Remember the secret deal to create “political unity” between
SEIU-UHW and SEIU Local 1021 in San Francisco? Ten days ago, Tasty posted a
copy of the deal, which prompted coverage in a local newspaper
and reactions
by union members.
So what are officials at Local 1021 saying about the deal?
A source forwarded an internal email sent by three of Local
1021’s officials -- Chris Daly
(Political Director and former S.F. County Supervisor), Larry Bradshaw (3rd Vice President) and Alysabeth Alexander (PAC Chair) -- to
Local 1021’s SF COPE delegates. The COPE delegates are responsible for
reviewing and approving the draft deal.
The email, sent June 7, offers a revealing glimpse at Local 1021 officials’ opinions
about Dave Regan. Readers
are no doubt aware of all the criticism of “Wall Street Dave” for cozying up to
Bosses, selling out workers, and trying to crush democracy like an insect
under his boot.
But what do officials at SEIU Local 1021 actually think about Regan? Check
out the following excerpts from the email (Tasty posted the complete email below). A couple of quick notes on the text: “Roxanne”
refers to Roxanne Sanchez, the
president of SEIU Local 1021. “The Healthy SF loophole” refers to this act
of political treachery carried out by SEIU-UHW's Dave Regan and Leon Chow.
earlier this year, our President began having discussions with the President of UHW, Dave Reagan, and the President of the International, Mary Kay Henry, to talk about the differences between our Locals. In these conversations, Roxanne forcefully and repeatedly pointed out the inconsistencies of our sister local in their organizational philosophy and political program. She pressed Reagan on how UHW’s engagement was compromising 1021’s position and progressive politics in San Francisco, where we have been organizing from the bottom up to build a political movement of the 99% that has been challenging corporate power…During the discussions, 1021 clearly laid out our issues with UHW. We challenged their leadership for their position in opposing the Healthy SF loophole closure and for supporting pro-downtown candidates that support contracting out against candidates that support all workers in public sector and private health care and IHSS. We also challenged them on their anti-SF Labor Council stance. It’s clear that their leadership was uncomfortable being challenged on these issues in front of their members who were not aware that these things had happened. That’s not to say we’re turning UHW into a democratic union, but we must provide some framework for internal-SEIU accountability for what UHW has done and is doing in SF…UHW’s political alliance with San Francisco business interests through the Alliance for Jobs has not just been an issue for Labor, it has been a problem for the entire progressive community. Since UHW’s trusteeship, victories for progressives in San Francisco have been few and far between. We don’t think that this timing is a coincidence. With Labor united, we face a very tough fight against downtown interests. With the City’s largest local on the other side, we stand hardly a chance.
That's quite a picture that union officials have painted of Dave Regan: undemocratic,
pro-business, anti-SF labor council, anti-health reform, a supporter of subcontracting workers' jobs. It's no wonder that SEIU-UHW's rank-and-file members have given Regan the title of "Wall Street Dave." He's pretty much “the 1%”... and he's even got a $300,000-a-year salary to prove it!
Here's the full text of the email:
