WASHINGTON—Staff at the Service Employees International Union’s national headquarters here have
voted to authorize a strike, Office of Professional Employees International Union Local 2 announced March 12. The OPEIU said the size of its bargaining unit has fallen by half since 2005, and it blames that on SEIU outsourcing work out to non-union contractors, such as the public relations firm BerlinRosen. “No one on this bargaining committee joined SEIU to be in a fight with SEIU. We did it because we believe in these programs,” shop steward David Hoskins told the Huffington Post. “The truth is that what they preach publicly… is very different from what they do internally.” An SEIU spokesperson said in an email that the union was “strongly committed to reaching a negotiated settlement that allows our union to meet the daunting challenges that SEIU members are up against and provides a workplace that is aligned with our values.” The workers OPEIU represents, who include administrative staff, researchers, communications specialists, and pension analysts, have been working an expired contract since August. Hoskins said they overwhelmingly rejected SEIU’s most recent contract offer, which would have eliminated protections against layoffs for employees hired in the future. Read more
