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Unions near feud settlement

Two major unions appear to be on the brink of settling their intense, distracting feud, Crains New York's Daniel Massey reports today, with the giant Service Employees International Union buying peace from UNITE HERE with cash and real estate from a venerable garment workers' union that had become the center of a tug of war between SEIU President Andy Stern and UNITE HERE chief John Wilhelm.

Crains reports that SEIU and its affiliate Workers United will keep the Amalgamated Bank, while UNITE HERE takes possession of a SEventh Avenue office building worth $70 million as well as roughly $80 million in cash and other assets.

The deal also cedes some of the local unions that had joined SEIU back to UNITE HERE.

The feud stems from a failed merger between HERE, a combative, impecunious hotel workers union, and the wealthy UNITE, the descendant of the stories International Ladies Garment Workers Union, which had declined with the U.S. manufacturing industry. The battle has been a study in labor tactics: Stern, the consummate dealmaker, sought to use failed marriage to expand SEIU by absorbing the old UNITE. Wilhelm, known for his appetite for long, draining conflict, launched a raft of legal challenges and even physically seized the disputed headquarters in an early-morning raid.

SEIU's new president, Mary Kay Henry, was elected on a promise of settling the battle, and I think Massey is right in interpreting the settlement as a sign that she was "anxious for peace, at whatever price."

The settlement will smooth SEIU's relations with the rest of labor, and remove a damaging obstacle to political cooperation among major unions.

Officials from SEIU and UNITE HERE wouldn't comment on the report today.


Eric D. Schwerin
Rosemont Seneca Partners, LLC
1010 Wisconsin Ave., NW
Suite 705
Washington, DC 20007
(202) 333-1880
eschwerin@rosemontseneca.com
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