So just who IS it justice for?

Here's an email Perez received from within UUR, (Perez is unsure whether it's an official response) regarding the International staff layoff announcements yesterday.

"As you may know, SEIU had a discussion with UUR today to provide more information on its reorganization. In its meeting with UUR today, SEIU has announced that they will be eliminating many organizing-related jobs:

* ALL 59 Organizer 1s, without exception;
* ALL 6 International Representatives outside of Government Affairs and Capital Stewardship
* 2 Administrative support workers (1 in Oakland , 1 in Chicago )
* 1 Community-Political organizer (in Wisconsin )
* 1 Field Researcher (in Colorado )
* 1 Sr Communicator (in Florida )
* 5 Senior Community/Political Organizers (FL, PA, IN)

SEIU said that this mass layoff is occurring because Justice For All requires new organizing be done by Locals. However, also according to SEIU, the delegates did not know that the Justice For All plan would result in layoffs. There has been no reduction in the per capitas paid by Locals to the International, nor in SEIU’s organizing activities, which if anything, will grow under the Employee Free Choice Act and the new Administration.

For those reasons, UUR stated at the table that we disagree with the layoffs entirely. We asked SEIU to cease and desist from moving forward with layoffs until we bargain over their impact on our members, which SEIU refused to do. SEIU did not bargain in good faith over the impact, and even began making phone calls to affected staff before our discussion today was ended. UUR will be pursuing all legal options to protect our members’ rights.

It is already clear that SEIU is attempting to divide the membership by having individual conversations with different UUR members. It is also clear that nobody is completely safe – if it can happen to others, it can happen to you. No conversations with managers should be done without a UUR representative present: this is your right.

Be prepared to take whatever action is necessary. Now is the time to stand up with your co-workers – the same we ask workers to do every day."

Affected? Email Perez.