SF & CA AFL-CIO Threaten Janitors Against Decert

On June 28, 2004, the following letter was issued to 2,000 San Francisco
janitors who were preparing to vote to decertify statewide janitors union
SEIU 1877.

San Francisco Labor Council AFL-CIO
1188 Franklin St. Suite 203
San Francisco, CA 94109-6852
415/440-4809 Fax 415/440-9297

June 28,2004

Dear San Francisco Janitor,

We recently learned that you have an upcoming de-certification election on
August 5, 2004. We understand that representatives of the USWD (United
Service Workers For Democracy Local 87)group have been claiming that if you
change to USWD and leave SEIU, you will be able to affiliate with another
national union such as CWA and the Teamsters.

We are writing to inform you that this is not true. By leaving the SEIU to
join the USWD group, you will not be able to affiliate with another national
union. The USWD group is not recognized by the AFL-CIO and would not be
welcomed into any AFL-CIO union.

By joining the USWD, our group would be limited to only your members with no
national backing. Additionally, you would no longer receive support from
other unions during your strikes or campaigns.

We want to impress upon you how important the janitors are to the larger
labor community, in San Francisco, in California, and in the United States.
We hope that you continue to be a part of it by staying with the SEIU.

In Solidarity,

Mike Case, President
HERE Local 2
Sec/Treasurer, San Francisco Labor Council

Kingsley Chew, President
CWA Local 9410

Walter Johnson, Secretary Treasurer
San Francisco Labor Council

Art Pulaski, Executive Sec/Treasurer
California Labor Federation, AFL-CIO

Jerry Kalmar, President
Stationary Engineers Local 39

Robert Morales, Sec/Treasurer
Teamsters Local 350

Ernie Yates, Sec/Treasurer
Teamsters Local 665

Oscar De La Torre, Business Manager
Laborers Local 261