An oldie but a goodie?

This is getting old, but it still does a great job of outlining SEIU's softer message to stewards and worker leaders. A surprisingly good job for a from-the-heart email from a scab UHW rep actually. Who knew Carolyn Gilkey was able to pack such a powerful emotional punch into her writing, while at the same time making sure each of her threats is almost, but not quite, illegal!

February 16, 2009
To the Steward Council,
St Mary Medical Center

Dear Brother and Sisters,
These are trying times for all of us. There is much confusion, division and fear. After finding that UHW leadership was found culpable of malfeasance and failure to comply with SEIU International Board rulings, SEIU has implemented a trusteeship. I, like many other bargaining unit staff of UHW now work for SEIU. SEIU is, and always has been our parent affiliation. We fought a good fight for Sal Rosselli, but the war was won by SEIU. Now we are faced with the task of rebuilding our union and getting back to the business of servicing our membership. It seems that at one point, we lost our direction. Now we must make educated decisions and that is why I will have a SEIU representative at our next council meeting for a question and answer session.

I realize how difficult it must be to suddenly change directions, but I caution you not to make emotional decisions. For the sake of the membership that we vowed to protect, we should make every effort to get information from the other side of the debate. We now have the opportunity to talk to SEIU, and we should seek all the facts before we proceed. Fear, uncertainty, accusations, finger pointing, strong differences of opinions and division are part of the situation that we all now face. We have grown together to become a strong body of activists and all of you bring value to our council. I caution all of you to get the facts before you consider disaffiliation and boycotting your union dues. There is a question of whether you not paying union dues will keep you as a member in good standing. I do not want to lose any of you as stewards.

As a staff representative, I carried out the directives of my employer, at times with apprehension. All staff was required to go through an interview process with SEIU and it is noticeable that SEIU seemed more open than the former UHW to debate, question and constructive criticism. This is essential towards gaining your trust and the trust of all our members. Disaffiliation, in truth, is a decertification of our union. I invite you to inquire on line, at the National Labor Board web site about the ramifications of a disaffiliation/decertification. There seems to be misinformed members that are promoting this idea. We must be fare and responsible to our members and have all the facts before exploring this idea. You do not have to take my word for it but for the sake of our members, please seek the truth. I know that disaffiliation/decertification will put our union contract and union rights in jeopardy for one to three years. This, brothers and sisters is a NLRB fact. According to the staff that experienced the last trusteeship, we emerged as a stronger and better union which was 399. We can do it again and I would be very proud to walk with all of you into this new era.

In Unity,
Carolyn Gilkey
SEIU Rep/Organizer