UNITE HERE is a labor union in the United States and Canada with roughly 300,000 active members. The union's members work predominantly in the hotel, food service, laundry, warehouse, and casino gaming industries. The union was formed in 2004 by the merger of Union of Needletrades, Industrial, and Textile Employees (UNITE), and Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees Union (HERE).
In 2005, UNITE HERE withdrew from the AFL–CIO and joined the Change to Win Federation, along with several other unions, including the Teamsters, Service Employees International Union (SEIU) and the UFCW. In May 2009, union president Bruce Raynor (originally from UNITE) left UNITE HERE, taking with him numerous local unions and between 105,000 and 150,000 members, mostly garment workers and a labor-owned bank, Amalgamated Bank. They formed a new SEIU affiliate called Workers United.Peter Dreier, , The Nation, August 12, 2009 (online), August 31, 2009, edition of The Nation. Accessed online September 19, 2009.
On September 17, 2009, UNITE HERE announced that it would re-affiliate with the AFL–CIO.Statement of John W. Wilhelm, President of UNITE HERE International Union, at AFL-CIO..., Reuters, September 17, 2009. Accessed online September 17, 2009.
History Bruce Raynor, then president of UNITE, and John W. Wilhelm of HERE became close friends after meeting on a HERE picket line at Yale University in 2003. UNITE HERE was formed in 2004 by the merger of UNITE (the Union of Needletrades, Industrial, and Textile Employees) and HERE (Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees International Union).; The impetus for the merger was that UNITE was wealthy but losing a significant number of members, while HERE had little cash but had a large number of organizing opportunities which could lead to hundreds of thousands of new members. The merged entity had 440,000 active members and about 400,000 retired members in both the United States and Canada. Raynor was elected general president of the merged union and Wilhelm was named president of the merged union's hospitality division, but the two men shared executive, budgetary, and personnel duties.
In 2005, UNITE HERE withdrew from the AFL–CIO and joined the Change to Win Federation, along with several other unions, including the Laborers' International Union of North America, International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Service Employees International Union, United Farm Workers, and United Food and Commercial Workers.Amber, Michelle and Bologna, Michael. "Departure of SEIU, Teamsters Creates Split Within AFL-CIO on Convention's Opening Day." Labor Relations Week. July 28, 2005; "UFCW Becomes Third Union to Leave AFL-CIO in One Week." Labor Relations Week. August 4, 2005; "UNITE HERE Disaffiliates From AFL-CIO, Citing Differences Over Organizing, Politics." Labor Relations Week. September 15, 2005; "Laborers Plan to Leave AFL-CIO." Wall Street Journal. September 24, 2005; "Organized Labor Fails to Heal Rift." Associated Press. April 25, 2006; "Laborers Union Breaks Free From AFL-CIO." Associated Press. May 22, 2006. UNITE HERE Vice-President Edgar Romney was elected the first secretary-treasurer of the new labor federation.
Split and reaffiliation with AFL–CIO The merger of UNITE and HERE faced initial difficulties due to disagreements between its leaders. By 2007, Raynor was accusing Wilhelm of stifling change, and Wilhelm was angry at Raynor's "heavy-handed" managerial style. Raynor's critics also said the union president often agreed to "sweetheart deals" that hurt workers but which added new members and avoided protracted organizing battles. According to at least one account, Raynor was unhappy that the HERE faction had a majority on the board, which permitted Wilhelm and his supporters to veto his proposals. Raynor allegedly began talking about a "divorce" of the two merged unions to precipitate just such an outcome.
In 2007 the union lost its bargaining certificate at Vancouver's General Motors Place. The British Columbia Labour Relations Board conducted a vote to find the employees' preferred affiliation with the Christian Labour Association of Canada.
Significant conflict within the union emerged in early 2009. The union had 366,958 members at the end of 2008. In late 2008, General President Bruce Raynor and 15 local and regional UNITE HERE affiliates in the laundry and garment industries filed lawsuits against Hospitality Division President John Wilhelm, accusing him and his division of fraud, theft, gross mismanagement of $61 million in funds committed to union organizing drives, and failing to resolve members' grievances. Raynor also accused Wilhelm and his allies of attempting to impose their will on the executive board and the majority of members. Wilhelm and several affiliate leaders in the hospitality division sued Raynor and his allies in the laundry and garment division, claiming that Raynor had acted in violation of the union's constitution and procedures in firing large numbers of Wilhelm supporters in Detroit and Phoenix, Arizona. Wilhelm also accused Raynor of disloyaltyIn business ethics and law, members of a board of directors, managers, supervisors, and employees have the duty to remain loyal to the organization. Examples of disloyalty include, but are not limited to, self-dealing, breach of fiduciary duty, breach of confidentiality, violation of a non-compete clause, or failure to publicly support an organization's stated goals, mission, or policies. See: McKnight, Jane Osborne. "Disloyal Employees and Trade Secrets: What We Can Learn from Barbies and Bratz." The Vermont Bar Journal. Fall 2008; Hobby, Catherine. "Equitable Principles of Confidentiality and Whistleblowing." In Feminist Perspectives on Equity and Trusts. Susan Scott-Hunt and Hilary Lim, eds. New York: Routledge Cavendish, 2001, ; Vallance, Elizabeth M. Business Ethics at Work. Reprint 2d ed. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1995. ; Peterson, Donald J. "The Arbitration of Employee Disloyalty Cases." Journal of Individual Employment Rights 4:3 (1995-1996). and dual unionism for continuing to press for the disaffiliation of the garment division affiliates after the UNITE HERE executive board had voted down the proposal.
By March 2009, the conflict had become unresolvable. On March 7, 2009, Raynor and his supporters held a disaffiliation referendum vote among the members in their affiliate unions in advance of UNITE HERE's first quadrennial convention (set for summer 2009), and said that if they were successful, they would affiliate with the Service Employees International Union (SEIU). Wilhelm and his supporters said that the UNITE HERE constitution prevented any such vote without the permission of the international union's executive board. Also at issue was control over Amalgamated Bank, which UNITE brought with it into the merger and whose ownership (and its substantial net worth) now belonged to UNITE HERE. Wilhelm sued Raynor and the 15 affiliates in February 2009 in US district court, but the court declined to prevent the vote.
The period before the vote led to more accusations of misconduct. Wilhelm and his supporters accused SEIU President Andrew Stern of supporting Raynor's disaffiliation move, a charge Stern vigorously denied. Wilhelm also accused Raynor of supporting the disaffiliation effort only because he faced a difficult re-election bid, and of misusing union money and staff to support the secession effort. Raynor categorically denied all charges. Delegates from the 15 affiliates (representing 100,000 members) met in Philadelphia in late March, and on March 22, 2009, they voted to disaffiliate from UNITE HERE and establish a new union, Workers United.Hananel, Sam. "Nation's Fastest Growing Union Gets Bigger." Associated Press. March 23, 2009.Greenhouse, Steve. "Union Dissidents Vote to Secede and Realign." New York Times. March 23, 2009.Maher, Kris. "Union Factions Reject Mediation Offer From SEIU." Wall Street Journal. May 2, 2009. Workers United immediately affiliated with SEIU. Former UNITE HERE elected officer Edgar Romney was elected President of Workers United. Despite winning the disaffiliation vote, Raynor announced he would finish his term as General President of UNITE HERE rather than join Workers United—a move, one newspaper said, undertaken so that Workers United could gain control of the Amalgamated Bank.
UNITE HERE and Workers United disagreed over who had jurisdiction over various kinds of workers and how to divide UNITE HERE's assets (most importantly, the bank). Wilhelm asked a federal court to give UNITE HERE control over all the union's assets, but the court declined to issue a ruling at that time.Smith, Ben. "The UNITE HERE Hearing." Politico. April 8, 2009.Smith, Ben. "Clash at Union's New York Headquarters." Politico. May 22, 2009. Joseph T. Hansen, president of the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW), attempted to mediate a solution in mid-April, proposing (among other things) that UNITE HERE take jurisdiction over workers in the gaming industry and hotels; that Workers United take jurisdiction over workers in textiles and laundries; and that the two unions split organizing in food service. Hansen also suggested that Workers United keep the Amalgamated Bank and the former New York City headquarters of UNITE, but that Workers United make a multimillion-dollar payment to UNITE HERE to compensate it for the losses. Wilhelm rejected the offer. Andrew Stern then suggested that each union retain their existing casino workers, but that UNITE HERE have exclusive jurisdiction over casino workers in the future. Workers United would also pay UNITE HERE $20 million immediately and $46 million move within five years, if UNITE HERE would agree to turn the Amalgamated Bank and other of UNITE's pre-merger assets over to Workers United. United States Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid also unsuccessfully attempted to mediate the dispute.Orey, Michael and Sasseen, Jane. "No Solidarity for Labor". Business Week. June 4, 2009. American Federation of Teachers president Randi Weingarten urged the sides to settle as well, writing a letter to both Raynor and Wilhelm cautioning that "This conflict is causing collateral damage. ... The longer it continues, the less likely we are to enact a strong Employee Free Choice Act."