In Philadelphia, 14 of the 21 voting delegates were paid staff. The votes to secede were cast by around 1,000 delegates nationwide, who are elected in some regional boards and handpicked in others. UNITE and HERE merged in 2004, but their clashes over control of resources and organizing strategy are reaching a fever pitch. At a mid-March executive board meeting, HERE allies vowed to recover ownership of the boards’ property and funds, and moved to slap lawsuits on officials who used union funds in the secession attempt.

HERE leaders failed to stop the regional board votes in court, which they say are unrepresentative and violate the union’s constitution. UNITE leaders embraced a partnership with the Service Employees (SEIU), and signaled they would form a new union, Workers United, to compete for members in HERE’s hotel and gaming jurisdictions-while snatching as many members as possible on the way out. The months-long tug of war within UNITE HERE continued in March when UNITE-controlled regional councils voted to leave the union.

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