Andy Stern was the long time national head of the Service Employees International Union. His union spent $61 million on the 2008 election of Barack Obama. What is the goal of this union? Does it believe in peaceful methods to meet its ideology?
“Clearly, Andy Stern is ambitious but what sets Mr. Stern apart from other union leaders? More recently he has shown great interest in the globalization of unions with such statements as, “Workers of the world, unite!” In some cases a statement like that might be considered innocuous at best, but Mr. Stern goes on to say that it is “more than just a slogan.” Mr. Stern then describes his means of accomplishing his goals in this way, “We prefer to use the power of persuasion, and if that doesn’t work we use the persuasion of power.” These are rather tyrannical sounding words for someone with whom the U.S. President currently associates.” From an Examiner
article detailing the violence of the SEIU.
The California Republican Party, not one person, but the Party, has allowed this radical, vicious organization to be a sponsor of its recent convention. Imagine the storm of controversy if Planned Parenthood or Brady Gun Control were a sponsor. At a time when less than 28% of Californians register Republican, it is difficult to explain why a radical, violent, anti-freedom, Left of Obama organization has any role in the California Republican Party. The SEIU recently OCCUPIED the headquarters of the Washington State GOP, forced caretakers to spend money on dues and Andy and his union had a subsidiary—ACORN. Enough said.
Editorial by Stephen Frank: California Republican Party Partners With SEIU (NOT a Typo)
By Stephen Frank, California Political News and Views, 3/24/14
You are known by the company you keep. Recently the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) gave a total of $25,000 to the California Republican Party. I was told by a party official there were absolutely no conditions on the money. The SEIU was also a “sponsor” of the California Republican Party convention a week ago in Burlingame!
But, if you are a candidate, there are conditions. From the March 9, 2014 San Francisco Chronicle, John Diaz column, “The Service Employees International Union, the large and unabashedly aggressive representative of public workers with big clout in the state Capitol, asks candidates for commitments: Will you walk picket lines? Mediate with employers? Write letters of support? Endorse strikes? Speak at rallies? Hold a press conference?
There was no precondition that the politician actually agree that the union’s position on a particular dispute was reasonable. You’re either with us or against us. Period.
Thus, it should come as no surprise in retrospect that elected Democrats were reflexively supporting the labor position in last year’s BART strike. They accepted the union’s choke chain in their candidate questionnaire.”
So when you see the SEIU endorsement, you know they own the candidate and officeholder.
Why would the SEIU want to give money to the California Republican Party?
From the Labor Union Report”
“California’s SEIU leaders are planning on getting rid of California’s conservative lawmakers by taking over the California Republican Party by recruiting their own GOP candidates.
One of California’s largest labor unions today advanced a plan intended to result in the election of more moderate Republicans.
By creating a Republican political action committee, Service Employees International Union California officials say they hope to help send people from right-leaning areas to Sacramento who put practical solutions in front of strict conservative thinking.
The union says 87,000 of its 700,000 members are registered Republicans. With redrawn legislative boundaries looming and the creation of the top-two primary system, SEIU’s new leader Dave Kieffer has said this is the perfect time to start helping candidates to extricate themselves from the grip of party extremists. SEIU is expected to launch its second ad campaign this weekend in the districts of current GOP legislators its officials believe could support Brown’s tax package.
“I feel the far right, the tea party, is hijacking my party, and it’s saddening,” said John Orr, a parking officer at California State University, Fullerton. “I hope through this PAC, this effort and the open primary that moderates can regain their voice.”
So, they want to get involved in the Republican Party to get rid of conservatives—the title of this article is, “SEIU On California’s Conservatives: ‘If we can’t get them out, we’ll breed them out.’
You did not think the SEIU wanted conservatives to win elections? You did not think that they want rights given to workers, they certainly don’t want people to work without paying them for the “privilege”. You know the SEIU closed down BART and other government service agencies, just to get a contract—and force agencies into Project Labor Agreements (PLA) so that only those that pay the union are allowed to work—though as citizens they must pay taxes, for jobs they are not allowed to work on.
It should also be noted that the SEIU 1000 (part of the State and national SEIU) was a sponsor for the recent California Republican Party convention in Burlingame. They also put a “poster” in the information bag given everyone that registered for the convention. This is what the poster said:
“A strong, free labor movement is an invigorating and necessary part of our industrial society” a quote from Dwight D. Eisenhower.”
Yet the labor movement and the SEIU in particular are not FREE. Want to work for government, you must pay. Want to work on a PLA contract, you must pay the union.
In Michigan, the SEIU was fined $200,000 for lying about trying to force caregivers, that get stipends from the State, to be members of the union—without even a vote. They learned about this when they were informed their meager stipends would have union “dues” subtracted.
“The Service Employees International Union will have to pay the second-highest fine in Michigan history for its failed 2012 campaign to preserve forced union dues among home care workers.
Michigan Secretary of State Ruth Johnson said that the politically powerful union agreed to pay the state nearly $200,000 for failing to properly disclose donors and file timely campaign reports.
The union funneled more than $9 million into two 501(c)(4) non-profit groups, Home Care First Inc. and Citizens for Affordable Quality Home Care, which served as the public face of a ballot initiative.”
Then you have the SEIU supporting illegal aliens as a significant part of its efforts. How bad? In the state of Washington the SEIU took over the headquarters of the Washington State Republican Party!
I guess the SEIU in Washington decided against a donation to the GOP—just take over the headquarters, completely.
Is this the type of partner the California Republican Party wants? Remember, the SEIU chair at the time a while back, Andy Stern, was on the Board of Directors of ACORN—and SEIU offices were also ACORN offices around the county. Political corruption is the legacy of the SEIU sponsored ACORN. A partner?
We are told that the GOP in California only has a 28% voter registration rate—many more are registering or re-registering as Decline to State. Could it be that the CRP creating a partnership with the SEIU and other issues is the cause? If you believe in freedom, that workers should be free to work, that political parties should not be supported by those that take over GOP headquarters in other States, then why be a Republican in California?
The Republican Party is the Party of jobs, business, growth and honesty in government. Yet the SEIU has joined with President Obama to harass and regulate to death small businesses and others that refuse to accept the blackmail of the union. Here is the headline of a recent Daily Caller article, it tells the whole story. The SEIU and the government has joined together, illegally, to punish private firms. Is this someone we want as a partner, a donor, someone we work with? The headline:
“Union representatives join federal government safety inspectors on site visits to nonunion businesses; Obama admin accused of violating law by giving clearance”
“SEIU agents recently accompanied an inspector from the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), a division of the Department of Labor, on three visits to nonunion work sites under contract with the Houston-based janitorial company Professional Janitorial Services (PJS).”
We need a Party that represents Constitutional values—no one, with a straight face would say the SEIU believes in that. We need a real discussion on the values, principles and direction of the Republican Party in California. It needs to stand for something. What do you think about all of this?
Great article Mr. Frank. Very informative.
May 15, 2014 at 8:49 am
Public employees need to be free to support or refrain from supporting a union. No person should, as a condition of public employment, be required to join or pay dues to a union.
March 24, 2014 at 8:17 am