Here's the latest info on SEIU's transfer of California
long-term care workers to SEIU Local
2015.
Remember Dave Regan's
piece called "Who’s
Gonna Bell the Cat? The Tyranny of the Majority: Ethics and Values in SEIU?”?
That's the memo that slams Mary Kay Henry
and was "leaked" to the press.
Well, here's an interesting development.
Tasty's sources have revealed the identity of the
"leaker."
Who is it?
Dave Regan!
According to Tasty's sources, Regan penned the piece with Steve
Trossman (SEIU-UHW's Communications Director) and then told Trossman to
leak it to the press. Trossman approached his crew of "go-to"
reporters (those who reliably publish SEIU-UHW's materials), including Chris Rauber at the San Francisco Business Times and Tracy Seipel at the San Jose Mercury News. Rauber, of
course, wrote this
story.
 |
| Trossman: Cover-ups and Leaks |
What's the significance?
Well, it's notable that Regan is now using "leaks" of internal SEIU information as a "weapon" in his
self-described "war"
against Mary Kay Henry and SEIU. This represents an escalation that’ll
inevitably sharpen tensions.
Additionally, it means we can expect that more "leaks" will follow from Regan... and that he'll deploy similar quote-and-dagger tactics against Henry.
Secondly, Tasty has learned that Mary Kay Henry was prepared
to trustee SEIU-UHW if Regan had refused to transfer UHW's 65,000 long-term
care workers. In fact, the staff of multiple California SEIU local unions were
on "24-hour-a-day standby" to receive orders from SEIU to carry
out the seizure of SEIU-UHW’s offices.
Finally, here's the latest news about SEIU Local 2015, the new statewide
union.
According to an
article in the Sacramento Bee,
Mary Kay Henry has named Laphonza Butler -- the current president of SEIU Local
6434 -- as the "provisional president" of SEIU Local 2015.
On June 22, Butler changed her Facebook profile picture to
feature one of herself standing alongside Henry.
The Bee also reports:
“Along with Butler, the new statewide local will be led by Arnulfo De La Cruz, Kim Evon, Robert Li, and April Verrett, SEIU International President Mary Kay Henry said Tuesday.”
Notably, each of the newly merged unions (Local 6434, Local 521, and
SEIU-UHW) will have a representative among SEIU Local 2015’s top five
staff people... except for SEIU-UHW!
Of course, this is another sign that Henry is actively marginalizing Regan and SEIU-UHW.
 |
| Butler's new FB profile picture |
Here's some background on the five staffers whom Henry has
appointed to run SEIU Local 2015:
Laphonza Butler
(2014 pay of $165,952) is the president of SEIU Local 6434, serves on SEIU's
International Executive Board, is the president of the SEIU California State Council, and is a close ally of Mary Kay
Henry.
Kim Evon (2014
pay of $131,503) is currently the Secretary-Treasurer at Local 6434 and also
serves on the board of the SEIU California State Council.
Robert Li (2014
pay of $94,579) is a staff member of SEIU
Local 521, where his job title is "Director II," according to the
US Department of Labor.
April Verrett
(2014 pay of $127,931) is the Executive Vice President of “SEIU Healthcare Illinois-Indiana-Missouri-Kansas,” a union of
64,000 workers whose name grows longer with every SEIU merger. She’s been a
member of SEIU’s International Executive Board since she was placed on Mary Kay
Henry's slate of IEB candidates in 2012. She’s also on the board of the SEIU Illinois State Council.
As far as Arnulfo de la Cruz, this appears to refer to
Arnulfo "Bobby" de la Cruz
(2014 pay of $124,223), a longtime SEIU staffer who's been on the Purple
Palace’s payroll as an "Assistant Area Director" in California. De la
Cruz’s son is also named “Arnulfo de la Cruz” and works for SEIU as the
"National Director" for immigration reform.
