WTF is up with SEIU?

by Brian Leubitz [courtesy of Calitics - Front Page]

It seems SEIU's resolve on health care is rapidly crumbling. After months of towing the It's OUR Healthcare line, of supporting AB 8, and then tentatively supporting ABx1 1, it seems Sal Rosselli wasn't getting results at the pace that Andy Stern wanted them. 

While enthusiastic about the goal of securing coverage for the 5 million Californians who now are uninsured, Sal Rosselli -- the president of an Oakland-based SEIU local as well as the state council -- has insisted that any deal fully protect middle-class residents from having to pay premiums they may not be able to afford or forcing them to buy bare-bones policies.

But through a labor fight that has been more than a year in the making, Rosselli may be removed as president of the state council as early as this morning, two years before his term is scheduled to expire, according to union officials.

Many of the issues involved in the action have more to do with internal union politics about labor's direction than with the healthcare battle, but the leadership change could have substantial consequences. The potential new leaders are more eager than Rosselli and longtime Executive Director Dean Tipps to cut a deal with Schwarzenegger -- in part to help advance their campaign to overhaul healthcare nationally.

That has been the view of Andy Stern, the president of the international union, who has personally expressed to the governor's office his frustration with the stance of California SEIU leaders, according to people familiar with the discussions. (LA Times 11/30/07)

So, Et Tu, Andy? The Democratic Leadership has moved and basically negotiated with themselves, with little in the way of concessions from the Governor. But to Mr. Stern, apparently the more important thing is getting immediate press releases, results are secondary. Look, ABx1 1 isn't perfect, far from it. It's not even as good as AB 8, and as It's OUR Healthcare has been saying there's much work to do. We need greater protections for the middle class and quality assurances. But how much more can we go? Are willing to just give in and require an entire individual mandate? Are we willing to yield on some of the cost controls and quality assurances that assure quality healthcare for Californians? Are we willing to give more money to Blue Cross so that Stern has some additional issues to grill Edwards and Clinton on? How'd that work in Massachusetts. Oh right, healthcare costs are double what the Legislature expected and costs have not been contained at all, so people have to just break the law and not carry coverage or buy shitty coverage. There's a whole lot more to this leadership switch than healthcare though. The rumored new leader of the State Council says this of Rosselli:

"Our experience in SEIU and across the country is you don't have to have the perfect bullet to slay the dragon," said Tyrone Freeman, president of the Los Angeles-based SEIU chapter representing 170,000 home care and nursing home workers.

 
So sure, there are plenty of sides to this story. And it's really not for me to judge the internal workings of SEIU. But are these the words of our progressive champions? That we don't compromise enough? Wow. Just Wow.