Leaked SEIU Email Offers Exposé on Dave Regan

Remember the secret deal to create “political unity” between SEIU-UHW and SEIU Local 1021 in San Francisco? Ten days ago, Tasty posted a copy of the deal, which prompted coverage in a local newspaper and reactions by union members.

So what are officials at Local 1021 saying about the deal?

A source forwarded an internal email sent by three of Local 1021’s officials -- Chris Daly (Political Director and former S.F. County Supervisor), Larry Bradshaw (3rd Vice President) and Alysabeth Alexander (PAC Chair) -- to Local 1021’s SF COPE delegates. The COPE delegates are responsible for reviewing and approving the draft deal.

The email, sent June 7, offers a revealing glimpse at Local 1021 officials’ opinions about Dave Regan. Readers are no doubt aware of all the criticism of “Wall Street Dave” for cozying up to Bosses, selling out workers, and trying to crush democracy like an insect under his boot.

But what do officials at SEIU Local 1021 actually think about Regan? Check out the following excerpts from the email (Tasty posted the complete email below). A couple of quick notes on the text: “Roxanne” refers to Roxanne Sanchez, the president of SEIU Local 1021. “The Healthy SF loophole” refers to this act of political treachery carried out by SEIU-UHW's Dave Regan and Leon Chow.

earlier this year, our President began having discussions with the President of UHW, Dave Reagan, and the President of the International, Mary Kay Henry, to talk about the differences between our Locals. In these conversations, Roxanne forcefully and repeatedly pointed out the inconsistencies of our sister local in their organizational philosophy and political program. She pressed Reagan on how UHW’s engagement was compromising 1021’s position and progressive politics in San Francisco, where we have been organizing from the bottom up to build a political movement of the 99% that has been challenging corporate power…

During the discussions, 1021 clearly laid out our issues with UHW. We challenged their leadership for their position in opposing the Healthy SF loophole closure and for supporting pro-downtown candidates that support contracting out against candidates that support all workers in public sector and private health care and IHSS. We also challenged them on their anti-SF Labor Council stance.  It’s clear that their leadership was uncomfortable being challenged on these issues in front of their members who were not aware that these things had happened.  That’s not to say we’re turning UHW into a democratic union, but we must provide some framework for internal-SEIU accountability for what UHW has done and is doing in SF…

UHW’s political alliance with San Francisco business interests through the Alliance for Jobs has not just been an issue for Labor, it has been a problem for the entire progressive community. Since UHW’s trusteeship, victories for progressives in San Francisco have been few and far between. We don’t think that this timing is a coincidence. With Labor united, we face a very tough fight against downtown interests. With the City’s largest local on the other side, we stand hardly a chance.

That's quite a picture that union officials have painted of Dave Regan: undemocratic, pro-business, anti-SF labor council, anti-health reform, a supporter of subcontracting workers' jobs. It's no wonder that SEIU-UHW's rank-and-file members have given Regan the title of "Wall Street Dave." He's pretty much “the 1%”... and he's even got a $300,000-a-year salary to prove it! 

Here's the full text of the email: 

 Email from SEIU Local 1021 about SEIU-UHW's Dave Regan and Proposed Political Alliance 6-07-2012

Josie Mooney: Midwife to Secret SEIU Political Deal?

Josie Mooney

SEIU members and journalists have begun to speak out about the secret political deal between SEIU Local 1021 and SEIU-UHW... which Tasty revealed on Wednesday.

Yesterday, the editor of the San Francisco Bay Guardian published an article entitled “SEIU Deal Could Undermine Progressive Coalition.” According to the newspaper: “…it’s really happening -- and it could be a total trainwreck for progressive politics in San Francisco.”

Here’s an excerpt from the article, which includes quotes from a well known rank-and-file leader at Local 1021:

It would be a radical change -- for the first time, the members of Local 1021 would cede final control of their endorsements to the international.

Ed Kinchley, a co-chair of Local 1021's political action committee, told me he finds the proposal troubling. "I'm not at all interested in having the international have a say in who we endorse," he said. "Decisions about endorsements should be in the hands of our members."

He said he's all in favor of trying to find areas of agreement between the two SEIU locals -- "but do I want to have something enforced on us if we can't agree? No."

Elsewhere, the article describes how SEIU-UHW “has been taken over by the international… has attacked the hotel workers union and split with most of the rest of labor around California Pacific Medical Center… Forcing a joint endorsement with a union that is distinctly not part of the progressive coalition can only undermine Local 1021's historical role.”

So… who persuaded Local 1021’s Roxanne Sanchez to ink this knuckleheaded deal with SEIU’s Dave Regan and Mary Kay Henry? Sources say it was Josie Mooney, a longtime SEIU official who’s a close ally of Andy Stern. In fact, Mooney frequently accompanied Stern on his many SEIU-paid trips to China.

In 2008, Stern directed Mooney and SEIU Vice President Tom Debruin to create a secret group of SEIU officials called the "Skunk Team" to wage a smear campaign against Sal Rosselli and other former leaders of UHW. Why? Because these former leaders had criticized Stern and introduced a series of initiatives to democratize SEIU at its 2008 convention. Fortunately, Josie Mooney’s cloak-and-dagger campaign was outed by a disgusted SEIU staffer, whose sworn statement is pasted below.

Later, Josie Mooney left SEIU and took a job as the Executive Director of the California School Employees... until she was dumped by that union’s board.

She then signed on as a lobbyist for a San Francisco-based firm called Barnes Mosher Whitehurst Lauter, which lobbies on behalf of corporations like McDonalds and AT&T. Back in 2008, this same firm was the infamous “silent partner” in the Skunk’s Team’s attempt to carry out a hit job on Sal Rosselli and other reformers (see statement below). 

In recent months, say sources, Mooney was inserted inside Local 1021 as a high-paid consultant... thanks to the assistance of officials from the Purple Palace. Sources says she's now using her perch inside the local union to try to exert growing influence on the union's leaders... including the local's recent secret political deal with Dave Regan and Mary Kay Henry.  

Dewar-DeclarationOnSkunkTeam11-20-08[1]

Source Leaks Secret Political Deal between SEIU-UHW and SEIU Local 1021 in California

Dave Regan and Roxanne Sanchez

Tasty has learned that Dave Regan, Josie Mooney, Mary Kay Henry and Roxanne Sanchez have drafted a secret deal to forge “political unity” between SEIU-UHW and SEIU Local 1021. The latter union represents 42,000 public-sector workers in Northern California -- including workers in San Francisco -- and Sanchez is the union's president.

Here’s what’s going on.

Since SEIU’s disastrous trusteeship of SEIU-UHW in 2009, Local 1021 and SEIU-UHW have repeatedly clashed. Regan, who was parachuted in from Ohio, has steered SEIU-UHW far to the right. For example, “Wall Street” Dave has eliminated workers’ pension plans at the bargaining table even as Local 1021 fights to maintain them. 

And in politics, Regan has teamed up with San Francisco’s Chamber of Commerce to fund business-friendly politicians against progressive candidates backed by Local 1021 and the San Francisco labor council.

And that’s just the beginning. 

Regan and Leon Chow (an SEIU-UHW staffer) undermined San Francisco’s universal healthcare legislation, which was a key legislative priority of Local 1021. The cutting-edge law is designed to force businesses to provide health insurance to their employees.

And Regan opposed a community-based coalition -- which includes Local 1021 -- that’s been working to hold the giant Sutter Health corporation accountable on jobs, housing and services for the poor. The two unions have even locked horns at San Francisco’s labor council, where Regan has won few friends by threatening the city’s labor leaders, including UNITE HERE's Mike Casey.

And here’s a crystallizing contrast:  While Local 1021 pushes for progressive tax legislation in San Francisco, Regan cavorts with the 1% at the Chamber of Commerce… which is waging economic warfare against the city’s workers.

So what’s inside the secret deal between the two unions? (See the full agreement below). Well, it basically would force the two unions to make joint endorsements of political candidates and ballot initiatives. Previously, rank-and-file union members voted to endorse candidates and ballot propositions. But under SEIU's “political unity” deal, each union would get one vote in determining an endorsement. If the two unions can’t agree, then SEIU’s Mary Kay Henry would control a third, tie-breaking vote.

So what does this mean? Sources say it represents a giant giveaway by Roxanne Sanchez. One person put it this way: 

If you’re Local 1021, why would you sign this deal? Local 1021 is a big political player in San Francisco with lots of members, money and foot soldiers. Regan has shown again and again that he’s hostile to the priorities of Local 1021’s members. Basically, he’s bedded down with the business community. So, if you’re Sanchez, why would you agree to this so-called "unity" deal? It hands over control of Local 1021's political destiny to Regan and some SEIU bureaucrat in DC. Plus, when push comes to shove, everyone knows that Mary Kay Henry is going to back Regan over Sanchez. If Local 1021 accepts this deal, they're basically declaring unilateral disarmament as far as their political future.

So why would Sanchez accept such a bad deal? Tasty guesses the agreement comes with unpublished side deals that will allow Sanchez to pocket unspecified benefits in exchange for trading away her union’s political independence.

Another interesting detail:  The deal mentions former San Francisco Supervisor Chris Daly. Daly was termed out of political office and now serves as Local 1021’s Political Director. Sources says it’s especially ironic that Daly, who helped lead the progressive wing of San Francisco politics, will now be responsible for implementing a deal that’s gonna destroy the city’s progressives.

What’s next? According to paragraph 15 (see below), the deal will be presented to Local 1021’s COPE Committee on June 7.

Framework for Agreement between SEIU Local 1021 and SEIU-UHW on Political Unity - May2012