The largest
newspaper in California’s capital city has published an article confirming Tasty’s
report about a barroom confrontation involving SEIU-UHW President Dave
Regan that reportedly injured California Assemblymember Richard Bloom.
Last night
-- just ten hours after Tasty posted an account of the incident -- the Sacramento Bee published an article confirming
the report and offering new details. (Alexei Koseff, “A
union president shoved him at a Sacramento fundraiser, lawmaker reports,” Sacramento Bee, August 21, 2016)
Here are
some excerpts:
A California lawmaker reported to the Legislature earlier this month that he was shoved by a health care union president at a downtown Sacramento restaurant.
The confrontation between Assemblyman Richard Bloom, D-Santa Monica, and Dave Regan, president of SEIU-United Healthcare Workers West, occurred on Aug. 8 at Lucca Restaurant and Bar, where the two were attending separate events for the California Legislative Jewish Caucus and California Forward.
Bloom’s office declined to discuss the incident but confirmed that Bloom reported it to the Assembly Rules Committee.
According to
the Bee, Regan began arguing with Andrew Crutchfield, director of the
political advocacy group Govern for
California, who was attending the event organized by the California Legislative Jewish Caucus.
A few people from both parties came over to break up the dispute. Bloom got between Regan and Crutchfield, Sen. Ben Allen said, and that’s when Regan pushed him out of the way…
“From the short period of time that I witnessed the altercation, Mr. Regan appeared belligerent,” Allen said.
[SEIU-UHW staffer Steve] Trossman said Regan “maybe had a glass of wine” that night. He was not kicked out of the restaurant, Trossman said...
“I really don’t think alcohol was a factor in this,” Trossman said. “Dave is very passionate about workers…”
Sen. Ben Allen is a Democrat from Santa
Monica, Calif. and serves as the Chair of the Senate Education Committee.
 |
| Regan's barroom clash was the top item in CALmatters |
So, why did Regan
-- who reportedly has a history of engaging in alcohol-fueled fights -- get “belligerent”
and require lawmakers from both houses of California’s legislature to stop him
from getting into a fistfight inside a Sacramento restaurant and bar?
According to
Trossman,
Regan tried to fight Crutchfield because Crutchfield was “gloating” about the
US Supreme Court’s anti-union Janus decision and was criticizing unions.
Now… even if
Crutchfield is the biggest rightwing anti-union ideologue in the nation, is it smart
or strategic for a union leader to try to punch him during the middle of two
political events attended by dozens of California legislators?
In the Sacramento Bee, Trossman tries to argue that
Regan was not at fault because he was “provoked” or manipulated by Crutchfield
into trying to punch him.
Hmmm, that’s
a great message.
If it’s so damn easy to manipulate Regan into doing stupid
sh*t, isn’t Trossman basically saying Dave is a dumbass?
After all, rank-and-file
union leaders face provocations at their worksites all the time from aggressive
supervisors, anti-union bosses, etc. They manage to keep their cool. Why can’t Dave?
Thirdly, if Dave
is gonna do something stupid, he should at least try to hit the guy he’s
arguing with… and not an innocent bystander who happens to be a state
legislator.
At the end of today, it's obvious that Regan can’t keep his cool. Remember, he’s the one who
assaulted a process server who was simply trying to deliver legal papers to
his house, according to court documents.
It seems
like Regan’s handlers should keep him away from public events. And process
servers. And union staff members. After all, who knows when someone will next
set Regan off like a fistful of nitroglycerin?
Here’s a
link to the full story in the Sacramento
Bee: “A
union president shoved him at a Sacramento fundraiser, lawmaker reports.”
