Q: What sorts of things do you do to organize workers?
A: One example is this new (Hyatt Regency) at the Colorado Convention Center. The labor federation worked hard to get the city to demand that Hyatt have a neutral position with respect to workers organizing a union. So now we have organizers coming in, and we have connected them to some of our members because we expect some will take jobs at the Hyatt.
Q: In Houston last month, the SEIU signed 4,700 janitors who work in many of the city’s office buildings. It was the most successful unionization drive in the South in decades. What made your union successful?
A: We don’t ask Joe’s Janitorial Co. to accept a union. We ask them to stay neutral and let the employees vote. We tell them we are not going to bargain wages and benefits until we represent a majority of the industry, so we are not going to put you in a bad competitive situation. We also rely on community alliances. The Catholic Church was supportive of us; the mayor was supportive of us because good jobs make healthy communities.
Q: Is a victory on that scale possible in Colorado?
A: The janitors are already highly unionized in Colorado. Now the challenges for us are in other core sectors, health- care workers and public-service workers. The South and the Southwest are historically the toughest regions in the country for workers to organize.
Q: Some say that labor unions have had their day and blame generous labor contracts for helping to destroy the competitiveness of American business icons like General Motors.
A: It is America’s lack of a sensible health-care system and retirement system that is making manufacturers in America uncompetitive. GM has jobs in Canada where wages and benefits are stronger because they don’t have to pay for health care there; the government takes care of that. The answer to America’s competitiveness isn’t that our workers should make as little as Chinese factory workers.
Q: Can unions survive?
A: I think unions will have to survive. A lot of people say unions are a thing of the past, they were important when workers got exploited but now they aren’t important. But you look at what is happening to the American worker: Our standard of living is in free fall; we are losing our health-care benefits; we are losing our retirement security at a frightening pace, so how can you say a strong and vibrant labor movement isn’t positive?
Q: What was the worst job you ever held?
A: Packing jewelry. It was difficult, tedious and mindless.
Q: What sort of reaction do you get when you tell people you are a union president?
A: It ranges from “That’s great; that is so necessary,” to absolutely no understanding of what a union is. And sometimes people will feel completely free to launch into their opinions about unions being the greatest evil in society.
Q: What is your background?
A: My grandfather was a garment worker. I would sit and talk with my grandfather about what the union was like. He would complain about the union – “Ah, they are a bunch of crooks” – and at the end of the discussion, he would say of course you couldn’t live without the union. My dad was what he would call a rag merchant. He owned a small clothing retail business in Jersey City, N.J.
Q: What did you want to be when you were younger?
A: A rock star, but when I went to Oberlin College I gained some new perspectives.
Q: What does your family think about your job?
A: I think originally they would have preferred I become a doctor or lawyer for the economic security, but they have become very proud of me.
Q: What’s your annual salary?
A: About $61,000.
Q: What do you have in common with your members?
A: I think and I hope that the reason my members continue to elect me is we share a vision.
Edited for space and clarity from an interview by staff writer Tom McGhee.
