Leadership changes have been frequent for international unions over the past few years. For the Teamsters, this meant ending the Hoffa era in exchange for question-dodging “militant” Sean O'Brien. For the UAW, Shawn Fain came out swinging to reverse membership losses, which isn't going well for him at the moment. Now, SEIU President Mary Kay Henry has stepped down after 14 years, most focused on the union’s "Fight For $15" initiative. 

Henry passes the baton to April Verrett, the union’s first Black president, raised by her grandmother, an SEIU union steward. Verrett’s

two-decade tenure includes stints as co-chair of the National Organizing Committee and National Home Care Council chair. She was also credited with pushing for healthcare workers’ safety during the pandemic. Verrett spent the past few years as the international’s secretary-treasurer and previously led the Los Angeles-area Local 2015 for three years. At first glance, she looks like a natural fit for her new gig.

However, Verrett’s leadership record doesn’t appear to be pristine. The Labor Pains blog recently called attention to an early 2024 report from the Center for Union Facts regarding a 2022 strike by Local 2015’s own staffers. These workers accused the union brass, including Verrett, of hypocritically attempting to shut down SEIU staffers’ union drive and engineering a “culture of toxicity” through intimidation and retaliation.

Verrett also has a potential PR mess in the works after the SEIU backed the initiative that eventually led to California's AB 1228 law, which led to a $20 minimum wage for most fast food workers in the state and a Fast Food Sector Council through which workers can bypass employers and bargain with an entire industry. This has quickly led to job losses and soaring menu prices as companies struggle to absorb higher labor costs. As those companies add automation to reduce labor costs, this will become a worse look for an alleged  “union success.”

If you thought Mary Kay Henry would have her head in the sand on those problems, yep, you are correct. In an exit interview with Fast Company, Henry expressed hope that Verrett would use this "new model" for other industries, including hospitality and healthcare, and in the South. 

That is a curious wish because it’s hard to ascertain what the SEIU is getting out of AB 1228. The affected fast food workers are not SEIU members and, therefore, are not paying union dues. If Verrett keeps that trend going, then she will stand little chance of reversing Mary Kay Henry’s era of falling SEIU membership – from 2.1 million to about 1.9 million currently – despite the ongoing nationwide organizing drive at Starbucks by SEIU-affiliated Workers United. It’s no wonder that the New York Times profile called Henry‘s Fight For $15 “only half successful.” 

Unsurprisingly, VP Kamala Harris claims to be a fan of Verrett and enthusiastically praised her during last week’s SEIU’s Quadrennial Convention. Yet let’s get real: this was a 2024 campaign appearance, in which Harris mainly talked about presidential campaign points and bragged about being part of the “most pro-union administration in our nation’s history.”