 Mary Beth Maxwell, principal deputy assistant secretary for policy in the U.S.
Department of Labor, praised SEIU’s “Fight for $15″ unionization campaign in a
June entry on the labor department’s website.
Fast-food workers, Maxwell wrote, “are showing that coming together to form
unions is still how workers can raise their voices.”
“Although it is unclear yet what protection the law affords them, as long as
they have the courage that comes from acting together, they’re willing to take
risks every day to build a better future for their families,” Maxwell added.
Encouraging words, no doubt, from one of the nation’s top labor officials. And
not unexpected, given Maxwell’s background.
Before joining the Obama administration, Maxwell was executive director at union
front group American Rights at Work. Before that, Maxwell was a national field
director for union front Jobs With Justice.
SEIU and other labor unions sank $25.9 million into American Rights at Work from
2005-13, based on unions’ annual financial disclosures. Of that total, $10.4
million was donated around the time Maxwell was appointed to the Department of
Labor.
After Maxwell’s departure, American Rights at Work was folded into Jobs With
Justice — one of several union-advocacy groups leading SEIU’s current Fight for
$15 campaign.
In her June labor department blog post, Maxwell focused on St. Louis fast-food
worker Terrance Wise, “one of an incredible group of leaders that are building
their union and leading the fight for higher wages.”
What she didn’t mention: Fight for $15 has been orchestrated by SEIU, whose
public relations firm shops quotes from Wise to media outlets covering the union
organizing campaign.
Wise has been cited by The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Boston
Globe, USA Today and other national publications as a grassroots leader of the
$15 minimum wage movement.
In March, Wise served as an international spokesman for the “fight for $15 and a
union,” addressing Ireland’s Services Industrial Professional and Technical
Union in a video recorded by SIPTU’s International Solidarity Committee.
Wise is a leader of Stand Up KC, a project of Midwest Center for Equality and
Democracy. SEIU has funneled more than $400,000 to Midwest Center for Equality
and Democracy through SEIU front group St. Louis Organizing Committee.
[to top of second column] |
 RELATED: Union organizing machine targets St. Louis, Kansas City
Nationally, Fight for $15 and partner groups have received tens of
millions from SEIU. Even the union-funded leftist magazine In These
Times has expressed concern about the degree of SEIU’s control over
the campaign.
Maxwell did not respond to a Watchdog.org request for comment.
Her story noted Fight for $15 has the support of President Obama,
who appointed Maxwell to her $164,000-a-year job shortly after
taking office.
“If I were busting my butt in the service industry and wanted an
honest day’s pay for an honest day’s work, I’d join a union,” the
president said during a 2014 Labor Day speech in front of a union
crowd.
The lame-duck Obama administration seems to be making a serious
effort to settle a debt to SEIU, an early backer of Obama’s 2008
campaign.
“We spent a fortune to elect Barack Obama — $60.7 million to be
exact — and we’re proud of it,” former SEIU president Andy Stern
told the Las Vegas Sun in early 2009.
Maxwell’s appointment in the labor department was meant to herald
passage of the Employee Free Choice Act, a “card check” law making
it easier for unions to pressure workers into unionizing.
Congress never passed EFCA, but Obama appointees have helped SEIU
and other labor unions in meaningful ways.
Obama’s National Labor Relations Board, stacked with former union
attorneys, wants to make it easier for SEIU to target McDonald’s and
other fast-food companies for the actions of franchisees.
And last year, NLRB passed “ambush election” rules dramatically
restricting employers’ ability to counter union organizing drives;
in March, the president vetoed an attempt by Congress to overturn
the rules.
The successful unionization of just one in 10 of the food service
industry’s 4.4 million workers would mean tens of millions of
dollars in yearly dues revenue for SEIU.
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