Feuding labor unions -- the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) and UNITE HERE -- announced a settlement agreement July 26 on behalf of the unions' members and elected leadership that will bring to a close the protracted dispute between the unions, reports the Associated Press.
Newly-elected SEIU President Mary Kay Henry said, in a press release, that "despite the tensions that have existed between our unions over the past months, [we] have worked together to find common ground and we've been able to put our differences behind us.
We agree that we cannot be spending our time fighting one another over workers who are already represented when there are far too many people who want and need a voice on the job, Henry said. Our resources and our attention must be put toward solutions for the crisis workers face right now.
"Moving forward, SEIU plans to link arms with our allies in labor and the progressive movement and forge stronger relationships with communities to be a more aggressive force pushing for the demands that help working people on the job, at the bargaining table, and with public policy makers all around our country," Henry said.
(The preceding article is based on reports from the Associated Press and press releases distributed July 27, 2010.)
