It looks like SEIU-UHW officials had to go all the way to
Australia to get some help for their campaign at Kaiser Permanente. According
to Kaiser workers, SEIU has flown in a dozen staffers from an Australian union
called "Liquor, Hospitality and Miscellaneous Union (LHMU)." Last
year, the union underwent an SEIU-styled re-branding effort that changed its
name to "United Voice."
Tasty hears that, for nearly a decade, SEIU's Andy Stern has
been cultivating a relationship with the Aussie union and its top official, Louise Tarrant, by flying to sunny Melbourne
and Sydney on SEIU members' dime. Apparently, SEIU's President Emeritus really digs the
international travel... especially because it allows him to escape the cold
winters on the East Coast!
So what are the Aussies doing in California? Well, Kaiser
workers have spotted them with SEIU staffers patrolling Kaiser hospitals in
San Francisco, Walnut Creek, Santa Rosa, South San Francisco, etc in the run-up to next week's strike. At one
hospital, an Aussie attended the EVS Department's "group huddle"
during shift-change and tried to promote SEIU to the assembled workers, who
were under the watchful eye of a Kaiser supervisor.
An astute EVS worker quickly asked the purple-shirted
Aussie: "So... are you gonna be honoring the picket line during next
Tuesday's strike?" As the tongue-tied Aussie stared down at her shoes, it
became crystal clear that the Aussies are not super interested in international
labor solidarity. Instead, it looks like they've parachuted into California to work
alongside their purple-shirted buddies and Kaiser's multi-millionaire bosses to try to undermine
next week's strike by 22,000 workers from three unions.
So, Kaiser workers... when you see an Aussie in your facility,
ask them this: Back in Australia, does
your union normally undermine workers who are fighting to defend their
pensions and health insurance? Well... WTF are you doing to California's workers? Time to call Qantas and get your ass back to
Australia!
