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NEWS RELEASE
April 11, 2006
Contact:
David W. Foley
Wackenhut Services, Inc.
(561) 472-3635
dfoley@wsihq.com
WSI Will Resist Unfair SEIU "Corporate Campaign"
Security company vows to fight union’s dirty tactics
PALM BEACH GARDENS, Florida - "Wackenhut Services Incorporated (WSI) will continue to resist unfair tactics employed by the
Service Employees International Union (SEIU)," said Brigadier General David W. Foley (ret.), WSI’s President.
In an internal memo to WSI managers, Foley outlined a recent attack by SEIU operatives at the Department of Homeland Security
(DHS) in Washington, DC, noting the action is part of a massive corporate campaign by SEIU designed to force WSI to
bow to their demands by systematically destroying the company’s reputation.
In the memo to managers, Foley said, "SEIU statements regarding the Wackenhut contract at DHS headquarters are inaccurate and intentionally
misleading. SEIU operatives recruited disgruntled former employees who made false statements about our company and actions of our professional
security officers. For instance, SEIU’s statements charged that a WSI employee mishandled an envelope with white powder that arrived at DHS
headquarters. The fact is that approved procedure was followed by WSI employees. DHS personnel were alerted, and the envelope - which
had been previously thoroughly screened - was turned over to a DHS security employee. At no time did a WSI officer handle the package."
The memo clarified other inaccurate statements, including "that WSI completed 100% of the requirements of the contract that originated with the
United States Navy to protect the Nebraska Avenue Complex, which DHS took over in April, 2005. DHS extended the contract, sole source, to WSI
while developing an RFP for a competitive bid process. This is a normal procedure, and no performance-driven concerns drove the process."
Foley further stated, "SEIU’s attempts to distract from their true motives are not surprising. In the current climate of declining union membership SEIU has demonstrated that they will resort to any and all tactics to gain new members that will contribute additional dues money to the union treasury. This includes running corporate campaigns in an attempt to ruin a company’s reputation with distortions of the truth. WSI will not turn its back on our legitimate unions in order to yield to SEIU’s demands that we sign what we consider to be an illegal agreement. The only purpose this would serve is to help SEIU increase their membership at the expense of our workforce."
"SEIU is attempting to coerce us into signing an exclusive representation agreement, even though our guards are already represented by
15 labor unions," said Foley. WSI contends that signing an agreement with SEIU would circumvent the National Labor Relations Act process
for unionization among security employees. "Our security officers are already organized, and they are the best paid, best trained security
forces in the business. There is no reason to target our company, other than SEIU’s blatant desire to destroy legitimate security unions
and expand its membership. The SEIU should use their resources to take care of the needs of their members, rather than wasting millions of
hard-earned dues money to ruin the reputation of companies like ours by misrepresenting the truth," Foley said.
The memo to managers states that WSI has been under attack by SEIU and its hired operatives for over two years.
Activities carried out by the union’s paid operatives resulted in an unfair labor practice charge from WSI and an order from the
National Labor Relations Board in July, 2005 directing the union to, "..inform its membership to halt disruptive activities, to
not engage in unlawful demonstrations and to not threaten, coerce or restrain clients of Wackenhut." The directive included instructing
SEIU not to hire third parties to disrupt, threaten or coerce Wackenhut or its clients.
WSI is the United States government’s largest contractor for professional security services, with 8,000 employees protecting key sites
in the U.S. and abroad.
The Service Employees International Union (SEIU) represents service workers such as janitors, cemetery workers, bus drivers and home care workers. They are currently trying to increase their membership through "corporate campaign" tactics such as picketing, hunger strikes, harassment of target companies’ customers and other hardball tactics.
The unprincipled reputation of the union and its officials includes:
- SEIU filed a lawsuit, post 9/11, to try and overturn the law requiring federal baggage screeners at airports to be U. S. citizens.
- SEIU officials have been indicted or convicted of embezzlement of union funds.
- A former SEIU Local 99 president has been charged in a federal indictment with conspiracy and 17 counts of embezzling union funds as a result of an investigation into former Los Angeles City Councilman Martin Ludlow.
- The New York Sun business reporter said, "SEIU now seems to depend more on corporate intimidation rather than recruiting."
- The director of strategic research for the AFSCME union said, "UDW-AFSCME home-care workers across the state were tricked and coerced into signing membership cards with [SEIU] Local 434B."
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