The Service Employees International Union has a firm hold in California, where it represents 350,000 government workers. Still, the union's Local 1000, which represents state administrative workers, is flirting with rebellion with the latest proposal of its leadership to sharply raise the salaries of its current officers. Jon Ortiz has the details at the Sacramento Bee's blog of a plan that would more than triple the salary of SEIU 1000's president to $150,000 plus benefits, and cost the local some $295,000 in total. What's so fascinating is that this proposal, coming as it is during a time when union members face layoffs and givebacks, is being put forward by a union whose members are perpetually in a rebellious state. This won't help.
Local 1000 is made up of administrative workers, including white collar workers in areas like information technology. Many balk at paying union dues. Since 1998 members of Local 1000 have twice forced votes that would prohibit the union from collecting dues from workers who decline to join the union, and those votes have only failed because of California's union-friendly laws.
In 1998, 57 percent of union members in a special election said they wanted to opt out of paying so-called 'fair share' fees that unions can collect from those workers who decline to join a union. That was not enough to win the election because California's union vote procedures say that the rebels needed to get 50 percent of everyone who belongs to the union to vote against the measure, not just 50 percent of those voting, and total membership at the time was above 37,000.
In 2005, union renegades collected 13,000 signatures on a petition for a new vote, but only 17,000 members out of 45,000 voted in the election to again end 'fair-share dues. The ballots were never counted because the insurgents needed about 22,500 votes to win.
Many Local 1000 members are still in a rebellious mood, judging by the fact that local reporters quickly leaked e-mails about the agenda item on this weekend's SEIU leadership council meeting proposing the steep increase in salaries for leadership.
In 1998, 57 percent of union members in a special election said they wanted to opt out of paying so-called 'fair share' fees that unions can collect from those workers who decline to join a union. That was not enough to win the election because California's union vote procedures say that the rebels needed to get 50 percent of everyone who belongs to the union to vote against the measure, not just 50 percent of those voting, and total membership at the time was above 37,000.
In 2005, union renegades collected 13,000 signatures on a petition for a new vote, but only 17,000 members out of 45,000 voted in the election to again end 'fair-share dues. The ballots were never counted because the insurgents needed about 22,500 votes to win.
Many Local 1000 members are still in a rebellious mood, judging by the fact that local reporters quickly leaked e-mails about the agenda item on this weekend's SEIU leadership council meeting proposing the steep increase in salaries for leadership.
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