So what’s the latest on the Coalition’s bargaining with
Kaiser Permanente? Well, SEIU-UHW continues
to hold lame “rallies”-- like this Electric
Slide wellness rally -- in front of various Kaiser hospitals. Meanwhile,
Tasty has learned that Dave Regan
and John August have already reserved
a hotel where they plan to have the Coalition of Kaiser Permanente Unions ratify
a new contract with Kaiser.
“What new contract?,” you’re probably asking. Well, that’d be the one that Regan and August are supposedly
still negotiating with Kaiser.
Readers may recall that at the very beginning of
negotiations, SEIU and Kaiser pinpointed the precise day (May 10) when they would finish
negotiations. Now, Regan and August have scheduled May 18 for a “ratification
conference” at the Sheraton Gateway Hotel Los Angeles near the Los Angeles
International Airport.
Who’ll attend the Coalition’s ratification vote? The same “delegates”
who last month enjoyed the Coalition’s all-expenses-paid
junket at “the ultra-stylish” Renaissance Hollywood Hotel and Spa.
It seemslike Regan’s backroom deal with Kaiser is so cooked... it’s crispy.
But even as Regan rushes to ink his sell-out deal, Tasty
hears he’s facing increasing pressure from rank-and-file workers. Very
few SEIU-UHW members are turning out for Regan’s “rallies” at Kaiser hospitals, but thousands are signing NUHW’s “no takeaways” petitions, which are circulating
inside Kaiser’s hospitals and online.
Meanwhile, Kaiser’s workforce has been watching as 20,000 members of NUHW and the California Nurses Association hold statewide strikes against the
exact cuts that Regan wants to accept.
Tasty hears that Regan is looking for some kind of
face-saving maneuver to try to reduce workers' opposition to his deal. One possibility: Two-tiered
benefits that would impose the deepest cuts on newly hired workers …but would
have the predictable effect of incentivizing Kaiser managers to get rid of more
senior workers and replace them with new "cheaper" workers. This is
the approach that the Ford Motor Company adopted when Chuck
Columbus (Kaiser’s Vice President of Human Resources) worked there.
Stay tuned.
