Michigan Workers Reject Another SEIU Contract Deal; Marge Launches New Vote-Rigging Scheme

Today, technical workers at MHP’s Hackley Hospital voted down a contract settlement that Marge “Cadillac” Faville, the president of SEIU Healthcare Michigan, had secretly negotiated with management.

And get this… workers won despite some serious hookin’ and crookin’ by SEIU. Tasty hears that SEIU staffers denied about 20 workers the right to cast ballots in the ratification vote. And then, at the end of the vote, SEIU banned workers who opposed the sell-out deal from simply watching the vote count.

Today’s vote comes just days after workers rejected a similar contract deal at Luther Manor Nursing Home in Saginaw.

So what’s Marge gonna do now? Well, it looks like she’s steppin’ up her game from “Hookin’ & Crookin’” to outright “Vote Rigging & Fraud.” Here’s what’s going on:

In most unions, when workers reject a contract settlement, the union’s bargaining committee goes back to the negotiating table to push for a better deal with the boss. But not Marge...

At Luther Manor, Marge just announced a re-vote on the same exact contract that workers rejected last week. But this time, Marge is rigging the rules. She’s moved the site of the voting from the nursing home to an offsite location that’s 10 minutes away by car. And Marge is only gonna let workers vote during a two-hour block of time during the middle of the day shift. Here’s the leaflet announcing the re-vote:

Do you think SEIU President Mary Kay Henry is upset that SEIU members' rights are getting crushed under Marge's thick heel?  Think again, my friends. History shows that Mary Kay is no fan of democracy. After all, she was personally involved in this episode… and this one too. In fact, it sounds like Marge has simply taken a page from Mary Kay’s playbook of dirty tricks.

SEIU Michigan: “United We Beg!”

What’s the latest from Michigan? Well, SEIU put out a leaflet telling workers at MHP’s Hackley Hospital to ratify the bad contract deal negotiated by SEIU Healthcare Michigan’s president Marge Faville. The only problem is… the leaflet doesn’t really inspire lots of confidence in SEIU. Here’s how the leaflet ends:

“United We Beg”???  Hmm… Was this an inadvertent mistake by Marge’s children, who hold down several positions on the union staff? Or is Marge finally coming clean about her strategy for contract negotiations?

Tasty can’t wait to see Marge’s next leaflet!

SEIU: Hookin’ & Crookin’ in Michigan

Many readers will be familiar with the dirty tricks that SEIU is using in Michigan. Here’s what’s going on:

Workers report that SEIU just cut a backroom deal with Mercy Health Partners’ Hackley Hospital in Muskegon, Michigan. The tentative contract settlement would apparently hit workers with a wage cut of 6%-11% over the life of the contract by letting management push more health insurance costs and other benefits costs onto the backs of workers.

So how’s SEIU trying to sell this bad deal to union members?

First, SEIU waged a fake fight against the hospital to try to rally workers’ support for the deal. SEIU staged an informational picket at the hospital, and then hours later SEIU Healthcare Michigan president Marge Faville announced she had miraculously reached a wonderful deal for workers (…that’s the bad deal that Faville cut before the picket).

Next, SEIU pushed workers to ratify the deal while conveniently refusing to provide them with copies of the tentative agreements (TAs). Here’s one worker’s report:

After many phone calls and messages to the SEIU union hall, I finally spoke with Norma Kersting on Friday, who referred me to Matt Carpenter. I asked him to fax me the tentative agreements so I could review them over the weekend. He said they didn't want them to “proliferate through the department” and he didn't have time to fax them. SEIU must have a very difficult procedure to fax, because our way is very quick and easy. He told me to come to the “informational” meetings on Monday and gave me the times. When I told him that I couldn't make any of those times, he said I could come to the union hall any time, staff would be there all day, and that because of the "really complicated language" he would need to sit down and "explain it all" to me. No Matt, all I need you to explain to me is why I can't see the TAs that will have a major effect on my life.

Here’s what another worker wrote:

They act like people are stupid and they need their wisdom to figure things out. It's insulting. We can read and use a calculator. And if this is a good contract like they claim, then why are they scared of people seeing it?

Hmm… Marge?? Tasty realizes you have a lot on your mind. There’s your $160,000-a-year salary, your union-paid SUV (price: $47,242) and your union-paid corporate apartment for those weekend trips to the big city ($17,600 per year). And then, of course, there are the union staff jobs you gave to your daughter, son and niece.

Despite the many pressures of your job, Tasty humbly suggests that you tell your salaried children to photocopy the TAs. Then, you should hop in your fancy SUV and deliver those TAs to the workers, who're the ones who actually pay your salary (umm, and the kids' salaries, too). Tasty hears the workers kinda really wanna see what you agreed to with their boss.

Oh, and by the way, Marge. No need to swing by Luther Manor Nursing Home in Saginaw. The workers there saw through SEIU’s bag of tricks. Last week, they voted down a separate sell-out contract settlement that you were trying to push down their throats, by hook or crook, SEIU-style.