This year's
decision by SEIU to transfer
70,000 long-term care workers out of SEIU-UHW
is sparking continuing anger -- and budget cuts -- at SEIU-UHW.
On December
12, SEIU-UHW's Dave Regan and the
union’s Executive Board approved a budget for 2016 that includes $34 million in
cuts compared to last year’s budget, according to Tasty's sources, board
documents and records from the US Department of Labor.
Altogether, SEIU-UHW’s
budget has dropped from $112 million in 2014 to $78 million in 2016 – a 30%
reduction.
An SEIU-UHW
board resolution approving the union’s 2016 budget shimmers with faintly
concealed anger:
Whereas, SEIU’s implementation of its decision to divide hospital workers and long term care workers forces changes to our budget...
Meanwhile...
meeting minutes attempt to put the best face on the budget cuts. Here's how the
minutes describe a presentation to the board about the "budgetary
adjustments" caused by SEIU’s membership transfer:
They described budgetary adjustments made for the last six months of the year due to the jurisdictional decision to remove home care and nursing home workers from UHW. They reported that despite these changes, UHW has sufficient funds and staffing to continue forward with all of our campaigns and work.
Earlier this
year, Regan raged against the decision of SEIU President Mary Kay Henry and the SEIU
International Executive Board in a leaked letter calling the action a "massive
betrayal." Later, Regan penned an "Open Letter to Leaders in SEIU"
entitled "What
Has Become of Us? The Shame of SEIU."
Here's a
copy of the SEIU-UHW board resolution adopting the sharply reduced budget. (FYI,
the resolution appears to understate the size of the budget cuts, according
to figures that SEIU-UHW submitted to the US Department of Labor).
