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Henry’s pledge to heal internal union rifts and to settle disputes with other labor unions, such as UNITE HERE, caused in part by Stern’s penchant for organizing workers in industries traditionally organized by other labor unions, suggests that she may indeed want to change the dynamics at SEIU.  However, Henry simultaneously has announced that she intends to redouble SEIU’s organizing efforts and unveiled a new multi-million dollar “innovation fund” to facilitate private-sector organizing.  According to Henry, this new fund, which will supplement the hundreds of millions of dollars SEIU already spends annually on organizing campaigns, will be used to organize industries that have not traditionally had employee representation, such as banks and biotechnology companies.  We have opined several times in this space that the financial services industry is particularly vulnerable to union organizing and noted that Stern’s SEIU was spearheading the effort to make inroads with the rank-and-file banking employees.  Henry’s new “innovation fund” suggests that she has no intention of altering Stern’s vision of an organized financial services sector. 

Henry also claims that SEIU will continue to be politically active and will seek to hold “bad actors” in government accountable in the upcoming November elections.  Henry singled out Arizona Governor Jan Brewer for her part in that state’s recent passage of immigration legislation that was bitterly opposed by big labor, including SEIU.  Henry also plans to support Arkansas’ Lieutenant Governor, Bill Halter, in a primary challenge to Senator Blanche Lincoln, who opposed certain aspects of the President’s health care reform package that were favored by unions.  Henry also said that SEIU will focus on governors’ races in Connecticut, Florida and Ohio.  Henry’s political agenda does not sound all that different from what Stern’s agenda likely would have been had he continued at SEIU’s helm.
 
Speculation about Henry’s intentions is all the more fascinating in light of the intense debate about the legacy Andy Stern will leave behind: is he leaving the SEIU at a time when it needs him most, or is he actually leaving just in time?  To many, Stern has been at the peak of his game, as evidenced by SEIU’s recent $1.5 million jury verdict against California breakaway union − and bitter rival − National Union of Healthcare Workers, President Obama’s recess appointment to the National Labor Relations Board of SEIU-attorney Craig Becker, and Congress’ passage of landmark healthcare reform using the strategy articulated by Stern himself after the special election of Massachusetts Senator Brown threatened the survival of President Obama’s highest legislative priority.  To others, Stern’s departure could not have come any sooner for SEIU.  His perceived over-emphasis on politics, apparent loss of interest in traditional union organizing, and attempts to raid the ranks of other major unions polarized his presidency and to some degree isolated SEIU from the rest of the labor world.  In addition, and despite emptying SEIU’s coffers to help elect President Obama, Stern failed to deliver on EFCA and could not get Becker through the Senate confirmation process.  Some have even speculated that Stern may be implicated in former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich’s criminal corruption trial, and that his departure was timed to avoid unnecessary collateral damage to SEIU.

Whatever Stern’s reasons for leaving, or whether his resignation is a positive or negative development for SEIU, employers and labor leaders alike will be keeping a keen eye on Henry and the path she chooses for her union.  If her first few days at the helm are any indication, employers should not expect to see wholesale changes from SEIU any time soon.  Practically speaking, this likely means that SEIU will continue to be politically active, backing candidates who support its legislative and social agenda, and will continue to aggressively organize new employees using both traditional means and pressure tactics such as corporate pressure campaigns.  The tale of Henry’s leadership will not be told in the coming weeks, but over the next several years.  Like most in the world of labor, we will be watching closely.

Although the Committee approved his nomination again, it did so with a 13-10 party line vote. The confirmation vote could take place as early as next week.

Anticipating another hold would be placed on Becker’s nomination,  proponents were pushing hard for a cloture vote before Massachusetts Senator-elect Scott Brown took his seat. However, Brown was sworn in by Vice President Biden shortly after 5 p.m. ET yesterday, ending the Democrats' supermajority and becoming the Republican's "41st vote" on health care.  Late yesterday, a cloture vote petition with seventeen (17) signatures was filed on Becker, and the vote will take place Monday evening. With Brown seated, Becker’s proponents are unlikely to obtain the 60 votes need to override any hold placed on the nomination.

The controversy surrounding the nomination is due principally to Becker’s background, which many believe displays an anti-free-market and pro-union bent. Becker is a labor lawyer who has served as associate general counsel to the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) and the AFL-CIO.  For the past 27 years, Becker has taught and practiced labor law and written articles expressing extremely pro-union, anti-business views.

The Senate HELP Committee received a letter from 23 major trade organizations last week expressing concern that the NLRB would be able to “radically interpret existing labor law should Becker be confirmed.” The Committee received a separate letter from 600 manufacturing employers urging members to oppose the confirmation.

Senator Johnny Isakson (R., Ga.) expressed concern that Becker's writings "have indicated a belief that the NLRB has the power to make some of the dramatic changes in the card-check bill." This legislation would permit unions to bypass secret-ballot elections and instead organize in workplaces by collecting signed cards from workers.

In an attempt to distance himself from his writings, during Tuesday’s hearing, Becker suggested that he doesn't believe the Board could take such a step. "The law is clear that the decision...(of) an alternative route to certification rests with Congress and not the board," Becker said, adding that his writings were "intended to be provocative and to ask fundamental questions in order for scholars and others to re-evaluate."

In a Huffington Post article posted Thursday, February 4, Stewart Acuff, Chief of Staff and Assistant to the President of the Utility Workers Union of America, illustrates these concerns as he states:

The Employee Free Choice Act has the support of a majority of the US Senate. But under the current rules in the Senate you need not a majority -- 50 votes-- but a super-majority of 60 votes to move legislation to where a vote to pass it can even take place. We are very close to the 60 votes we need. If we aren't able to pass the Employee Free Choice Act, we will work with President Obama and Vice President Biden and their appointees to the National Labor Relations Board to change the rules governing forming a union through administrative action… 

(emphasis added). 

At Tuesday’s hearing, Senator McCain grilled Becker over whether he would recuse himself from cases before the NLRB involving the SEIU, where Becker most recently worked. Becker said he would recuse himself from cases involving the SEIU for two years; however, he would not commit to doing so in a case mentioned by McCain involving a local chapter of the union.