Kaiser's Propaganda Team Moves into Overdrive

As partnership bargaining begins, Kaiser Permanente’s “Office of Labor Management Partnership” is waging a propaganda campaign that would make George Orwell blush. 

The campaign -- aimed at convincing workers that Kaiser's execs and sellout unions are not um actually selling them out -- delivers its message via magazines, websites, videos, tweets, Facebook posts, email blasts, instagram… and even cartoons.

Check out one of the latest-and-greatest piece of partnership propaganda below. 

It's a cartoon showing Kaiser execs and partnership unions leading workers to a fantastic future filled with promise and a glistening city of gold. Pay special attention to the business-suited execs who lead the ignorant healthcare workers in scrubs to a sunny “tomorrowland” by telling them: “Idle fear is the risk. It derails progress and partnership."

And when the workers finally reach "Tomorrowland," they jump for joy and exclaim in unison: "We made it to the other side. Hip hip for us and to our guides. Planning and prep that helped our passage. But working together was our key advantage!"

 

  Kaiser Permanente's Pro-Partnership Cartoon: "SuperScrubs - Crossing to Our Future" April 20...

So who actually dreams this sh*t up?

Here's a picture of some of the Propaganda Team during last month's Bargaining Kickoff. While workers listened to speeches from Kaiser execs and SEIU-UHW's Dave Regan in a hotel ballroom, the Propaganda Team was busily working in a hotel conference room upstairs.

The team reportedly includes Lisa Hubbard, Maureen Anderson, Andrea Buffa, Anjetta McQueen, Laureen Lazarovici, and Julie Light.

Together, they’ve produced such journalistic gems as the following articles in “Hank,” a glossy pro-partnership magazine published and distributed to Kaiser workers by the Office of Labor Management Partnership. 

Here's one edition subtly titled "Partnership: The Choice of Champions." And another that pictures Kaiser's workers inside Dorothy's magical shoes as they travel down the path towards the Emerald City of Oz, which sparkles amidst a golden sunset.

  

Some sinister bullsh*t, right? Interestingly, Tasty hears that many Kaiser workers refer to "Hank" as "Yank" ...or alternatively "Wank." Sounds about right.

More to follow!

SEIU's Toto Tries to Jump through Flaming Hoop

On the eve of SEIU's wellness walk, Tasty hears that lots of interesting images are flying about. And as the saying goes, a picture is worth a thousand words.

So check out this political cartoon drawn by a Kaiser worker who's a GSO Driver in Northern California. It speaks volumes about boss unionism at Kaiser Permanente. (Tasty loves the purple pedometer hanging around SEIU's neck!)

Meanwhile... SEIU officials have decided that workers will somehow connect with a SpongeBob-like image of a purple pedometer that miraculously has already completed 5,000,000 steps. Hey, if Mr. SpongeBob-O-Meter can walk five million steps, then we can, too!! It reminds Tasty of SEIU's instinctive inclination to treat front-line health workers like children... like this time at California Pacific Medical Center or this time at St. Louise Regional Hospital.

So... as Kaiser managers give SEIU organizers free rein to spread their SpongeBob stickers all over Kaiser's hospitals, Tasty thought he'd make a few tasteful edits to the famous cover art from "Hank" magazine -- the partnership propaganda rag produced by "communications experts" like Maureen Anderson and Andrea Buffa. (BTW, Tasty hears that lots of workers refer to the magazine as "Wank.")

So here, my friends, are Kaiser's phony foursome in their red walking shoes!