Andy Stern’s SEIU is pouring in millions of dollars to take over the UHW, ousting its leadership. The first part of the video shows the rank and file of the 150,000-member local, as well as their ousted president Sal Rosselli, speaking out against Stern’s trusteeship; in the second part, Steve Zeltzer interviews former UHW organizer Alexandra Early about the crisis in the SEIU and the formation of a new union, the National Union of Healthcare Workers.
“We think that we are at a crossroads in the American labor movement, and that crossroads is: are we going to be a movement of workers, for workers, by workers, or are we going to be a service union movement, you know, an organization where workers are provided some kind of benefits for their dues, as opposed to making decisions and controlling the future of the labor movement? We have this big-picture goal to establish a progressive majority in this country, and we think that, to accomplish that, it has to be led by the labor movement. Just like the civil rights movement in the sixties, it has to be bottom up. It has to be a grassroots, rank-and-file movement that make it happen.” — Sal Rosselli
The Labor Video Project produces documentaries and a bi-weekly 60 minute labor TV show. Its show “Labor on the Job” is programmed every 2nd and 4th Friday of the month at 9:00 PM to 10:00 PM on San Francisco Cable Channel 29. “Labor on The Job” is also the longest running labor cable show in the United States since 1983. “Labor on the Job” is also programmed on Philadelphia Drexel TV 54 every Wednesday 5:30 PM to 6:30 PM and St. Louis cable systems on Cable Channel 22 in the “City” of St. Louis Fridays at 9:00 PM. The Labor Video Project also produces labor documentaries and is part of the Union Producers and Programmers Network (UPPNET): <www.uppnet.org>. You can watch Labor Video Productions on Google Video by searching Labor Video Project and on YouTube at <youtube.com/user/laborvideo>. Labor Video Project, P.O.Box 720027, San Francisco,CA 94172; Phone (415)282-1908; lvpsf [at] labornet.org.