Tuesday, September 17, 2013

SEIU's Dave Regan Deploys Dirty Tricks to Boost Union Dues



In California, Dave Regan has deployed a hefty dose of dirty tricks in an effort to boost SEIU-UHW members' top dues rate to $124 a month, according to multiple reports. 

And that’s not all.

If Regan wins the “vote,” the union’s maximum dues rate will continue rising by $10 a year… forever! That means in eight years, the max dues rate will be $204 per month… or nearly $2,500 a year!

It looks like “Wall Street” Dave is not satisfied with the $29 million in cash that SEIU-UHW already has in its bank account.

So what kind of dirty tricks is Regan using to try to win the vote? 

Here’s what Tasty has learned so far:

First, Regan has ordered the union's staff to phone-bank members to urge them to vote "yes" on the dues hike. But Regan has instructed the staff to only phone-bank workers who are likely to vote "yes," such as homecare workers. One phonebanker contacted Tasty and described Regan's telephone script, which begins: ""We've got exciting news to share with you..."

Meanwhile, Regan has a totally different approach for those union members who will be hit by giant dues increases if Regan is successful. Those members say they weren’t even informed about the times and locations for voting. (Homecare workers are voting by mail!) One SEIU-UHW member reports she's already filed a complaint with the NLRB and U.S. Department of Labor.

That’s not all.

Ten days ago, Regan imposed turnout quotas on SEIU-UHW's union reps and other staffers... but only for turning out targeted voters who are likely to vote "yes." On September 6, Regan announced these “get out the vote” quotas during an all-staff meeting, which prompted a formal complaint from SEIU-UHW's staff unions, which Tasty posted below.

Here’s the beginning of an email written by the presidents of the staff unions to their co-workers:
Brothers and sisters,

I wanted to make sure you all saw the letter below.

Last Friday, SEIU-UHW President Dave Regan made numerous comments that were inappropriate and outright disrespectful. Below is a joint statement from the current leadership in both unions that denounces.
In response to the complaint, Regan penned an email to his "Chief of Staff," Greg Pullman. But apparently Dave ain’t so adept with email. He ended up sending his email message to the wrong people, who eventually forwarded it to Tasty! 

In the email, Duplicitous Dave trashes a half dozen of  SEIU-UHW’s staffers, saying:
Thanks, I appreciate it. What a drag. I could care less about Jarard, Carlyn and most others. But what is up with Jonathan, Dave Pihl and Indira? I thought they were more substantial than this.

The full emails are below. Looks like the "Dump Dave" movement is even gaining traction among SEIU-UHW's own staff!

Stay tuned for more news!