Remember the 50-year
ban on strikes that SEIU officials discussed with California’s nursing home
bosses during their “partnership” negotiations in 2007?
Well, an email reveals that Dave
Regan was neck-deep in those negotiations (see copy below).
At the time, Regan was the Chair of the Executive Committee
of SEIU’s National Nursing Home Unity Council. SEIU President Andy Stern ordered Regan to lead the
negotiations with California’s nursing home bosses after Sal Rosselli and his team refused to sell out workers.
On the bosses’ side of the bargaining table sat Scott Carlson, the chief negotiator
for the nursing home companies or “operators.” Carlson sent the following email
to Regan, Gerry Hudson (one of SEIU’s
Executive Vice Presidents) and Nicole Berner,
an SEIU attorney in Washington, DC. A printed copy of the email is posted below.
From: Scott CarlsonSent: Thursday, May 10, 2007 4:01pmTo: Dave Regan; Gerald Hudson; Nicole BernerSubject: Affirmation of CA Operator Interest in Bargaining New Alliance with SEIU Unity CouncilOperators have now affirmed their interest in bargaining a new agreement with you. They have no precondition of starting negotiations upon SEIU moving [Sal Rosselli] UHW’s jurisdiction to 434B [Tyrone Freeman]. It makes sense to start now and see where we end up. Operators know that [Sal Rosselli’s] UHW strongly prefers their historical labor approach and will continue to undermine progressive collaboration [with the bosses] as long as permitted.Attached please find company coalition consensus interests in a long-term relationship. Unless you want to provide me with SEIU’s corresponding specific interests/concerns, we could start working from this framework to draft an improved agreement. Since there are three of you and one of me, I’ll put the ball in your court to schedule a conference call to discuss next steps. I’d suggest scheduling some in-person meetings asap so that participants can plan far in advance.Scott Carlson, Esq.
The email is important for at least two reasons:
First, it shows that Regan is no stranger to the kind of sell-out
partnership deal that he’s currently trying
to negotiate with the California
Hospital Association.
Secondly, the email helps us understand why the Purple
Palace was so focused on removing Rosselli and his team. The bosses wanted
Rosselli out of the picture so they could negotiate with highly accommodating and corrupt
leaders like Tyrone Freeman and Dave
Regan, who’re willing to sell out workers at the drop of a hat.
Of course, Stern -- who’s now on
the payroll of a billionaire who employs thousands of SEIU’s members, Ron Perelman -- was only too willing to
accommodate the bosses’ every desire, which he accomplished through a bogus trusteeship
of Rosselli and his team in 2009.
Makes you wonder… How many similar emails were sent to Stern
from the CEOs of Kaiser Permanente, Dignity Health, Sutter Health, etc?
