Under Dave Regan, SEIU-UHW has become notorious for failing to represent and defend its dues-paying
members.
Last month,
however, Regan hit a brand new low.
At Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center
in Los Angeles, SEIU-UHW allowed the CEO to fire the hospital's
entire Respiratory Therapy Department and to subcontract workers' jobs to an
outside agency.
Approximately
20-30% of the fired workers were then hired by the subcontractor at reduced wage
rates, according to an article published
by "RT Focus."
The others? "They have lost their benefits and their
livelihood," says RT Focus.
Did SEIU-UHW
do anything to defend the Respiratory Department's staff, who are members of
SEIU-UHW?
According to
RT Focus:
Despite being under the Union, there was little noise being made publicly by the Union on behalf of the respiratory therapists. If there was any resistance or opposition by the Union, it went largely unnoticed and proved unsuccessful… When it came to the termination of the respiratory department, their Union was at best, largely ineffective or at worst, terribly silent.
SEIU-UHW’s boss-friendly silence
may be a direct result of Regan's secret
partnership with hospital executives and the California Hospital Association. Under the deal, Regan agreed to
trade away the rights of SEIU-UHW members in exchange for unspecified benefits,
including Regan's cozier relationship with hospital executives.
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| Respiratory Therapists at work |
Of course,
the stories of SEIU-UHW's representational failures are legendary.
Remember, for
example, when SEIU-UHW Union Reps sat on their hands and refused
to provide representation to a 33-year employee at Kaiser Walnut Creek Medical Center who was being unjustly
terminated by her supervisor?
And last year, an
insider leaked
an SEIU-UHW document that detailed Regan's plans to slash the number of Union
Reps so he can divert more of the union’s resources to politicians and
"external" project.
In yet another
leak, insiders forwarded the results of a formal survey of SEIU-UHW
staffers, who described the miserable levels of representational support that
SEIU-UHW is giving its membership.
What's the next trick for Regan and Marcus Hatcher, SEIU-UHW's
so-called "Director of Representational Excellence?"
Stay tuned.
