Tasty hears that Steve Trossman is up to his deceitful ways again. Trossman is the SEIU Communications Director who reportedly "helped develop a strategy in 2002" to hide reports of Tyrone Freeman's corruption from SEIU members and the public, according to a source cited in the Los Angeles Times. And thank goodness Trossman did that, because Tyrone only went on to steal more than $1 million from California healthcare workers!
So what's the little guy up to now? Well, last week SEIU pulled a stunt at an NLRB hearing about Kaiser workers' request for NLRB elections. SEIU brought 60 staffers and lost-timers to an NLRB hearing in Oakland and said SEIU would drop its blocking charges and agree to an election date if NUHW signed a written SEIU "stipulation agreement." The only problem was that SEIU's stipulation agreement covered just one of the four groups of Kaiser workers who've petitioned for elections!
Under SEIU's agreement, SEIU would continue to block elections for thousands of Kaiser workers in the other three "bargaining units." Tasty guesses they think they have absolutely NO CHANCE in those units, and would need all of their staff to try to pull something even resembling a victory out in that one unit that would get to vote?!
Plus, SEIU's didn't include any of the dozens of details about how the election would be conducted--like when and how people would vote. It's like asking a Bargaining Committee at a hospital or nursing home to sign a blank contract that gives away your right to negotiate any of the contract's details. I mean, who would do that? (ok, except Mary Kay and her team?)
So, clearly NUHW refused. Enter Trossman. He got right to work trying to trick Kaiser workers into thinking that NUHW is the one refusing to hold elections. Along with email blasts, leaflets and videos, Trossman yesterday put out a joke of a press release that could easily have run in the "National Enquirer." It begins like this:
Day 8: Union Election Held Hostage
OAKLAND, Calif. - (Business Wire) The National Union of Healthcare Workers (NUHW) is still refusing to agree to a union election for 43,000 Kaiser workers...
Well, one thing is for certain, if Trossman ever runs out of work covering up SEIU's celebrities and their misdeeds, he is right there in Hollywood--TMZ and Perez Hilton: are you hiring?
