SEIU Organizers Harass Before Vote


In an effort to ensure the vote went their way, SEIU organizers harassed and intimidated adjunct workers during a recent organizing campaign.  Matt Lamb has the story in collegefix.com.

Adjunct faculty at Washington University in St. Louis voted narrowly to unionize this month, in a campaign marked by accusations of union intimidation and administration pressure tactics.

Only about two-thirds of 404 eligible adjuncts voted on whether to join the Service Employees International Union, with supporters winning by a 138-111 margin, not including 18 contested ballots, Provost Holden Thorp told KSDK-TV.

Though both sides agreed to refrain from pressuring faculty one way or the other, there’s evidence neither stuck to the pledge.

SEIU was accused of harassing adjuncts at home and generally riding roughshod over them.

Mark Manteuffel, a biology instructor, told St. Louis Public Radio that union representatives showed up at his house when he wasn’t home and were “very pushy and rude†toward his wife.

They asked her for his cellphone number without introducing themselves, and came back again when he wasn’t home, Manteuffel said: “And they kind of huffed and puffed and said again that they would show up,†until his wife threatened to call the cops.

Manteuffel added that the union showed “outrageous and unprofessional†conduct toward adjuncts by giving them only a day’s notice, “near the end of the semester, with all the grades that are due,†for an informal discussion about unionization.

SEIU did not return requests for comment from The College Fix.

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