Staffers at
the Coalition of Kaiser Permanente Unions
are “jumping ship” following the decision by eight international unions to quit
the coalition and form a new alliance of “partnership” unions, say sources.
Who’s
leaving?
Maureen Anderson, a “Program Coordinator”
and one of the Coalition’s top staffers for more than a decade, is one of them.
And 4 to 5 other staffers also quit, say Tasty’s sources.
Why are they
jumping ship?
Apparently,
they’re leaving for the same reason that the eight international union recently
quit the Coalition:
“They want out
because no one can stand Dave [Regan],” says a source.
After the
exodus of the unions in March, SEIU-UHW’s
Dave Regan became the “Chairman” of
the now-smaller Coalition and has been playing a bigger role in its daily
operations.
Here’s
another interesting development.
Hal Ruddick, the Coalition’s Executive
Director who was recently
fired by Regan, has reportedly taken a job at the newly formed rival alliance
of partnership unions. Tasty doesn’t yet know what role he’ll be playing there.
The new alliance
of unions -- called the “Alliance of Health Care Unions” -- hired
Pete diCicco as its Executive
Director, according to a March 30 press release.
In other
news, the Coalition confirmed Tasty’s earlier report about Ruddick’s exit and
the appointment of Walter Allen as
the Coalition’s interim Executive Director.
Two days
after Tasty’s April
17 post about Ruddick’s firing, the Coalition publicly confirmed his departure -- calling it instead a resignation. Here’s a link to the post: “Leadership
Changes in Union Coalition.” It begins:
Hal Ruddick, who has served as executive director of the Coalition of Kaiser Permanente Unions for four years, is stepping down, and Walter Allen, OPEIU Local 30 executive director, will be serving as the coalition’s acting executive director.
With Regan
at the helm, it sounds like there’ll be more rough sledding in the days ahead
for the Coalition.
Stay tuned.
