In California, the first few weeks of September have offered
an interesting glimpse at the radically different approaches of NUHW and SEIU-UHW.
On September 8th, NUHW scored a huge victory by literally wrestling
Kaiser Permanente to the ground and
forcing it to pay $4 million in fines for forcing patients to wait weeks and
months for mental health treatment. Kaiser not only forced patients to undergo massive
appointment delays, it also falsified patients' records to conceal these illegal
waits from government regulators.
Kaiser's appointment scandal -- now linked to the suicides of
Kaiser patients -- was
uncovered by NUHW and its 2,500 psychologists, therapists and social
workers who staff Kaiser's mental health clinics in California.
Earlier this month, Kaiser tried to wriggle out of the government's $4
million fine by deploying a team of high-powered lawyers and pressure on the
Governor's office to intervene on Kaiser's behalf to secure a behind-closed-doors
settlement agreement with government officials.
However, NUHW won the day with numerous Kaiser patients and
frontline whistleblowers prepared to testify against the giant HMO during a month-long
legal hearing. Here's a link to some of the press
coverage.
So... that’s NUHW.
Then there's SEIU-UHW…
Just days before NUHW’s victory, SEIU-UHW held a "Leadership
Assembly" where Dave Regan paraded
onstage with
CEOs and boasted about his partnership
with the California Hospital Association.
The partnership sells out healthcare workers by lowering job standards and also sells out patients by gagging SEIU-UHW’s members from criticizing hospitals in the
media, the courts… and even with government regulatory agencies!
At the "Leadership Assembly," Regan attempted to get
buy-in from workers by dressing up his sellout deal in colorful
clothes and purple lipstick. For example, SEIU-UHW’s “Leadership Assembly" was
titled: "Courage to Lead for a
Healthy California."
And that's not all.
Regan even brought out a marching band
to try to rally workers behind his backroom deal with the Bosses. Check out
this photo from SEIU-UHW's "Leadership Assembly."
Does that make you feel courageous?
