Tasty hears that SEIU’s Dave
Regan and John August are raving
about their recent “wellness strike” (aka flash mob)... even as Kaiser executives attempt to slash workers' health benefits.
Last Wednesday, John August (the Chief Negotiator for the
Coalition of Kaiser Permanente Unions) published this
article entitled “100,000-Member Union Coalition 'Strikes' at Major Health
Care Foes: Obesity and Chronic Disease.” It includes inspiring passages like
these:
And whoever thinks unions haven’t yet entered the 21st century need only take a look at this new campaign to understand that they are quite mistaken.To improve our own health, union members will organize mass walking campaigns, participate in Kaiser Permanente’s online health assessment tool which has been shown to improve health; and work in worker co-led unit based teams to improve healthy eating and healthy work practices like walking meetings, open stairwells, and safe walking paths.
Hey John, Tasty realizes you're a big fan of wellness and "Let's get healthy." But don't you think it's gonna be devastating to workers' HEALTH if Kaiser effectively strips HEALTH INSURANCE from tens of thousands of part-time workers and their children by boosting their monthly premiums from $0 to $700 a month?
Meanwhile, last Friday, SEIU-UHW’s Dave Regan unveiled his latest effort to promote Kaiser’s wellness program: Zumba classes! Check out this post on
SEIU-UHW’s website (click on the image to enlarge):
That’s right! Zumba has now joined other cutting-edge SEIU tactics
like “team salad days,” “walking meetings,” and “mass walking campaigns.”
BTW, did you notice how SEIU-UHW is now "celebrating Cesar Chavez day"? Readers might be a tad bit skeptical about
SEIU’s newfound respect for Cesar Chavez and farmworkers. During the Kaiser
election in 2010, SEIU-UHW staffers actually attacked and insulted Dolores Huerta, the 81-year-old legendary labor
leader who co-founded the United Farm
Workers with Cesar Chavez.
When Dolores visited several Kaiser hospitals
to meet with workers, she was surrounded by SEIU organizers who told her to “Go back to the fields.” Check out this video, which captures purple-shirted SEIU staffers and supporters telling her to go back to the fields.
Here's a second video, where Dolores describes her experiences with SEIU organizers trying to pick a fight with her and telling her to "Go back to the fields:"
