Andy Stern

Stern: "It's Important That Both The House And Senate Consider Majority Signup"

Brian Beutler | July 21, 2009, 8:00AM

On Friday, the New York Times dropped a bombshell on the labor movement with a report that Senate negotiators had scotched a provision commonly known as 'card check'--which would permit workers to form a union when a majority of a business' employees sign an authorization form--from the Employee Free Choice Act.

Some labor officials played it cool when the news broke, but SEIU president Andy Stern insisted that he expected Congress to vote on the provision one way or another. Now, Stern's turning to his online supporters to make sure that happens.

"The New York Times reported on Friday that the Senate is considering dropping majority signup from the Employee Free Choice Act," Stern writes to a 100,000 person mailing list.

By giving employees the free choice to join unions - and not their bosses - majority signup allows workers to have a voice on the job.

Congress needs to hear about your support for majority signup. Sign my petition to Congress in support of majority signup and the Employee Free Choice Act.

You can read the entire letter below the fold. Stern wants Congress to consider majority sign up, but that could simply mean a vote on an amendment--card check as a stand-alone provision--as opposed to a vote on a bill with the provision already written into it. Union-sympathetic senators have apparently concluded that EFCA will fail if it includes card check, but a vote on the provision alone would at the very least put senators--particularly conservative Democrats and moderate Republicans--on the record.

Meanwhile, at the insistence of Blue Dogs, who'd rather not be forced to take a public stand, the House earlier this year reportedly decided not to consider EFCA until the Senate finishes work on the bill. There's certainly a significant number of House progressives who support the provision. But those progressives will have to speak up very loudly. If the Senate officially rejects the provision before the House takes up the legislation, it will be an extremely tough sell not to go the path of least resistance.

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AFL-CIO

Stern: We Expect A Vote On Majority Signup

Brian Beutler | July 17, 2009, 9:35AM

Andy Stern, president of the Service Employees International Union, weighs in more fully on a report that Democrats have agreed to jettison a key provision of the Employee Free Choice Act: "As we have said from day one, majority signup is the best way for workers to have the right to choose a voice at their workplace," Stern says. "The Employee Free Choice Act is going through the usual legislative process, and we expect a vote on a majority signup provision in the final bill or by amendment in both houses of Congress."

AFL-CIO spokesman Eddie Vale sought to downplay the news a bit, characterizing the compromise as a routine part of the legislative process. But the original Times report says that Democrats have "abandoned" the provision--commonly known as Card Check--altogether. Stern's statement suggests that a compromise on the provision itself might assuage him, calling for "a majority signup provision," but that dropping it completely won't fly.

Andy Stern

EFCA Compromise? Moderates To Embrace Labor Reform...Without Card Check

Brian Beutler | July 17, 2009, 9:21AM

The New York Times reports that several labor friendly Democrats, including Sens. Tom Harkin (D-IA) and Sherrod Brown (D-OH) have embraced an Employee Free Choice Act compromise to win the support of conservative Democrats. That compromise? Eliminating Card Check--the majority sign-up provision that would end the secret ballot process, and, labor leaders say, curb employer intimidation.

AFL-CIO spokesman Eddie Vale tells Ben Smith: "[T]his is the normal process of how a bill becomes a law."

We are very optimistic about passing the strongest labor law reform since the Wagner Act -- one that lets workers choose to join a union without intimidation or harassment, ensures that workers who join a union get a first contract, and has meaningful penalties for violations.

But Andy Stern seems less than pleased, tweeting, "we expect a vote in the bill or by amendment on majority sign-up in both houses of Congress."

I'm told a fuller statement is on its way, but clearly this compromise won't go down without several spoons full of sugar.

Health Care

HELP Committee Leak Details Likely Outline Of Public Option; Andy Stern Pleased

Brian Beutler | June 30, 2009, 11:28AM

A source has leaked details to Politico of what reporters there describe as a "draft of HELP's likely public option proposal." Here are the key details:

The option would be one of the Gateway choices. It would follow the same rules as private plans for defining benefits, protecting consumers, and setting premiums that are fair and based on local costs....

The payment rates paid by the option would be no more than the local average private rates - but could be less. The Secretary would negotiate these rates.

Initial reports of the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions process suggested that the committee's draft would call for a public option that paid providers Medicare rates plus about 10 percent--a robust plan which would have left a wide middle ground on the issue between that committee and the Senate Finance Committee. This leak doesn't rule that configuration out explicitly--but if it's accurate, then the committee's kicking the issue back over to the executive branch, and insisting only that the public plan operate on at least a level playing field with private insurers.

It's unclear whether this language will please freshman Sen. Kay Hagan (D-NC)--the HELP Democrat whose reservations about the public option have forced the committee to modify their plan and delay it's roll out.

Still, the developments on that committee seem to have pleased SEIU president Andy Stern who last night wrote, "HELP Committee working hard on solid public option," on his Twitter feed.

Andrew Ross Sorkin

SEIU's Stern: Contra Sorkin, 'Unionized Companies Are Driving Force In Our Economy'

Brian Beutler | June 3, 2009, 4:17PM

Andy Stern, president of the Service Employees International Union answers Andrew Ross Sorkin's question with a question of his own. "Unionized companies are a driving force in our economy, from Kaiser Permanente to Securitas," Stern said in a statement to TPMDC.

The bigger question this country is really asking right now is how do we define a successful company? Is it a company that turns a profit by driving down employee wages successful? Is cutting off benefits or putting people out of work to improve the bottom line for shareholders a business model we as Americans want to embrace? Are we going to embrace the Wal-Mart model as the standard of success, or are we going to raise the bar and rebuild the middle class in this country?

We think it's time to have a serious national discussion about what we want the future of our economy to look like--and the voices of women and men who work are critical to that conversation. That's why we're supporting the Employee Free Choice Act, a bill to help create an economy in which companies succeed based on the quality of their services, not on their willingness to exploit or silence workers.

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Andy Stern

SEIU Runs Letter To Obama From Pauline Beck In Los Angeles Times

Brian Beutler | May 27, 2009, 11:29AM

The SEIU's bid to get Barack Obama back on board their campaign to prevent the state of California from slashing home health workers wages continues today in the Los Angeles Times.

The group has purchased ad space in the paper, and used it to run a letter from Pauline Beck to President Barack Obama. "Mr. President, I had hoped your stimulus bill, which is bringing billions of dollars to California, would help protect home care," the letter reads. "Unfortunately, it seems that the money is being used for other things."

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Andy Stern

SEIU Ad Aimed At Obama, Schwarzenegger, To Begin Airing Wednesday

Brian Beutler | May 25, 2009, 4:45PM

Ads to run in Los Angeles and other California media markets starting Wednesday tie President Barack Obama to the recent decision by the state government to slash the wages of home health workers.

According to a source at the Service Employees International Union, the ad features Pauline Beck, an SEIU nurse who participated in a campaign event with Obama two years ago, and spoke at the Democratic National Convention, but who will now be affected by the cuts. Though the source had not seen a script of the ad (and therefore could not confirm whether, or to what extent, it implicates the administration for abandoning attempts to prevent the cuts) it's certainly meant to get Obama's attention as much as that of Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and politicians in Sacramento.

Obama arrives in California for a fundraiser in L.A. on Wednesday--the same day the six-figure ad buy goes live. Earlier today, SEIU President Andy Stern announced the ads over Twitter. The organization is upset with Obama for withdrawing its threat to withhold health care-related stimulus funds from California if the state it goes through with its plans to cut home care workers' wages to $8 an hour.

Andy Stern

Did The White House Hang Workers Out To Dry In The CA Sun?

Brian Beutler | May 21, 2009, 4:52PM

When the California government decided to address his state's budget crisis by slashing pay for home health care workers, and cutting three-quarters of a billion dollars in Medi-Cal healthcare programs for the poor, the White House was furious. So was the SEIU. This is a recession, they reasoned, and those are poor and working class people. Citing the terms of the American Recovery and Reinvestment act, the Obama administration threatened to withhold $6.8 billion in federal stimulus funds unless the California legislature revoked the wage cut.

Obama "went straight for the most direct way to leverage California from the federal government," writes a source with knowledge of deliberations, "it was a big play, no question."

The right was furious about SEIU's involvement in negotiations, as were California government officials. But their concerns were laid to rest today when Washington decided to back down.

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Andy Stern

Health Care Kumbaya--How Big A Deal Was Today's White House Event

Brian Beutler | May 11, 2009, 2:19PM

Earlier today, President Obama welcomed a motley crew of health reform stakeholders to the White House for a summit of sorts. On hand were representatives of a number of health care industry lobbies--including America's Health Insurance Plans, the American Medical Association, PhRMA, and the American Hospital Association--and, on the other side of things, representatives of the Service Employees International Union.

The groups are pledging to support cost-reducing measures that, at least in theory, dovetail with an Obama-backed health care plan and which would incur saving that could potentially be construed as part of the up-front investment comprehensive reform will require.

Paul Krugman is pleased by this development. So is health wonk Jonathan Cohn, and The Atlantic's Marc Ambinder. Ezra Klein is somewhat less enthused. For their part, the administration is playing portraying today's development as something just shy of a watershed moment. But is there reason to be skeptical of the Kumbaya chorus?

Richard Kirsch of the group Health Care for America Now cautions that "the groups did not agree to anything specific whatsoever."

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Arlen Specter

Sestak: We Don't Need The GOP's Benedict Arnolds

Brian Beutler | May 5, 2009, 11:21AM

Rep. Joe Sestak (D-PA) hasn't been shy about criticizing Sen. Arlen Specter (D-PA) for switching parties last week, but his harshest words came last night in an interview with TPMDC: "He left the fight," said the former admiral and highest ranking military man ever to serve in Congress. "In the military, we just don't leave fights."

Sestak's shot at Specter comes amid grassroots grumbling that the deal Democratic leaders struck to get Specter to defect from the GOP cost the party a shot at putting a real liberal in the seat in 2010.

"I can't figure out...why the deal was done," Sestak told me, saying he's concerned that the party was so quick to embrace Specter for reasons of "expediency," and without regard to the needs of Pennsylvania voters. "It isn't Washington's prerogative to tell us what to do," Sestak insisted.

I asked him whether he'd been on the receiving end of establishment pressure -- from people like Vice President Joe Biden and Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell -- to stay out of the race, and he insisted, "I haven't heard from anyone."

While Democrats from the While House on down might be trying to keep the Democratic primary field clear for Specter, they might not necessarily mind the fact that, for the time being, Sestak is applying pressure on Specter to move left. By keeping the door open to challenging Specter in the Democratic primary, Sestak may serve to nudge Specter further than he might otherwise have gone. Yesterday, Sestak told Greg Sargent that if Specter "doesn't demonstrate that he has shifted his position on a number of issues, I would not hesitate at all to get in" to a primary fight against him.

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Arlen Specter

SEIU's Stern To Meet Sestak Today

Brian Beutler | May 4, 2009, 9:16AM

SEIU president Andy Stern did the unusual yesterday and broke some news on Twitter: In Twitter-esque shorthand--unnecessary, as the message came in well under the allotted 140 characters--Stern wrote, "Congressman Sestak impressive on CNN. Visiting him tomorrow."

We'll try to learn more about the meeting once it's all said and done. Keep in mind, though, that it comes a day after Sen. Arlen Specter (D-PA) insisted on Meet the Press that he's not a loyal Democrat, and opposes significant aspects of the President's agenda. That outburst (unsurprisingly) hasn't done much to quiet calls from the left for Sestak to challenge Specter in the Democratic primary next year.