Some of UFCW's "Change To Win" Allies

Teamsters: 4 of last 8 presidents criminally indicted; charged with RICO racketeering violations in 1986; Previous president Ron Carey thrown out after he was accused of using members' money to finance his own re-election; A 2002 article in the generally pro-union New Republic magazine noted that the IBT is "still plagued by corruption; ex-felons and people with reputed mob associations lurk around the edges of key Teamster locals seeking influence over the union ... Indeed, corruption within the Teamsters may actually have increased in recent years, as Hoffa has resurrected a group of suspect union officials who were ousted by the IRB or relegated to the sidelines under [former president Ron] Carey. Hoffa has been in office only a little more than two years, but already the IRB has charged several Teamster officials with corruption and with mob associations. And some of them are close to Hoffa himself." [more]

SEIU: Led a dangerous hunger strike in 2006 that led to several members being injured, including one person who had a mild stroke; SEIU is leading the effort to end personal, private votes for employees deciding whether to join a union.[more]

UNITE HERE: Long history of alleged corruption and mob ties; in 2006, UNITE HERE was found guilty of spying on employees by illegally finding their home addresses through DMV records and making unwanted, uninvited visits to employees' homes; also in 2006, UNITE HERE was ordered to pay $17 million in fines (to be paid with members' dues) for defaming a non-profit hospital where the union was trying to get more members.[more]

United Farm Workers: The United Farm Workers was once a vibrant union led by Cesar Chavez, but an investigative series from the Los Angeles Times in 2006 reported that "Farmworkers Reap Little as Union Strays From Its Roots." The Times reported: The current UFW leaders have jettisoned other Chavez principles: The UFW undercut another union to sign up construction workers, poaching on the turf of building trade unions that once were allies. The UFW forfeited the right to boycott supermarkets and stores, a tactic Chavez pioneered, in order to sign up members in unrelated professions. And Chavez's heirs broke with labor solidarity and hired nonunion workers to build the $3.2-million National Chavez Center around their founder's grave in the Tehachapi Mountains, a site they now market as a tourist attraction and rent out for weddings.[more]