Election Results for the CM Unit in San Diego, sorta
Votes were counted for the San Diego County workers in the CM Unit representation election, on Friday April 12, 2013. SEIU got 113 and ASDCE got 109 and 5 workers voted for “no union” — 229 votes total. 42 members of the bargaining unit did not cast a ballot. Nobody got the required 50 percent plus one of the votes cast. So there will be a run-off election between SEIU and ASDCE.
Sad news for the people trying to free themselves from the purple tar pits (BUT NOT HOPELESS) and glad news (almost) for the purple sheep and the purple sheep dogs.
This was the second escape attempt by the inmates in the CM unit. (CM is Construction, Maintenance, Operations and Repair.) They tried the first time in the Fall of 2011. At that time they were thinking of forming their own independent union, separate from the then-brand new Association of San Diego County Employees (ASDCE) that members of the Crafts unit had formed in August 2011. Unfortunately, the CM organizers at that time were less organized and less familiar with all the legal bureaucratic hoops they had to jump through. So, in 2011, their petition for a representation election was insufficient to get to “first base” – and no election was held.
This time, they nearly had it. If they can beef up their get-out-the-vote work, they will likely win it ON ROUND THREE. And they do seem very determined to dump SEIU. It was members of the CM unit themselves who put up all the fees to get the election. ASDCE did not initiate the petition campaign for the election.
SEIU of course pumped mega staff hours (paid with SEIU members dues money, of course) into tracking down and arm twisting and sweet talking as many members of the bargaining unit as they could. They even resorted to sending attractive young female organizers, wearing low-cut tops, out to campaign at road crew work stations.
The tactic kinda goes against anybody claiming SEIU is a “progressive” union, right?
— Loco 221
Loco 221 
there is nothing wrong with using dues to keep people in the Union. You seem to be operating out of spleen. i doubt very much that your account isn’t just one side of this story.
Adrian, using union dues to sway a union representation election is no more ethical than using tax dollars to sway the election of a U.S. president. The dues payers (or tax payers) include people on both sides of the issue and it is corruption for those in power to use “public” funds for private gain. Many honest, ethical unions do provide voter information guides and public debates, funded with union dues, where all candidates for office and where both sides of any ballot issue (like choosing which union will represent you) get equal access to the benefit of the use of those funds. SEIU is corrupt.