For Immediate Release
Friday, March 25, 2005
AFSCME Ends Campaign in Illinois after AFL-CIO Ruling
Union continues to organize with child care providers across the country
Washington —The AFL-CIO granted the Service Employees International Union sole organizing rights to Illinois' family child care providers today. Both AFSCME and SEIU are on the election ballot that was mailed to nearly 50,000 providers on March 16. Ballots must be returned by April 7. SEIU asked for sole jurisdiction in the election under Article XXI of the AFL-CIO constitution on March 21, which was granted by an impartial Umpire today.
"We respect the process by which the decision was made, although we are disappointed by it. It is our view that the Article XXI procedure produced the wrong result because it requires that jurisdiction be granted based on which union began their organizing first, to the exclusion of other important factors," said Gerald W. McEntee in a letter to the AFL-CIO Executive Council about the decision.
According to the Umpire, the ruling was based on the fact that the SEIU had begun their campaign first. "Because I have determined than an award under Section 14(i) is warranted, it is not necessary for me to address AFSCME's arguments under Section 14(ii) concerning its predominant presence as the representative of state employees in Illinois, or its concerns about the effect of this award on AFSCME's ability to preserve wage and benefit standards among these employees."
The Umpire also expressed frustration over the SEIU's conflicting statements about the appropriateness of using Article XXI in this situation, as well as the fact that they waited until voting was underway before they file: "I would note that there is some tension and inconsistency between SEIU's earlier statements and criticisms [of Article XXI], and its later request for expedited Article XXI proceedings."
On the issue of timing, the Umpire said that, "...it is perplexing that SEIU did not initiate this proceeding on February 23, 2005, when it first learned of AFSCME's possible interest in organizing the childcare providers, but instead waited until March 21, 2005, after the election ballots had already gone out, significant resources had been expended by both unions, and a piece of literature derogatory of AFSCME had been mailed to the providers by SEIU. While other forums are available to directly address this later point, I believe literature of this nature does a great disservice to the labor movement."
"Because the SEIU asked for AFL-CIO intervention after voting was already underway, the votes of thousands of child care providers are now nullified, and all providers who have already voted did so under the mistaken belief that they had a choice," said McEntee.
"AFSCME got involved with this campaign to help Illinois' child care providers win better pay and benefits," McEntee continued. "That's what this is all about — helping family child care providers better their work lives. Should the SEIU prevail in the election, we hope they will work to raise the compensation and benefits for these providers to the high standards that Council 31 has established for state employees."
McEntee added, "Scores of AFSCME family child care providers from across the country came to Illinois to work on this campaign and we will continue to help child care providers across the country improve their work lives and the quality of the services they provide."
