Opinion: High Stakes for SEIU in Kaiser Union Election

Next month, Kaiser Permanente workers will begin voting on whether to be represented by the incumbent Service Employees International Union-United Healthcare Workers West or the National Union of Healthcare Workers, and "America hasn't seen a private-sector labor election this big since the United Auto Workers organized Ford in 1941," according to Matthew Kaminski, a member of the Wall Street Journal editorial board. Kaminski writes that California residents comprise a third of SEIU's members, "so losing Kaiser would be a grave blow." He concludes that "SEIU can remain a political powerhouse and the leading patron of Democratic candidates only as long as it keeps membership rolls strong and growing."

• "California's Union Showdown" (Kaminski, Wall Street Journal, 8/7).