At The Very End of 2010!

Santa Rosa Memorial hospital workers are FINALLY certified as members of NUHW!

Congrats to those workers and bargain a great contract!

Legal Happs

Last week, two separate judges delivered a pair of legal body-blows to Kaiser Permanente and SEIU.

On Monday, an Administrative Law Judge issued this 23-page decision that rules that Kaiser executives broke the law when they withheld as much as $2 million in pay and benefits from 2,300 RNs and professionals who voted overwhelmingly to (87% to 13%) join NUHW in January. The judge orders Kaiser to "cease and desist" from violating federal law and tells it to immediately "restore and maintain" workers' wages and benefits by awarding back pay, plus accumulated interest, to the workers.

The judge has few kind words for Kaiser. He calls Kaiser's actions "inherently destructive" of employees' basic labor rights and discusses "the massive damage done" by Kaiser's execs. The judge dismisses Kaiser's legal arguments with words like these: "indefensible," "lacks merit," "is without any legal foundation," "even worse..." Tasty especially likes this one: "It is on this point that this contention by Respondent [Kaiser Permanente] collapses completely." Ouch!

Then, on Friday, a second judge issued this federal injunction against Kaiser's law-breaking execs. Kaiser's actions were so severe that the NLRB went to the the extra length of seeking a 10(j) injunction in federal court to stop Kaiser from using endless NLRB appeals as part of an SEIU-styled stalling tactic. In his ruling, the federal judge continued the trampling of Kaiser and its attorneys: "This... fallacious argument amounts to nothing more than sophistry intended to conceal an unwillingness to bargain." Here's the NLRB's press release on the injunction.

Well...so much for the millions of dollars that Kaiser must have paid to Nixon Peabody, the union-busting law firm Kaiser hired to defend itself. Nixon Peabody is one of the world's largest law firms with offices in Paris, London and Shanghai. According to the firm's website, the two attorneys hired by Kaiser -- Michael Lindsay and Seth Neulight-- specialize in "advising employers on union avoidance related issues." In fact, Neulight's personal profile brags about how he helped a distribution company fight a Teamsters organizing drive.

So why are these legal rulings also a blow against SEIU? Well, after Kaiser illegally withheld millions of dollars in pay and benefits from the 2,300 RNs and professionals, Kaiser and SEIU (or "KaiSEIU") then launched a massive campaign to threaten thousands more Kaiser workers with the same cuts if they voted to join NUHW in the next round of elections.

In fact, SEIU spent millions on mail, email, robocalls, push-polls, videos, and out-of-state organizers to make threats like these to the 43,000 workers waiting for their election. The two judges' rulings show how KaiSEIU's entire campaign was built on massive violations of federal law that were "inherently destructive" to workers' rights and did "massive damage" to workers, according to the judges.

Dave Kieffer (aka "Mr. Top-Down") Is Headed to California.

Remember Dave Kieffer?


Former SEIU Long Term Care Director inside the Purple Palace in DC.

Tyrone Freeman Supporter.

Architect of SEIU's widely-criticized, top-down deals with nursing home bosses called the "Nursing Home Alliance."


Husband of SEIU consultant Pam Kieffer.

Architect of "buy to grow" where SEIU tried to get its pension funds to loan companies money to buy non-union employers--assuming that those employers would then be more union friendly.

Well, he's headed to California to run the SEIU California State Council. That means he'll be key in setting the legislative agenda for SEIU in California.

Bad news for California's progressive community and it seems like a demotion for Dave, don't it?

Happy Birthday, Special Fact Checker!

Who is Eli Kasargod-Staub? He is Andy Stern's fact checker for Tasty's favorite book "A Country the Works."

Tasty has gotten A LOT of feedback after mentioning Eli last week...seems Eli was a Stern Favorite but an example of "totally over-promoted," according to one source.

Eli was brought on to fact check the book, per Anna's memo, but was kept on staff and worked on field research on failed retirement care and nursing home campaigns. While Eli had a fancy (read: made-up Senior Field Coordinator) title, he was a researcher who needed "significant help" getting his work done. When that didn't work out, he was sent to "teach" unions in Australia how to be more strategic. Seems like an excellent use of dues dollars. (Speaking of dues dollars--Eli got a 45% raise this year.)

Apparently, Eli, was a favorite of Nursing Home Alliance architect and Tyrone Freeman Defender Dave Kieffer--who clearly has great taste in people.

...which is all to say: Happy Birthday, Eli!

Tasty hopes Andy Stern doesn't ruin your birthday by making you talk to the Feds on his behalf!

Feds Investigate Stern's Book Deal, Still.

Andy Baby has got to really wondering why he wrote this stupid book anyway. It's causing him quite the problem, and the only time someone sees it is stacked in a pile in the dusty corner of a local union office.

In yet another breaking article, the LA Times (led by Tasty's favorite investigative reporter, Paul Pringle) reveals that federal investigators are questioning people about a controversial 2006 book deal that allowed Andy Stern to personally pocket $175,000 in "advance" payments from the book's publisher even though SEIU officials spent hundreds of thousands of dollars of SEIU dues money to research, write, publicize and even purchase "A Country that Works."

The investigation comes as a kind of vindication for many people. Back in 2006, UHW's former leaders opposed Stern's book deal because they called it unethical, which reportedly was one of the reasons why Stern launched his aggressive attack against UHW.

If you wanna get more details on the book deal, check out this 2006 memo from Anna Burger. It includes descriptions of SEIU's plan to spend $80,000 to hire "PR Solutions" and "EchoDitto" to create a website called "http://www.acountrythatworks.com/" and do "blogosphere promotion" of Stern's book. SEIU officials also assembled a team of SEIU staff including Steve Trossman, TJ Michaels, Gina Glantz, and Bandele McQueen to do communications work and "help in planning the book events, book arrangements, press contacts and publicity." Burger's memo also notes: "A current employee on the Union's staff may accompany President Stern on occasion." (I guess Andy needed someone to carry around all of the books that he couldn't sell--a most pathetic assignment for some chump).

The LA Times makes special mention of SEIU Special Agent Don Stillman. Don, who is married to SEIU's top attorney Judy Scott, has strangely enuf been super successful at winning multiple consulting gigs from SEIU that have paid him hundreds of thousands of dollars over recent years (Wouldn't you think this should raise a few red flags for the union's attorneys?? Whoops...).

Observers say that one of Don's high-paying gigs was to help Stern with the book, which earned Don special mention in the book's "Acknowledgments." In a more recent contracting gig, Don produced an SEIU "coffee table" book that got totally panned in this review. (That reminds Tasty of that super expensive, but super lame, SEIU movie that the Village Voice called "A Crappy Infomercial Partly Funded by Its Subject")

Anyway, Tasty digresses. Back to the LA Times. The unnamed SEIU researcher in the LA Times article is Eli Staub, who assembled the facts for Stern's book while on SEIU's payroll.

Finally, for those interested in Anna's memo about Andy's book, Tasty personally loves this line on page 6: "We believe the book can be a very effective communication tool to advance our seven strengths program." Not sure what "seven strengths" she's referring to? Well, whatever they were, these "seven strengths" appear to have been pushed far off the stage by SEIU's most recent "seven scandals:" Andy Stern, Annelle Grajeda, Alejandro Stephens, Tyrone Freeman, Rickman Jackson, Byron Hobbs and Sharon-Frances Moore.

Prison Time.

Wow.

Check out this article in the Los Angeles Times about former SEIU IEB member Alejandro Stephens heading off to jail for his guilty plea on corruption charges. The article mentions no fewer than 4 SEIU officials involved in recent corruption scandals (Alejandro Stephens, Tyrone Freeman, Anelle Grajeda and Janett Humphries) and provides new details about Andy Stern's role in awarding more than $300,000 in severance payments and consulting fees to Stephens in an effort to ease Stephens out of his role as president of Local 660.

The article says: "Federal investigators also have questioned people with ties to the union about whether Andy Stern, former national head of the SEIU who now sits on President Obama's deficit reduction commission, may have approved a no-show position for Stephens."

The article also offers new details about former SEIU Executive Vice President Annelle Grajeda's role in the Stephens' corruption scandal. In court filings, the FBI named Grajeda and her son as "co-schemers" in the crime. B/t/w, is Annelle still working in the Secretary-Treasurer's office in SEIU's purple palace in DC?

And most intriguing for Tasty is this excerpt. Can anyone name these SEIU officials?

The genesis of the case, according to Stephens, was a phone call he received in early 2004 from an SEIU official, whom he declined to name. The official, Stephens said, told him Contreras wanted to help Stephens be reelected as president of Local 660, where he faced opposition amid criticism that he was autocratic and ineffective.

Stephens said he was then summoned to Sacramento. There, he said, he met with the SEIU official and others, who advised him to find people willing to accept the nonprofit's money and then turn it over to him.

"All I had to do was identify someone or persons who will be able to pass the checks, and then pay for the campaign," Stephens said.

Stephens admitted recruiting friends and relatives to serve as what prosecutors called "phony consultants," who received $52,000 in VIP funds and were directed to "hand the money over to Stephens," federal authorities said in a statement.

Here's a link to the full article.

Remember this?

May 2009 300 workers joined NUHW at Doctor's San Pablo--the first election!

Well SEIU's final round of objections were denied and the workers are certified as NUHW members. Justice does not happen too fast in the labor movement, but it does happen!

Go get that contract, NUHW!

HCA Negotiations: Going Nowhere, Fast.

Tasty hears that SEIU's trustees are having some problems at HCA hospitals in California. Earlier this week, SEIU-UHW sent out a press release announcing that its members at three HCA hospitals in Southern California would conduct a one-day strike on Dec. 3 after more than a year of unsuccessful contract negotiations.

Registered Nurses at the three hospitals, who are represented by SEIU Local 121, have also been in unsuccessful negotiations at the same hospitals but, strangely enuf, Local 121 didn't issue a strike notice for Dec. 3.

According to the San Fernando Business Journal, the SEIU RNs planned to cross the picket line: "...members of SEIU Local 121RN will not be holding a strike on Friday. They still have five days left of bargaining with the hospitals’ management from Dec. 6 through Dec. 10, said Aimee Barajas, spokeswoman for the local union."

On Dec. 1, SEIU's trustees announced they were calling off the Dec. 3 strike and would instead sit down with HCA -- like they've been doing for more than a year.

So what's going on? As far as Tasty can tell, there are some serious coordination problems between SEIU's trustees and Local 121's leaders. How's it possible that these two SEIU locals are not coordinating their negotiations and strike plans against HCA, the largest hospital corporation in the US??

Tasty suspects these problems may have something to do with Ragin' Dave Regan's bull-in-a-china-shop style. During his short tenure in CA, Regan has already threatened the entire San Francisco Labor Council, the North Bay Labor Council, the Chair of the California Democratic Party, etc. Or it could be a simple case of incompetence by SEIU's out-of-state staff, like the failures that led to the firing of 38 UHW members at Piedmont Gardens in Oakland.

And this may be another hint: as far as incompetence, Tasty hears that Alex "Krooked" Espinoza is playing a lead staff role in the trustees' HCA campaign.

Oh, right! What About the Marshall Report?

'Member when SEIU held that ridiculous "trusteeship hearing" and Stern's pal Ray Marshall wrote that report that essentially said that UHW and it's leaders had done nothing wrong but SEIU should trustee them if they didn't agree to hand over the Long Term care members to Tyrone's local?

And they trusteed UHW?

So, are we about to transfer those members to 6434 now that Laphonza is running the show? Nope. Not happening.

This e-board member is not amused, see his letter below.

_____________________________________________________



November 17, 2010

SEIU-UHW

560 Thomas L Berkley Way

Oakland, CA 94612

Attention: Membership Department

Dear Trustee Dave Regan:

I was informed today that the homecare workers still have not been moved to a California long term care local as demanded by Andy Stern and the IEB in January 2009. Secretary Ray Marshall’s report was very specific that the trusteeship was only warranted if UHW did not follow the IEB’s demand to move the homecare workers to the new statewide homecare local. I assume that though Tyrone Freeman was forced to resign due to criminal financial dealings, SEIU still had plans to create this groundbreaking homecare statewide local. As you well know as a member of the IEB, this destructive action against the member led UHW went against SEIU’s national plan for the rest of the country. In all other states, SEIU was combining all healthcare workers into mega locals creating even multi-state locals. Since we, the member elected UHW Executive Board, refused to follow this obvious attack on our local, UHW was put into trusteeship.

I have waited over 1½ years to see if you will follow the orders of the IEB but I was notified today that the homecare workers are still members of UHW. Furthermore, you are proposing in the new UHW Constitution that the Executive Board be greatly expanded including increased homecare representation. I’m sure you will have no difficulty cherry picking homecare workers to fill those spots. My experience on the Board was it was difficult to find homecare workers willing and able to commit the time necessary to be an Executive Board member. I’m sure you will have no trouble cherry picking homecare workers to fill these vastly enlarged representative seats.

Your actions and the actions of SEIU’s IEB destroyed what was once a very vibrant politically active member driven local. I spent many days lobbying for healthcare reform, safe staffing bills, and other issues in Sacramento as well as phone banking at each election cycle. I engaged the members of my hospital in these efforts. During the most recent election cycle, I saw no political activity at my hospital, no phone banking requests or phone calls to my home, or any other activity to engage union members in this important election.

Sadly, I hereby resign my membership effective. I further am qualifying under the Beck objection and wish to “only pay a fair share fee limited to his or her proportionate share of the Union’s expenditures for collective bargaining, contract administration, grievance adjustment, contract enforcement and other activities germane to the Union’s dues as bargaining representative (called “representative activities”). I expect that any activities related to fighting NUHW is not considered part of this representative activity fee and further object to use of any of this fee for these purposes.

Sincerely,

Anthony Aidukas

Former SEIU-UHW Executive Board member

xxxxxxxxxx

Palm Springs, CA xxxxx

xxx xxx xxx

Desert Regional Medical Center/Tenet

Slow Lerner

Tasty has received several emails from Zombie UHW staffers reporting that the mood at the Oakland headquarters is a bit blue (well, purplish-blue) following the loss of 1,500 Kaiser professional workers and losses in San Francisco's political elections by the UHW/Chamber of Commerce candidates.

But despite these results, according to Tasty's sources UHW's unelected trustee-for-life Dave Regan was visibly gloating as news worked its way among key senior staff that top SEIU staffer (and IEB member) Stephen Lerner has been fired!

The high-level firing appears to confirm that the 1199 Ohio group (including Tom Woodruff and Scott Courtney) is consolidating power at SEIU, and Tasty is told that the issue came to a head over a dispute about the national union's organizing budget: Would SEIU spend millions of dollars on a multi-city campaign to organize low-paid workers and attack the banks (as Lerner wanted), or would the money be spent on more traditional organizing targets (and on propping up the UHW trusteeship in California, where SEIU has already sunk tens of millions of dollars)?

Other sources tell Tasty that several key SEIU staffers feared Lerner's campaign would be more of the same smoke-and-mirror, media-driven gambits that have soaked up tens of millions of dollars without resulting in new members OR additional credibility for SEIU in the area of financial reform.

The pink-slipping of Stephen Lerner highlights the serious turmoil inside Mary Kay's purple palace as staff leaders jockey for power and control over millions of dollars of budget money (that is... your dues dollars). Tasty hears that Stephen Lerner is not the only staffer who's likely to get the axe, and that other staffers are likely to quit their jobs and follow Lerner out the door. Meanwhile, Lerner's firing creates another vacancy on SEIU's International Executive Board (Lerner was one of the International staffers who also sat on the board), which Mary Kay will have to fill. Stay tuned for more!

NUHW IS BACK IN THE GAME! 1500 Kaiser Workers Choose NUHW

Despite an intense campaign by the Kaiser and SEIU against NUHW (though what's the difference between those two these days?) and the larger Kaiser unit choosing SEIU, Kaiser Optical and IBHS (psych) workers joined NUHW :

Here are the totals:

IBHS: 3 to 1!

SEIU: 196
NUHW: 603
No Union: 0


Kaiser Optical:

SEIU: 142
NUHW: 154
No Union: 0

Nor Cal Social Workers:

SEIU: 148
NUHW: 139
No union: 2


As far as SEIU's last-ditch attempt to block the ballot count, here's some coverage in a local newspaper.

Congrats to all!

UPDATE: Kaiser Vote Count

The NLRB has ordered the ballots counted.

Counting begins at 1pm.

SEIU tries to impound today's Kaiser ballot count

Tasty hears that SEIU is making a last-minute attempt to block the ballot count for 1,800 Northern California Kaiser professional workers who just finished voting in a mail-ballot NLRB election. This morning, workers and NLRB agents gathered at the NLRB office in Oakland and they've already unsealed the ballots. Now, SEIU is trying to stop the ballot count from proceeding. Gimme a break, SEIU!

So what's the deal with this election? These 1,800 workers are divided into three separate bargaining units, each of which is voting as a separate unit. All three groups (mental health workers, optical workers and medical social workers) first requested elections in June, but SEIU and Kaiser teamed up to block the NLRB from scheduling the elections until after the large, 43,000-member Service & Tech election was finished. SEIU and Kaiser wanted to run the big election first, because they calculated that a win in the big unit would cause the smaller units to vote for SEIU. NUHW wanted all of the elections scheduled for the same time so all Kaiser workers could vote together.

Well, it looks like even though SEIU got its preferred election scheduling, SEIU is plenty nervous about the outcome. Tasty hears that SEIU's "vote SEIU" mailer for the largest unit had only 24 people on it. From what Tasty hears, NUHW has a good chance of winning the biggest unit of 1,100 workers. As for the other two smaller units (approx 360 people each), Tasty hears that SEIU is likely to win one while the other one may be close. Just as we saw in the big unit, Tasty hears that both Kaiser and SEIU ran very dirty campaigns with tons of violations of federal labor law, including captive-audience meetings, etc.

Tasty will keep you updated on developments at the ballot count. Stay tuned!

SEIU Continues With it's Half-Assed Ways

Like a bad case of food poisoning, workers at Salinas Valley Memorial Hospital (SVMH) are still feeling the after-effects of SEIU at their hospital. It turns out that SEIU not only agreed to cut 165 jobs at the hospital, they also allowed management to put another 40 workers on a two-week, unpaid furlough.

This latest secret deal was revealed days after the labor board finally certified NUHW as the workers' new union. The 40 furloughed workers run a coffee shop in the hospital's lobby area, and hospital execs approached SEIU about furloughing them because management wanted to change the coffee shop's equipment.

Even a half-assed union would oppose such a request. Think about single parents struggling to pay their rent, bills, etc who and simply can't afford to lose a half month's pay. Once NUHW was certified, rank-and-file leaders demanded details about the furlough deal, and hospital execs produced emails showing how SEIU staffer Lauren Sullivan signed off on the furlough deal for SEIU.

At the same time, SEIU began sending robo-calls to SVMH workers' phones, telling them that SEIU plans to fight the labor board's decision to dismiss SEIU's bogus efforts to challenge the election results (in fact, the board has now dismissed SEIU's charges twice). SEIU's robo-call included a shameless effort to gather workers' personal email addresses. It said something like: "We want to stay in touch with you, so please send us your email address and we'll automatically enter you in a contest to win a brand new car!"
If SEIU's trustees never delivered even half-assed support to workers in their jobs, do you really think they're gonna send you a new car???

Meanwhile, check out some of the press on NUHW's demand that the hospital, which made $14 million in profits during the last 14 months, reopen its decision to lay off 165 workers.

Spot of Tea, Tyrone? REDUX

Tyrone Freeman just accepted Tasty's friendship on Facebook. And his page is weird. Either he has lost his mind entirely, or he has been hacked. Or he is a 27 year old Reggae fan who thinks impersonating a loser former SEIU President is funny.

Either way, Tasty loves it.

...And Another One Bites the Dust.

Whoa! Shake up at UniteHERE?

UniteHERE President John Wilhelm is taking a "LOA" until February.

What gives? Tired from beating SEIU and Raynor?

It's Election Day! SEIU and the Chamber of Commerce Get out the Vote!

A few weeks ago, Tasty shared with you that Trustee Extraordinaire Dave Regan is working against progressive candidates for the boss's organization, the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce -- as part of the so-called "Alliance for Sustainable Growth."

Well, it's not just Dave. His pal Leon Chow is getting in on it, too! 

You remember Leon, right? Leon Chow has never found a principle he couldn't compromise as long as it advances his personal career. Before the trusteeship, when Chow was a staff member at SEIU-UHW, he signed letters to SEIU President Andy Stern opposing his planned trusteeship of SEIU-UHW. Chow also criticized SEIU as undemocratic and ultimately resigned his membership in SEIU in order to protest the trusteeship.

Then, just six days after the trusteeship, Chow executed a flip-flop of gigantic proportions by signing up for a high-paying job with SEIU's trustees so he could personally implement the trusteeship! And Chow, who formerly worked for HERE, worked side-by-side with SEIU operatives to launch a multi-million-dollar raid against his former union, UNITE HERE.

Chow also sits on the board of directors of the Chinese Progressive Association in San Francisco, which claims to push for "a progressive voice for working-class Chinese immigrants." In another giant flip-flop, Chow is now happily featuring his photo alongside the President of the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce on campaign literature that attacks progressive candidates running for the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. 

UHW-ChamberDoorHangerSteveMossSFSupeOct2010

Who's funding the so-called "Alliance for Sustainable Growth"? According to Beyond Chron: 

Besides SEIU-UHW, funding for the Alliance for Jobs and Sustainable Growth comes from the Golden Gate Restaurant Association (GGRA), Building Owners Management Association (BOMA) and the Plumbers Union.

For those of you who remember the pre-trusteeship version of Leon Chow, he used to go head-to-head with the GGRA, the largest single donor to the failed fight against San Francisco's living wage laws.

Leon Chow's dizzying flip-flops are so extreme, it's hard to imagine what he'll do next. Tasty wouldn't be surprised if he ends up in the Human Resources Department of some big corporation... as long as it pays enough.

NUHW Victory at SVMH!

On Thursday, workers scored an important victory at Salinas Valley Memorial Hospital by overcoming months of SEIU's delay tactics and finally winning recognition as part of NUHW. Since May, SEIU has used one bogus legal maneuver after another to stop workers' election results from taking effect. Workers got fed up and began making hundreds of phone calls to the labor board to demand that their election be respected. On Wednesday, the labor board dismissed SEIU's latest appeal and on Thursday, it certified NUHW as workers' new union!

The action came none too soon. On Tuesday, SEIU staffer Lauren Sullivan (aka "Wicked Witch of the West") was meeting with management to talk through layoffs of 165 workers. Lauren is the same SEIU staffer who threatened workers with possible termination if they participated in a picket line in front of the hospital to protest the layoffs.

On Thursday, a crew of workers was meeting at a nearby Denny's to plan their next steps when they finally got the news of the board's action (that's them in the photo at the top). Some of the workers quickly got on the phone to tell SEIU Staffer Lauren Sullivan that she can no longer represent them in secret meetings with their employer.

And as for the Wicked Witch of the West? Tasty hears she ended up here.

Wicked Witch of the West

Here's a story that says it all. First, let's rewind our memories back to May. That's when 900 workers at Salinas Valley Memorial Hospital voted by a two-to-one margin to leave SEIU and join NUHW.

Soon after the election, SEIU filed bogus legal charges to stall the labor board from certifying NUHW as the workers' new union. As the labor board takes its merry time sorting thru SEIU's charges, SEIU continues to be the workers' authorized union and still collects workers' monthly union dues... even though SEIU provides zero support to the workers there. Awesome!

A couple of weeks ago, management announced plans to eliminate 165 jobs at the hospital even though it made more than $14 million in profits during the past year. SEIU didn't raise a whisper of opposition and, instead, sent former SEIU Local 521 staffer Lauren Sullivan to meet with hospital execs to plan the job cuts. (Here's more background on Beyond Chron.)

So... workers self-organized their own picket line to fight the cuts. When SEIU learned of workers' plans, they sent Lauren Sullivan back to the hospital to organize AGAINST workers' planned protest. Lauren scurried through the hospital telling workers they could be fired if they joined the picket line (FOR REALS, Lauren??). Lauren, who apparently is BFF with SEIU staffer Velvet Hazard, quickly earned the nickname "Wicked Witch of the West" due to her evil ways and Halloween-themed outfits.

Despite SEIU's scare tactics and misinformation campaign (sound familiar, Kaiser workers), on October 21 workers held a successful picket line that was covered in 3 newspapers and 2 TV stations. Check out this TV coverage on CBS news. And Lauren... you might wanna start researching your next career move here... http://www.tbglabor.com/ or here.

Looks Like Dave Regan Has Some Competition!

Sophia Sims describes herself this way:

Union Activist; I have been a union activist for over 22 years. As a member worker, I have organized externally and internally, politically organized(precinct walking, phone banking, lobbying the lawmakers), union steward(representation of the members). Ive held union staff positions as a Rep./ Organizer and Staff Director(CHW & Kaiser Division. Currently the President of AFRAM (Los Angeles Area chapter and Western Region Secretary). Most union affiliated organizations like CBTU, A. Phillip Randolph, AFRAM(African American Caucus) been involved or a member. Alumni of the UCLA African American School. Held the office of Treasure with the staff union under Local 399. Mostly a humanitarian, I care about people even when they dont care about themselves or dont know how to care about themselves. Im known as Sophia, Sophie, or ss (lol). Also that person who is not afraid to speak out when there is an injustice done to people........ss

...and it seems she is running for UHW President against Dave Regan. Tasty wants to know more--email me at tastysternburger@gmail.com.

CHW Workers Remain Committed to NUHW!

Check out this cartoon and more at the awesome website of Ellen Dillinger--a UHW member and healthcare worker who is also a talented cartoonist!

Kaiser Election Aftermath...

So, readers and friends...NUHW lost to SEIU in the Kaiser election. NUHW filed objections to that election because of violations of the NLRA including Kaiser illegally helping SEIU and Kaiser withholding raises from NUHW members to influence the voters in this election (in other words-- the missing 2% raises from the SoCal pros.)

And Tasty has been hearing from readers with complaints about the election...like this one:


Tasty - I read the charges that NUHW filed last week against Kaiser and SEIU. But they forgot something important. Its true SEIU lied to Kaiser workers and told us we'd lose all our pay and benefits if we voted for NUHW. But SEIU had a special campaign to lie to immigrants. Why? Because many immigrants don't know how the laws work in this country. I know a guy from Mexico who works in dietary in my hospital. SEIU went to his house and told him "You got kids, right? And they get medical insurance from your job, right? If NUHW wins, your kids will lose their insurance." Another woman from Mexico, she works in EVS. SEIU went to her house 5 times one day and told her she will lose her pension if NUHW wins. She told me "I'm getting old. I can't lose my pension." I asked around, and in departments where theres just 1 or 2 Latinos, they were the only ones that SEIU visited in their houses. SEIU lied to all the workers, but they made a special focus to lie to immigrants. I hear that SEIU did the same thing to homecare workers in Fresno. Is that right? Isn't this kind of racial profiling illegal? For me, it is the most despicible thing to bully people who are the most vulnerable. Can the goverment investigate this? We need to let the world know what SEIU did here.

Post Kaiser Vote Analysis

Red Revolt

Beyond Chron

LA Times

In These Times

Kaiser Vote Results

SEIU 18,290
NUHW 11,364
Neither 365

A real bummer for NUHW, but when the boss and the incumbent union are working together...what can you expect?

But based on the violations of labor law, Tasty has his money on a re-run.

Andy Stern's New Gig at SIGA--Makes More Sense Now!

Today's Huffington Post has an article called "Andy Stern's Bizarre Alliance with Private Equity and Bio Warfare."

Quite Revealing! Turns out that SIGA, the bio-pharmaceutical outfit that put Andy on it's board is owned, in part, by private equity big wig Ron Perelman...who also owns Allied Barton, a security firm where SEIU cut a notably bad deal for security guards.

From the post:

Stern and Perelman worked closely together when Stern was head of the SEIU and was attempting to organize Perelman's workers. Stern gave Perelman treatment that was unusually favorable to the private equity giant.

Story continues below

Stern and Perelman have a history of cooperation. The pair met in 2004 as SEIU was attempting to unionize AlliedBarton, a security company owned by Perelman's holding company, according to a labor official who knows them both. In September 2006, the SEIU surprised the labor movement by agreeing not to organize 10,000 security guards working for AlliedBarton, largely in the Philadelphia area, in exchange for organizing opportunities elsewhere. In 2008, the SEIU again surprised observers by not standing in the way of the sale of AlliedBarton to the private-equity firm Blackstone Group, as SEIU generally does in industries where it is organizing workers.

"In an unusual statement, the Service Employees International Union said it supported the deal," the Philadelphia Inquirer reported in 2008. "The SEIU, which has two million members, has been critical of private-equity firms for flipping assets, receiving favorable tax treatment, and paying huge compensation to the industry's top executives."

A labor official recalls how out-of-place the support for the Blackstone deal seemed at the time. "They were in the process of attacking private equity in general and the Blackstone Group in particular, and all of a sudden they said, 'Well, this is a company we can deal with,'" recalled the official.

So, Andy got a gig on the back of thousands of security guards who still live in poverty? Priceless.

Dave Regan, an Excellent Chamber Maid.

In an effort to impose its will not just on the members of UHW, but on the more than 800,000 residents of the city and county of San Francisco, SEIU's trustees have teamed up with the Chamber of Commerce to unseat the progressive majority at the SF board of supervisors. (The Bay Guardian has the details.)

The trustees' alliance with the Chamber is part of their ugly deal with the notoriously anti-union Sutter Health, and as the Guardian notes, "puts UHW, part of the Service Employees International Union, in the odd position of using membership money to attack progressive politics in San Francisco – potentially undermining years of work by another SEIU affiliate, Local 1021."

Beyond that--SEIU's latest deal with the devil actually undermines one of the only campaigns the SEIU-backed Change to Win coalition is currently waging: US Chamber Watch, an effort targeted at countering the Chamber's "extremist political advocacy."

According the the Change-to-Win sponsored website: "The mission of U.S. Chamber Watch is to promote greater transparency and accountability in American political processes by shedding light on the funding and practices of the largest private interest lobbyist in America, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce."

Having sold out in such a bold way, it's difficult for SEIU and Change to Win to achieve even a minimal level of credibility when they try to pose as working class heroes fighting for the downtrodden--in fact they come off looking like pathetic hypocrites (just ask Jono Shaffer).

But, as you know, Tasty likes to look on the bright side. So where's the silver lining in this latest tawdry development? It's here: the deeper the hole SEIU digs for itself in California, the more we can see what the purple machine really stands for these days!

First, they decapitate the extremely popular and effective leadership of one of the best locals in all of SEIU, then in a desperate attempt to keep thousands of unhappy members in the fold they bully, lie and cheat their way through the bad joke known as the NLRB process. When that's not enough they jump in bed with the boss to get NUHW supporters fired.

At this point even the holdouts who bravely tried to defend SEIU's actions over the last year and a half will be forced to admit it: SEIU will say or do anything to hold on to the dues it extracts from the members of UHW. Even if that means hooking up with the Chamber of Commerce.

Meanwhile, At the NLRB.

Today the counting has started, as you can see from a car parked near the NLRB offices in Oakland.

Ok, well, more like the prep to the counting has started. Today will likely be tasks like: going through the list of eligible voters, seeing if either side objects to anyone being eligible to vote (i.e. management, workers who haven't worked there enough, or don't work there anymore. ), checking envelopes, etc.

Kaiser, SEIU and NUHW each have a team of 22 people with them. The ballots, of which there are about 30,000, will be grouped in batches and divided among 15 teams (each team consisting of 1 each from Kaiser, NUHW (most are Kaiser members) and SEIU.) Each team will go through the ballots/envelopes, to prep them for counting. The other 7 people are watching the counting, covering breaks, and/or are lawyers for each side.

Probably no real counting will get done today, and with this number of ballots it might not be done until Friday. The counting will go on each day from 8:30am - 7pm--no breaks!

Tasty is willing to be that this will be the longest day any Kaiser manager has worked in a long time.

Kaiser: Time to Cut Checks!

It's official. The 10(j) has been issued--The NLRB has told Kaiser to give all workers who voted for NUHW the 2% raise that Kaiser legally owes them--ASAP!!

It's raise and retro time for SoCal Professionals and RNs!

This one is for Our Brothers and Sisters at Unite HERE

Just in case you can't recall why you were fighting SEIU...Here is Anna Burger, recent SEIU Secretary Treasurer and Change to Win President--the most powerful woman in Labor.

With Hyatt owner and union buster Penny Pritzker.

By the way--they serve on the Economic Recovery Board for the Obama administration together. Barf.

While You Wait for the Kaiser Vote Results...

...enjoy a short video by Oscar Medina out about SEIU.

Kaiser Election--UPDATE--Time Extended

It's all over, except the counting!

All ballots must be in at the NLRB today.

The vote count starts Wednesday, Oct 6th, and may well take more than a day or two, depending on how many votes come in.

You'll know the results when Tasty does!

UPDATE: got this email!

Tasty - the NLRB has extended the final deadline for submitting ballots. The NLRB will accept mail-in ballots that arrive at its office before 5pm on Tuesday. So people in the immediate Bay Area can still mail their ballots on Monday so that they arrive on Tuesday. You can also hand-deliver your ballots to the NLRB office in Oakland up until 8:30am on Wednesday morning, when the ballot count begins. The NLRB's office is located in downtown Oakland at 1301 Clay Street, Room 300-N (510-637-3300). Bring your photo ID with you.

Breaking news! NLRB authorizes injunction against Kaiser

On Thursday, the NLRB authorized its attorneys to seek a 10(j) injunction in U.S. District Court against Kaiser Permanente for illegally withholding a 2% pay increase from the 2,300 RNs and Pros who voted overwhelmingly to join NUHW in January. This shows (once again) that SEIU is lying through its teeth when it tells Kaiser workers they'll lose their pay, benefits and scheduled raises if they vote to switch unions. It's a lie. In fact, Kaiser is now gonna get slapped with a federal injunction for breaking the law!

So what's a 10(j) injunction? It's like any court-ordered injunction or restraining order to stop illegal actions. Federal law allows the NLRB to seek 10(j) injunctions "when there is strong evidence that an employer has committed unfair labor practices" and the NLRB wants "swift relief" to "mitigate the damage of the employer's actions," according to the American Rights at Work (ARAW).

Each year, the NLRB seeks only a small number of 10(j) injunctions against the worst corporate offenders (That's you, Kaiser). According to ARAW, the NLRB issued an average of just sixteen 10(j) injunctions per year from 2001 through 2005.

Kaiser has now joined the ranks of America's worst corporate outlaws because its executives are hellbent on trying to help SEIU win the NLRB election. And It's clear why: In just 18 months, SEIU's DC trustees have handed huge prizes to Kaiser's executives, including hundreds of millions of dollars of pension cuts, 1,500 layoffs, and a side-deal to cut workers' health insurance. No wonder Kaiser's execs are willing to face federal injunctions.

And Tasty can just imagine the long list of additional concessions that Kaiser execs are preparing if SEIU wins the election.

Time to vote, Kaiser workers! Ballots gotta be mailed ASAP so they reach the NLRB office by Monday.

More Kaiser Workers to Vote!

Let's not get too distracted by the fact that the FBI is investigating Andy Stern!!

We have an election here, people! In fact, we have a new election at Kaiser for 2000 more Kaiser workers!

On October 18th, Nor Cal Optical workers, Mental Health professionals and Medical Social Workers will have their chance to vote for NUHW!

Oh, man. It must stink to be SEIU staff. The hits just keep coming...

By the way--Andy is denying the allegations. And his pal Republican former lawmaker Alan Simpson defended Andy: Simpson criticized “any person who uses an anonymous blog” to make assertions. Such a person “is a jerk, or a bonehead or a boob,” he said.

He better not be referring to Tasty, who got his information the old fashioned way: he read it on the AP's website! And the Associate Press (known for years of reporting excellence) wrote a story that cited TWO union officials who spoke with the FBI.

Something about Andy's denial doesn't add up.

The FBI is Hot On Andy Stern's Trail!

Why won't Andy Stern just go away? Because the FBI won't let him! That's right, boys and girls, according to the Associated Press, the FBI is investigating Andy Stern...Why?

• Remember now disgraced and "retired" Annelle Grajeda's boyfriend the now disgraced and jailed Alejandro Stevens? Well, the FBI suspects that Stern knew that Alejandro was getting paid off by the union for a no-show assignment, as well as keeping his job working for the local government.

• And remember Stern's book "A Country that Works?" According to the AP: "One person who spoke to federal agents twice, in May and June, said they asked about a 2006 contract in which Stern received a $175,000 advance from Simon & Schuster to write the book "A Country That Works." The SEIU and its locals bought thousands of copies of the book after it was published. The union also paid thousands to fact-check and promote the book, but Stern pocketed the advance."

Makes the abrupt resignation make a little more sense, huh?

Superficial...Well, At Least That Makes Sense.

Tasty guesses that SEIU thinks Kaiser workers are checking out gossip sites all day...wonder why they think that!?

Here is SEIU's ad on The Superficial, a celebrity gossip site...Is that Spencer Pratt or a TruCorps volunteer in that picture?

They're Back!

Last Friday, SEIU ordered hundreds of staffers and out-of-state temp workers back into their rental cars to knock on Kaiser workers' doors. Xperezroselli posted this cartoon to capture the scene that's playing out across California. Check out the house visitor struggling with his vest in the picture to the left. (Fleece vest in LA?)

So why is SEIU knocking on your door again? Tasty hears that SEIU's DC officials have become extremely nervous as they've watched a growing wave of support for NUHW. Readers might remember that, at the beginning of the three-week voting period, SEIU officials spent millions of dollars on a 10-day house-visit blitz by thousands of out-of-state staffers, TruCorps workers, and even laid-off U.S. Census workers. Apparently, SEIU expected that massive blitz to lock down an election victory.

Well, that didn't exactly happen. That's why SEIU is spending millions more dollars to launch "Blitz No. 2." Tasty hears that SEIU officials are even sending secretaries, administrative assistants and other office staff to knock on doors.

And in another sign of desperation, SEIU staffers are apparently getting increasingly aggressive in questioning Kaiser workers about their votes. Secret ballot means secret, SEIU!

Don't let anyone touch or mark or handle your ballot or your tear-off ballot receipt.

Nap Time for Zombie!

This just in to Tasty:

This is a picture of Gary Brooks, who is an NUHW member from Fontana who SEIU pays to travel around and talk about how terrible being an NUHW member is.

This pic was taken in the lobby of the Kaiser Downey Med Center today. SEIU dues dollars hard at work. The thing the Kaiser workers don't understand is why if NUHW is so bad that they have to pay someone to come all the way from Irvine when 220 current NUHW members work at Downey every day and should be willing to share their terrible experiences for free.

Looks like Gary is really excited about his gig for SEIU, since he is SLEEPING on the job...

Hector the Inspector

It's become quite clear that SEIU has chosen some real standout staffers to try to recruit votes at Kaiser facilities. Along with Jake the iPhone Stalker from Chicago and Brian "the Morning Masturbator" from Portland, there's Hector Abreu from New York, aka "Hector the Inspector."

Hector, a staffer from SEIU Local 32BJ, was sent to Kaiser Santa Rosa for two months to recruit votes for SEIU. By all accounts, Hector is not doing so well.

In fact, workers report that a huge super-majority of workers at Santa Rosa are voting for NUHW. Perhaps this has something to do with Hector's volatile character, which swings from bullying and intimidation to sexual harassment and slime.

Apparently, Hector has made a real name for himself by telling Kaiser employees that he has a real fondness for "juicy women" and by trying to invite numerous female workers out on dinner dates. I guess this is what happens at SEIU, where everyone from trustees to TruCorps sees members as a dues base and dating pool. (Right, Dave?).

SEIU Local 1000 Members Move to Dump SEIU!

SEIU Local 1000 members have organized a group called California Professionals Public Employees Association.

From their website:

In 2007, this group organized a grassroots campaign to reform the SEIU Local 1000.
After years of methodical and systematic campaigning for reform, it was clear that SEIU Local 1000 is ineffective at representing its members, and irreparable.

They are encouraging members of Local 1000 to decertify SEIU.

Uh oh, SEIU! Come on back TruCorps weirdos--there is no end to the work here in California!

This Creep Coming Soon to a Door at Your House...

Tasty hears the SEIU is restarting their housevisit program (afraid you don't have enough votes, purple?)

Maybe Brian Feist will come back! He is a Tru Corps staffer with a little remorse...and, he is a poet.

He has a blog.

With Poetry.

Does SEIU care even a little about the staff they hire to go to their members homes?



Check out Tasty's favorite:

Why is the World Afraid to Masturbate in the Morning

The day breaks
the dawn’s sweet smell succumbs
to sweat, and sex, and semen
before the rooster crows
during the rooster crow
after the rooster crows
I too crow
in my bed, in my hand
joyous, relaxed, serene
my day begins

Should be a big hit with those of you with children.

The Messaging on This Food Give Away is A Reach, At Best.

Running out of ideas?

Word is that workers at Kaiser Santa Clara aren't wearing SEIU stickers, so SEIU is desperate to get out their message.

When do you think they will just start handing out $5 bills?