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Uniting to conquer; SEIU joins with other unions to target healthcare workers as organizing intensifies.

Article Excerpt
Byline: Melanie Evans

Since parting ways with labor's largest coalition nearly a year ago, the Service Employees International Union has paired with potential rivals to jointly target healthcare employees, one of several maneuvers healthcare insiders cite as evidence of the union's expanding efforts to organize in the industry.

The union's alliances-part of labor's reshuffling after a high-profile breakup last summer-will likely lend strength to the SEIU's wide-ranging organizing and bargaining tactics, even as unions within the AFL-CIO regroup to build momentum of their own, say healthcare labor and human resources experts. "It's going to get more and more active,'' said G. Roger King, a healthcare labor attorney with Jones Day.

Roughly a year ago, the dissident union bolted from the AFL-CIO following a fractious debate among labor leaders over the federation's organizing strategy and budget.

The defection, which eventually included the Teamsters union, United Food and Commercial Workers International Union, the United Farm Workers and Unite Here, prompted conflicting predictions from labor insiders and experts as to whether a waning labor movement would emerge stronger or weaker from the split. Some saw potential for greater infighting...