SEIU-UHW’s Dave Regan Continues His Losing Streak against California Hospital Association

Dave Regan has apparently lost yet another round of his legal battle against the California Hospital Association (CHA), according to court records.

On June 14, 2017, Regan’s lawyers submitted a formal notice to the Sacramento County (Calif.) Superior Court announcing that Regan is dropping his personal lawsuit against the CHA. A copy of the notice is posted below.

Why is he dropping his lawsuit?

Regan was likely forced to do so by an outside arbitrator, who was ordered by a Superior Court judge to examine whether Regan’s personal lawsuit violates a provision of Regan’s secret deal with the Hospital Association. As part of the deal, Regan signed a far-reaching “gag clause” and arbitration provision that blocks him and SEIU-UHW members from criticizing hospitals execs, supporting legislation contrary to execs’ interests, suing hospital corporations, or even mentioning hospital executives’ gold-plated salaries in public.

Here’s what happened:

In late 2015, Regan’s “partnership” deal with the CHA collapsed in flames.

Under the 2014 partnership deal, Regan agreed to use SEIU’s political power to deliver $6 billion a year in new Medicaid revenues to California’s hospital corporations. In exchange for the cash, hospital CEOs would push 60,000 of their employees into Regan’s union. Regan sweetened the deal for the bosses by agreeing to ban workers from striking and forcing SEIU-UHW members into pre-negotiated labor contracts with stripped down wages and benefits.

Soon after the collapse of his secret deal, Ragin’ Dave Regan angrily sued Duane Dauner and three other top CHA officials. Regan also re-filed a statewide ballot initiative to target CHA’s members.  

The CHA quickly filed a counter-suit against Regan, arguing that his actions were prohibited by the “gag clause” that Regan himself had signed on behalf of SEIU-UHW.

In June of 2016, a judge agreed with the CHA and ordered SEIU-UHW to withdraw the ballot initiative after Regan had spent millions of dollars of SEIU-UHW members’ dues money to collect signatures to qualify the initiative for the ballot.

 

SEIU-UHW's Dave Kieffer

Next, the CHA asked the court to force Regan to drop his lawsuit against Dauner and three other top CHA officials. The CHA argued that the suit also violated Regan’s gag clause. In January 2017, a judge ordered the issue to be resolved by an outside arbitrator.

Last week, Regan’s lawyers informed the court that Regan is dropping his lawsuit against Dauner and three other CHA officials, including Kaiser Permanente’s Greg Adams. Regan likely dropped the suit as a result the arbitrator’s decision, which is not available to the public.

This latest developments represent yet another stinging defeat for Regan and SEIU-UHW. 

When Regan announced his secret deal with the CHA in 2014, Regan borrowed a page from Donald Trump and famously called it an "audacious new proposal to save the labor movement" …even though it violated every value held dear by the labor movement.

Way to go, Dave!

Several important questions remain unresolved:

• Did the arbitrator also order Regan to pay all of the CHA’s legal costs? That could total millions of dollars.

• Who will pay all of millions of dollars of legal bills connected to Regan’s disastrous lawsuit, including the fancy lawyers hired by Regan? Since the suit was filed in Regan’s personal name, shouldn’t he pay for it? Regan will undoubtedly try to push the costs of his bone-headed lawsuit onto SEIU-UHW’s members.

• What about the $34 million that Regan squirreled away inside a secret “partnership” organization? The CHA has demanded that Regan return the money. Their demands are part of legal claims filed with the Superior Court.

Stay tuned.

  SEIU-UHW Dave Regan's request to drop lawsuit against California Hospital Association: June 14, 2017 by tastysternburger on Scribd

Dave Regan: "I want a higher salary than the presidents of the Steelworkers and UAW"

SEIU-UHW's Dave Regan

Should SEIU-UHW President Dave Regan earn more than the international presidents of the United Auto Workers at the United Steel Workers?

Doesn’t make sense, right?

After all, Leo Gerard (USW) and Dennis Williams (UAW) lead international unions with four to six times as many members as Regan’s local union in California. In 2016, the UAW had 415,963 members while the USW had 548,033.

Nonetheless, that didn’t stop “Wall Street” Dave Regan from pocketing a higher salary in 2016, according to the unions’ DOL Forms LM-2.

In fact, SEIU-UHW’s second-highest paid official, Dave Kieffer, also earned more than the USW’s Gerard and the UAW’s Williams.

Here’s a rundown of their pay, according to Forms LM-2:

Dave Regan, SEIU-UHW President:  $224,706

Dave Kieffer, SEIU-UHW Director of Governmental Relations:  $210,909

Leo Gerard, International President of United Steelworkers:  $207,289

Dennis Williams, International President of United Auto Workers:  $184,159

SEIU-UHW's David Kieffer

A quick glance through SEIU-UHW’s recently filed disclosure report reveals that ten SEIU-UHW officials pocketed more than $150,000 during 2016. The list is below.

And take a look at their job descriptions.

Is it really necessary for one local union to have a Director of Governmental Relations, a Director of Public Affairs, a Director of Healthcare Policy and Advocacy, and a Political Director -- all earning more than $150K a year?

• Dave Regan, President:  $224,706
• Dave Kieffer, Director of Governmental Relations:  $210,909
• Kathy Ochoa, Director of Healthcare Policy and Advocacy:  $179,572
• Stan Lyles, Vice President:  $176,230
• Steve Trossman, Director of Public Affairs:  $170,494
• David Miller, Assistant to the President for Strategic Campaigns:   $168,974
• Myriam Escamilla, Hospital Division Director:   $162,415
• Greg Pullman, Chief of Staff:  $153,980
• Chokri Bensaid, Kaiser Division Director:  $152,860
• Cass Gualvez, Organizing Director:   $152,521
• Arianna Jimenez, Political Director:   $152,227

Glad there are unions like NUHW, whose constitution speaks volumes about the union's democratic values by prohibiting the union's president from earning more than the highest-paid rank-and-file member.

SEIU-UHW’s Dave Regan: ‘I’m running for re-election’

Despite earlier reports to the contrary, Dave Regan is officially running for re-election as president of SEIU-UHW.

Days ago, the union announced that Regan will join two other candidates on the ballot in next month’s mail-ballot election. And next week, Regan and the other candidates are supposed to post statements on SEIU-UHW’s website about their candidacies.

What about the earlier reports of Regan’s imminent departure?

In December 2015, Regan told a meeting of the union’s Executive Board he would not run for re-election, according to board members who attended the meeting. Regan also said he was backing the director of SEIU-UHW’s Kaiser Division, Chokri Bensaid, to be his replacement.

Several months ago, staffers at SEIU-UHW confirmed that Regan was on his way out.

What changed?

Hard to tell. Perhaps Regan had a change of heart and decided to hang onto his annual $250,000 salary.

Observers point to another possibility. If Regan fears his chosen successor might not win a contested election, he may be running so that sometime after he’s installed for a new three-year term, he can resign and have the Executive Board appoint his chosen successor without a union-wide election.

Who’s running against Regan in next month’s election?

 

Niko Anagnostopoulos

Both of his challengers are rank-and-file members at Kaiser Permanente and currently serve on the union’s Executive Board.

One of them, Niko Anagnostopoulos, ran against Regan in 2014 and got about 1,200 votes compared to Regan’s 8,000. Anagnostopoulos has set up a website and Facebook page that criticizes Regan and his slate of Executive Board candidates, which is called the “Healthcare Justice slate,” for failing to represent workers on the job and for Regan’s “failed policies.”

Here’s an excerpt from Anagnostopoulos website:

Currently to remain as an elected officer with the existing UHW administration I would only be contributing to the failed policies of the establishment.  You will no doubt become familiar with “HealthCare Justice” as the masses of glossy flyers begin to clutter our mailboxes leading up to the election on March 15th, 2017…    The "HealthCare Justice Slate" has failed to represent all of its members.  The HealthCare slate leadership has jeopardized UHWs standing by pursuing a reckless policy of litigation with our employers.  I know that together we can act on a more constructive relationship with our administrative associates.  I believe that new leadership can improve our daily working conditions without further damaging the integrity and public perception of SEIU-UHW.

Last month, says Anagnostopoulos, the SEIU-UHW steward Council at Kaiser Walnut Creek Medical Center voted not to endorse Regan’s “Healthcare Justice slate.” It’s unclear if they voted to endorse Anagnostopoulos.

Anagnostopoulos’ campaign Facebook page takes a shot at Regan and the other six-figure staffers like Cass Gualvez who are Regan’s candidates for SEIU-UHW’s “Executive Committee.” Here’s what it says:

Here is a graphic showing the candidates for the SEIU-UHW election. We have included the union staff salaries. Do you feel protected? Have they earned re-election?

The third candidate is Cartina Price, a Licensed Vocational Nurse at Kaiser Torrance Clinic in Los Angeles.  It’s not clear if she has a website presence so far.

Cartina Price

SEIU-UHW’s past elections have been marked by low voter turnout and plenty of controversy. During SEIU-UHW's officer elections in 2011 and 2014, Regan was able to corral little more than 8,000 votes from the union's 140,000 members.

In 2011, Sophia Sims -- a rank-and-file Kaiser worker with few resources -- came within several thousand votes of defeating Regan, who collected only 7,000 votes that year. Not an impressive showing when you consider that Regan massively outspent Sims and also used the union's entire institutional machinery to push his candidacy onto the membership.

The elections were also marred by allegations of vote-rigging by Regan, which were detailed in a complaint to the US Department of Labor and a February 2011 lawsuit filed in Los Angeles Superior Court.

After the 2011 election, Regan looked for opportunities to knock Sims out of contention in future elections.

In 2012, he accused her of "gross disloyalty or conduct unbecoming a member" and ordered her to be subjected to an SEIU-UHW show trial. In 2013, Regan's hand-picked kangaroo court found Sims "guilty" and banned her from competing in SEIU-UHW's elections for seven years.

This year’s election will be the first since SEIU-UHW lost more than half of its membership when the union’s long-term care workers were transferred to SEIU Local 2015, headed by Laphonza Butler. Historically, Regan relied on homecare workers as a key source of votes in elections.

SEIU’s Dave Regan Loses Another Court Battle to California Hospital Association

SEIU-UHW’s Dave Regan lost yet another legal battle to the California Hospital Association (CHA) over his secretive, sweetheart deal with hospital CEOs.

On January 13, 2017, a Sacramento County (Calif.) Superior Court judge effectively tossed out Regan’s personal lawsuit against CHA’s CEO, Duane Dauner, and three other CHA officials. Instead, the judge ordered Regan’s allegations to be sent to binding arbitration, as required by Regan’s secret 2014 “partnership” deal with the CHA.

A copy of the judge’s decision is below.

Regan’s suit, initially filed on November 24, 2015, alleges that four top leaders of the CHA violated their “fiduciary duties,” committed “dishonest acts and gross abuses of authority and discretion,” and carried out “unlawful conduct” by “undermining” Regan’s scheme to secure billions more dollars of Medicaid funding for California’s hospital corporations.

Why was Regan trying to put more taxpayer money in hospital corporations’ pockets?

It was one of the requirements of his secret deal with the CHA. Specifically, hospital CEOs required Regan to deliver $6 billion a year in additional revenues to California hospital corporations as the price for “buying” special treatment from CEOs during SEIU unionization campaigns.

And that’s not the only concession Regan gave to hospital CEOs.

 

Dave Regan and Duane Dauner

He also agreed to force any newly organized workers into cheap, pre-negotiated SEIU-UHW labor contracts that included a ban on strikes and a far-reaching gag clause barring SEIU-UHW from criticizing hospital companies and their gold-plated executives.

Regan’s lawsuit is yet another piece of the paper trail documenting “Wall Street” Dave’s backroom deals with hospital CEOs.

The suit also offers a window into the internal battles raging between SEIU’s officials. For example, Regan’s lawsuit says Dauner met “secretly” with officials from SEIU to “undermine” Regan’s Medicaid funding scheme.

Which SEIU officials?

LaPhonza Butler (President of SEIU Local 2015) and Jon Youngdahl (former Executive Director of SEIU California State Council), says Regan.

According to Regan’s suit, SEIU officials undercut him by telling Dauner that “UHW and its president, Plaintiff Regan, would soon lose half its membership and that Defendant Dauner needed to deal with Butler and the SEIU State Council – not Regan and UHW – if he wanted to accomplish any legislative and policy goals that were important to CHA’s members.”

Jon Youngdahl

Last spring, Tasty published a leaked 30-page document containing the questions that SEIU-UHW attorneys posed to Dauner during a closed-door legal proceeding, including grilling him about Dauner’s meetings with SEIU’s LaPhonza Butler and Jon Youngdahl.

Elsewhere in the suit, Regan alleges that Dauner “sabotaged” him and “hid” his activities from Regan and others.

Regan’s suit seeks Dauner’s removal from the board of directors of “Caring for Californians,” a partnership organization jointly established by CHA and SEIU-UHW following their 2014 deal. The organization was funded with $50 million that Regan and Dauner diverted from their organizations’ coffers.

Regan and Dauner are the Co-Chairs of “Caring for Californians.” The remaining seats on its Board of Directors are split evenly between CHA and SEIU-UHW. That’s why Regan also sued Greg Adams (Group President at Kaiser Permanente), Mark Laret (CEO of UCSF Medical Center), and James Holmes (CEO of Redlands Community Hospital). They’re CHA’s appointees to the “Caring for Californians” board, and Regan alleges they, too, committed “unlawful conduct” and violations of their fiduciary duties.

So who did Regan appoint to fill SEIU-UHW’s seats on the board?

Three SEIU-UHW staffers: Dave Kieffer, Cass Gualvez, and Arianna Jimenez.

With last month’s ruling in Sacramento Superior Court, Regan has maintained a perfect winless record in the multiple lawsuits that followed the collapse of his secret deal with the CHA.

In June of 2016, for example, a Superior Court judge ordered SEIU-UHW to withdraw a statewide initiative from the California ballot or face millions of dollars in penalties. In November 2016, the court ordered SEIU-UHW to submit to binding arbitration over Regan’s refusal to return $34 million to CHA and SEIU-UHW.

 

LaPhonza Butler

What’s next for Dave?

Regan, who is rumored to be stepping down from his position as SEIU-UHW’s president, apparently will be wrapped up in lawsuits for the foreseeable future.  

At least one question remains unclear. 

Who will fund Regan’s lawsuits after he steps down? In the suit discussed in this post, Regan sued as an individual, not as SEIU-UHW. Should SEIU-UHW’s members continue to pay tens of thousands of dollars to litigate Regan’s personal lawsuit? 

  Judge Orders Arbitration in Lawsuit by Dave Regan (SEIU-UHW) vs. California Hospital Association: 01-13-201... by tastysternburger on Scribd

SEIU-UHW's Dave Regan Takes His Ballot Initiative Bamboozle to Arizona

Dave Regan has begun circulating a copycat ballot initiative in Arizona as part of his latest attempt to pressure the California Hospital Association (CHA) into signing another secret sweetheart deal with SEIU-UHW.

According to internal SEIU-UHW documents, Regan hopes the threat of an Arizona ballot initiative will leverage several large multi-state hospital corporations to convince CHA’s Duane Dauner into inking another deal with Regan in California.

Regan's Arizona initiative -- called the "Hospital Executive Compensation Act" -- would cap hospital executives' pay at $450,000 per year. It’s identical to the initiatives that Regan filed -- and has twice withdrawn -- in California.

According to records from the Arizona Secretary of State (see below), SEIU-UHW staffers Arianna Jimenez and Cass Gualvez filed the initiative on February 12. By July 7, SEIU-UHW must collect more than 150,000 valid signatures in order to qualify the measure for the state's November 2016 ballot.

An internal SEIU-UHW document discusses Regan’s filing of a California measure (the "Hospital Executive Compensation Act of 2016"), for which SEIU-UHW is now circulating petitions among voters.

The document goes on to state that SEIU-UHW filed "a similar Executive Compensation initiative…in Arizona where several of our employers such as Dignity [Healthcare], Tenet [Healthcare] and CHS [Community Health Systems] are big players in the market." (See full document below.)

Apparently, Regan hopes that CEOs from the three companies will be willing to do some horse-trading in order to get SEIU-UHW to drop its ballot initiative.

In California, legislators enacted a law that criminalizes using ballot initiatives to extort "any thing of value… for the purpose of withdrawing an initiative petition." (Senate Bill 1253, authored by former Sen. Darrell Steinberg). The law was enacted after two rounds of Regan's ballot initiative bamboozle.

For four years, now, Regan’s ballot initiative strategy has been an utter (and massively expensive) failure in California. Regan has poured more than $25 million of SEIU-UHW members' dues into the initiatives. Nonetheless, Regan's "partnership" dreams have exploded in flames as California hospital executives abandoned and then sued SEIU-UHW in response to Regan's violation of an embarrassing "gag clause" penned by Regan.

Today, Regan is even the subject of a criminal investigation after allegedly breaking the arm of a CHA process server. The criminal probe is reportedly in the hands of the Contra Costa County District Attorney.

What's next?

SEIU-UHW's members should get ready to see millions more of their dues dollars disappear down the purple toilet.

 

Regan selling snake oil to the California public

And Arizonans should be prepared to see Regan deliver his best impersonation of a traveling snake oil salesman. As he did in California, Regan will shower the public with lies about how SEIU-UHW will use the ballot initiative to fight the Good Fight for the Little Man against fatcat CEOs.

But make no mistake, Arizonans. Wall Street Dave has twice "played" Californians like so many pawns on a board game. After promising populist-sounding reforms, Regan will sell you out at the drop of a hat so he can seal his own deal with hospital CEOs. 

In fact, in California, Regan not only dumped SEIU-UHW's ballot initiative in exchange for a secret deal with CEOs, he also signed a gag clause that blocked SEIU-UHW, its members, and allies from even uttering a peep about CEOs’ multi-million-dollar paychecks for a multi-year period. So much for the public interest!

This, my friends, apparently is Regan's "innovative" strategy for "rebuilding" the labor movement… by, umm, destroying the public's trust in unions that should be fighting against the billionaire class rather than secretly colluding with them.

  SEIU-UHW's Arizona Ballot Initiative: "Hospital Executive Compensation Act of 2016"

  SEIU-UHW Internal Document on Ballot Initiatives: 2016

More Implosions Hit SEIU-UHW Dave Regan's Secret Deal with the California Hospital Association... and Expose Hidden Documents

More ear-splitting implosions are rocking Dave Regan's "groundbreaking" partnership with the California Hospital Association… quickly transforming it into a pile of twisted, smoking rubble.

Here's what's happening.

In recent weeks, the CHA has filed two counter-lawsuits against SEIU-UHW in response to Regan's November 2015 lawsuit against the CHA.

One of the CHA's suits -- filed last week -- says SEIU-UHW's original lawsuit should be tossed out because Regan, in his secret deal with the CHA, signed an "arbitration clause" that prohibits him from taking disputes to the courts. It also asserts that Regan violated the deal's "gag clause," which SEIU-UHW famously denied even existed.

So, in a stroke of poetic justice, the CHA has been forced to hand over a copy of Regan's secret deal in order to prove its case! A source snatched copies from the court and sent them to Tasty.

For nearly two years, Regan has stubbornly refused to allow journalists and the public to even catch a glimpse of the deal. In fact, he refused to show it to SEIU-UHW's members and even its "Executive Board," the union's top governing body.

Last year, NUHW filed a complaint with California Attorney General Kamala Harris over Regan's gag clause. That complaint was based on an unsigned version of the deal that was leaked to NUHW. At the time of the complaint, SEIU-UHW officials vigorously challenged the authenticity of the unsigned version.

Now… we have a SIGNED version of the deal with Dave's "John Henry" at the bottom! (See a full copy below.)

The CHA lawsuit also contains a trove of previously unseen documents…  including a one-page "Side Letter" signed by Regan and the CHA's Duane Dauner on May 5, 2014.

The documents detail the deal's corrupt "money-for-members" quid pro quo in which Regan agreed to deliver $6 billion in public Medicaid funds to hospital CEOs in exchange for the right to unionize 60,000 California hospital workers without employer opposition.  

Regan agreed to force the newly unionized workers into cheap, pre-negotiated labor contracts with substandard wages and benefits, a gag clause, and a ban on strikes.

Regan’s newly outed "Side Letter" also details the creation of a $100 million political slush fund -- using $20 million of SEIU-UHW members' dues money -- to help hospital CEOs boost their profits at taxpayer expense. 

Here are the two documents. More to follow in the days ahead.

  Side Letter to SEIU-UHW's Secret Deal with the California Hospital Association: May 5, 2014 by tastysternburger

  SEIU-UHW's "Money-for-Members" Deal with the California Hospital Association: May 5, 2014

Internal Recording: California Hospital Association's CEO Says SEIU-UHW's Dave Regan Has Failed to Unionize Workers under Sweetheart Deal

A source sent a recording from an internal conference call held recently by the California Hospital Association about its secret deal with SEIU-UHW.

The two-minute recording (see below) highlights growing tensions inside SEIU-UHW about whether Dave Regan’s deal with the CHA is living up to his grandiose promises.

When Regan inked the deal in May of 2014, he triumphantly described it as a "breakthrough agreement" that would allow SEIU-UHW to unionize as many as 60,000 hospital workers across California.

The agreement allows SEIU-UHW to organize 30,000 hospital workers during “Phase 1” of the deal (from May 2014 to December 2016).

In Phase 2 (December 2016 to December 2017), SEIU-UHW can ‘purchase’ the right to unionize an additional 30,000 hospital workers if the union can successfully convince California legislators and Governor Jerry Brown to allocate an additional $6 billion a year of taxpayer funds to California hospital corporations. 

Regan famously secured SEIU-UHW’s so-called "organizing rights deal" by forfeiting workers' rights -- workers’ right to strike, workers’ right to report patient-careviolations to government oversight agencies, workers’ right to negotiate their own wages and benefits, etc.

Regan also agreed to prohibit SEIU-UHW from taking any positions on legislative, regulatory, and ballot issues that are "adverse to the interests" of the hospital industry. In addition, Regan's deal essentially converts SEIU into a lobbying arm for hospital corporations that's dedicated to boosting hospital profits. 

Immediately after signing his deal, Regan jetted to a meeting of SEIU's International Executive Board in Washington, DC and boasted that the deal would literally "save" the labor movement. Days later, Diamond Dave published an article trumpeting his backroom deal ("Live Better Together") and also got journalist Josh Israel to pen a puff piece entitled "The Audacious New Proposal to Save the Labor Movement."

So… now that 15 months have passed since Regan signed the deal, what's happened? Has SEIU-UHW successfully unionized tens of thousands of hospital workers?

Not quite.

As of today, Regan has unionized a grand total of zero workers under the deal. That's right, the big goose egg.

Check out the recording below.

During last month’s conference call with California hospital executives, CEO Duane Dauner reported that so far SEIU-UHW has attempted only two elections under the deal.

In February 2015, SEIU-UHW lost (by a landslide) an election at 552-bed Mission Hospital (Mission Viejo, Calif.) covering approximately 1,000 workers.

In December 2014, SEIU-UHW narrowly won an election for fewer than 100 workers at 158-bed Verdugo Hills Hospital (Glendale, Calif.). However, SEIU-UHW allegedly violated federal labor law by using threats and "acts of physical intimidation" against workers during the election, according to NLRB records.

Earlier this spring, a judge held a trial to investigate SEIU-UHW's alleged violations, but has not yet issued a final ruling. The allegations -- which were filed by the hospital despite its sweetheart deal with SEIU-UHW -- identify Cass Gualvez (an SEIU-UHW staffer and Executive Committee member) who apparently headed the campaign at the Southern California hospital.

So... what does a quick cost-benefit analysis say about Regan's "visionary" deal with the CHA?

So far, Regan has spent approximately $35 million of SEIU-UHW members' dues money on the deal. In exchange, SEIU-UHW has unionized a total of zero workers.

Where did the $35 million go?

First, Regan flushed $10-$15 million down the toilet during two rounds of statewide ballot initiatives, which SEIU-UHW never filed. Next, the CHA agreement requires SEIU-UHW to deposit $20 million into a political fund jointly controlled by the CHA that's used to lobby politicians for billions of additional taxpayer monies for hospital corporations.

Even if you accept Regan's horribly cynical "money-for-members" approach, the current results are nothing less than an unmitigated failure.

It's no wonder, then, that voices inside SEIU-UHW are saying, "$35 million of our monthly dues money for WHAT? Dave sold us a lemon!"

Worker: SEIU-UHW Deployed "Purple Clown" Strategy during NLRB Election

Remember SEIU-UHW’s loss in last month’s NLRB election at Mission Hospital in Orange County, Calif.?

SEIU-UHW was blown out in the election despite collusion from the hospital’s management as a result of SEIU-UHW’s sweetheart deal with the California Hospital Association.

Well, an employee at Mission Hospital sent along the following report about workers’ experience with SEIU:

The union organizers (sometimes 20+) completely took over our cafeteria every day for at least 2 weeks, sometimes with large purple union posters, while providing trays of free food, fish tacos, and stale purple cupcakes during lunch. The UNAC organizers also provided a "show" of verbal confrontations with CNA organizers in the parking lot.  The entire experience was so incredibly unprofessional.  Yup, they also had a purple clown in the cafeteria one day, and a purple cheerleader in the parking lot. It was shocking.

A purple clown? And purple cheerleader? Are you kidding?

Nope.

SEIU organizer at Mission Hospital

It turns out that SEIU-UHW actually dressed up its organizers as clowns and cheerleaders to, uhh, recruit support for the union. 

Apparently, in Dave Regan’s mind, ER Techs, Phlebotomists, EVS Aides, Surgical Assistants and other hospital workers actually prefer to be treated as six-year-olds.

One hospital staffer sent this blurry photo of SEIU-UHW’s purple clown as he paraded through the hospital. 

Does anyone know the identity of this bozo?

Of course, SEIU-UHW’s reliance on costumed child gimmicks shouldn't surprise us. Remember… this is the same union that dressed up its organizers as a Purple Barney and an Easter Bunny during earlier NLRB elections in Northern California.

 

Cass Gualvez, SEIU

So, which staffer devised SEIU-UHW’s genius cheerleader/clown strategy? 

It reportedly was Cass Gualvez, who is a "Staff Director" at SEIU-UHW and was also appointed by Regan to SEIU-UHW’s "Executive Committee," the union's its top governing body. In 2013, Gualvez was paid $140,757. 

In 2009, Gualvez conspired with executives at Alta Bates Summit Medical Center to fire a 31-year hospital employee and union member, which was later documented in a 50-page ruling by an NLRB Administrative Law Judge.

Gualvez, whose brain apparently approximates that of a six-year-old, is quite clueless. In fact, she’s so clueless she thought SEIU-UHW was headed towards a landslide election victory at Mission Hospital last month.

 

SEIU organizer at St. Louise Hospital

Here's what an employee at Mission Hospital reports:

SEIU also had a large purple RV parked down the road.  They planned to drive it to our campus parking lot for staff to gather for some sort of celebration when they won (we called it the "Barney Mobile"). SEIU was really expecting to win, but instead they had to drive it home!  

SEIU organizer at California Pacific Medical Center in 2010

Workers at Giant CA Hospital Seek to Bolt SEIU-UHW

Several days ago, Tasty reported that workers at three California healthcare facilities had filed petitions to dump SEIU-UHW and join NUHW.

Well... it's time to add another facility to the list!

Today, the 1,200 workers at Alta Bates Summit Medical Center in Oakland, California filed their own NLRB petition to decertify Dave Regan's SEIU-UHW and join NUHW. The action is significant because the hospital -- with 925 beds -- is one of the largest in California.

Tasty hears that the hospital's workers are itching to get out of SEIU. Under the NLRB's rules, signatures are required from at least 30% of the workforce in order to trigger an election. In this case, however, a super-majority of the workers signed petitions in a matter of days.

Tasty hears that workers are especially upset with Regan's concessionary bargaining, including his recent deal to subcontract the jobs of roughly 10% of the workers to Utah. Furthermore, workers report that SEIU-UHW makes no effort whatsoever to enforce the contract, allowing management to do whatever it wants.

So how far has SEIU-UHW climbed into bed with the hospital's execs? Well, several months ago the SEIU-UHW Field Rep who's assigned to the hospital -- Dominic Mitchell -- took a job as on of the hospital's Human Resources Agents! That's right. He's now responsible for disciplining and firing the same union members that he was responsible for protecting.

And in another famous episode of Regan's special kind of partnership with the Boss, SEIU-UHW staffers Cass Gualvez, Erica McDuffy and Carrie Cianchetti worked hand-in-hand with Sutter’s executives to illegally fire a longtime rank-and-file worker at the same hospital, which is detailed in this judge’s 50-page ruling.

Congrats to all the workers at Alta Bates Summit Medical Center!