Stern Burger with Fries

SEIU Official's Love Affair Lands Him on Paid Leave

2012-01-27T00:04:00.000-08:00

It looks like DaveRegan didn’t offer very good advice to his buddy, Steve Matthews (the top official at SEIU Local 721), who’s been waist deep in a dramatic, extra-maritalaffair with an SEIU staffer.

The last time we tuned into this scandal, SEIU President Mary Kay Henry had dispatched a pair of“personal representatives” to “investigate allegations against Local 721’sexecutive director.” And Dave Reganwas overheard offering advice to Matthews about how to manage the deepening crisis.

Meanwhile, staffers at Local 721 described how Steve’swife was repeatedly phoning the union’s office in a desperate attempt to trackdown Steve’s girlfriend, who’d conveniently disappeared on extended sick leavefrom her job as an SEIU organizer. Union staffers busily exchanged textmessages about the latest lurid details while the union’s rank-and-file memberswondered how their union hall had become a set for a particularlytrashy episode of “Entertainment Tonight” or “the Jerry Springer Show.”

So what’s the latest? Well, it looks like Matthews has been caught with his hand in the proverbial cookie jar. Union officials recentlycirculated the following notice announcing they’ve placed Matthews on paidadministrative leave. Meanwhile, Matthews’s girlfriend is apparently still onpaid sick leave… so it's possible that the two of them are enjoying a "love"vacation funded by SEIU’s members.

Here’s the announcement:

From the desk of Bob Schoonover

Following theExecutive Board meeting held yesterday January 11, 2012, the Executive Directorwas placed on paid administrative leave. Please direct any questions regardingthis matter to me. All media inquiries should be referred to the Director ofCommunications Marie Lemelle.

At this time, staffwho reported directly to the Executive Director should now report to the Chiefof Staff, Gilda Valdez.

It is more importantthan ever that we stay focused and remain committed to improving the lives ofour members and their families. Let’s continue to work together to preserve andmaintain the strength and integrity of our union.

In solidarity,
Bob Schoonover

So what’s next? Well, Tasty will report on the next scenesof this sordid drama. Meanwhile, Tasty wonders how long it will take beforeRegan’s multiple extra-marital flings finally catch up to him… especially his trystswith SEIU staffers and members. Hmmm… Tasty thinks this whole web of SEIU love scandals would make a particularly interesting episodefor the Jerry Springer Show: Steve, Dave and all their ex’s on one stage... and dressed in various shades of purple!

SEIU's Lifeline to Crocodile Dundee

2012-01-25T22:10:00.000-08:00

It looks like SEIU-UHW officials had to go all the way toAustralia to get some help for their campaign at Kaiser Permanente. Accordingto Kaiser workers, SEIU has flown in a dozen staffers from an Australian unioncalled "Liquor, Hospitality and Miscellaneous Union (LHMU)." Lastyear, the union underwent an SEIU-styled re-branding effort that changed itsname to "United Voice."

Tasty hears that, for nearly a decade, SEIU's Andy Stern hasbeen cultivating a relationship with the Aussie union and its top official, Louise Tarrant, by flying to sunny Melbourneand Sydney on SEIU members' dime. Apparently, SEIU's President Emeritus really digs theinternational travel... especially because it allows him to escape the coldwinters on the East Coast!

So what are the Aussies doing in California? Well, Kaiserworkers have spotted them with SEIU staffers patrolling Kaiser hospitals inSan Francisco, Walnut Creek, Santa Rosa, South San Francisco, etc in the run-up to next week's strike. At onehospital, an Aussie attended the EVS Department's "group huddle"during shift-change and tried to promote SEIU to the assembled workers, whowere under the watchful eye of a Kaiser supervisor.

An astute EVS worker quickly asked the purple-shirtedAussie: "So... are you gonna be honoring the picket line during nextTuesday's strike?" As the tongue-tied Aussie stared down at her shoes, itbecame crystal clear that the Aussies are not super interested in internationallabor solidarity. Instead, it looks like they've parachuted into California to workalongside their purple-shirted buddies and Kaiser's multi-millionaire bosses to try to underminenext week's strike by 22,000 workers from three unions.

So, Kaiser workers... when you see an Aussie in your facility,ask them this: Back in Australia, doesyour union normally undermine workers who are fighting to defend theirpensions and health insurance? Well... WTF are you doing to California's workers? Time to call Qantas and get your ass back toAustralia!

Rebellion inside the Regan Regime

2012-01-25T00:17:00.000-08:00

It looks like things are spiraling downwards atSEIU-UHW. Last month, more than 40 members of SEIU-UHW’s Executive Boarddemanded a meeting with Dave Regan to address a deepening crisis at the union... including the lack of democracy, the failure to represent union members (or even return their phone calls), SEIU's loyalty oaths, disrespect towards members (including by SEIU's Joe Simoes), the deepening crisis in SEIU-UHW's Kaiser Division, etc.

A source gave Tasty a copy of the materials, including this email from Alisha Blinks (an Executive Board member) to other board members. (FYI- thebold and underlined text is exactly how it appeared in the original email.)

From: Alisha Blinks
Subject: Meeting withDave Agenda
Date: Monday, December12, 2011, 4:01 AM

Good Evening Everyone;
Below you will findthe agenda for Tuesday's meeting with Dave. We will be meeting first at the UHW office among ourselves from 7-730PMand then with Dave. These membership specificissues should cover the North and South. Just remember this is only the beginning of the talks to get our unionback on track. I will keep notes toreport out to the South. There will be NO AGREEMENTS MADE WITH THIS REGIMEUNTIL WE ARE ALL TOGETHER AS ONE BODY!

I WILL SEE ALL OF YOUTUESDAY

Day: Tuesday December13 2011
Time: 7:00PM (7-730PMwill be a quick briefing)
Place: UHW Office
          560 Thomas L Berkeley Way
          Oakland CA

Blinks's email also contains a two-page memo -- entitled “Crux of Complaint” -- that paints a direpicture of life under the "Regan regime." (A complete copy of the memo is here). Here's what it says:

The Kaiser Division is in crisis and below is the reasonswhy we cannot function with these problems any longer. Deadlines aren’t being kept, staff is notshowing up to appointments and the support for the leaders at the facilitiesfrom staff is absent from this equation. The usage of the Steward Councils to promote organizing campaigns,pushing of agendas not ratified, constant aggravation to the members requestingtheir loyalty; where is the Kaiser Division’s loyalty to us? No trainings, no regional input, no reportouts but only consistent training of how to organize, agitate a member or givea CRE. Members want protection, security and fairness from their employer andtheir union. The priorities of this leadership and the governing body are onopposite ends and it is our responsibility to correct this as a whole and itfirst starts with listening on the leaderships part…

The Kaiser Division Director [Joe Simoes] and Sr. Staff members aremaking inappropriate comments to rank and file leaders, along with mischievousbehavior that's inexcusable. Thisleadership continues to act divisive and pitting members against oneanother. It is disrespectful,disheartening and will no longer be tolerated. The democracy this union scarcely holds onto is beginning to rapidlydiminish. Instead of forming a cohesiveworking relationship which can benefit us all we are constantly apologizing toour members for failed processes. Moreover, calls from staff aren’t being returned, emails not respondedto and it has reached the point where members and leaders are just beingignored. Our house is not in order…

This membership body has been patient, transparent andforthright in wanting to partner, however this behavior has not beenreciprocated by the current leadership. This sixty plus year union is the wayit is because of the knowledge of our leaders, the protection of our membersand unity we share. We are tired ofbeing in a race to the BOTTOM!

The memo also includes an agenda for the board members' meeting with Regan that includes these complaints (b/t/w, "KDSC" refers to the Kaiser Division Steward Council):

Violation of the Constitution/KDSC By-Laws and Policies
Flawed Communication
Staff Absenteeism in Kaiser
Failure to Adhere to the Constitution and Bylaws
Failure to Respect Member Ratifications

Wow... The documents are quite a stunning indictment of Dave Regan... especially because they're authored by insiders who've been longtime loyal supporters of Regan/SEIU. For example, the group includes people like John Duff, Tinesha Thomas, Shirley Shirlee, Donna Norton, Darnita Garry, Linda Corkill, Diane Barton, Tonya Salcido, Tamika Harris, Treasell Sanders, Jennie Edney, China Newton, etc. And the fact that so many of the union's board members are in open revolt against Regan underscores the seriousness of the problems gripping the union.

So what sorts of "agreements" are the former loyalists trying to extract from the "Regan regime?" And what maneuvers will Regan try to use to either buy off or marginalize his critics? Put on your body armor!

SEIU's YouTube Star Is Back!

2012-01-23T22:24:00.000-08:00

Remember this video of SEIU staffer Liz Castillo as she bullies workers and then smashes a camera to the floor inside the cafeteria of a California hospital? The video went viral on YouTube, where it's now been viewed 72,000 times. Castillo can be heard shouting at an SEIU-UHW member dressed in scrubs and then saying, "Shut the f*ck up, you f*cking asshole" as she prepares to backhand a seated observer.

When Castillo's purple-shirted assault became a YouTube phenomenon, SEIU officials canned Castillo in hopes of managing the fallout from SEIU's other attacks... like the death threats against workers at Kaiser Permanente and SEIU's outrageous attacks against Dolores Huerta, the 80-year-old co-founder of the United Farm Workers along with Cesar Chavez.

So what's Castillo up to these days? Has she landed a career on a Detroit roller derby team? Well... kind of. A reader reports that she's back at SEIU-UHW, where her bullyboy exploits caught the eye of Dave Regan, who reportedly instructs SEIU staffers to intimidate workers who criticize SEIU. Here's the reader's report:

Just in case you didn't know, Liz Castillo is back working with UHW- she was seen in the smoking area!!! (which she visits 20X a day) early this week. She was telling the group of smokers that she is back! as an organizer!!! God Help Us!!!

More..... this week the craziest woman in UHW Flannery Hauck (crazier than Liz) was seen lecturing! torturing a group of organizer going over a rap for a campaign she is leading "Lets Get Healthy California" . I felt sorry for those organizers in the second floor.... welcome to the "Flannery concentration camp"

Well, California workers, look for Liz in a hospital near you. Tasty hears she'll soon be playing an integral role in Regan's "Let's Get Healthy, California!" campaign by telling workers to "Shut the f*ck up and fill out the f*cking survey." Way to go, SEIU!

SEIU’s Wellness Wonderland

2012-01-22T16:48:00.000-08:00

It looks like SEIU is pushing Wellness Programs far and wide– not just at CatholicHealthcare West. Wellness Programs, of course, are the newest corporatescheme for cutting workers' health benefits, as described in this NewYork Times article.

In Oregon, SEIU Local503 signed off on a Wellness Program -- which it calls the “Health Engagement Model” --that forces state workers to pay $20 per month if they refuse to fill outwellness surveys.

So why are workers reluctant to fill out the surveys? Checkout the kinds of questions that KaiserPermanente is asking its employees to answer as part of its so-called “Total HealthAssessment.”

Hmmm... would you wanna tell your boss how much alcohol youconsume weekly… or whether you take “recreational drugs” or "prescriptiondrugs that aren’t yours" …or how many sexual partners you've had in thepast year?

Since workers are not too keen on the surveys, SEIU-UHW has been busy working withKaiser officials to push the surveyson the membership.

Meanwhile, SEIU-UHW officials are working hand-in-glove withexecutives at the Daughters of CharityHealth System to force Wellness Programs down the throats of severalthousand workers. In SEIU’s latest Orwellian effort, SEIU officials have prepareda set of benefit cuts and are trying to sell them to the membership as “innovative,”“bold” and “exciting” proposals that are part of SEIU’s so-called “Let’s GetHealth California!” program.

SEIU-UHW's efforts at Daughters of Charity are just like the campaign of despicable deceit anddeception that it ran against 13,000 workers atCatholic Healthcare West.

So what kind of deal has Dave Regan cut with the corporate chiefs at Daughters ofCharity? Well, take a look at this not-too-subtle hint. It’s a complaint sent by theCalifornia Nurses Association to one of the Daughters of Charity hospitals about the company'sefforts to make RNs pay “significantly higher contributions towards the cost oftheir medical benefits” if the RNs fail to fill out “wellness assessments.”

Stay tuned for more news!

SEIU-UHW's Stealth Cuts at Sutter Health

2012-01-19T11:55:00.000-08:00

While most people celebrated the New Year with champagne andfireworks, the 1^st of January brought a very different mood to SEIU-UHWmembers at Sutter Delta Medical Center in Northern California. On January 1^st, the hospital implementeda “stealth” takeaway of workers’ health benefits that was negotiated by SEIU’strustees back in 2009. Here’s what happened:

For decades, Sutter Delta Medical Center has paid all ofthe monthly premiums for its employees’ PPO health insurance plan. On January 1^st,the hospital suddenly began deducting about $80 a month from workers’ paychecksfor family health coverage, and less for individual coverage. To put it in perspective, $80 a month is equivalent to a wage cut of 50 cents an hourfor a full-time worker.

So where did the health cuts come from? Well, back in 2009,Dave Regan and Co negotiated a provision in the union contract that requires workersto pay 5% of the health insurance premiums beginning on January 1, 2012 --similar to the recent cuts at thisNorthern California hospital that are making waves.

And that’s not all. Regan’s deal at Sutter Delta MedicalCenter also established two-tiered benefits for employees. New employees must pay even more for their health coverage: 15% of theirpremiums -- or about $240 per month for family coverage. For full-time workers,that translates into a wage cut of $1.50 per hour.

Here's the language that Regan and Co negotiated:

Why did Regan sign off on the cuts? Is the hospital strugglingto make ends meet? Hardly. Last year, the 140-bed hospital pulled down $8million in profits, according to state records. And the hospital’s parent company, Sutter Health, made nearly a billion dollars in profit. In fact, Sutter Health -- like Kaiser Permanente -- is one of the mostprofitable hospital chains in the nation.

Very Slow Lerner

2012-01-17T18:52:00.000-08:00

Tasty hears that SEIU's StephenLerner has finally realized that his purple pals are not too keen on him.Sources tell Tasty that, several weeks ago, SEIU officials fired Lerner fromhis position as a top SEIU staffer and a member of SEIU's International ExecutiveBoard.

It's been a long, slow learning curve for Lerner. In 2008, Andy Stern and MikeFishman (President of SEIU Local 32BJ) ousted Lerner from his positionas the head of SEIU's Property Services Division and demoted Lerner.

Next, Stern assigned Lerner to lead a slimy attack campaignagainst Sal Rosselli and California's healthcare workers after they introducedproposals to democratize SEIU during the union's 2008 convention. Lerner'snefarious role in the thuggish campaign was revealed when insiders leaked an infamous email describing the Purple Palace's efforts to either"implode" SEIU-UHW or wage an Irak-like invasion against it. The email -- from June of 2008 -- has lines like this: "Trusteeship would be difficult -- it's like Iraq, easy to get in and then a slog. Implosion would be a better outcome, but what will it take?" The leakedemail snagged a whole posse of plotting SEIU staffers, including Bill Ragen, Stephen Lerner, TomDeBruin, Kirk Adams, Denise Poloyac and attorney Edgar James.

In 2010, a demoted Lerner became the punching bag for SEIU'sScottCourtney, who'd been elevated to a top job inside the Purple Palace.Later that year, Courtney put Lerner on amonth-long administrative leave for "insubordination" afterLerner refused to follow Courtney's orders.

At this point, many observers expected Lerner to catch aclue and bolt the Purple Palace with a few tattered shreds of remaining dignity.Tasty hears that Lerner planned to deliver a courageous ultimatum to SEIU'sMary Kay Henry, but as he prepared to enter Henry’s office, a pair oftesticles dropped to the floor.

So… Lerner completed his month-long "time-out,"and then slinked back to the Purple Palace where he worked on SEIU’s effort to co-optthe Occupy Wall Street movement.

And this brings us to the latest chapter in this pitifulsaga: Lerner's termination. Tasty hears Lerner was offed by his arch-nemesis,Scott Courtney, who seized control of Lerner's project and budget dollars.

So what's next for Lerner? Looks like he's taken a page fromStern's playbook of self-promotion. Just today, Lerner set up a Facebook pagewhere he describes himself as "a leading critic of Wall Streetbankers" and "a frequent contributor on national television and radioprograms..." Sounds like Lerner will soon be competing with Andy Stern to hustlespeakerfees at conferences near you!

Disarray inside SEIU's Purple Palace

2012-01-15T12:46:00.000-08:00

Henry and Hudson during a friendlier moment

Tasty hears that the Purple Palace is the scene of fierce infighting among top SEIU officials as they struggle to cope with the union's bargaining failures, dissatisfied membership, and growing decertifications.

According to several sources, one of the main battle lines is between SEIU President Mary Kay Henry and Gerry Hudson, who is one of SEIU's six "Executive Vice Presidents." In SEIU's hierarchy, Hudson and the other five "EVPs" are the highest ranking officers after the President and Secretary-Treasurer.

Sources report that Henry has worked to marginalize Hudson by stripping many of his responsibilities and assigning them to her allies. Meanwhile, Hudson is rumored to be rallying his supporters in a campaign to unseat Henry from her presidential position during the union's upcoming convention in May.

Can Hudson unseat Henry? It's not far-fetched. Hudson comes from SEIU 1199 New York, where he retains support from 1199NY's president, George Gresham. In SEIU's upcoming presidential election, 1199NY controls about 20% of all of the votes that'll be cast. (Under SEIU's system, rank-and-file union members don't actually get to vote for the president -- instead, members' votes are "delegated" to local union officials).

With 1199NY's votes in his pocket, Hudson wouldn't need many more SEIU unions to jump on board to reach a majority. In fact, Tasty hears that Hudson has already been in successful discussions with 1199NY's Gresham, and that's why Hudson's campaign efforts are emerging for broader air-play.

As the power struggle between Henry and Hudson intensifies, Tasty hears there's also deepening disarray at multiple other levels of SEIU, including aggressive battles over resources, staff defections, and midnight firings of top staffers. Stay tuned!

SEIU-UHW's Excellent Dining with the Boss

2012-01-12T23:31:00.000-08:00

Remember all the reports about workers who've been unjustly firedand screwed over... while getting zero support from Dave Regan's SEIU-UHW? They include thisstunning case, which is described in emails written by SEIU’s own ShopStewards.

Well, Tasty hears that Dave Regan has taken bold anddecisive steps to address this problem. What did he do? He appointed one of theunion's staffers to a new position called "Director of Representational Excellence"! (Tasty is not kidding! Hmmm… what’s thatsaying about putting lipstick on a pig?).

So who's the Director of Excellence? Marcus Hatcher. Tasty did a little checking on Hatcher, andunfortunately Hatcher is not so excellent… unless you consider bedding with theBoss to be “excellent.”

It turns out that Hatcher used to be the “Director of FieldRepresentation” for SEIU Local 1107 in Las Vegas, where he negotiated contractsfor workers at the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority and other worksites.

At most unions, it’s strictly prohibited for a union stafferto meet privately with the Boss or take gifts from the Boss, especially when the stafferis representing the Boss's workers. Unfortunately, it looks like Hatcher skippedthis part of his “Ethics 101” class.

A receipt -- which was uncovered by CBSduring its investigation of a corruption scandal involving executives at theLas Vegas Convention Authority – indicates that Hatcher had a private one-on-onelunch with Mark Olson, theVice President of Human Resources at the Las Vegas Convention Authority, in 2009. SEIU’s'Director of Field Representation' and the Boss’s 'V.P. of Human Resources' lunchedat P.F. Chang’s inside Planet Hollywood on the Las Vegas Strip. According to atravel site, this “two-story eatery welcomes guests with a warm atmosphere ofdark woods and earth tones.” Perfect place for intimate dining with the Boss!

And who paid for the meal? The Boss (who actually submitted Hatcher’sbusiness card with the receipt). And what did the Boss get in return fromHatcher? Well, my friends, that’s the $64,000 question… and the reason whyunion staffers are not supposed to be dining with the Boss.

At most unions, Hatcher’s actions would be considered unethicaland pathetic. But at Regan’s SEIU-UHW -- which has embraced back-room deals as itsprimary bargaining strategy -- Olson is now heralded as the “Ministerof Excellence.”

P.S. Are you one ofthe many SEIU-UHW members who can’t get a call back from the union… or who’sbeen waiting two years for the union to schedule your arbitration or hear aboutyour grievance… or who’s been forced to file a “Duty of Fair Representation”charge (DFR) with the NLRB because SEIU-UHW simply refuses to help you and yourco-workers? Well, Tasty thought you might wanna give a jingle to the “Directorof Representational Excellence”!

Marcus D. Hatcher

SEIU-UHW Director of Representational Excellence

213-321-4506 (cell)

323-888-8221 (work)

mhatcher@seiu-uhw.org

More Workers Seek Exit from SEIU

2012-01-11T15:07:00.001-08:00

In the latest blow to DaveRegan and Co, a group of 200 SEIU-UHW members has requested an NLRBelection to decertify the union so they can become “non-union.”

The effort is underwayat O’Connor Woods, a retirement facilitylocated near Stockton in Northern California. Tasty hears that the workers -- including Certified Nursing Assistants, Patient Care Attendants, Housekeepers, Dietary Workers, Maintenance Workers and Laundry Workers -- are totallyfed up with the SEIU-UHW's lack of support for its members.

Here’s the NLRB form that records workers' request for a decertification election: "A substantial number of employees assert that the certified or currently recognized bargaining representative is no longer their representative."

SEIU’s Zac Altefogt Joins Purple Pinocchios

2012-01-09T23:25:00.000-08:00

SEIU at Labor Notes and Zac Altefogt

Remember how SEIU officials rigged the contract-ratificationvotes at LutherManor Nursing Home and Mercy Health Partners’ HackleyHospital… even going so far as to stuff ballot boxes and block unionmembers from voting?

Well, here’s what SEIU’s Communications Director Zac Altefogt told the MuskegonChronicle after Hackley’s workers delivered a landslidedefeat to SEIU in last week’s NLRB election:

“We're a democraticunion, and that was their choice,” Altefogt said of a group that SEIU beganrepresenting in 2007 at the time of the Mercy-Hackley hospital merger. “Weprovided this group with a strong first contract. People can join a union orleave it at any time.”

Yeah right… Looks like Zac has conveniently forgotten howSEIU has blocked workers’ NLRB elections for upto 2 ½ years in an effort to stop them from leaving SEIU. Or how SEIU committedsuch severe violations of federal labor laws that a judgetossed out the largest private-sector union election in the past 70 years.

Well, it turns out this isn’t the first time that Zac has massivelymisinformed the Michigan media. Readers might remember an infamous episode thattook place in Dearborn, Michigan in 2008. That’s when SEIU sent busloads of people to attacka Labor Notes conference attended byunion reformers from 50 unions throughout the U.S. During the attack, SEIU knocked workers to thefloor and even bloodied a 67-year-old woman who ended up in a nearby hospital's emergencyroom. And tragically, an SEIU homecare worker named David Smith died of a heart attack during SEIU’s assault.

So how did Zac -- after summoning every ounce of integrity-- describe SEIU’s attack on the Labor Notes conference to Detroit’s Metro Times newspaper?

"It was apeaceful protest," says Zac Altefogt, spokesman for SEIU HealthcareMichigan.

Just recently, Tasty discovered that Zac knew the event wasn’t gonna be a peaceful evenbefore it happened. Here’s a message that Zac sent through SEIU HealthcareMichigan’s twitter account in the days leading up to the attack: "Getting ready to RAID the RAD!" “RAD”refers to Rose Ann DeMoro (the Executive Director of the California NursesAssociation), who was gonna speak at the conference and was the focus of SEIU’s attack that day.

As you can see, it's no great wonder that "Zac" rhymes with "hack" -- because he's a big one.

P.S. For analysis oflast week’s election at Hackley Hospital, check out thisarticle by journalist Mike Elk in InThese Times.

SEIU-UHW: Let's Slash Your Health Benefits!

2012-01-09T01:33:00.000-08:00

As promised,Tasty is passing along more information about the concessions that SEIU-UHW officials aretrying to push down the throats of workers at Catholic Healthcare West (CHW) and otherCalifornia hospital chains. Here's what's going on:

In late August, CHW's CEO Lloyd Dean sent an ominous email to employees announcing that the company is“going to contain costs” by “reforming our health and pension benefits – all ofus will be asked to take greater responsibility for our retirement and healthplans.” Here's an excerpt from the email (full version is here):

In the weeks following the CEO's email, SEIU-UHW's Hal Ruddick began negotiations with CHW for a new contract for 13,000 SEIU-UHW members. Here's what a worker wrote about the first bargaining session:

Could you post informationregarding the new Wellness Program. Apparently, on the 1st day of bargaining,SEIU came to the bargaining team and suggested this bad idea and folks bit intoit, but some rejected and was outvoted. This has never been introduced to themembership. The scary part about it, SEIU wants to help the boss cut costs onthe back of members that have chronic illness, and they’re calling on Kaiser,Daughters of Charity and Sutter to join in this campaign.

Well, folks… it’s true. SEIU-UHW is pushing “WellnessPrograms” as part of its so-called bargaining program dubbed “Let’s Get Healthy California!” AnSEIU-UHW pressrelease penned by SEIU-UHW's Elizabeth Brennan put it this way: “During contract negotiations, union members willprioritize concrete proposals such as wellness programs to improve the healthof workers in their hospitals and lower costs.”

In fact, SEIU-UHW’s Executive Board even passed a resolution announcing their plans to negotiate “Wellness Programs” with employers. Here's an excerpt from the resolution (full version is here):

So what exactly are “Wellness Programs”? They’re the latest corporate scheme to pushmore health insurance costs onto workers’ backs. Tasty urges readers to check out this article in the New York Times. It describes how companiesare using Wellness Programs to impose financial penalties on “unhealthy”workers -- those who have high cholesterol, high blood glucose levels or who’reconsidered to be overweight, smokers, etc. For example, after Wal-Martimplemented its “Wellness Program,” the company began charging smokers anadditional $2,000 per year for their health coverage, according to the New YorkTimes.

Last year, SEIU-UHW officials allowed Sutter Health toimplement a "Wellness Program" in Northern California. The programmeasures each employee’s “body mass index” (BMI) to determine if they’re “overweight.”It also gathers information on each employee’s sexual orientation, amount of alcohol and tobacco they consume, etc. At first, theprogram appears to be aimed simply at offering incentives to “gethealthy.” But after the companies get their foot in the door, they can imposethousands of dollars of costs on employees... like they've done at Wal-Mart, Safeway, Home Depot, etc.

SEIU's effort to mislead workers about Wellness Programs is classic "SEIU." The Boss calls it "cost-containment" ... and SEIU says its a "healthy provision for members that will improve the health of our communities." Looks like Hal Ruddick is trying to repeat last year's campaign, when he used blatant misinformation to "sell" a $217 million cut toworkers' pensions.

Tasty hears that CHW has wanted to implement a WellnessProgram for a long time. Prior to SEIU’s trusteeship, CHW officials proposed Wellness Programs during negotiations in 2004 and 2008. But eachtime, SEIU-UHW’s old leadership knocked down the proposals because they were bad for the union's members. However, once Dave Regan and other out-of-state SEIU officials took over the union, CHW realized it now had a weak bargaining partner who was willing to slash workers' pensions and benefits... even though the company is making millions in profits.

Or, as CHW's Chief Financial Officer described it during his webcast with bond investors: "We areaddressing cost structure in discussions with our partners at SEIU who have exhibited a keen understanding ofthe complexity of healthcare delivery and reimbursement today, and we expect tohave further productive discussion over the next many months."

SEIU-UHW Plans More Cuts at Catholic Healthcare West

2012-01-05T20:32:00.000-08:00

Remember the $217 million in pension cuts that SEIU acceptedat Catholic Healthcare West (CHW) in California? SEIU-UHW officials eliminatedworkers’ defined-benefit pension plan and replaced it with a 401(k)-styleplan… and then liedto workers so they could implement the changes.

Well… guess what? SEIU-UHW officials have returned to thebargaining table with CHW, and they’re planning to make even more cuts to 13,000 workers’ health and retirement benefits.

Where did Tasty get the info about the cuts? From the BOSS!

Check out a recording of a December 2nd conference call betweenCHW’s executives and corporate bond investors. During this “investorrelations webcast,” Michael Blaszyk (CHW’sSenior Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer) describes how CHWexecutives are "in discussions with our partners at SEIU" to address the company’s "workforce cost structure" and “right-size our workforce.”He also brags about the $50 million in savings that CHW hasalready enjoyed as a result of the pension cuts that SEIU's Hal Ruddick and Dave Regan accepted last year.

Here’s a 1 ½-minute excerpt from CHW’s webcast along with arough transcript of Blaszyk’s statements (the excerpt includes the beginning of the webcast plus a section from later on). Readers can go hereto see the full webcast, which is about 40 minutes long.

Blaszyk: "As you wouldexpect, a key element to addressing our cost structure is workforcemanagement... Given the declining rate of increase in revenue anticipation, weare responding by right-sizing our workforce ... As part of this effort, we areaddressing cost structure in discussions with our partners at SEIU, andultimately at the CNA. These partners have exhibited a keen understanding ofthe complexity of healthcare delivery and reimbursement today, and we expect tohave further productive discussion over the next many months. We have alreadymoved to adjust our pension plan design to reduce our liability and pensioncosts. We have been successful in reducing pension expense by $50million."

So what kind of cuts is SEIU making? Well, CHW’s webcast includes graphics like this one:

CHW's webcast lays out a plan for cutting SEIU-UHWmembers’ pay and benefits in 2012, and then trying to impose the same cuts on theCalifornia Nurses Association’s members in 2013. Unlike SEIU (which lovesselling out workers in back-room deals with the Boss), the CNA has teamed upwith NUHW to fight pension and health insurance cuts at Kaiser Permanente. In fact, last September, 21,000 members of NUHW and CNA held the largeststrike in Kaiser’s history. Meanwhile, SEIU worked side-by-side with Kaiser management to try to break the strike.

Why is CHW making the cuts? Because SEIU is weak and in bed with the Boss. So is CHW hurting for money? Hardly. Last year, CHW made $917 million in profits last year, nearly doubling its profits from the prior year.

Stay tuned. Tasty plans to give more details on the benefits cuts that SEIU's already discussed with CHW officials.

Michigan Hospital Workers Join NUHW in Landslide Vote!

2012-01-04T15:24:00.000-08:00

Today, technical workers at Mercy Health Partner's HackleyHospital in Muskegon joined NUHW in a blow-out election victory overSEIU. The final tally of the NLRB election was 65 (NUHW), 9 (SEIU) and 3 (NoUnion). A total of 92 workers were eligible to vote in the election.

The technical workers first asked the NLRB to hold anelection nine months ago, but SEIU officials workedovertime to block and stall the election while they ran riggedcontract-ratification votes. Meanwhile, DaveRegan flew AmadoDavid and other California staffers to Michigan to beg workers to stay inSEIU.

The Hackley caregivers are the second group of Michiganworkers to join NUHW in recent months. In September, workers at Luther ManorNursing Home in Saginaw votedby a two-to-one margin to join NUHW.

SEIU's local union in Michigan is well-known for its corruptionand ineffectiveness. In 2008, RickmanJackson was removed as President of SEIU Healthcare Michigan afterstealing more than $30,000 from SEIU members. SEIU’s top officials promptlyappointed him to a $130,000-a-year staff position inside the Purple Palace.

Jackson’s replacement in Michigan, MargeFaville, is well known for nepotism and corruption… including a$160,000-a-year salary, a union-paid SUV and a union-paid apartment -- despite thefact that most of the union’s members earn only $8 an hour.

Faville is reportedly so busy stuffing wads of cash into herpockets that she's forgotten to have SEIU staffers actually respond tomembers’ calls for help or to make sure employers are actually honoring theirunion contracts.

Sounds like NUHW members will be getting more calls fromMichigan workers! Congratulations, Hackley workers!

Court Sentences SEIU Official in Illinois

2011-12-30T14:35:00.000-08:00

It looks like Tyrone Freeman is not the only SEIU official who's got problems with the law. The U.S. Department of Labor posted the following notice about John McMahon, the president of SEIU Local 335T in Chicago:

On October 20, 2011, in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, John McMahon, former President of Workers United, Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 335-T (located in Chicago, Ill.), was sentenced to two years probation including six months of home confinement. McMahon was also ordered to pay $12,460 in restitution and a $25 special assessment. On June 9, 2011, McMahon pled guilty to one count of making false entries in union financial records, in violation of 29 U.S.C. 439(c). The sentencing follows an investigation by the OLMS Chicago District Office.

So what did McMahon plead guilty to? Well, it looks like he stole $15,283 from the union's members while he was president. Here's what Local 335T's IRS tax return says:

Of course, McMahon's theft is small-time compared to the million-dollar heist that Tyrone Freeman committed while serving as the president of SEIU Local 6434 and a member of SEIU's International Executive Board. What kind of time does Freeman face if convicted of his crime? And which additional SEIU officials might be implicated in the crime? Hopefully, we'll get answers in 2012!

Feds Pursue Criminal Charges against SEIU’s Tyrone Freeman

2011-12-28T22:36:00.000-08:00

Tasty has learned that the U.S. Department of Justice isquietly pursuing criminal charges against TyroneFreeman for stealing more than $1 million from SEIU members in Los Angeles.Freeman is the faithful ally of AndyStern and Mary Kay Henry whohelped launch SEIU’s attack against SEIU-UHW after Stern appointed him as thePresident of SEIU Local 6434.

Things were going fine for Freeman and SEIU until 2008, when the LosAngeles Times broke aheadline-grabbing story about Freeman’s massive corruption scandal. SEIUwas forced to remove Freeman from his position and file a half-hearted lawsuit to recover the money he'dstolen. Since then, SEIU has shown little interest in pursuing thelawsuit, which has languished among stacks of dusty records at the courthouse.

Fortunately, in February the feds jumped onto the case. That’swhen the U.S. Department of Justice asked a Superior Court judge to intervene inSEIU's civil lawsuit against Freeman so the feds could prepare "criminalproceedings" against Freeman, according to these court records. The judgeplaced key filings by the feds "under seal.”

In August, the judge gave the feds five more months toprepare their criminal charges, according to this court filing. On January 12,Freeman's attorneys are scheduled to appear in Los Angeles Superior Court for a"status conference" on the feds' criminal investigation as well as theseparate civil lawsuit against Freeman.

Tasty hears that SEIU officials are plenty nervous about thefeds’ criminal investigation. Why? Well, there's boatloads of evidence that top SEIUofficials -- including Eliseo Medina,Steve Trossman, Jim Philliou, Dave Kieffer, Andy Sternand Mary Kay Henry -- knew aboutFreeman's corruption for seven years before the Los Angeles Times exposed it tothe world. In fact, in 2001, Steve Trossman (who currently serves as SEIU-UHW’s CommunicationsDirector) reportedly played a key role in hiding Freeman's crimes from SEIU'smembers and the public, according to thisarticle in the Los Angeles Times.

Tasty hears that SEIU officials are especially nervous that newdetails will emerge if Freeman takes the stand to try to avoid a lengthy jail sentence. Meanwhile, many SEIU members are hoping that officials inside the Purple Palace will finally pay the price for assisting Freeman in stealing more than a million dollars of low-wage workers' hard-earned money!

Canadian Healthcare Workers Win Pair of Victories

2011-12-27T19:07:00.001-08:00

Lastweek, workers in Toronto won two more victories against SEIU.

First,on December 20^th, a panel of three Canadian judges knocked downSEIU’s latest legal assault against the “Ontario Workers’ Union” (OWU), a newunion that’s won at least five elections against SEIU since July.

In SEIU’s latestlegal attack, fancy purple lawyers have been trying to stop the new union fromparticipating in elections by claiming that OWU’s constitution is somehow“flawed” and that the union was “formed illegally.”

After SEIU lost thisargument in front of the labor board, SEIU then appealed the decision to ahigher court. On December 20, a panel of judges heard SEIU’s appeal. Normally,it takes 4 to 6 weeks for the judges to reach their decision. In this case, thejudges reportedly needed only 40 minutes to rule against SEIU. And, to top itoff, the judges ordered SEIU to pay thousands of dollars of attorney fees to OWU as a penalty for dragging the new union through the bogus legal challenge.

Onthe very next day, SEIU suffered its second defeat. That’s when approximately200 lab workers at St. Michael’s Hospital in Toronto voted to join OWU in a government-run election. The lab workers, who’ve never had a union before, recently decidedto unionize… so they decided to approach their co-workers (who’re in SEIU) about joiningSEIU. According to one source, the SEIU members told them “what a crappyunion SEIU is,” and steered them to the Ontario Workers’ Union.

As the date forlast week’s union election approached, SEIU reportedly launched its usual smear campaignand then dispatched large numbers of SEIU organizers to tell workers to vote“no union.” Fortunately, workers persevered, and handed SEIU its second loss ina week.

According to one source in Ontario: “There's a definite stench offear coming from the purple palace as OWU grows stronger and SEIU membersrealize they can liberate themselves from their purple chains...”

Wayto go, Canadian healthcare workers!

NUHW Settlement at Providence Tarzana Medical Center Shows Contrast with SEIU

2011-12-26T12:17:00.000-08:00

Congrats to 550 NUHW members for ratifying a new three-year contractwith Providence Tarzana Medical Centerin Los Angeles! The settlementboosts workers’ pay and benefits… and offers a razor-sharp contrast withSEIU’s style of concessionary bargaining. Here are the details:

Last week, NUHW’s members ratified a contract that provides2% wage increases during each of the next three years, improvements in theirretirement plan and a ban on subcontracting. Quite an accomplishment,especially considering that the hospital lost $80 million during the pastthree years.

What about SEIU? It represents 600 RNs at the same hospital. In July, SEIUnegotiated a two-year wage-freeze for the RNs without even letting themembership vote on the issue, according to thisSEIU leaflet. SEIU also gave up its members’ job security andsubcontracting protections.

So how cozy is SEIU withthe company’s executives? SEIU’sleaflet to Tarzana RNs actually quoted management’s lead negotiator, allowinghim to explain to SEIU members why they should accept a 6% cut to their wagescales.

Tasty hears that news of NUHW members’ settlement atProvidence Tarzana is flying through Kaiser. Here’s an email that Kaiser workers sent out last week:

-----Original Message-----
From: honestmembers@yahoo.com
Date: Tue, 20 Dec 2011
To:
Subject: As NUHW grows STRONGER, SEIU officials are having apanic attack....

Congratulations NUHW,

What a resilient display of member to member strengthcoupled with the best negotiating experience in the healthcare industry. Your progressive actions moved more than 550members interests at the Providence Tarzana Medical Center to settlementdespite the current lackluster contract bargained by the so called powerfulSEIU union that is currently in place for its members at the "samefacility".

In Unity,

VOTE SEIU OUT

SEIU Official in Hot Seat over Affair with Staffer

2011-12-21T22:51:00.000-08:00

Steve Matthews & Dave Regan

Looks like SteveMatthews, the Executive Director of SEIU Local 721, is facing growingproblems for hisextra-marital romance with a union staffer. Check out the messagebelow, where Bob Schoonover (Local 721's president) announces that an “independentinvestigator” will be appointed to examine “allegations against ourExecutive Director.”

Meanwhile, sources tell Tasty that things are kinda crazy at the union’soffices in Los Angeles. Matthews’s mistress has reportedly gone missing for the past week, andstaffers speculate that Matthews placed her on medical leave in an effort to quietthe controversy. On the other hand, it's possible he's just trying to protect her health. Matthews’s wife is apparently none too pleased about theextra-curricular activities, and she’s reportedly been calling the union’soffices to try to track down Steve’s mistress.

Up north, a staffer at SEIU-UHW reportedly overhead a phone call in which DaveRegan gave advice to Matthews about how to manage the mess.Dave, who’s reportedly had multiple affairs with union staffers, has become an expert in extricating himself from these kinds of sticky messes. Lookslike Regan can add “crisis consulting” to his list of special contributions toSEIU, along with his role as "Chief Advocate for the Voting Rights of Workers."

As far as Tasty can tell, it looks like things are gonna get even messier at Local 721.In fact, Schoonover has asked SEIUPresident Mary Kay Henry to appoint “a personal representative” to helpstabilize the union. Fortunately, Mary Kay Henry had the incredible foresightto appoint SEIU’s “Director of Organizational Equity” to help Local 721. (WTF!!) For those who’re wondering how SEIU officials spend your hard-earned dues money, SEIU's "Director of Organizational Equity" earns $152,584 a year... presumably to extricate hormonally charged SEIU officials from their self-made scandals.

Tasty suggests that Mary Kay also appoint anindependent investigator to examine Dave Regan’s messy affair with an Executive Board member at SEIU 1199 Ohio. Along with the other affairs. Oh... and by the way, perhaps Mary Kay might actually investigate why, for the past three years, Regan has refused to implement SEIU’s order to transfer 65,000 homecare and nursing home workers to Local 6434... which, of course, was the supposed reason for SEIU's trusteeship in the first place.

Well, it’s been a tough week at SEIU. Here's Schoonover's memo:

From the desk ofBob Schoonover and Linda Dent

Dear Local 721 Board Members and Staff:

This has been a tough week at Local 721. Because of the challenges facing our local,Linda and I have asked SEIU International President Mary Kay Henry to appoint apersonal representative to help us assess our current situation and to assistus in putting together a plan to build the unity and stability of ourleadership team and to strengthen our union.

President Henry has appointed Public Division DirectorLeslie Frane to serve in this role. Leslie, along with SEIU Organizational Equity Director Bill Pritchett,will be in Los Angeles this week to speak with Local 721 Board members andstaff members. They want to hear our thoughts about the challenges we face andthe best path to greater unity within our local.

Leslie and Bill’s conversations will NOT include anyquestions that relate to pending allegations against our executivedirector.   Consistent with the SEIUEthics Code, those allegations will be investigated by an independentinvestigator, whom we expect to be named shortly, in a completely separateprocess.

One characteristic of good leaders is a willingness to askfor assistance and advice in the face of serious challenges. That’s why we asked President Henry toappoint a personal representative, and that’s why we are asking you to becompletely candid with Leslie and Bill if you are asked (through ChristinaRodriguez) to meet with them.

Thank you for your cooperation with this process, for yourpatience in this difficult situation, and for the hard work you do on behalf ofour members every day of the year.

In unity,

Bob Schoonover

SEIU-UHW's Latest Election Fraud

2011-12-20T19:55:00.000-08:00

Just when youthought they might've run out of scams, Tasty hears that SEIU officials have devisedelaborate new tricks to cheat their members out of fair elections.

In anearlier post, Tasty described how SEIU rigged an internal union election atKaiser Walnut Creek Medical Center in order to get JohnCuddihy (an ally of Dave Regan)elected as a Shop Steward… despite the fact that Cuddihy is universallydistrusted because of his back-room deals with management.

Here’s thelatest chapter in this ugly story:

Last week, SEIUannounced it would be holding membership elections at the Northern California hospitalin order to “reconfirm” its Shop Stewards. In the Medicine Department, workers breatheda massive sigh of relief as they imagined they’d finally have a chance toremove Cuddihy as their fraudulently elected Steward. Whew!

On election day,40 workers from the Medicine Department walked together to the cafeteria to casttheir votes to remove Cuddihy from his union position. When they arrived in thecafeteria, workers were shocked to learn that SEIU officials had concocted anintricate scheme to keep Cuddihy in his position. Here’s what happened:

Instead ofallowing the department’s workers to vote on Cuddihy, SEIU carefully dividedthe 40 workers into eight separate groups of voters. These eight groups werethen assigned to vote for eight separate Shop Stewards (talk about "re-districting"!).Seven of the eight candidates were people that the workers had never even heardof -- people who work in distant parts of the hospital like the UrologyDepartment. And (you guessed it) the eighth group of workers was assigned tovote for Cuddihy. But this group of voters had been hand-selected by SEIU so asto contain the only three people who would possibly vote for Cuddihy… includingCuddihy himself!

And that’s how SEIU executed its latest assault on union democracy... so they could "reconfirm" Cuddihy to his union position.

Apparently, thehospital’s workers are outraged at SEIU’s latest election swindle, and are terrified to imagine the ballot-box fraud that SEIU will undoubtedly commit when it’s timeto “ratify” the massive health and pension concessions that SEIU has alreadyinked with Kaiser executives.

Looks like SEIU has boundless creativity when it comes to committingelection fraud, but zero energy or initiative when it comes to fighting theboss and defending its members!

More SEIU Concessions in California

2011-12-19T11:49:00.000-08:00

A reader sent along more news about the concessionary contracts that SEIU is bargaining throughout California.Last Thursday, the StocktonRecord reported that SEIU negotiated a contract that cuts the wages, healthinsurance and pension benefits for nearly 4,000 government workers employed bySan Joaquin County in California. Here are some excerpts from the article,entitled “S.J. Workers’ Health, Pension Costs to Rise:”

San Joaquin Countygovernment workers will shoulder a larger share of their health and retirementbenefit costs in a labor deal approved last week by county officials…

The deal calls forindividual employees to contribute to their health care premiums. Typically,workers paid a share of their health care only if they included dependents intheir coverage. Union workers also will be contributing more to the cost oftheir pensions and take a 1.15 percent pay reduction in the form of threefurlough days a year.

The workers alsoagreed to a second-tier retirement plan for new employees, which would changethe pension formula and raise the minimum retirement age…

SEIU will return $2.5million to the county from a fund to help cover retirement health care costs.

Tasty hears that the deal's terms on health insurance will have devastating, open-endedeffects on employees. Not only do workers now have to pay a share of monthly premium costs for "employee-only" insurance, they will now pay at least 50% of futureincreases in monthly premiums. As premiums go up and up, workerswill likely be on the hook for hundreds of dollars per month to insure theirfamilies. Here’s a cost-out of SEIU’sconcessions for an average employee who gets coverage for herself and one dependent from the Kaiser health plan (click on the image below to make it larger):

Steve Matthews Channels Dave Regan in Latest Romance

2011-12-15T23:39:00.001-08:00

Steve Matthews

Looks like SEIU Local 721’s newly appointed ExecutiveDirector is working hard to keep pace with Dave Regan’s passion for extra-maritalromances. Readers report that SteveMatthews, who’s only headed the Los Angeles-based union since September, isrunning into problems after getting busy with a Local 721 staffer. It’s too badthat Local 721’s members didn’t listen to Tasty’s warningsabout Matthews! Here are excerpts from a reader’s recent email (Tasty replacedthe women’s names with initials):

Do you remember seeingthe blog post where Steve was exposed for having an inappropriate relationshipwith T. who was a member of uhw and that he was fired from?

He's up to the samething. He is still married to T. and isalso having an affair with L. who is a former union member and now on staff atour local. We were ok when we could atleast pretend it wasn't happening but he has been making decisions that affectus and our dues. Steve recently createda new department in the union and put L. in charge of it and gave her a raise! When are we going to draw the line? We can'tkeep covering for Steve and letting him make decisions about our union thataffect all of us.

Steve has a history ofinappropriate relationships and has gotten fired over these every time. He haspoor judgement and pits members against other members and staff against otherstaff members… Steve uses his position of power to take advantage of women.

What are we going todo about all of this? The decisions thatare being made are really bad and I was told that everyone is talking about itat the union office.

Tasty hopes that Matthews pulls out (so to speak) before hecommits something similar to what Dave Regan did in Ohio. Back when Dangerous Davewas President of SEIU 1199 Ohio, he reportedly impregnated one of theunion’s Executive Board members and then pressured her to get an abortion,after which he promptly dumped her from the union’s board.

Tasty hears that Regan’s escapades are well known insideSEIU. In 2009, soon after Regan landed in California to impose SEIU’strusteeship, a union staffer questioned Regan about the Ohio incident during aunion staff meeting. Apparently, Regan didn’t deny the incident, but instead challengedthe staffer to a fist fight in the parking lot. What a class act! Well, now weknow why SEIU pays Regan a salary of $300,000a year – all that extra-curricular romancing is expensive!

“Where’s the SEIU-UHW Representation?”

2011-12-14T20:14:00.000-08:00

Apparently, that’s a question that lots of workers at KaiserPermanente are asking these days. Tasty gets asteady stream of emails from Kaiser workers who report that Dave Regan and Co are providing virtuallyzero support to Kaiser workers. Take, for instance, the case where Hortencia Armendariz and otherSEIU-UHW staffers sat on their hands while Kaiser terminated a 33-year employeeat Kaiser Walnut Creek Medical Center, which prompted shock and outrage even among SEIU's own supporters.

Tasty’s seen a lot of tragic stories, but was especially horrifiedby this one from a worker at Kaiser Los Angeles MedicalCenter. Here it is:

Where’s the SEIU-UHWrepresentation? On 12/2/2011 Joseph Birch a 32-year medical recordsclerk was terminated because the Human Resources Rep., Tina Parrish, decidedthat she felt he was not "truthful" during an investigation - mindyou, without any proof.

This same investigation led to the termination of his wife ayear ago, who passed away earlier this year from cancer while waiting for SEIUUHW to mount a defense for her. She tried in vain for months and months to gether case heard, with no response from SEIU.

Nowadays, if Kaiser "feels" you violated a rule orpolicy, they can take punitive action without recourse or representation fromSEIU UHW.

HOW MUCH MORE OF THIS REPRESENTATIONAL INCOMPETENCE DOES THISMEMBERSHIP HAVE TO ENDURE? SEIU has no intent of representing its members. Theiragenda is to use our funds as a stream of revenue for their expansion.

Andy Stern on Hot Seat over SIGA Bid-Rigging

2011-12-13T20:37:00.000-08:00

SEIU President Emeritus Andy Stern is in more hot water over allegations that he helped rig a $432 million, no-bid government contract for his company, SIGA Technologies. Check out CNN's special investigation -- entitled "Sweetheart Deal with Your Money?" -- that aired on Anderson Cooper 360^◦ in recent days.

The report highlights Stern's role in the deepening scandal... and even features a picture of Stern flashing his famous purple scarf. Here are some of the questions posed by CNN's Anderson Cooper:

Why would a guy like Andy Stern, who has all these politicalconnections, why would he be on the board of this thing? Why would you bring insomeone like that unless it was to get influence with the White House?

And why is it that the company with deep tiesto the White House -- the company that just got a big contract for a drug that’snot been proven yet -- why is it going to make an 85% profit on its governmentcontract?

And that's just the beginning! Here's the full video

And a second CNN segment features Anderson Cooper's interview with one of SIGA's board members about the SIGA scandal.

So what did Stern get from the dirty deal? Well, the report hints at Andy's likely payoff when it reports that SIGA's top two executives each got bonuses of up to a quarter-million dollars for landing the giant government contract.

How much did SEIU's President Emeritus pocket from the deal? It's not clear, although there's still a chance the entire scheme will come crashing down under the weight of multiple government investigations into Andy's back-room deal. Stay tuned!

SEIU-UHW Hal Ruddick's Dirty Laundry in the Windy City

2011-12-13T00:22:00.000-08:00

Hal Ruddick

Remember Hal Ruddick?He's the SEIU staffer who negotiated the $217million pension cut at Catholic Healthcare West (CHW).

Well… Tasty has learned that Ruddick’s sell-out deal at CHW issimply par for the course. Check out this story, which comes complete withback-room deals, a raid on workers' health fund, and an effort to divertmillions of tax dollars to try to fix Ruddick's collapse of workers’ healthbenefits.

The story takes place in Chicago, where Ruddick was an SEIU staffer beforeparachuting into SEIU's California trusteeship in 2009. While in the WindyCity, Ruddick was the lead negotiator for a labor contract with the Illinois Association of Health Care Facilities that covered 8,000 SEIUnursing home workers.

During the negotiations, the nursing home bosses refused to cough up money for workers' wageincreases. Ruddick, rather than fight the nursing home companies, decided tocut a backroom deal that allowed the bosses to raid workers' health insurancefund in order to finance a small wage increase. It was a great deal for the bosses, who didn't have to pay a penny for the new contract. And Ruddick was perfectly positioned to cut the deal since he also served as a trustee of workers health and welfare fund. (See below)

After the bosses halted their monthly contributions to workers’health insurance fund, the fund quickly plummeted towards bankruptcy. In just 36 months, it lost $7.3 million -- or 75% of the money that it had built up overmany years, according to IRS Form 5500s filed by the SEIU Local 4 Health and Welfare Fund.

So, with workers poised to lose all of their health coverage, Ruddick fled to California. Meanwhile, back in Chicago, others attempted to repair thedamage left by Ruddick. With outstretched palms, they approached the Illinois legislature and introduced two bills (HB504and HB503)in hopes of getting millions of tax dollars to save health coverage for the nursing home workersand their families. Here’s how SEIU Healthcare Illinois-Indiana described thebills:

By then, Ruddick was living it up in sunny California and had long forgotten about the Chicago nursing home workers. DaveRegan had placed Ruddick -- a purple pillar of integrity -- on SEIU-UHW’sExecutive Committee and handed him a $155,304salary courtesy of SEIU-UHW members.

What's next for Ruddick? Tasty hears he's preparing to cut CHW workers' health benefits in the negotiations that are currently underway. Look out, CHW workers!

SEIU's Greg Maron: Escort to the Stars!

2011-12-11T16:10:00.001-08:00

A reader in California reports that SEIU staffer Greg Maron has taken on a new gig as a highlypaid escort. For those who don’t know him, Maron pockets $140,000 a year as aDirector of SEIU-UHW’s Kaiser Division and is affectionately called “Mr. Moron”by Kaiser workers. In September, he was last seen threatening SEIU-UHW members with termination if they joined the strike waged by 21,000 members of NUHW and CNAagainst Kaiser Permanente.

Well, on Friday, Maron reportedly showed up at NUHW’soffices in Northern California with an SEIU videographer and two Kaiser workersfrom Southern California. The two workers -- Garry Brooks and JeromeScott -- are SEIU’s “Dynamic Duo of Disinformation.” Last year, Brooks and Scott were featured in SEIU videos,leaflets, mailers and email blasts as they told Kaiser workers that they’d losetheir pay and benefits if they voted to join NUHW. These illegal threats --along with the rest of SEIU’s lies -- were so severe that the NLRB overturned the results of last year’s election and ordered a new one.

Federal records reveal that SEIU officialspaid a handsome price for the duo’s disinformation services. For example, SEIU-UHWpaid Garry Brooks more than $10,000 for his services in last year’s NLRB election, accordingto the U.S. Department of Labor.

…which brings us back to Maron’s visit to NUHW’s offices onFriday. That’s where Mr. Moron and Co. insisted they had a right to enter NUHW’soffices -- video camera in hand -- to review NUHW’s financial records. Yeahright!! The purple propagandists then shot a video in the hallway claiming that NUHW was somehowundemocratic for refusing entry to the SEIU-paid propaganda team.

SEIU’s idiotic media stunts definitely make for good humor, butTasty has an idea for a more compelling video. It's simple: SEIU should put Dave Regan in front of a camera so he can answerquestions like these:

Why are you getting paid $300,000 a year – nearly triplewhat Sal Rosselli earned as the president of SEIU-UHW?

Why did SEIU-UHW make $11.8 million in profits during thefirst eight months of this year? If SEIU-UHW is so profitable, why are youplanning to raise union dues on the membership in January?

What happened to SEIU-UHW members’ $4.1 million strike fund,which you dissolved earlier this year?

Why is Greg “$140K” Moron spending his time escorting SEIU’spropaganda teams instead of helping all of the Kaiser workers who’ve beenunjustly fired because SEIU is simply refusing to enforce workers’ contract?

It's been three years since SEIU imposed its trusteeship. Why have youfailed to transfer SEIU-UHW’s 65,000 homecare and nursing home members to Local6434, which was the whole reason for the trusteeship?

Oh… and if you’re short on videographers, Tasty would love to help!

Dave Regan's For-Profit Unionism at SEIU-UHW

2011-12-08T22:42:00.001-08:00

Hey, SEIU-UHW members: Ever wonder what Dave Regan is doingwith all of your union dues? Tasty hears he’s definitely not using them to hireField Reps to support the membership or enforce the union’s contracts. In fact, workers say it's prettymuch impossible to get a return call from SEIU-UHW's Field Reps -- even when workersare getting fired after 33 years on the job.

Meanwhile… SEIU-UHW keeps raising members’ dues. Earlierthis year, Dave Regan increased Kaiser workers' dues by $4 per month. And nextmonth, he'll boost dues by another$4 per month.

So where's all this money going?

Well, check out this remarkable document. It’s a financial statement from SEIU-UHW that details all ofthe union’s revenues and expenses from January through August (“Actual YTD”means “the actual money that's been received and spent year-to-date”).

The bottom line: SEIU-UHW pocketed a profit of $11.8 millionin the first eight months of 2011! That’s a profitmargin of roughly 20%. In other words, for every $100 of dues that are paid bya worker, SEIU-UHW is keeping $20 as pure profit. WTF! Tasty has never heard of a union making profits. (Here's a view of SEIU-UHW's financial statement, although you can see a larger and clearer version here).

So how did Regan convert the union into a profit-making businessventure? Basically, CEO Dave is taking in more dues from members,but providing less staff to assist the membership. It’s theultimate business scam: “Pay me more money… and I’ll give you less services.”

And what’s Regan doing with all the profits? Well, we alreadyknow where a large chunk of them are going: sky-rocketingsalaries for “Wall Street” Dave Regan and all of his East Coast transplants.Since taking over SEIU-UHW, Regan's salary has nearly tripled compared to whatSal Rosselli earned at the time of the trusteeship. Here’s what Regan took home in 2010 ($298,647), according to the U.S. Department of Labor:

And that’s not all: SteveTrossman (SEIU-UHW’s Communications Director) makes nearly double whatSal Rosselli used to earn. Meanwhile, SEIU’s fat cats are shoveling vast quantitiesof money (equal to 14% of their salaries) into their SEIU pension funds, even asthe same SEIU officials cut back-room deals to eliminate the pension plans for workers atKaiser Permanente and Catholic Healthcare West.

SEIU's Neneki Lee Joins Toto and the Wizard

2011-12-07T22:56:00.001-08:00

Remember SEIU's Neneki Lee? She's the SEIU staffer from D.C.who was hand-picked to take over SEIU Local 99 in Los Angeles but then quit ina huff when Bill"The Hotel" Lloyd refused to give up his overpaid job and massiveperks. After Neneki quit, SEIU officials placedher in a new job at the Coalition of Kaiser Permanente Unions.

Well, it looks like Neneki's new job includes pushing "Wizardof Oz"-themed propaganda on Kaiser workers across California. Checkout this email from Neneki, who used Kaiser's internal email system to blastout the super-defensive piece that SEIU and Kaiser are hoping willsomehow reverse workers’ growing disgust with the Labor-Management Partnership.

To: Tamara K Turner/CA/KAIPERM@Kaiperm, Tammy J Tuey/CA/KAIPERM@KAIPERM, Tamoe A Bloemhof/CA/KAIPERM@KAIPERM, ...
From:Neneki Lee <neneki.lee@unioncoalition.org>
Date: 12/07/2011 09:34AM
Subject: FW: Myths and realities of partnership--see the Fall Hank issue!
From: Tyra.L.Ferlatte@kp.org[mailto:Tyra.L.Ferlatte@kp.org]
Sent: Tuesday,December 06, 2011 3:43 PM
To: OLMP.CKPU.Steer.Cm-KPPO-ORD@kp.org;OLMP.CKPU.Staff-IREG@kp.org
Subject: Fw: Myths and realities of partnership--see the Fall Hankissue!
The Fall 2011 issueof Hank is out! Please do all you can to help bring this issue to people'sattention. Below is a brief description and links to the stories, which you canalso find (along with the cover image art) at LMPartnership.org/hank.

Partnership? Really? : Is the partnership just a way for unions to grab power?Or is it the opposite--a way for management to co-opt the unions? There's alsothe thought that partnership is an effective, sustainable way to improvequality and reduce costs. In the 14 years since the LMP was formed, a lot ofbeliefs have taken hold--myths and realities that the Fall 2011 issue of Hank explores in the coverstory. Get a cup of coffee, start reading and wake up to the reality onthis side of the rainbow. Featuresindividuals and teams from Colorado; Georgia; Mid-Atlantic States; Fresno,Hayward, Richmond and San Jose medical centers in Northern California; andWoodland Hills in Southern California. (Coming soon: a new LMP videothat explores more of these ideas -- watch for an announcement in LMP Flash!)

From the desk of Henrietta: Join the total healthrevolution

Editor's letter: Whose reality isit, anyway? Be sure to take thequiz and test your LMP savvy!

All in a Day's Work cartoon: Working inpartnership

Back cover poster: Path toPerformance online toolkit

Thanks,
Tyra Ferlatte

~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Tyra Lucile Ferlatte
Communications manager/Hank editor
Labor Management Partnership
Kaiser Permanente
1 Kaiser Plaza, 24 L, Oakland CA 94612
510.271.5943 office
8.423.5943 internal tieline
510.301.1020 mobile

What's next for Neneki? Well... even though she apparently loves promoting Toto and the Wizard,Tasty hears she’s eying a higher-paying job inside the purple partnership withKaiser. Sources say that SEIU President Mary Kay Henry appears to bepositioning Neneki to take over JohnAugust's job as the Executive Director of the Coalition of KaiserPermanente Unions.

Apparently, MKH has a history of hatin' on John August. In fact, in herearlier days, Mary Kay fired August from his job as DeputyDirector when she became the head of SEIU's Healthcare Division. Rumor hasit that Mary Kay wants to axe August and appears to be preparing Neneki to take his spot. Looks like things are gonna get violent on the "Other Side of the Rainbow"!

Josie Mooney Joins Skunks at Whitehurst/Mosher

2011-12-06T19:30:00.001-08:00

Ever wonder what happened to SEIU’s Josie Mooney after shewas dumped by the California School Employees Association? Well, just likea slow-flushing toilet, Josie appears to be swirling around with the same setof unsavory characters.

In her latest adventure, Josie landed a gig as a "Special Counselor"for “Whitehurst/Mosher,” the San Francisco lobbying and P.R. company that playedan infamous role in Andy Stern’s attempted‘character assassination’ campaign during SEIU’s California trusteeship. In fact, Josie was thigh-deep in the scandal when aconscientious insider outed the conspiracy in a tell-all articlepublished in the San Francisco Bay Guardian.

The article revealed how Josie, SEIU Executive VicePresident TomDeBruin and Andy Stern hired hatchet-men John Whitehurst and MarkMosher to try to smear California union leaders after they criticized SEIUofficials for selling out frontline workers in secret deals with healthcare corporations.(Sound familiar?) Josie and DeBruin even worked hand-in-hand with SutterHealth, California’s biggest anti-union hospital company, to wage theirso-called “Skunk Team” attack against union reformers.

So what kind of work is Josie doing now? Well, it turnsout that Josie is still sucking dues from SEIU members’ pockets. Check outthese meeting minutesfrom SEIU Local 221’s Executive Board. They show how Josie was present whenunion officials steered a $50,000 consulting contract to Whitehurst/Mosherearlier this year:

In the end, it sounds like Josie’s consulting firm didn't do such a good job for county workers. In fact, SEIU Local 221’s members ended up with a contractthat’s inferior to the one negotiated by workers who recently decertifiedLocal 221 and joined an independent union.

So, union members, if you happen to see Josie Mooney lurking around yourunion hall, look out! She’s probably trying to score a fat consulting gig funded byyour union dues!

More Workers Leave SEIU Local 221 in San Diego

2011-12-05T23:08:00.001-08:00

“Another group of workers recently flew the purple pond herein San Diego,” says a reader. Just oneyear after voting to join SEIU Local 221, a unit of 402 employees at the San Diego Regional Center voted todecertify the local union. The workers, who provide services to people with developmental disabilitiesin San Diego and Imperial Counties, had their election results certified by the NLRB in September.

According to Tasty’s source, this recent election brings tosix the number of bargaining units that have bolted Local 221 in recent years:

1) San Diego Community College District

2) City of San Marcos

3) City of La Mesa

4) San Diego County Probation Officers Unit

5) San Diego County Crafts Unit

6) San Diego Regional Center

And from what Tasty hears, more workers are preparing to join the rush for the exit...

Purple Lies: SEIU Pushed $217 Million Pension Cut on Catholic Healthcare West's Workers

2011-12-04T10:41:00.001-08:00

Remember the massivepension cut that SEIU officials negotiated with Catholic Healthcare West (CHW)? SEIU stripped at least $217 million from workers’ pockets by eliminating their defined-benefitpension plan and replacing it with a 401(k)-style plan, according to financialdocuments recently filed by CHW.

Well, here's the latest news: SEIU officials not only negotiated the $217million pension cut, but they then blatantly LIED to CHW workers in order to get them to accept the horrible deal during the union’s ratification vote. (And when Tasty says “LIED,” he means full-on fraud,treachery and deceit.)

Here’s what happened:

Last summer, as workers prepared to vote on SEIU’s tentativeagreement to change their pension plan, this is how SEIU advertised the deal to workers(b/t/w, the “GDP plan” is the defined-benefit pension plan that SEIUeliminated):

Do you notice any mention of the hundreds of millions of dollars that workers would lose by accepting SEIU's deal? In fact, there's no mention of even the possibility that workers would lose a penny. SEIU officials, instead of telling the truth, flooded workers with thousands of leaflets withall-caps headlines like this one:

And guess who was one of the main perpetrators of thismassive fraud against workers? StanLyles, who is SEIU-UHW’s Vice President and second-in-charge behind DaveRegan. Lyles’s picture appears on multiple purple propaganda pieces urgingworkers to vote “Yes” on the deal.

SEIU staffer Hal Ruddick, who now sits on Regan's Executive Committee, inked the massive concession with CHW executives and then directed the purple disinformation campaign against workers. And get this: Ruddick negotiated the cuts even though CHW made $917 million in profits last year, nearly doubling its profits from the previous year.

So how bad is SEIU’s pension cut? First of all, SEIU eliminated CHW's defined-benefitpension plan that guaranteed workers monthly pension paymentsfor life that were based on workers’ final wage rate and their years of service.

In its place, SEIU implemented anew 401(k)-style plan that pays far less. Under this new plan, CHW contributes a fixed amountinto each worker’s retirement account once a year (for example, 2% of a worker’s annualpay, which is the same as SEIU-UHW's union dues rate). When a worker retires, her retirement account is cashed out and this has gotta lastfor the rest of the worker's life. Hereare excerpts from the agreement that Hal Ruddick signed:

Bottom line: SEIU officials committed a nearly quarter-billion-dollar fraud against its own members. In Tasty's humble opinion, these SEIU officials should face criminal punishment for this massive scam. And the pension cuts should be overturned because SEIU deliberately deceived its own members about what they were voting on. Hmmm... any attorneys out there?