Northwest labor press., August 20, 2010, Page 5, Image 5

Aug. 20, 2010:NWLP
8/17/10
10:49 AM
Page 5
SEIU leader warns of ‘coordinated attack’ on public workers
she plans to keep her residence in
ALBANY — Right-wing and cor-
Woodburn and travel to meet the re-
porate interests are waging a coordi-
quirements of the new job. Frane has
nated attack on public employees and
been Local 503’s executive director
their unions, warned the recently-in-
since 2002.
stalled president of Service Employ-
Her assistant, Rich Peppers, is
ees International Union (SEIU) on a
serving as interim executive director
visit to Oregon.
until an official replacement takes of-
“They are feeding people a steady
fice in November.
diet of lies and half-
Henry called
truths that pits the
on union members
public against the
to mount a coordi-
services they rely
nated response to
on and those of us
public employee
who provide those
bashing. Public
services,” SEIU
employees are be-
President Mary Kay
ing scapegoated
Henry told Local
for having decent
503 members gath-
benefits in a time
ered in Albany, Ore-
of economic cri-
gon.
sis. And the eco-
The occasion
nomic fortunes of
was the Aug. 5-7 bi-
working people
ennial meeting of
overall are in de-
Local 503 General
cline, Henry said,
Council. About 300
thanks to Wall
delegates interacted
with their union’s
It’s time to respond to the public Street and the big
new national
bashing of public employees, Mary banks.
“This recession
leader; heard a
Kay Henry, SEIU’s new president,
farewell from their tells SEIU Local 503 General is a glimpse of
own outgoing exec- Council delegates meeting in what will happen if
we leave the future
utive director,
Albany.
to Wall Street,”
Leslie Frane; and
were bused out of their meeting space Henry said. “They will suck the econ-
— Linn County Fair and Expo Center omy dry until we have total collapse.”
Local 503 members took that mes-
— to picket a nearby Bank of Amer-
sage to a picket outside a nearby Bank
ica branch. On the meeting’s third
of America. And they didn’t have far
day, three candidates were nominated
to succeed Frane. Local 503 has about too look to find a victim of the bank’s
52,000 members; most are employees practices. Delegate Sandy Huckle-
berry, a Coos Bay area Local 503
of the State of Oregon or one of 30
member and an employee of the Ore-
unionized nursing homes.
In May, Henry (a longtime Califor- gon Department of Human Services
(DHS), lost her home of 25 years after
nia SEIU official) succeeded Andy
Stern as head of the 1.9-million-mem- her husband had a heart attack and
couldn’t work. When she asked her
ber national union, after his favored
Bank of America credit card for a
successor, Anna Burger, failed to
change of terms, they alerted her
muster majority support. The follow-
mortgage holder, which foreclosed.
ing month, Henry announced that
Labor will need to unite, Henry
Frane would become national director
said, if things are to turn around.
of SEIU’s 850,000-member Public
Henry spoke of efforts to mend fences
Division.
with other unions, and build closer al-
Frane began the new job the week
after the Albany meeting. She has said liances with environmental and civil
Above, SEIU Local 503 members picket at an Albany, Oregon, Bank of America branch. Below, longtime Local 503
executive Leslie Frane addresses the general council meeting before beginning her new position as national head of
SEIU’s Public Division.
rights groups. And she called on SEIU
members to be ambassadors for pub-
lic services and public service work-
ers.
“Focus on the people we serve,”
Henry said. “Look for ways to im-
prove public services and deliver them
more efficiently. Oregonians … need
to know you don’t just work for the
government, you live in their commu-
nities and go to work every day to
make those communities stronger,
safer, and better for families.”
The Albany meeting ended on a
emotional note as 20 members stood
to pay tribute to Frane.
Running to succeed her are:
Heather Conroy, the local’s public
sector field director, and a staff mem-
ber for the last 13 years; Maggie Neel,
president of the Oregon State Univer-
sity sub-local and a former member of
the Executive Board; and current Ex-
ecutive Board member Michael Simp-
son, a DHS employee. Simpson said
he doesn’t seek the office for himself
but would run a national search to find
Frane’s replacement. Members will
vote by mail in early October, and the
top vote-getter will begin serving a
two-year term in November.
Anna Burger retires from top posts at Change to Win, SEIU
WASHINGTON, D.C. (PAI) — Anna Burger, who as recently as
May had aspirations of leading the 2.2 million-member Service Em-
ployees International Union, retired abruptly Aug. 11 from her job
as its secretary-treasurer. She also resigned as chair of the Change
To Win labor federation.
“From my days as a rank-and-file activist to my service as an
elected officer, I have had the amazing opportunity to watch hun-
dreds of thousands of hardworking women and men learn, grow,
build and lead through our union,” Burger said in an SEIU press re-
lease.
Burger stepped down from both posts only a few months after
she planned to succeed Andy Stern, who also retired unexpectedly
in mid-term as SEIU president. Burger was Stern’s selection to suc-
ceed him, but her campaign for the union presidency was hurt by
withdrawal of support first from SEIU locals on the West Coast,
and then from the politically influential 1199 Hospital and Health
Care Workers in New York. The loss of support led Burger to with-
draw from the race, yielding to challenger Mary Kay Henry.
AUGUST 20, 2010
“Our union has benefitted from her
tenacity and unwavering commitment to
every convention decision since 1980 and
most recently, our Justice for All pro-
gram,” Henry said of Burger. “We look
forward to continuing to draw upon
Anna’s talents and service to the Presi-
dent’s Economic Recovery Advisory
Board as we look for long-term policy so-
lutions to the crisis confronting all work-
ing people.”
A NNA B URGER
Burger began her career with the union
in 1972 as a rank-and-file Pennsylvania
state caseworker and union activist. She was elected in 1983 as
SEIU Local 668’s first female president.
After a stint running Pennsylvania’s statewide political program,
Burger became SEIU’s national field director and, in 1995, she ran
John Sweeney’s successful campaign for president of the AFL-CIO.
NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS
In 2001, she was elected secretary-treasurer of SEIU.
In 2005, Burger became the first woman to head up an American
labor federation following the formation of Change to Win by seven
unions representing six million workers who left the AFL-CIO.
Since then, three unions — Carpenters, UNITE HERE, and the La-
borers — have left the union coalition.
Burger said she will continue to consult and work with SEIU on
economic solutions for working families. She will remain on Pres-
ident Obama’s Economic Recovery Advisory Board and be active in
a variety of other organizations in social and economic justice.
Henry will handle responsibilities of secretary-treasurer until the
International Executive Board votes on a successor. A vote has been
scheduled for September.
Heads of the remaining four unions in Change To Win — SEIU,
Teamsters, Farm Workers, United Food and Commercial Workers,
and Laborers — selected UFCW President Joe Hansen to succeed
Burger.
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