Here’s the
latest on the SEIU-UHW staffer who,
during an
interview published on March 2, 2019, made explosive allegations that SEIU-UHW
President Dave Regan has had sexual
relations with SEIU-UHW members and staffers, is often drunk on the job, and
carries out campaigns of retaliation against staffers and members who raise
criticisms.
On March 6,
SEIU-UHW fired the staffer, Njoki Woods, “less than 24 hours after [she] was
interrogated by SEIU Chief of Staff Greg
Pullman about her interview with Payday Report,” according to a new article
in PayDay Report.
(Mike Elk, “SEIU
Sexual Misconduct Whistleblower Fired After Interview with Payday Report,” Payday
Report, March 6, 2019.)
The article
continues:
Woods says that she intends to sue over her firing. She says that she has plenty of witnesses that can back her story of retaliation.
Since the publication of her interview with Payday Report, she says additional people have come forward to her with stories of abuse within SEIU-UHW. Woods says that she intends to help organize folks to fight back against what she says as a toxic culture within the union.
“I am doing exactly what they trained me to do, I am standing up for myself,” says Woods.
For years, Woods says that she has suffered health problems, nausea, and anxiety attacks as a result of the abuse she says that she suffered within SEIU, but this morning when she woke up expecting to be fired, the symptons all of a sudden disappered.
“I feel good. I feel like I have broken away from this abusive household and I don’t have to keep abuse hidden and that feels really good” says Woods. “I thought that I would be afraid. I thought I would be nervous and I don’t feel like that. I feel like I have freed from myself from an abusive father or an abusive husband.”
Readers’
comments posted alongside the article expressed support for Woods, a
42-year-old woman who began working as an organizer for SEIU-UHW in 2015. One
comment reads as follows:
I personally worked alongside Njoki, she is a great organizer and a sweet person. The internal staff motto of UHW is “UHW is where great organizers go to die” – and they sure live up to it. Glad I got away. Stay strong Njoki!!!!!!
Another states:
As a former employee of the organization I think it’s far past time to file a class action suit sexual discrimination sexism racial discrimination racially disparaging remarks as a former organizer with in the organization I can attest and be would be more than willing to I’ve worked at UHW for over 10 years
If Woods
files a lawsuit, it will be the second one featuring allegations that connect
Regan to sexual misconduct and retaliation against whistleblowers.
Will Mary
Kay Henry do the right thing by taking action against Regan, who also serves on
SEIU’s International Executive Board?
One would
hope so.
After the
#MeToo movement emboldened SEIU staffers to step forward with their own stories
about sexual harassment and misconduct inside the purple union, Henry was
forced to remove a number of staffers following investigations.
In late
2017, Henry announced the formation of an
external advisory group that was supposed to determine what practices SEIU
can enact in order to stop sexual abuse within the union. She recruited
high-profile women to make up the advisory group, including Cecilia Muñoz, former White House
Domestic Policy Council director; Fatima
Goss Graves, president and CEO of the National Women’s Law Center; and
employment attorney Debra Katz,
founding partner of law firm Katz Marshall & Banks.
At the time,
an SEIU spokesperson announced:
“SEIU is deeply committed at every level of our union to ensuring that our workplace environment reflects our values, and that all staff is respected, their contributions are valued and their voices are heard.”
Meanwhile,
SEIU has rightfully criticized big businesses for turning a blind eye to sexual
harassment inside the workplace. For example, SEIU is working with fast-food
workers to confront sexual harassment. SEIU worked with women fast-food workers
who recently stood up in silent protest during a presentation by McDonalds chief communicator at an
event sponsored by Politico. Meanwhile,
women janitors in commercial office buildings have staged protests against
sexual harassment and assaults they suffer on the job.
Will Mary
Kay Henry “walk the talk” by launching an investigation into the allegations about
Regan?
Or will
Henry and her panel of experts turn a blind eye to allegations against one
of SEIU’s own board members?
