ANNALS OF LABOR Lawsuit pits one union against another BY BRIAN C. JONES

An estimated 90 Providence Public Library workers are schedule to vote September 8 on whether to be represented by the United Service and Allied Workers (USAW) of Rhode Island union, which already represents a small group of library maintenance workers. The vote, to be overseen by the National Labor Relations Board, comes after several years of financial uncertainty, including past layoffs and pay freezes, at the state’s premier library.

From a labor standpoint, this is what unions are about — offering workers a chance to respond to difficult workplace conditions on the theory that they have more clout as a group. But while USAW is conducting the organizing drive, probably the most difficult task a union faces, it’s also using resources on another front — defending itself against a lawsuit brought by another union.

The Service Employees Union International is suing USAW business agent Karen McAninch and secretary treasurer Charles Wood in US District Court in connection with USAW’s bid to break away from SEIU in 2003. The SEIU contends it was disloyal for the two staffers to have aided the independence drive while still on the SEIU payroll, and that they received raises at membership meetings that lacked quorums.

McAninch and Wood said in legal papers they were responding to concerns of local union members opposed to possible plans by SEIU to merge all or part of the Rhode Island unit into Massachusetts-based operations, and that pay raises were properly okayed by members. Asked whether the lawsuit against the staffers seems vindictive, Peter Rider, trustee of the SEIU local, says he is legally obligated to protect assets of the union against alleged misconduct by the former staffers.

Still, it’s ironic that the SEIU is making life difficult for a union, which, like itself, is a leader in trying to reverse the ebbing tide of labor membership.

In Rhode Island, SEIU is pursuing a vigorous battle to unionize 1300 home-based day-care providers, and earlier this year, it won a difficult battle allowing 50 Providence College janitors to retain union jobs after PC switched maintenance contractors. Nationally, SEIU, together with another giant union, the Teamsters, left the AFL-CIO this summer, complaining the labor federation wasn’t deploying enough resources to build union membership.

That move is seen by some in the labor movement as a positive development to dramatically address declining unions, although others fear it simply will further weaken labor.

In the context of its commitment to seeing union membership increase, the SEIU might be expected to, if not directly help a similarly inclined USAW, not add to the difficulties of the small, 524-member union. The USAW’s McAninch sees the lawsuit, which has run up bills of $15,000, as a "complete waste of everybody’s time, money and energy," and something out of step with overall union goals.

A fund-raiser to help with legal expenses is scheduled September 10 at the Cape Verdean Progressive Center, 329 Grosvenor Ave., East Providence, from 2 to 8 p.m. Information is available by calling the USAW at 401.751.0500.