The Service Employees International Union (SEIU) placed United Healthcare Workers (UHW) West in trusteeship on January 27. The Oakland-based local's 150,000 members work in hospitals, convalescent facilities, and in home care. The trusteeship is the latest development in a high-profile dispute between UHW and SEIU and between UHW president Sal Rosselli and SEIU president Andy Stern.

The trusteeship is related to a plan to remove 65,000 long-term care workers from UHW and put them into another, newly formed local. An election to decide the long-term care workers' fate was denounced by UHW, which pointed out that the ballot did not give members the option to reject their removal from UHW. UHW wants a democratic vote by the affected members to decide whether to merge long-term care workers into a single union. In a statement, SEIU cited UHW's opposition to the plan as one justification for the trusteeship.

UHW leaders continue to occupy their offices in Oakland and have announced the formation of a new, independent union, the National Union of Healthcare Workers. A rally and march was held on the evening of January 27 to protest the trusteeship.

Read more | SEIU Places UHW in Trusteeship | SEIU Launches Takeover of United Healthcare Workers-West | 1/27 Rally and March | SEIU Caught Putting Trusteeship of UHW into Action Before Hearing Results | SEIU Voice