Logo for InfluenceWatch InfluenceWatch

Donate
Labor Union

SEIU 668

Website:

www.seiu668.org/
Location:

Harrisburg, PA
Tax-Exempt Status:

501(c)(5)

Type:

Local Labor Union
President:

Stephen Catanese
President's Compensation (2022):

$142,628 1

References

  1. “Service Employees International Union, Full Filing.” ProPublica, November 14, 2023. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/231856317/202313199349310556/full.
Budget (2022):

Revenues (2022): $11,142,989

Expenses (2022): $10,980,477

Assets (2022): $11,455,024 1

References

  1. “Service Employees International Union, Full Filing.” ProPublica, November 14, 2023. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/231856317/202313199349310556/full.

Contact InfluenceWatch with suggested edits or tips for additional profiles.

SEIU 668 is a Service Employees International Union (SEIU) local in Pennsylvania representing roughly 15,000 social workers, counselors, and other social services workers at government and private employers. 1 2

Like its parent union and other SEIU-affiliated unions in Pennsylvania such as SEIU Healthcare Pennsylvania, SEIU 668 is politically active on behalf of left-of-center causes and Democratic Party candidates. 3 4 5

Background

SEIU 668 is a labor union representing social services employees in Pennsylvania, including “social workers, caseworkers, prison counselors, 911 operators, career and employment specialists, unemployment compensation examiners and interviewers, school psychologists, nutritionists, vocational counselors, youth counselors, and occupational therapists.” 6

While the union regularly claims publicly to represent “nearly 20,000” members, its 2022 annual filing with the U.S. Department of Labor declared 13,533 active members, 150 retired members and 456 nonmembers required to pay “agency fees,” sometimes colloquially known as forced dues. 7 8

The president of SEIU 668 is Stephen Catanese, who was elected to the SEIU International executive board in 2020. 9 In 2024, the political news website City & State Pennsylvania ranked Catanese 17th in its annual “Labor Power 100” listing of the state’s most powerful labor union officials. 10

SEIU 668 is one of four Service Employees International Union (SEIU)-affiliated unions in Pennsylvania, along with SEIU Healthcare Pennsylvania, SEIU Local 32BJ, and the Pennsylvania Joint Board of Workers United. 11

2023 State Government Contract

In 2023, SEIU 668 represented 9,743 full-time equivalent (FTE) employees of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. 12 That year, the union signed a new four-year contract with the state government that is expected to increase its members’ pay by 22.1 percent compounded over the life of the contract. 13 14 15

It was reportedly the largest pay increase for state workers in two decades, raising a $57,731 average salary for an SEIU 668 member to more than $70,000 by the end of the contract. 16

The contract also added Juneteenth as a paid holiday, gives SEIU 668 members paid time off to vote in elections and added three more sick days for new employees, among other new benefits. 17

Under Pennsylvania law, terms of the contracts were kept confidential, even from state legislators, until they were ratified by the union membership. 18 Some critics of the contract called it a political payoff for SEIU 668 and other public sector unions that had supported the campaign of Gov. Josh Shapiro (D), while others questioned whether the large pay increases were an attempt to mute union opposition to a school choice plan Shapiro had proposed. 19 20 Both Shapiro’s office and SEIU 668 representatives dismissed these criticisms. 21

Agency Fee Lawsuits

After the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2018 Janus v. AFSCME ruling forbidding government-worker unions from collecting dues or fees as a condition of employment, some government employee members of SEIU 668 attempted to resign from the union and cease paying dues. 22 23 However, state agencies continued deducting SEIU 668 members’ dues from their paychecks, as the union refused to process resignations outside of a 20-day “window” each year in which it would accept such resignations. 24

Ballotpedia’s database of labor-law litigation has tracked seven separate federal lawsuits against SEIU 668 in the wake of Janus. 25

In March 2019, SEIU 668 President Stephen Catanese said that the union lost 100 members after the Janus decision, but as of September 2024 the union claimed to have more members than it did before the Supreme Court’s 2018 ruling. 26 27

Political Activities

SEIU 668 actively supports Democratic Party candidates and left-leaning causes, both directly and through its associated SEIU Local 668 COPE Committee advocacy organization. 28 29 30 It publishes a voter endorsement guide for both primary and general elections and encourages its members to vote accordingly. 31

Between 2000 and 2023, SEIU 668’s COPE fund reported a total of $1,790,824 in election-related expenditures, for an average of $74,618 per year. 32 It reported $40,510.07 in expenditures in the 2022 elections, and $101,641.66 in 2020. 33

After the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania on July 13, 2024, SEIU 668 condemned the attack and extended “thoughts and prayers to former President Trump, the families of the victims, and all those injured” while also praising the actions of union-member 911 dispatchers. 34

References

  1. “About.” SEIU Local 668. Accessed September 9, 2024. https://www.seiu668.org/about/.
  2. “FORM LM-2 LABOR ORGANIZATION ANNUAL REPORT – 505-025 – 2022.” United States Department of Labor, March 1, 2023. https://olmsapps.dol.gov/query/orgReport.do?rptId=865252&rptForm=LM2Form.
  3. “SEIU PA State Council Announces Endorsed Candidates for the 2024 General Election.” SEIU Local 668. Accessed September 9, 2024. https://www.seiu668.org/news/seiu-pa-state-council-announces-endorsed-candidates-for-the-2024-general-election/.
  4. “Cope Committee.” SEIU Local 668. Accessed September 9, 2024. https://seiu-668.netlify.app/cope-committee/
  5. “Committee Information – PSSU LOCAL 668 SEIU COPE FUND.” Pennsylvania Department of State. Accessed September 9, 2024. https://www.pavoterservices.pa.gov/ElectionInfo/CommitteeInfo.aspx?ID=1175.
  6. “About.” SEIU Local 668. Accessed September 9, 2024. https://www.seiu668.org/about/.
  7. Little, Cheryl, Amy Varner, Janell Wadlinger, Tiffany White, and Tom Herman. “SEIU Local 668 Testimony on House Bill 1082.” Pennsylvania General Assembly, September 7, 2016. https://www.legis.state.pa.us/WU01/LI/TR/Transcripts/2016_0136_0003_TSTMNY.pdf.
  8. “FORM LM-2 LABOR ORGANIZATION ANNUAL REPORT – 505-025 – 2022.” United States Department of Labor, March 1, 2023. https://olmsapps.dol.gov/query/orgReport.do?rptId=865252&rptForm=LM2Form.
  9. “Union Officers Election at the 2020 Convention.” SEIU Convention, 2020. https://convention2020.seiu.org/union-officers/.
  10. Danailova, Hilary. “The 2023 Labor Power 100.” City & State PA, October 12, 2023. https://www.cityandstatepa.com/power-lists/2023/09/2023-labor-power-100/390464/.
  11. SEIU PA State Council. Accessed September 9, 2024. https://www.seiupa.org/.
  12. Knittel, Matthew  J. “SEIU Local 668 Wage Contract Analysis.” Independent Fiscal Office, September 19, 2023. http://www.ifo.state.pa.us/releases/700/SEIU-Local-668-Wage-Contract-Analysis/.
  13. “Big Pennsylvania State Employee Unions Ratify New Agreements with Shapiro Administration.” CBS News, August 23, 2023. https://www.cbsnews.com/pittsburgh/news/pennsylvania-state-employee-unions-ratify-agreements-shapiro-administration/.
  14. Murphy, Jan. “Union Leaders Defend Historic and Controversial Pa. State Employee Contracts.” pennlive, August 28, 2023. https://www.pennlive.com/politics/2023/08/union-leaders-defend-historic-controversial-pa-state-employee-contracts.html.
  15. “AGREEMENT BETWEEN COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA AND SEIU LOCAL 668 – Effective July 1, 2023 to June 30, 2027.” Pennsylvania Office of Administration – Human Resources, July 1, 2023. https://www.hrm.oa.pa.gov/employee-relations/cba-md/Documents/cba-seiu-2023-2027.pdf
  16. Thompson, Charles. “Social Workers in PA.’s State Government Ratify Four-Year Contract.” pennlive, August 18, 2023. https://www.pennlive.com/news/2023/08/social-workers-in-pas-state-government-ratify-four-year-contract.html.
  17. Murphy, Jan. “Pa. State Employee Proposed Contract Provides 20.25% Pay Increases over Its Four-Year Life.” pennlive, July 28, 2023. https://www.pennlive.com/politics/2023/07/pa-state-employee-proposed-contract-provides-2025-pay-increases-over-its-four-year-life.html.
  18. Murphy, Jan. “Pa. State Employee Proposed Contract Provides 20.25% Pay Increases over Its Four-Year Life.” pennlive, July 28, 2023. https://www.pennlive.com/politics/2023/07/pa-state-employee-proposed-contract-provides-2025-pay-increases-over-its-four-year-life.html.
  19. Murphy, Jan. “Union Leaders Defend Historic and Controversial Pa. State Employee Contracts.” pennlive, August 28, 2023. https://www.pennlive.com/politics/2023/08/union-leaders-defend-historic-controversial-pa-state-employee-contracts.html.
  20. “How Secretive Union Contract Negotiations Cost Pennsylvanians .” Washington Examiner, September 1, 2023. https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/op-eds/2435895/how-secretive-union-contract-negotiations-cost-pennsylvanians/.
  21. Murphy, Jan. “Union Leaders Defend Historic and Controversial Pa. State Employee Contracts.” pennlive, August 28, 2023. https://www.pennlive.com/politics/2023/08/union-leaders-defend-historic-controversial-pa-state-employee-contracts.html.
  22. “Janus v. AFSCME.” Ballotpedia. Accessed September 9, 2024. https://ballotpedia.org/Janus_v._AFSCME.
  23. “Wenzig v. SEIU Local 668.” Stand With Workers, January 29, 2024. https://standwithworkers.org/wenzig-v-seiu-local-668/.
  24. “Smith v. Serv. Emps. Int’l Union, Local 668, 566 F. Supp. 3d 251 (M.D. Pa. 2021).” United States District Court, Middle District of Pennsylvania, October 12, 2021. https://casetext.com/case/ser-emp-v-dept-of-prsnl.
  25. “Janus v. AFSCME.” Ballotpedia. Accessed September 9, 2024. https://ballotpedia.org/Public-sector_union_policy_in_the_United_States,_2018-2023#Relevant_litigation
  26. Reyes, Juliana Feliciano. “After Supreme Court’s ‘janus’ Decision, Pa. Is Hub for Anti-Union Lawsuits.” https://www.inquirer.com, March 11, 2019. https://www.inquirer.com/news/janus-anti-union-lawsuits-liberty-justice-center-pennsylvania-20190311.html.
  27. “About.” SEIU Local 668. Accessed September 9, 2024. https://www.seiu668.org/about/.
  28. “SEIU PA State Council Announces Endorsed Candidates for the 2024 General Election.” SEIU Local 668. Accessed September 9, 2024. https://www.seiu668.org/news/seiu-pa-state-council-announces-endorsed-candidates-for-the-2024-general-election/.
  29. “Cope Committee.” SEIU Local 668. Accessed September 9, 2024. https://seiu-668.netlify.app/cope-committee/
  30. “Committee Information – PSSU LOCAL 668 SEIU COPE FUND.” Pennsylvania Department of State. Accessed September 9, 2024. https://www.pavoterservices.pa.gov/ElectionInfo/CommitteeInfo.aspx?ID=1175.
  31. “SEIU Local 668 Endorsements.” Blue Voter Guide. Accessed September 9, 2024. https://bluevoterguide.org/endorser-org/SEIU_Local_668/PA/2207.
  32. “Candidate / Committee Campaign Finance Profile:  PSSU LOCAL 668 SEIU COPE FUND.” Pennsylvania Department of State, 2023. https://www.campaignfinanceonline.pa.gov/Pages/CFAnnualTotals.aspx?Filer=9900041.
  33. “Candidate / Committee Campaign Finance Profile:  PSSU LOCAL 668 SEIU COPE FUND.” Pennsylvania Department of State, 2023. https://www.campaignfinanceonline.pa.gov/Pages/CFAnnualTotals.aspx?Filer=9900041.
  34. “Post by @seiu668.” X (formerly Twitter), July 14, 2024. https://x.com/seiu668/status/1812494844498964974.
  See an error? Let us know!

SEIU 668


Harrisburg, PA