July 28--An 18-month brawl between the powerful unions SEIU and Unite Here ended this week with a deal that sends tens of millions of dollars in disputed assets to Unite Here and secures its rights to organize workers in hotels and casinos.

The two unions have a sizable presence in the Sacramento area. Sacramento's Service Employees International Union Local 1000 is the state's largest state employee union, representing 95,000 workers.

Unite Here represents hotel and restaurant workers, including many in the gambling industry. It recently succeeded in organizing workers at the Thunder Valley Casino in Lincoln.

The long fight between the unions began when a group affiliated with Unite Here split and joined SEIU in early 2009.

As part of the agreement settling the dispute, Unite Here gets the bulk of assets that had been tied up in federal court in New York, a figure news reports have pegged at more than $75 million.

"Unite Here is in a strong position to represent our members effectively and to bring hope to nonunion workers in our industries," Unite Here President John W. Wilhelm said in a statement. "We have won back our union."

Workers United -- the breakaway group now allied with the SEIU -- will gain control of Amalgamated Bank, the nation's only union-owned bank, with $4.5 billion in assets. "This resolves our legal conflicts and puts us on a clear path forward on assets," said SEIU spokeswoman Michelle Ringuette.

SEIU representatives say with the dispute resolved, both unions can again focus on issues facing members and nonunion workers.

"Our unions need to focus on the crisis facing workers right now and put the focus on workers who have no voice on the job," Ringuette said.

SEIU may have settled a fight with one union, but it remains in the middle of another battle here in California.

The union is vying with the competing National Union of Healthcare Workers, or NUHW, over who will represent more than 40,000 Kaiser employees statewide.

"We see this as our primary responsibility, to protect our members," Ringuette said.

Rival NUHW was formed by former SEIU-United Healthcare Workers President Sal Roselli.

Kaiser employees are expected to vote on who will represent them in August and September.

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Call The Bee's Darrell Smith, (916) 321-1040.

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