 |
| Diamond Dave and Mary Kay during an earlier time |
Here's the
latest on Diamond Dave's battle with the Purple Palace.
Sources say the
Purple Palace erupted in anger when, earlier this month, Dave Regan had SEIU-UHW’s
Executive Board pass a
resolution opposing the January order issued by SEIU's International Executive Board (IEB). The
IEB’s order directs SEIU-UHW and SEIU
Local 521 to transfer their home care and nursing home workers to SEIU Local 6434, which is headed by Laphonza Butler.
In January, the
IEB apparently placed a gag order on the three affected local unions. Each of the leaders of the
three affected local unions (SEIU-UHW, Local 521 and Local 6434) pledged to
abide by the gag rule, which bars them from speaking publicly about the matter.
So… when Regan
passed his own resolution opposing the IEB’s order, Local 6434's Laphonza
Butler and Local 521’s CEO Luisa Blue
reportedly “flipped out" in anger and called for the immediate transfer of
the long-term care workers rather than waiting until June, say Tasty's sources.
In recent
days, Butler, Blue and Regan met with retired SEIU
Secretary-Treasurer Eliseo Medina. SEIU
President Mary Kay Henry brought
Medina out of retirement to serve as a hearing officer to iron out the details of
transferring the long-term care workers. Henry tasked Medina with producing
a recommendation by June 2.
During Medina’s
recent meeting with Butler, Blue and Regan, tensions between the three local
union leaders were reportedly sky high. Sources say Medina ultimately convinced
Blue to withdraw her demand that the workers be transferred immediately due to Regan’s
violation of the gag order. Meanwhile, speaking of the gag order, Medina
reportedly told Regan to "keep his mouth shut."
Despite
Medina's warning, sources report that Regan is already planning more violations
of the gag rule -- basically thumbing his nose at Mary Kay Henry, the IEB and
Medina.
Here's what
the sources say:
First, Regan
has convinced George Gresham (the
president to SEIU 1199 New York) to
send a letter to Mary Kay Henry backing Regan's position on the long-term care
workers. As described in an earlier post, Regan and Gresham are reportedly working
together to try to unseat Mary Kay Henry in SEIU’s internal officer elections
in 2016. These
political ambitions are the underlying dynamics driving the SEIU infighting…
the deep subterranean plates that are producing earthquakes on the earth’s surface.
In addition,
Regan reportedly announced to SEIU-UHW staffers that he’s approaching the Coalition of Kaiser Permanente Unions ("the
partnership unions") to get their support in battling Mary Kay Henry. This
promises to spread SEIU's infighting to the broader U.S. labor movement. The
Coalition of Kaiser Permanente Unions is made up of 28 local unions across the
US, including the Teamsters, Steelworkers and UFCW.
Regan's
outreach to other Kaiser unions also points to his real motivations for delaying
the transfer of the long-term care workers until June. At its January meeting, the
IEB initially ordered Regan to transfer the workers on a rapid timeframe. Regan
successfully argued for a delay until June, claiming that the transfer of the
long-term care workers would somehow weaken SEIU-UHW’s ability to negotiate a
contract with Kaiser Permanente.
 |
| Eliseo Medina |
At the end
of March, Regan and the partnership unions begin their “negotiations” with
Kaiser -- which will undoubtedly follow Regan's recipe of backdoor deals with the
boss and a pathetically choreographed “show” to try to get worker buy-in.
So... with Regan
now poised to commit more violations of the IEB's gag order, how will the Purple
Palace respond?
Stay
tuned...
