SEIU Convention 2024 Resolution #107
The working people of This Union — SEIU — know that uniting in unions is our one way forward to win a better future. Unions are a unifying force for empowerment and progress, allowing us to transcend our differences and use our collective power to pursue a more just society for all.
Across the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico, a rising generation of working people want power through a union to dismantle systemic racism and confront corporate control so we can build an inclusive, equitable society rooted in shared and sustainable prosperity.
The path to a union for the millions of working people who want to organize is far too often blocked because of a broken system that enables employers to delay, deny, and interfere with workers’ efforts to unite together. As a result, only 10 percent of workers in America currently have power in a union. Unions in Canada and Puerto Rico face similar threats. In the courts and at every level of government, corporations continue to use their power and influence to make it more difficult for workers to organize.
To build the just society all working families deserve, SEIU members are determined to fight for new rules that make it possible for ALL workers to join or form unions — so that we can win worker power in our workplaces, win political power in our democracy, and win the future.
Unions for All will empower working people of all races and backgrounds to win transformational changes that create a society full of joy, hope, and healthy, thriving communities.
Winning Unions for All will not be easy and we cannot win it by ourselves. To build a movement capable of transforming the lives of workers for generations to come, SEIU will seek more unity with working people across our countries — whether they are members of long-established labor unions, members of other kinds of worker organizations, or participants in grassroots movements to hold corporate employers accountable.
We will forge stronger bonds with worker organizations that share our commitment to:
- Updating the rules we have and writing new rules, so all working people are free to organize not just one worksite at a time but at a scale that gives us the power to win life-changing improvements across entire industries and regions.
- Tearing down barriers that have excluded and denied far too many — especially Black, Brown, immigrant and women workers — the right to form unions, in job sectors such as fast food, home care, child care, and gig-based work (work obtained through an online platform or application).
- Shining a public light on corporations that are exploiting our broken system to silence and intimidate workers, so we can make corporations’ toxic union-busting unacceptable in the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico.
- Innovating to make it easier for the 7 out of 10 working Canadians and 9 out of 10 working Americans and Puerto Ricans who aren’t in a union now to join a union, so collectively we have the power to make our jobs better and our society more just.
Specifically, we will:
- Continue building a strong partnership with the National Domestic Workers Alliance (NDWA) to transform the care sector — creating good union jobs and winning policies that raise wages, expand access to care, and promote immigrant inclusion for domestic workers, including homecare and childcare workers.
- Work with the AFL-CIO and its affiliated unions to challenge corporate union-busting, update the rules we have and write new ones, remove barriers that hold people back because of our skin color or where we were born, and create a country that respects and values working people.
- Seek opportunities to work with other worker organizations and other unions, including the National Education Association, the Carpenters, and the Teamsters, on campaigns that aim to expand worker power, improve the well-being of our families, and end poverty wages forever.