Tuesday, December 18, 2012

Court Document: SEIU's Mary Kay Henry Waged Covert War against California Nurses Association


Debbie Schneider

A source has provided Tasty with an explosive document that details the covert efforts of SEIU President Mary Kay Henry to raid the California Nurses Association (CNA) and launch an illegal operation to interfere with the CNA's internal membership elections.

What's the source? It's a sworn deposition by Debbie Schneider, a top official at SEIU who served as a Deputy Trustee during SEIU's trusteeship of SEIU-UHW. Schneider is also a member of SEIU's International Executive Board and reports directly to Mary Kay Henry.

Here's what happened. (Tasty posted original documents below.)

In 2009, Schneider gave sworn testimony as a result of a lawsuit that the SEIU filed against NUHW's leaders. During questioning by an opposing attorney, Schneider coughed up explosive details and a revealing document.  

What does Schneider say?

SEIU Pres. Mary Kay Henry
A key part of her testimony focuses on two pages of her handwritten notes from a meeting with Mary Kay Henry, Dave Regan and Scott Courtney (SEIU's Organizing Director) that took place on December 23, 2008. As you'll see, SEIU's attorneys whited-out portions of the notes, which are stamped with identifying court numbers at the bottom.

During the meeting, Henry, Regan, Courtney and Schneider discuss SEIU's secret effort to illegally interfere with the CNA's internal membership elections. For example, the SEIU officials describe how they secretly recruited and backed 12 candidates to run for CNA's Executive Board. SEIU even created and funded a dummy non-profit organization called "California Nurses First," with a staff of 30, as a front group to attack the CNA, according to Schneider's notes.

But that's not all. In December of 2008, SEIU's top leaders discuss their intention to use the soon-to-be-trusteed SEIU-UHW as a launching pad for waging decertification raids against the CNA's membership in California. Here's an excerpt from Schneider's notes, which are labeled "CNA Briefing":

Their CHW contract window opens March -- contract ("K") expires end of June. We'll be running decerts -- [CNA members] will be in same hospitals as we, as UHW trustees, are in.

Notably, Henry and Co. are talking about the trusteeship of SEIU-UHW as if it's a 'done deal' even though Ray Marshall, the so-called "independent" hearing officer, hadn't even written his report yet! Here's one excerpt from Schneider's testimony where she’s questioned about this:

Attorney:   "We have candidates running," isn't that SEIU candidates running 12 to 18 regional slots for CNA elected positions?

Schneider:   That's what it looks like.

Attorney:    The next line "February end of May campaign" -- is that "elections"?

Schneider:   It must be between the nominations and the election time.

Attorney:    And the next one there "CHW contract window opens March.  Contract expiration end of June."  What is that referring to?

Schneider:   Their CHW contract window, when it opens and when the contract expires.


Attorney:     If we read this line, it says:  "Same hospitals as we as UHW trustees."  Do you see that?

Schneider:   Yes.

Attorney:     Why are you referring to yourself as an UHW trustee on 12/23/2008?

Schneider:   I don't know.

What else is in the documents? The second page of the notes details SEIU's "three-pronged strategy" to wage war on the CNA. Two of the prongs are: "Expose RoseAnn [DeMoro] and Organization" and "Mount California Offense." Ominously, the third prong has been whited-out by SEIU's attorneys.

In addition to the meeting notes, Schneider gives up more details during her deposition, which was recorded by a court reporter. Below, Tasty has posted two relevant excerpts from the 252-page transcript.

For example, during aggressive questioning by an attorney, Schneider admits that SEIU’s officials tapped Dennis Rivera to recruit Catholic Healthcare West's CEO, Lloyd Dean, to help SEIU in its plot to impose a trusteeship on SEIU-UHW and then raid the CNA. Talk about the boss's union!! For those who don't know him, Dennis Rivera is a "Senior Policy Adviser" for Mary Kay Henry.

SEIU's Dave Regan
Regan, in an apparent payback to his corporate partner, later agreed to eliminate CHW workers' defined-benefit pension plan, thereby giving Dean Lloyd a gift worth hundreds of millions of dollars, according to CHW's own financial records.

Take a look at the documents below for more details. They offer an amazing glimpse at how SEIU has worked hand-in-glove with the bosses to destroy two aggressive unions that fight for workers.


And here are the two excerpts from Debbie Schneider's deposition (no break between the excerpts):