Re: SIEU, Blagojevich, and the Home-Based Programs

[Guest guest]

ly, aa organized union for these workers is not needed. When my

son had his resbid care his caregivers belonged to the union, they

took a chunk of their money, did nothing for them, gave them no

benefits. All they ever did was call on them to go walking in

protests in Springfield which personally I felt was a big ripoff.

They should have been paid to go, not pay then to aggravate them to

do their job. I know a lot of you are really 'political' and feel

this is the way to go with all this but I differ. I worked for a

union all my life and am now retired, it is not that I am talking

agains unions, it is just in this case the workers cannot benefit.

All it will do is take money from their pocked for someonelse.

My thoughts.

>

> Order Highlights Close Ties With SEIU

>

>

>

> DECEMBER 15, 2008, 10:51 P.M. ET

>

>

>

> By KRIS MAHER and DAVID KESMODEL

>

>

>

> Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich was preparing to issue an executive

order

> prior to his arrest last week that would have allowed union

organizing of

> home-care workers that could have benefited a labor union with

close ties to

> the governor.

>

>

>

> The existence of this executive order, though never signed,

illustrates the

> close ties between the embattled governor and the powerful Service

Employees

> International Union, the nation's fastest growing labor

organization. Last

> week, Gov. Blagojevich was arrested on federal corruption charges,

including

> that his office suggested a deal in which he would be given a job

with an

> SEIU-affiliated group in exchange for naming a labor-friendly

senator to

> fill the vacancy left by President-elect Barack Obama.

>

>

>

> The executive order would have enabled the SEIU or another union to

organize

> about 1,200 workers in the state who care for developmentally

disabled

> people in their homes and would have augmented one signed by the

governor in

> 2003, said Ringuette, an SEIU spokeswoman. The prior order

opened

> the way for the SEIU to target a far larger number of home health-

care

> workers. Such workers traditionally aren't covered by federal labor

law,

> though a number of states have enacted laws in recent years

allowing unions

> to organize them.

>

>

>

> Ms. Ringuette said the SEIU was aware of the executive order but

didn't know

> what role, if any, the union played in developing it. She said

other unions

> would have been able to organize the workers as well. But a rival

union said

> it was unaware of the order, while SEIU staffers and outside

experts say the

> SEIU had already begun actively seeking the support of workers.

>

>

>

> Gov. Blagojevich's press secretary, Lucio Guerrero, didn't respond

to

> requests for comment.

>

>

>

> Bruno, an associate professor of labor and industrial

relations at

> the University of Illinois-Chicago, said the SEIU had played a role

in the

> order and had begun trying to organize workers. " They were making

progress

> on working towards an executive order, and I'm sure that they were

expecting

> the governor to sign it, " Mr. Bruno said. He said there was nothing

illegal

> about the SEIU trying to persuade the governor to sign an executive

order

> that would enable the union to organize more workers.

>

>

>

> But cooperation with the governor's office raises questions of

unfair

> treatment if the union had an advantage over other unions in

signing up the

> workers. Gov. Blagojevich's prior executive order sparked tensions

between

> the SEIU and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal

> Employees, which also has sought to expand its representation of

home

> health-care workers in the state.

>

>

>

> An Illinois spokesman for AFSCME said the group was unaware of a

potential

> executive order. More than a year ago, the spokesman said, the

union was

> contacted by in-home workers interested in forming a union, and it

requested

> a list of eligible workers from the state. Illinois " refused to

provide it,

> making it impossible for AFSCME to find the workers to help them

organize, "

> the spokesman said. " We think all workers should have ... the

opportunity to

> select the union of their choosing. "

>

>

>

> Charlotte Cronin, executive director of Family Support Network of

Illinois,

> a Peoria-based advocacy group for the developmentally disabled,

confirmed

> that union organizers knocked on doors this past summer, and that

some

> relatives of the disabled found them " overly persistent. " She said

the

> union, which she believed to be SEIU, was able to get home

addresses because

> they are a matter of public record.

>

>

>

> Write to Kris Maher at kris.maher@... and Kesmodel at

> david.kesmodel@...

>

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