Spat between unions seen as threat to election-year power

A deepening divide between two of the nation's largest labor groups – prompted by a maverick California nurses union – has labor leaders worried the rift could "devastate" the movement's election-year priorities.

Service Employees International Union, with 1.7 million members, has instructed local chapters across America to withhold funding from state and local labor federations to protest what they call union-poaching activity by the California Nurses Association.

The move could cost labor central committees – the backbone of labor's sophisticated political and get-out-the-vote operation – millions of dollars on the eve of June 3 legislative primaries in California and the Nov. 4 presidential contest.

It could prevent labor federations in California from fully flexing their muscles in contested Democratic primaries for the state Legislature. Labor also has made electing a Democratic president a top priority in 2008.

"It would devastate the labor council," said John Borsos, president of the Sacramento Central Labor Council. The move, he said, would deprive the group "of the funds necessary to sustain a political campaign."

The California Labor Federation declined to comment.

John Sweeney, president of the AFL-CIO, is scrambling to negotiate a truce, urging SEIU to continue paying dues and calling the holdout "a damaging affront to the determined, united efforts of the labor movement."

The California-based nurses union has expanded nationally, sometimes butting heads with competing health care unions.

Tensions with SEIU flared last month in Ohio. CNA representatives showed up as SEIU was attempting to organize 8,000 hospital nurses there "explaining to nurses that there were other options," according to CNA President Deborah Burger.

Burger accused SEIU, the nation's largest union, of striking a "sweetheart deal" that was bad for workers. Ultimately, SEIU retreated from its unionizing drive.

Tom DeBruin, a vice president of SEIU, called the CNA's efforts in Ohio "just an outrageous outright union-busting attempt." His union demanded the AFL-CIO denounce the actions of the nurses, who are members of the AFL-CIO.

"Until they exercise their responsibility to get CNA to behave we are not going to (pay federation dues)," added Stephen Lerner, assistant to SEIU President Andy Stern.

But Burger said her union will "not capitulate" or change its tactics because of SEIU's demands. "If they want to act like a spoiled little brat, they can take their marbles … and go away and sulk," she said.

In the labor world, SEIU members have more "marbles" than most. When the union walked out of the AFL-CIO three years ago, it left the labor community divided.

Sal Rosselli, president of the SEIU's 140,0000-strong United Healthcare Workers-West, said his estimate pegged the potentially withheld dues at $15 million.

Representatives from SEIU International declined to provide an estimate.

Rosselli, who has feuded openly with Stern and was ousted as state council president in December, said his union will continue paying an estimated $1 million in dues to local councils and the California Labor Federation.

"We have a (June) primary coming up in six or seven weeks where there are dozens and dozens of California legislative races and county and local government races that are fundamentally important to SEIU members," Rosselli said. "We are concerned that this directive puts those political races at risk."

Rosselli said he is "opposed to any union raiding" but disagreed with the withholding decision, saying it was "interfering with the infrastructure" of union activism.

CNA's Burger took a more optimistic view of the political ramifications of the standoff, saying "other unions will ante up to make good the loss" of SEIU funds.

"The nurses association and labor have always been able to multitask," she said. "We will make sure that labor comes together to work to get a Democrat elected."

An SEIU spokeswoman agreed that unions would unite to campaign for a "pro-worker" president.

The escalating SEIU-nurses feud came to blows – literally – last weekend at a Michigan labor conference attended by the nurses association. Busloads of service employees' union members from Ohio arrived and a scuffle ensued, sending one woman to the hospital, according to Labor Notes, a magazine sponsoring the gathering.

Sweeney condemned "the violent attack orchestrated by SEIU" in Michigan.

"While there may well be multiple sides to any dispute, violence in any form is reprehensible," he said in a statement.

The California Nurses Association, which has subsequently accused SEIU representatives of stalking its members with video cameras at their California homes, went to court on Wednesday to obtain a temporary restraining order against Stern and SEIU.

"At this point it is just escalating," Rosselli said. "There needs to be negotiations. People need to come to a table to resolve this dispute."

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• Call Shane Goldmacher, Bee Capitol Bureau, (916) 326-5544.