ONE MESS OF A MERGER Formed in 2004 as a result of a merger between the the Union of Needletrades, Industrial, and Textile Employees and the Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees International Union (HERE), UNITE-HERE is a union of approximately 465,000 members in the U.S. and Canada.
UNITE (itself a 1995 merger of two older garment and textile unions), has been involved the clothing and textile industry for decades, but had a problem with shrinking membership as those industries were decimated by overseas competition.
As one of seven unions to disaffiliate with the AFL-CIO in 2005 and join the Change to Win Federation, UNITE-HERE is currently undergoing a significant internal battle between it bosses over whether the union survives.
UNITE-HERE: SPENDING OVER $700,000 TO HAVE TWO BOSSES As UNITE-HERE was formed as a result of a merger in 2005, the arrangement left in place two presidents. In 2007, these two "co-presidents" total compensation was more than $700,000. Go here, to see how UNITE-HERE spent its members money in 2007.
UNITE-HERE: DISUNITED UNION UNDERGOES MESSY DIVORCE After only five years of union "matrimony," the bosses of UNITE-HERE are undergoing a very nasty divorce. In the middle of the bosses' custody-battle are the union's members, as well as who gets control of union's $4.5 billion Amalgamated Bank. [more...]
WHAT OTHERS ARE SAYING ABOUT UNITE-HERE At the right are links to Unfair Labor Practice charges (in PDF) on file with the National Labor Relations Board. These charges have been filed by union members, companies, as well as other individuals against the union. Although the entire charge is public information, certain information has been crossed out as a courtesy to protect the names, addresses and telephone numbers of those individuals filing the charges.
FIVE-YEARS ON STRIKE On Father's Day 2003, members of UNITE-HERE in Chicago went out on strike against their employer, the Congress Hotel. The strike, which is still going on today, is the longest current strike in the United States. Assuming that each of the union's members were earning $20,000 per year (although many were probably earning more), the average striker has lost more than $100,000 due to this strike.
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