A group of approximately 270 county workers in San Diego has voted to decertify SEIU
Local 221 and join an independent union called the Association of San Diego County Employees (ASCDE).
The workers -- who make up the County of San Diego’s “Construction,
Maintenance, Operations and Repair Unit” -- voted by a margin of 131 to 102 to switch
unions, according to a local blogsite called “Loco 221.” The ASCDE was formed by a breakaway group of SEIU members in 2011.
In an earlier post,
Tasty reported on these workers’ effort to bolt from SEIU, including one worker’s comment about SEIU’s leaders:
They treat us like mushrooms. You know, keep us in the dark and feed us sh*t.
Workers' recent vote is just the latest in string of decertifications by
Local 221’s members.. which apparently has Eliseo Medina nervously consulting his PR people.
Medina, who currently serves as SEIU’s Secretary-Treasurer, famously served as the
Trustee of the San Diego union, where he claims to have singlehandedly rebuilt the union and steered it onto a path of glorious and unending success. Later, in 2010, SEIU’s Andy Stern appointed Medina to
serve as Stern’s “personal representative” “to assist Local 221 in meeting its internal
needs.”
By all accounts, Medina has done a helluva job in San Diego! In recent
years, SEIU Local 221 has lost more than 20% of its membership… and its
revenues have plunged by 35%.
Way to go, Eliseo!
