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| SEIU-UHW's Hortencia Armendariz |
Check out this
story about five SEIU-UHW staffers who refused to lift a finger to help a
worker at Kaiser Walnut Creek Medical Center
who’d been escorted into the boss’s office and was getting terminated from the
job she’s worked for the past 33 years.
According to gritty emails from SEIU-UHW shop stewards (see below), workers pleaded for help with
the five SEIU-UHW staffers who simply refused to interrupt their meeting
to assist the worker in distress. In the words of one SEIU-UHW shop steward, “I clearly
could see that she [SEIU-UHW Field Rep Stacy
Manuel] did not care at all for this member that was getting fired.”
The steward writes:
“I went home sad because Annette had 33 years of service and did her job very
well… And I will hate to see this happening over and over in the future, only
for one reason: we are only a number.”
Another shop
steward writes: “I received a call from
this member after termination as she has worked on my floor for more than 20
years. I agree this is UNacceptable… this is not the 1st time this
has happened and apparently not the last...”
“Unacceptable”? How about CRIMINAL! As far as Tasty can tell, Dave Regan’s SEIU-UHW has plenty of time to rig fraudulent union elections
for corrupt officials like John
Cuddihy, but can’t exert an ounce of effort to defend a 33-year
employee from getting fired unjustly.
So, who were the SEIU-UHW
staffers who let SEIU’s corporate partner destroy the worker’s livelihood? Tasty knows
the name of three of them: Hortencia
Armendariz, a DIRECTOR of SEIU-UHW’s Kaiser Division; Jonathan
Hernandez, a Field Rep who formerly worked at Teamsters Local 601 in
Stockton, California; and Stacy Manuel,
a Field Rep who
was outed for impersonating staffers of the California Nurses
Association as part of an SEIU raid in 2009.
Here’s a link to
the original version of the emails, with the text printed below [Tasty inserted
a few words in brackets to help readers].
Email from an
SEIU-UHW Shop Steward to other Shop Stewards (dated October 24, 2011):
Today was terminated a Kaiser employee that had worked 33 years for Kaiser. Stacey Manuel, who is the lead of field reps, did not want that the field rep Jonathon represent the member that was getting fired today at 4:00pm.Stacey said to me and [SEIU-UHW Shop Steward] Maria Moon that its a shop stewards job to sit on all terminations and that [SEIU-UHW Kaiser Division Director] Hortencia Almendarez was on the same page as her. I tried calling Hortencia but I was not successful. We had to beg Stacy and make her understand it was more important to save a member with a last-chance agreement, and we tried to knock some sense out of her, and Stacey continue to say no. They were 4 SEIU workers along with Stacey and they said they were having a meeting. After 10 [minutes] of arguing, I said that I was going to go home and the member can blame SEIU for letting us down so heartless. I clearly could see that she did not care at all for this member that was getting fired.Please let’s address this issue, because they want to use the field rep for other things. they said from now on we have to do from coaching to termination. my night was ruined for the lack of care for our members.This is a big issue, not that we have not had a good field rep, but in other words having one is like not having anything.
And here’s an
email (dated October 25, 2011) from a second SEIU-UHW Shop Steward:
I received a call from this member after termination as she worked on my floor for over 20 years. I agree this is UNacceptable and needs to be discussed urgently and I feel Kaiser Walnut Creek Steward Council needs a emergency meeting to address this issue. this is not the 1st time this has happened and apparently not the last per Kaiser and Oakland SEIU-UHW
And here’s another
email from a Shop Steward (dated October 25, 2011):
I went home sad because Annette had 33 years of service and did her job very well… And I will hate to see this happening over and over in the future, only for one reason: we are only a number.
