Changes

The '''Service Employees International Union''' (SEIU) is a [[socialist]], politically powerful [[labor union]] with 2 million members in the [[United States]], [[Canada]], and [[Puerto Rico]], and the largest union of property service workers in the United States. The SEIU says they are "dedicated to improving the lives of workers and their families and creating a more just and humane society". It is closely affiliated with the [[Democratic Party]] and is tightly controlled by labor boss [[Andy Stern]], the president since 1996.  At a time when most unions are shrinking, SEIU has grown rapidly; only the [[National Education Association]] is larger.   

The '''Service Employees International Union''' (SEIU) is a [[socialist]], politically powerful [[labor union]] with 2 million members in the [[United States]], [[Canada]], and [[Puerto Rico]], and the largest union of property service workers in the United States. The SEIU says they are "dedicated to improving the lives of workers and their families and creating a more just and humane society". It is closely affiliated with the [[Democratic Party]] and is tightly controlled by labor boss [[Andy Stern]], the president since 1996.  At a time when most unions are shrinking, SEIU has grown rapidly; only the [[National Education Association]] is larger.   

About 40% of the membership comprises public employees, whose employers are federal, state, and local governments. The employers answer to voters not shareholders, and politically powerful unions like SEIU have a strong voice at the polls. Government agencies do not have to fear that strikes will give an advantage to their competition--they have little local competition and no fears of international competitors--so strikes are not common. But the voting power of SEIU means local and state politicians--especially Democrats--often willingly agree to union recognition and enter into long-term collective bargaining contracts with votes as an implicit side payment. A large portion of the SEIU membership comprises women, minorities, and immigrants--groups that historically were hard to organize.

About 40% of the membership comprises public employees, whose employers are federal, state, and local governments. The employers answer to voters not shareholders, and politically powerful unions like SEIU have a strong voice at the polls. Government agencies do not have to fear that strikes will give an advantage to their competition—they have little local competition and no fears of international competitors—so strikes are not common. But the voting power of SEIU means local and state politicians—especially Democrats—often willingly agree to union recognition and enter into long-term collective bargaining contracts with votes as an implicit side payment. A large portion of the SEIU membership comprises women, minorities, and immigrants—groups that historically were hard to organize.

The SEIU operates with a well-paid skilled staff and has a presence in virtually every major American city.

The SEIU operates with a well-paid skilled staff and has a presence in virtually every major American city.

===Change to Win===

===Change to Win===

In the last two decades a great deal of consolidation happened in the union movement. The garment workers union<ref> The successor to the International Ladies Garment Workers Union and the Amalgamated Clothing and Textile Workers Union. Its membership is shrinking but it has a large treasury.</ref>  and HERE (Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees union), merged in 2004 to create a new union UNITE HERE, with 450,000 members. Then UNITE HERE formed a coalition with the Teamsters, SEIU, the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW), the Laborers, and the United Farm Workers (UFW) to form '''Change to Win''' in 2005. It sought to displace the well-established [[AFL-CIO]]. Stern became the spokesman for Change to Win and he challenged AFL-CIO president John Sweeney for national attention.

In the last two decades a great deal of consolidation happened in the union movement. The garment workers union<ref>The successor to the International Ladies Garment Workers Union and the Amalgamated Clothing and Textile Workers Union. Its membership is shrinking but it has a large treasury.</ref>  and HERE (Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees union), merged in 2004 to create a new union UNITE HERE, with 450,000 members. Then UNITE HERE formed a coalition with the Teamsters, SEIU, the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW), the Laborers, and the United Farm Workers (UFW) to form '''Change to Win''' in 2005. It sought to displace the well-established [[AFL-CIO]]. Stern became the spokesman for Change to Win and he challenged AFL-CIO president John Sweeney for national attention.

Recently Stern's SEIU has been raiding members from UNITE HERE, thus creating a deep division in the Change to Win coalition.  In 2008 Bruce Raynor of UNITE, the co-president of UNITE HERE declare the UNITE HERE merger a failure, and tried to take UNITE (and its bank) into SEIU. The other co-president John Wilhelm of HERE protested loudly, and the internecine battle was on.  Stern He financed and, with Raynor, created a new hotel-restaurant-casino union called 'Workers United" that is part of SEIU and is now openly trying to sign up HERE members.  Raynor resigned from UNITE HERE, becoming president of Workers United and executive vice president of SEIU.  

Recently Stern's SEIU has been raiding members from UNITE HERE, thus creating a deep division in the Change to Win coalition.  In 2008 Bruce Raynor of UNITE, the co-president of UNITE HERE declare the UNITE HERE merger a failure, and tried to take UNITE (and its bank) into SEIU. The other co-president John Wilhelm of HERE protested loudly, and the internecine battle was on.  Stern He financed and, with Raynor, created a new hotel-restaurant-casino union called 'Workers United" that is part of SEIU and is now openly trying to sign up HERE members.  Raynor resigned from UNITE HERE, becoming president of Workers United and executive vice president of SEIU.  

==ACORN Connections==

==ACORN Connections==

The [[Association_of_Community_Organizations_for_Reform_Now_(ACORN)|Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now]]'s largest union backer is the SEIU. ACORN gave more than $4 million to the SEIU and its shadow party affiliates in 2006-07, according to Dept. of Labor filings. One SEIU union, the Illinois Homecare Workers and Home Childcare Providers, sprouted from ACORN's organizing efforts and pays rent to ACORN.<ref>Wade Rathke. [http://theunionnews.blogspot.com/2008/10/npr-exposes-acorn-seiu-connection.html NPR exposes ACORN-SEIU $$ connection], October 17, 2008.</ref>

The [[Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN)|Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now]]'s largest union backer is the SEIU. ACORN gave more than $4 million to the SEIU and its shadow party affiliates in 2006-07, according to Dept. of Labor filings. One SEIU union, the Illinois Homecare Workers and Home Childcare Providers, sprouted from ACORN's organizing efforts and pays rent to ACORN.<ref>Wade Rathke. [http://theunionnews.blogspot.com/2008/10/npr-exposes-acorn-seiu-connection.html NPR exposes ACORN-SEIU $$ connection], October 17, 2008.</ref>

SEIU locals 100 and 880 are run out of the same address, on 1024 Elysian Fields Avenue in New Orleans, as ACORN. Financial disclosures also show that SEIU paid $500,000 in two installments to the “Wal-Mart Organizing Project.” The checks were sent to ACORN’s headquarters in Louisiana. Local 880’s Department of Labor financial filings, in 2005, shows loans and payments to ACORN-run organizations.<ref>[http://theunionlabelblog.com/2009/05/16/seiu-acorn-and-the-white-house/ SEIU, ACORN, and the White House], 73Wire.com, May 16, 2009.</ref>

SEIU locals 100 and 880 are run out of the same address, on 1024 Elysian Fields Avenue in New Orleans, as ACORN. Financial disclosures also show that SEIU paid $500,000 in two installments to the “Wal-Mart Organizing Project.” The checks were sent to ACORN’s headquarters in Louisiana. Local 880’s Department of Labor financial filings, in 2005, shows loans and payments to ACORN-run organizations.<ref>[http://theunionlabelblog.com/2009/05/16/seiu-acorn-and-the-white-house/ SEIU, ACORN, and the White House], 73Wire.com, May 16, 2009.</ref>

==Thuggery==

==Thuggery==

On August 7th 2009 three SEIU members were seen attacking a black conservative protester outside a Saint Louis Townhall meeting.<ref>[http://www.tcotreport.com/eyewitness.html Eyewitness Account of Union Thugs Beating Tea Party Attendee in St. Louis], [[The TCOT Report]], August 7, 2009.</ref> The forum on aging called by Rep. Russ Carnahan, Democrat, drew an overflow crowd in a school gym in south St. Louis County, Missouri. Dozens of people, some with signs about the health care debate, were kept out. [[Kenneth Gladney]], 38, a conservative activist, was attacked as he handed out yellow flags with "Don’t tread on me" on them. He spoke to the Post-Dispatch from the emergency room at St. John’s Mercy Medical Center, where he said he was awaiting treatment for injuries to his knee, back, elbow, shoulder and face. Gladney, who is black, said one of his attackers, also a black man, used a racial slur against him. Mr. Gladney was attacked by people wearing dark blue SEIU t-shirts as the video that surfaced shows. <ref>[http://sweetness-light.com/archive/seiu-thugs-beat-up-town-hall-protester SEIU Thugs Beat Up Town Hall Protester], ''Sweetness & Light'', August 07, 2009.</ref>  

On August 7, 2009 three SEIU members were seen attacking a black conservative protester outside a Saint Louis Townhall meeting.<ref>[http://www.tcotreport.com/eyewitness.html Eyewitness Account of Union Thugs Beating Tea Party Attendee in St. Louis], [[The TCOT Report]], August 7, 2009.</ref> The forum on aging called by Rep. Russ Carnahan, Democrat, drew an overflow crowd in a school gym in south St. Louis County, Missouri. Dozens of people, some with signs about the health care debate, were kept out. [[Kenneth Gladney]], 38, a conservative activist, was attacked as he handed out yellow flags with "Don’t tread on me" on them. He spoke to the Post-Dispatch from the emergency room at St. John’s Mercy Medical Center, where he said he was awaiting treatment for injuries to his knee, back, elbow, shoulder and face. Gladney, who is black, said one of his attackers, also a black man, used a racial slur against him. Mr. Gladney was attacked by people wearing dark blue SEIU t-shirts as the video that surfaced shows.<ref>[http://sweetness-light.com/archive/seiu-thugs-beat-up-town-hall-protester SEIU Thugs Beat Up Town Hall Protester], ''Sweetness & Light'', August 07, 2009.</ref>  

==Crime==

==Crime==

In a press release issued March 17, 2011, Sodexo USA announced that the company has filed a civil lawsuit against the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) under the Racketeering Influenced and Corrupt Organizations ([[RICO]]) Act., accusing the union of engaging in an "illegal campaign of extortion."<ref>Liberty Chick. [http://biggovernment.com/libertychick/2011/03/20/seiu-hit-with-rico-lawsuit-blames-hunton-williams-and-koch-brothers/ SEIU Hit With RICO Lawsuit], ''"[SEIU] Blames Hunton and Williams and…Koch Brothers,"'' [[Breitbart|biggovernment.com]], March 20, 2011.</ref>  Other crime related activity includes, according to papers filed with the King County Superior Court in [[Seattle]], [[Washington State|Washington]], criminal charges filed against a member of Service Employees International Union, Local 775 NW for submitting allegedly forged signatures in support of Initiative 1098, a measure to allow [[Income tax|income taxes]] in the state of Washington.<ref>Scott "The Piper" St. Clair. [http://www.libertylive.org/blog_main/post.php?post_id=2298 Criminal charges filed against SEIU member for submitting bogus I-1098 signatures], ''The Official Blog of the Evergreen Freedom Foundation'', September 16, 2010.</ref>  The SEIU is allegedly in connection to a case of voter fraud in Harris County [[Texas]], according to a ''[[Fox News]]'' report.<ref>http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010/09/23/voter-fraud-houston-tea-party-truethevote-texas/</ref><ref>http://www.theblaze.com/stories/guess-who-might-be-behind-voter-fraud-in-harris-county-texas/</ref> "The integrity of the voting rolls in Harris County, Texas, appears to be under an organized and systematic attack by the group operating under the name Houston Votes," the Harris voter registrar, Leo Vasquez, charged as he passed on the documentation to the district attorney.  

In a press release issued March 17, 2011, Sodexo USA announced that the company has filed a civil lawsuit against the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) under the Racketeering Influenced and Corrupt Organizations ([[RICO]]) Act., accusing the union of engaging in an "illegal campaign of extortion."<ref>Liberty Chick. [http://biggovernment.com/libertychick/2011/03/20/seiu-hit-with-rico-lawsuit-blames-hunton-williams-and-koch-brothers/ SEIU Hit With RICO Lawsuit], ''"[SEIU] Blames Hunton and Williams and…Koch Brothers,"'' [[Breitbart|biggovernment.com]], March 20, 2011.</ref>  Other crime related activity includes, according to papers filed with the King County Superior Court in [[Seattle]], [[Washington State|Washington]], criminal charges filed against a member of Service Employees International Union, Local 775 NW for submitting allegedly forged signatures in support of Initiative 1098, a measure to allow [[income tax]]es in the state of Washington.<ref>Scott "The Piper" St. Clair. [http://www.libertylive.org/blog_main/post.php?post_id=2298 Criminal charges filed against SEIU member for submitting bogus I-1098 signatures], ''The Official Blog of the Evergreen Freedom Foundation'', September 16, 2010.</ref>  The SEIU is allegedly in connection to a case of voter fraud in Harris County [[Texas]], according to a ''[[Fox News]]'' report.<ref>http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010/09/23/voter-fraud-houston-tea-party-truethevote-texas/</ref><ref>http://www.theblaze.com/stories/guess-who-might-be-behind-voter-fraud-in-harris-county-texas/</ref> "The integrity of the voting rolls in Harris County, Texas, appears to be under an organized and systematic attack by the group operating under the name Houston Votes," the Harris voter registrar, Leo Vasquez, charged as he passed on the documentation to the district attorney.  

{{Cquote|Most of the findings focused on a group called Houston Votes, a voter registration group headed by Steve [Sean] Caddle, who also works for the Service Employees International Union. Among the findings were that only 1,793 of the 25,000 registrations the group submitted appeared to be valid. The other registrations included one of a woman who registered six times in the same day; registrations of non-citizens; so many applications from one Houston Voters collector in one day that it was deemed to be beyond human capability; and 1,597 registrations that named the same person multiple times, often with different signatures.<ref>http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010/09/23/voter-fraud-houston-tea-party-truethevote-texas/?test=latestnews</ref>}}

{{Cquote|Most of the findings focused on a group called Houston Votes, a voter registration group headed by Steve [Sean] Caddle, who also works for the Service Employees International Union. Among the findings were that only 1,793 of the 25,000 registrations the group submitted appeared to be valid. The other registrations included one of a woman who registered six times in the same day; registrations of non-citizens; so many applications from one Houston Voters collector in one day that it was deemed to be beyond human capability; and 1,597 registrations that named the same person multiple times, often with different signatures.<ref>http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010/09/23/voter-fraud-houston-tea-party-truethevote-texas/?test=latestnews</ref>}}

*  Plumer, Bradford. "Labor's Love Lost," ''New Republic,'' April 23, 2008, Vol. 238, Issue 7 online in [[Academic Search Premier]], focus on clflict between Stern and Rosselli

*  Plumer, Bradford. "Labor's Love Lost," ''New Republic,'' April 23, 2008, Vol. 238, Issue 7 online in [[Academic Search Premier]], focus on clflict between Stern and Rosselli

==See Also==

==See also==

* [[Teamsters]]

* [[Teamsters]]

* [[Andy Stern]]

* [[Andy Stern]]

<small><references/></small>

<small><references/></small>

==External Links==

==External links==

* [http://www.seiu.org/ Official Website]

* [http://www.seiu.org/ Official Website]

* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AK7K0itgQt0 SEIU Vice President Eliseo Medina video explaining amnesty is a path to 12 million new Democrat voters.]

* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AK7K0itgQt0 SEIU Vice President Eliseo Medina video explaining amnesty is a path to 12 million new Democrat voters.]

[[Category:Labor Unions]]

[[Category:Labor Unions]]

[[Category:Obama Presidency]]

[[Category:Obama Presidency]]

[[Category: Corruption]]

[[Category:Corruption]]

[[Category: Deceit]]

[[Category:Deceit]]

[[Category:Liberal Organizations]]

[[Category:Liberal Organizations]]

[[Category:Anti Second Amendment]]

[[Category:Anti Second Amendment]]