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| SEIU-UHW's Dave Regan |
Sources
report that SEIU-UHW President Dave Regan was arrested after breaking the arm
of a process server who served legal documents, authored by the California
Hospital Association (CHA), on Regan at his home in Kensington, California.
According to a reliable source, the Kensington Police Department will soon forward Regan's arrest records to the District Attorney for possible criminal prosecution.
According to a reliable source, the Kensington Police Department will soon forward Regan's arrest records to the District Attorney for possible criminal prosecution.
Four sources
have corroborated the incident. Here's what they say.
The process
server reportedly attempted to serve the legal documents when Regan answered
his front door on Beloit Avenue.
Regan, rather than accept the documents, violently pushed the process server down the stairs, breaking his arm. When the police arrived at the scene, say sources, Regan got into an altercation with the police and was arrested.
Regan, rather than accept the documents, violently pushed the process server down the stairs, breaking his arm. When the police arrived at the scene, say sources, Regan got into an altercation with the police and was arrested.
According to
court records, the CHA recently served a variety of legal motions on SEIU-UHW
officials in response to Regan’s November
2015 lawsuit against the CHA.
On January
25, for example, a CHA process server delivered legal motions to SEIU-UHW's
attorney, Eduardo Roy of Prometheus Partners, at the firm's a
law firm in San Francisco. Those documents sought the court's permission for the
CHA to formally intervene in Regan's lawsuit.
On January
26, the CHA filed
its own lawsuit against SEIU-UHW alleging that Regan violated a gag clause
contained in his secret partnership deal with CHA officials.
For those familiar with Dave Regan’s history, the reports of his arm-breaking
assault will not be surprising. Regan reportedly has a history of violent
encounters, including fistfights at SEIU events, some of which were reportedly
fueled by alcohol.
In 2008, Regan led busloads of SEIU staffers and supporters in an attack against a national conference held by "Labor Notes," a network of union activists seeking to democratize and reform US labor unions. Regan's troops violently forced their way into the conference in Dearborn, Michigan, where they reportedly punched, kicked and knocked participants to the floor.
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| Regan's troops assaulting the Labor Notes conference: 2008 |
One female conference attendee was sent to the hospital with cuts and other injuries to her head.
Tragically, one of the members of Regan's union at the time, SEIU 1199 West Virginia, Kentucky, Ohio, died during Regan's assault from a heart attack.
John Sweeney (then President of the AFL-CIO) denounced Regan's attack on the conference, stating: "There is no justification -- none -- for the violent attack orchestrated by SEIU," according to the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal.
When Regan
parachuted into California in 2009, sources say he schooled SEIU-UHW's staff in his "old school ways,"
including the use of threats and intimidation against the union's members and
its critics.
During a 2009 election among homecare workers in Fresno County, SEIU staffers reportedly threatened immigrant home care workers with deportation unless they voted for SEIU-UHW, according to TV news coverage and video-taped testimonials of workers and SEIU staff.
During a 2009 election among homecare workers in Fresno County, SEIU staffers reportedly threatened immigrant home care workers with deportation unless they voted for SEIU-UHW, according to TV news coverage and video-taped testimonials of workers and SEIU staff.
During NLRB elections
at Kaiser Permanente, SEIU-UHW employed
a "World War III" strategy designed to intimidate its members by employing, for example, violent "shout downs" against union members.
In one infamous incident inside a hospital cafeteria, SEIU-UHW staffer Tiffany Ford issued death threats against Kaiser employees… for which a Los Angeles Superior Court judge imposed a restraining order on her.
In one infamous incident inside a hospital cafeteria, SEIU-UHW staffer Tiffany Ford issued death threats against Kaiser employees… for which a Los Angeles Superior Court judge imposed a restraining order on her.
Another
SEIU-UHW staffer, Liz Castillo, became
a YouTube sensation (88,000 views) for her violent assault in a hospital
cafeteria captured on
videotape.
SEIU-UHW -- including
staffer Angela
Hewett -- even threatened and intimidated
80-year-old labor legend Dolores Huerta,
who co-founded of the United Farm Workers Union with Cesar Chavez. In one
incident, SEIU-UHW representatives shamefully screamed at Ms. Huerta to "go back to the
fields."
All of which raises important questions:
Why did SEIU officials -- including Andy Stern and Mary Kay Henry -- install a man with a history of violence to head a union of healthcare workers in California?
And why have Henry and SEIU's International Executive Board allowed Regan to remain in his seat atop one of SEIU's largest local unions in the nation despite his repeated acts of intimidation and violence -- including his latest assault against a processor, who good just as easily be a union member?
Are SEIU presidents and officers permitted to break the arms of court workers without being held accountable?
Why did SEIU officials -- including Andy Stern and Mary Kay Henry -- install a man with a history of violence to head a union of healthcare workers in California?
And why have Henry and SEIU's International Executive Board allowed Regan to remain in his seat atop one of SEIU's largest local unions in the nation despite his repeated acts of intimidation and violence -- including his latest assault against a processor, who good just as easily be a union member?
Are SEIU presidents and officers permitted to break the arms of court workers without being held accountable?
Stay tuned.
