Service Union Trusteeship

In “Perspective on Labor: Empowerment Has Its Problems” (Commentary, Oct. 29), Frank del Olmo points to the recent trusteeship of Local 399 of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) as a reason to question “whether the sun is rising or setting on organized labor.” His interpretation, while interesting, is not borne out by the facts. First of all, SEIU President John Sweeney made the decision to trustee Local 399 only after intensely but unsuccessfully attempting to mediate a settlement between the local union’s two deeply divided leadership factions. Local 399 had ceased to function because of the dispute, a fact acknowledged by all parties involved.

Following the trusteeship, all of the local’s leaders--white, African American, and Latino alike--were suspended. To oversee the local, Sweeney named me and a team of deputy trustees--most of whom are Latino, and some of whom are immigrant workers who rose through the ranks of Local 399. In addition, the leaders among the so-called Latino “insurgents” were offered full-time jobs in the union and an opportunity to develop their skills and leadership abilities during the rebuilding of the local union, after which self-governance and democracy will be restored.

I have found that the members of Local 399 are relieved to see an end to the bitter, internal strife and view the trusteeship as an opportunity to transform the union into the powerful organization they so desperately need.

The questions Del Olmo raises about whether Sweeney’s recent election as president of the AFL-CIO truly marks the dawning of a new era for the American labor movement, as so many people believe, are unfounded. Sweeney led the coalition of unions that campaigned for sweeping changes in the AFL-CIO, including diversification of leadership, and paved the way for an expansion of the federation’s Executive Council to include 14 women and people of color. True, we still have a long way to go. But frankly, Sweeney has already done more than anyone in history to change the face of labor and usher in a new day for the American labor movement.

MIKE GARCIA, Trustee, Local 399

Service Employees International Union

Los Angeles