SEIU fumbling endorsement, could lose clout

Tony Cook, Michael J. Mishak and J. Patrick Coolican

Friday, Dec. 14, 2007 | 7:26 a.m.

With just five weeks until Nevada's Jan. 19 caucus, the union that represents local nurses and public workers knows little more about its members' presidential preference than it did six months ago.

The union's failed attempt to poll its members underscored chaos in the local Service Employees International Union's endorsement process, which threatens to undermine the growing union's political clout as the caucus approaches.

The union's international leadership instructed state chapters to make their own endorsement decisions in October, but many states, including Nevada, were unprepared and had no mechanism in place to make such a decision.

Even so, other early voting states, including Iowa and New Hampshire, have endorsed. In the running are former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards, Illinois Sen. Barack Obama and New York Sen, Hillary Clinton. SEIU Nevada has said it will endorse, if at all, when at least 60 percent of its executive board officers agree on a candidate.

Several members who attended an SEIU Nevada executive board meeting Wednesday night said a poll to gauge which Democratic hopeful has the most support among members turned out to be useless.

Morgan Levi, the union's political director, told the board that fewer than 90 members responded to the survey of 1,500 - too few to glean presidential preferences, several union members and officers said.

"That's what I was told," said Craig McNair, a steward and Clark County planning technician. "I just can't believe our membership is not that politically savvy or clear about our role in the political arena."

Levi said part of the reason for the small response was that the union's database contained outdated member telephone information, McNair and others said.

"That's embarrassing," one executive board member told the Sun after the meeting. He added: "I think the ball has been dropped."

SEIU Nevada spokeswoman Hilary Haycock declined to discuss the union's poll in detail, but allowed that the survey relied on a "fairly low sample size," which she said was communicated to executive board members.

"This is an internal process," Haycock said. "If folks have concerns about it the appropriate place to bring them is the board."

The poll is one of many tools the union has used to gauge membership sentiment in the presidential contest this year, she said, including informal workplace surveys conducted by executive board members.

Internal union strife has also contributed to slow-moving caucus preparation, some members say. Disputed executive board elections in June and September have caused a rift between supporters and opponents of the union's executive director, Jane Mc Alevey.

"The disarray we are in right now, it's postponed some things," the executive board member said. "Let's put it this way: We haven't been able to focus on the important issues."

Haycock countered that union staff members have been busy registering members to vote, running phone banks and distributing caucus education packets. The union has also held mock caucuses and sent e-mail "blasts" to its membership regarding the candidates and the issues.

"That stuff will increase in volume as we head into this last month," she said.

The danger for SEIU Nevada, a Democratic consultant said, is that if its members question the authenticity of the endorsement process, the endorsement could be less valuable.

Still, the union has big numbers, and just its database of names and addresses would be valuable to a campaign, the consultant said.

Another danger to SEIU, however: If its endorsement is not accompanied by organizational muscle, the union's clout would suffer in Nevada. Not meeting expectations is always dangerous in politics.

SEIU Nevada is not the only union that has delayed an endorsement. The 60,000-member Culinary Union is likely to endorse after the Jan. 3 Iowa caucus, but many political observers say that, unlike SEIU Nevada, the Culinary has a ready-made political organization that can be quickly mobilized. The Culinary has already undertaken an aggressive field and mail advertising operation.

Gail Tuzzolo, political consultant to the AFL-CIO, said SEIU is a union with a lot of member participation, which would allow it to adequately understand its members' leanings even without a scientific poll.

She said many unions have struggled to arrive at consensus because of the strength of the field.

As for SEIU's political operation, she said, she expects SEIU to sharpen its caucus effort after the holidays, like other Nevada unions. That's certainly the hope of some members.

"I strongly believe we can make it happen," McNair said.