Thursday, January 12, 2012

SEIU-UHW's Excellent Dining with the Boss


Remember all the reports about workers who've been unjustly fired and screwed over... while getting zero support from Dave Regan's SEIU-UHW? They include this stunning case, which is described in emails written by SEIU’s own Shop Stewards.

Well, Tasty hears that Dave Regan has taken bold and decisive steps to address this problem. What did he do? He appointed one of the union's staffers to a new position called "Director of Representational Excellence"!  (Tasty is not kidding! Hmmm… what’s that saying about putting lipstick on a pig?).

So who's the Director of Excellence? Marcus Hatcher.  Tasty did a little checking on Hatcher, and unfortunately Hatcher is not so excellent… unless you consider bedding with the Boss to be “excellent.”

It turns out that Hatcher used to be the “Director of Field Representation” for SEIU Local 1107 in Las Vegas, where he negotiated contracts for workers at the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority and other worksites.

At most unions, it’s strictly prohibited for a union staffer to meet privately with the Boss or take gifts from the Boss, especially when the staffer is representing the Boss's workers. Unfortunately, it looks like Hatcher skipped this part of his “Ethics 101” class.

A receipt -- which was uncovered by CBS during its investigation of a corruption scandal involving executives at the Las Vegas Convention Authority – indicates that Hatcher had a private one-on-one lunch with Mark Olson, the Vice President of Human Resources at the Las Vegas Convention Authority, in 2009. SEIU’s 'Director of Field Representation' and the Boss’s 'V.P. of Human Resources' lunched at P.F. Chang’s inside Planet Hollywood on the Las Vegas Strip. According to a travel site, this “two-story eatery welcomes guests with a warm atmosphere of dark woods and earth tones.” Perfect place for intimate dining with the Boss!

And who paid for the meal? The Boss (who actually submitted Hatcher’s business card with the receipt). And what did the Boss get in return from Hatcher? Well, my friends, that’s the $64,000 question… and the reason why union staffers are not supposed to be dining with the Boss.

At most unions, Hatcher’s actions would be considered unethical and pathetic. But at Regan’s SEIU-UHW -- which has embraced back-room deals as its primary bargaining strategy -- Olson is now heralded as the “Minister of Excellence.”

P.S.  Are you one of the many SEIU-UHW members who can’t get a call back from the union… or who’s been waiting two years for the union to schedule your arbitration or hear about your grievance… or who’s been forced to file a “Duty of Fair Representation” charge (DFR) with the NLRB because SEIU-UHW simply refuses to help you and your co-workers? Well, Tasty thought you might wanna give a jingle to the “Director of Representational Excellence”!

Marcus D. Hatcher
SEIU-UHW Director of Representational Excellence
213-321-4506 (cell)
323-888-8221 (work)
mhatcher@seiu-uhw.org