched upon an example of unions opposing their own staff unions. That case involved staffers for Industrial Workers of the World filing a ULP charge for Refusal to Bargain/Bad Faith Bargaining against their employer. An anonymous letter from staffers further detailed their belief that officials were “implementing a strategy to get rid of workers” who organized by instilling “drastic” new work policies.
After we published our article, more union-hypocrisy news broke involving the WGA West Staff union authorizing a ULP strike over alleged bad-faith bargaining, unlawful surveillance, and retaliation for protected activity. This news arrived ahead of the March negotiations, which precede the WGA’s May 1 contract expiration date. Since their last contract battle led to a 148-day strike, these negotiations will likely be contentious from the start.
Since we’re already on this subject, let’s look at four more recent standout examples of unions failing to adhere to their self-professed standards.
UAW Staff United Strike (Dec. 2024)
UAW monitor Neil Barofsky recently issued a lengthy report alleging that Shawn Fain’s union is a miserable, retaliation-filled workplace. So in retrospect, it shouldn’t be shocking that 40 UAW Staff United members overwhelmingly authorized and carried out a 10-day ULP strike against the UAW’s International Executive Board. In doing so, the union’s Region 9A staffers made the following allegations:
– A plethora of complaints: Organizers waged the strike as a “response to bad faith bargaining committed by the UAW throughout our negotiation process and the retaliatory termination of a union leader.”
– The UAW tried to create a company union: Management allegedly responded to the staff union’s petition by “fil[ing] its own NLRB petition to represent temporary organizers nationwide” to represent the UAW’s interests in a “clear attempt to destroy our new union.”
– Hypocrisy on temporary organizers: These workers maintain a temp status in three-month intervals for up to three years. What’s quite rich here is how the UAW had recently finished Big Three negotiations while pressuring automakers to convert temp employees to full-time within nine months.
AFL-CIO Staff Union Contract Dispute (2023)
The nation’s largest labor federation, a gathering of 64 unions representing 15 million people, holds itself out as fighting tirelessly for workers’ rights. Yet AFL-CIO’s own staff union made ironic allegations, which two workers detailed in an op-ed column meant to shame their employer:
– Nine years without raises: The union hadn’t increased wages since 2014, and when the offer did come, it was 2.4% each year, below inflation.
– Significant layoffs: After the AFL-CIO laid off many collective bargaining staffers, their union shrank from 160 to 90 workers in 2016.
– In the op-ed authors’ own words: “If we listened to the advice our bosses gave other unions, we would be striking right now.”
UNITE HERE Internal Conflicts (2009-2010)
Progressive publication Labor Notes published an article by two staffers of this hospitality workers union who alleged a “toxic organizing culture” and abusive recruiting methods. That wasn’t all:
– Lack of democracy: A top-down decision-making structure.
– A “pink sheeting controversy”: This involved collecting staffers’ personal information and then manipulatively using it for “recruiting, motivational, or disciplinary” purposes.
– Resulting staff turnover: Several boycott team members resigned after they criticized management’s practices and were then ostracized.
SEIU Headquarters Staff Disputes (2019 and 2023)
The union famous for the “Fight for $15” movement and aggressive lobbying of state lawmakers doesn’t have the most stellar work culture.
2019 Conflict: Staffers accused management of using the same type of two-tier system for layoff protections that it criticized in employers. Workers also alleged that management tried to manipulate the bargaining unit by reclassifying employees as supervisors.
2023 Strike Authorization: The union allegedly dragged its feet on contract negotiations, and workers declared that they deserved “the same respect, pay, and protection that the SEIU fights for on behalf of other workers.”
More hypocrisy on pay: The Wage and Hour Division of the Department of Labor charged SEIU 30 times for violations.
Conclusion: These unions’ hypocrisy calls into question their commitment to the standards they demand of employers. These cases also show that campaign promises should be evaluated by workers (and employers who are countering campaigns) against how unions do treat their members. Clearly, unions don’t always practice what they preach.
