First Wall Street Journal Article re: Unions and the Home-Based Support Services Program

[Guest guest]

Folks, this is the first of the two Wall Street Journal articles. I failed

in my copy and paste to indicate that the article I posted moments ago was

also from the Wall Street Journal. Charlotte

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The Wall Street Journal

DECEMBER 13, 2008

By CLARE ANSBERRY

Blagojevich and Union Have Longstanding Ties

Allegations that Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich approached the nation's

largest union seeking help in a complex pay-for-play scheme involving an

open Senate seat are the latest episode in a long, mutually beneficial

relationship between the governor and the powerful Service Employees

International Union.

The two-million member union had long been a big political backer of Mr.

Blagojevich, who helped it organize workers throughout the state, sometimes

over the objections of competing unions.

The relationship, while not illegal or even unusual for the SEIU, may help

explain why the union finds itself involved with a federal criminal

investigation against Mr. Blagojevich. The governor was arrested this week

after federal authorities issued a complaint against him which, among other

things, said his office suggested a deal might be worked out in which he

would be given a union job in exchange for naming a labor-friendly senator

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

The complaint said Mr. Blagojevich spoke twice, once in person, with an SEIU

official about the Senate seat. An internal union communication, reviewed by

The Wall Street Journal, named Tom Balanoff, the head of SEIU's Illinois

territory, as the SEIU official. The SEIU says that it doesn't believe any

of its officials engaged in any wrongdoing and that it was cooperating with

the federal investigation.

Organized labor routinely supports elected officials, campaigning on their

behalf in an effort to elect pro-labor candidates. The SEIU was an early and

strong supporter of Mr. Blagojevich, backing him over several other

candidates in 2002.

That year, according to an AFL-CIO document, the SEIU sought and received a

commitment from then-candidate Blagojevich to issue an executive order that

would direct the state to negotiate a collective contract with home-based

workers.

The SEIU had been working for years to build union support among child-care

and home-health-care workers, who are often low paid and without health

insurance, and would have requested the same commitment from any candidate,

said SEIU spokesperson Ringuette.

" The SEIU aggressively seeks support from elected officials and companies to

build membership, " she said. " I assume we would ask any candidate to try to

make sure conditions become favorable for workers to unite. "

The commitment from Mr. Blagojevich would provide assurances that the SEIU's

organizing efforts would bear fruit when the governor was elected in 2002.

Shortly after he took office in 2003, he signed an executive order allowing

as many as 20,000 Illinois home-health-care workers to unionize and also

appointed Mr. Balanoff to the Illinois Health Facilities Planning Board,

which approves hospital-construction projects.

The following year, in 2004, the union intensified its child-care-worker

organizing efforts, putting 24 full-time organizers in place, compared with

one or two in earlier years.

As a result, when the governor finally issued an executive order in February

2005, allowing collective bargaining, the SEIU was well positioned to

respond.

The day after it received a letter from the governor's office saying that a

union election could be held, SEIU submitted 18,000 cards from workers it

had signed up.

The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, or AFSCME,

which represents other state employees and was interested in organizing

child-care providers, had to play catch up. AFSCME President Gerald W.

McEntee said that the " SEIU had a special relationship with the governor. We

never did. We weren't involved in their plans so we can't speculate on what

was worked out. "

Chaison, professor of Industrial Relations at University, said

the SEIU's tactic is to use its political influence to get legislation

passed that would allow independent contractors in the state to be

represented by one collective bargaining agent. He notes that some people

criticize SEIU President Andy Stern for doing anything to grow his union.

" Others say it as a compliment, " he says.

-Ilan Brat contributed to this article.

Write to Clare Ansberry at clare.ansberry@...