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.

Judge: SEIU-UHW's Dave Regan Must Submit to Binding Arbitration over Missing $34 Million

SEIU-UHW’s Dave Regan has lost another court battle against the California Hospital Association (CHA).  

Last Friday, a judge ordered SEIU-UHW to submit to binding arbitration over $34 million that Regan squirreled away inside a secret “partnership” organization. A copy of the judge’s order, issued November 18, 2016, is pasted below. In September, Tasty described the CHA’s lawsuit to recover the millions that Regan is sitting on.

Where does the money come from?

In 2014, Regan and CHA’s Duane Dauner signed their secret partnership deal and also agreed to create a secret new organization to carry out joint projects. 

How was the organization funded? 

Regan and Dauner diverted a combined $50 million from their respective organizations’ treasuries and steered the massive haul of cash into the secret group, named “Caring for Californians.”

In late 2015, Regan’s partnership with the CHA collapsed. Under the terms of the secret deal (detailed in the so-called “Code of Conduct”), the remaining unspent portion of the $50 million was supposed to be returned to SEIU-UHW and CHA. That was supposed to happen on January 1, 2016.

However, Regan -- in an apparent fit of vindictiveness -- refused to return the money to either organization. Instead, he has allowed the money (including SEIU-UHW’s portion, totaling $6.9 million) to be frittered away on no-show jobs, unused offices in Sacramento, an expensive Executive Director, etc. 

So, CHA sued to get its money back.

On Friday, November 18, a judge issued a five-page ruling (see below) siding with CHA and ordering SEIU-UHW and Regan to submit to binding arbitration over the $34 million. Here’s an excerpt from the judge’s decision. The term “CFC” refers to “Caring for Californians,” the secret partnership organization holding the $34 million.

In December 2015, the [Code of Conduct] Agreement terminated pursuant to its terms, and CFC has had no ongoing work. The CFC continues to spend approximately $40,000 per month on operating expenses. CHA has requested that UHW agree to redistribute the unencumbered CFC funds, but UHW has refused. As of September 2016, CFC has approximately $34 million in its accounts that is not currently encumbered, thus $27.2 million would be returned to CHA and $6.87 million would be returned to UHW.

CHA's arbitration complaint alleges that UHW breached the Agreement by refusing to agree to the return of the unencumbered funds. CHA's complaint apparently seeks an "order compelling UHW to agree to the redistribution of funds, or, in lieu of UHW's agreement, an order directing the redistribution of the funds."

…the petition to compel arbitration is GRANTED.

If Regan loses the arbitration, SEIU-UHW will be forced to return the money and pay expensive legal fees to CHA.

This latest lawsuit offers yet another window onto Regan's collusive, backroom deals with employers that represent Dollar Dave's primary mode of operation. The lawsuit once again raises questions like these: 

• Why is SEIU-UHW, one of California's largest healthcare workers' unions, pooling $50 million with the hospital industry's Chamber of Commerce? 
• Why is one of SEIU's main leaders signing secret deals that are hidden from SEIU's own members?
• What other deals has SEIU-UHW signed with employers that have not yet been revealed?

Stay tuned 

  Judge Orders SEIU-UHW to Submit to Arbitration under secret agreement with California Hospital Association:... by tastysternburger on Scribd

SEIU-UHW’s Dave Regan Misfires (AGAIN) on Ballot Initiative

Dave Regan, president of SEIU-UHW, has committed another embarrassing ballot-initiative blunder.

In February of 2016, soon after his secret partnership with the California Hospital Association (CHA) exploded in flames, Regan filed a ballot initiative in Arizona designed to cap hospital executives’ salaries. Regan hoped the initiative would pressure several large multi-state hospital companies to convince CHA's Duane Dauner to ink another deal with him.

The Arizona initiative, “The Hospital Executive Compensation Act,” is virtually identical to a ballot measure Regan has filed repeatedly and unsuccessfully in California.

Beginning early in 2016, Regan spent massive amounts of SEIU-UHW members’ dues money to hire paid circulators to collect 281,000 signatures from Arizona voters to qualify the measure for the ballot.

However, Regan apparently forgot to make sure the signature-gatherers were actually legally qualified to collect signatures. D’OH!!

Under Arizona law, paid signature-gatherers must register with the Secretary of State’s office and provide an Arizona address.

This summer, when Regan triumphantly filed his 281,000 signatures with state officials, the ballot measure’s opponents quickly noticed that many signature-gatherers had not complied with state law. They sued SEIU-UHW in Maricopa County Superior Court to disqualify the signatures and thereby invalidate the initiative.

In August, just one day before a judge was set to hear the lawsuit, Regan threw in the towel and withdrew his initiative.

In news articles, including this one in the Arizona Capitol Times (“Backers of Hospital Exec Pay Cap Initiative Dropping Effort,” August 15, 2016), opponents celebrated Regan’s formidable f*ck-up. They said SEIU-UHW’s decision to withdraw the initiative “proves that the concerns about the validity of petition signatures were valid.”

 

Dave "Signature Man" Regan

This, of course, is not Regan’s first multi-million dollar mistake.

In June, a Sacramento Superior Court Judge ordered Regan to withdraw a nearly identical initiative from next Tuesday’s California ballot because it violated a gag clause that Regan himself secretly signed with the California Hospital Association. 

Regan's gag clause -- which he refused to show to SEIU-UHW's Executive Board -- prohibited the union from “raising concerns about… executive compensation in health care” and blocked SEIU-UHW from supporting any legislation, initiative, or regulatory action "adverse to the California hospital industry."

In late June, Regan was forced to dump his California initiative after having spent at least $5 million of SEIU-UHW members’ dues to collect voters’ signatures.

In 2012, Regan was forced to withdraw yet another ballot initiative after the Los Angeles Times discovered that Regan had inserted hidden loopholes in the initiative’s legal language designed to exempt two giant hospital corporations -- which control 25% of California’s hospitals -- from the new requirements.

And earlier this year, Dishonest Dave snatched TV headlines by allegedly assaulting a process server trying to deliver legal records to Regan’s home on behalf of the California Hospital Association.

How does the saying go about the gang that can’t shoot straight?

Maybe SEIU-UHW members should ask Dave to refund all the money he’s pissed down the drain via his f*ck-ups, sell-outs and failures, which now tallies more than $30 million by Tasty’s count.

Here’s another question. Why is Regan still collecting a paycheck? After all, would your boss keep you on the job if you repeatedly screwed up at a cost of millions and millions of dollars?

Back in Court: California Hospital Association Sues SEIU-UHW for Millions Locked up in Covert Partnership Organization

The California Hospital Association (CHA) has taken SEIU-UHW to court… again.

This time, CHA is trying to recover tens of millions of dollars that SEIU-UHW has locked away inside a secret “partnership” organization, according to records obtained from Sacramento County Superior Court. (Below is a full copy.)

On October 14, CHA’s and SEIU-UHW’s attorneys will face off in a Sacramento courthouse.

Here’s what’s happening.

When SEIU-UHW’s Dave Regan and CHA’s Duane Dauner signed their secret partnership deal in 2014, they also agreed to set up and finance a secret new organization to carry out their joint projects.

The new organization’s first priority was to help SEIU-UHW convince politicians to steer $6 billion a year in new Medicaid funds to California’s giant hospital corporations.

 

Dave Regan and Duane Dauner

If SEIU-UHW had succeeded in this task (they didn’t), then the hospital CEOs would have allowed SEIU-UHW to unionize 30,000 of their employees… but only as long as the workers were banned from striking, forced into cheap labor contracts, and silenced by a massive gag clause.

The covert partnership organization -- ironically named “Caring for Californians” by its founders -- was funded with $50 million that Regan and Dauner diverted from their treasuries in 2014.

With millions in its bank count, “Caring for Californians” leased office space in Sacramento, hired Peter Ragone as its Executive Director, hired attorneys and staff, etc. The organization was soon spending $40,000 a month in operating expenses, according to court filings by the CHA.

For a time, things were going swimmingly for Wall Street Dave. Fantasies of his class-collaborationist partnership danced through his head as he performed late-night lap dances for some of California’s wealthiest corporate CEOs.

Peter Ragone, CFC's Executive Director

By November of 2015, however, Dave’s partnership had exploded in a fiery display that lit up California’s skies. The partnership was dead!  

At the time of the partnership’s demise, “Caring for Californians” still had $34 million in unspent cash sitting in its bank account.

And that’s what the latest lawsuit is all about. The $34 million.

Under the terms of Regan and Dauner’s secret partnership deal, the $34 was supposed to be returned to CHA and SEIU-UHW on January 1, 2016. However, Regan -- in an apparent fit of vindictiveness against his former pin-striped pals -- is refusing to return the money to either organization.

According to CHA’s lawsuit, Regan has vetoed any return of the money to both CHA and SEIU-UHW.

How?

“Caring for Californians” is run by an eight-person Board of Directors, with equal numbers of seats filled by CHA and SEIU-UHW. Regan and Dauner are co-chairs of the board. Since January of 2016, says CHA, Regan has used his four votes (one of them is SEIU-UHW staffer Arianna Jimenez) to block every proposal to return the $34 million.

So what’s happening to the money?

It’s simply swirling down the drain, says CHA. 

Here’s an excerpt from a recent CHA legal filing, which refers to “Caring for Californians” by its initials “CFC.” The term "Code of Conduct" refers to the secret partnership deal signed in 2014.

“On December 31, 2015, the Code of Conduct terminated pursuant to its terms. Since that time, CFC has had no ongoing work, and neither CHA, UHW, nor any CFC Director has made any efforts to initiate new endeavors. Nonetheless, CFC has continued to spend approximately $40,000 each month on operating expenses for resources and services it has not been using. These are not only unnecessary expenditures, but they also decrease the amount available for redistribution to both CHA and UHW as provided by the Code of Conduct.” (p. 3)

Interesting, right?

 

SEIU-UHW's Arianna Jimenez

Regan is so vindictive he’s willing to piss millions of dollars of SEIU-UHW members’ money down the drain to get back at CHA.

How much money do SEIU-UHW members stand to lose? According to the CHA:

“As of September 1, 2016, the CFC has approximately $34 million in its accounts that is not currently encumbered. Pursuant to the terms of the Code of Conduct, approximately $27.2 million would be returned to CHA and approximately $6.8 million would be returned to UHW.” (p. 4)

What’s CHA asking the judge to do?

CHA’s lawsuit asks the judge to force SEIU-UHW into binding arbitration so it can recover its $27.2 million. Plus, it wants SEIU-UHW to pay all of CHA’s attorneys fees.

If history is a judge, it looks like SEIU-UHW’s members will be footing the bill for yet another idiotic blunder by Regan.

Here’s a copy of CHA’s suit filed on September 6, 2016:

  California Hospital Association's lawsuit versus SEIU-UHW over $34 Million Locked in Secret Partnershi...

SEIU-UHW's Dave Regan Attempts Dizzying Flip Flop That's Got Observers Scratching Their Heads

 

SEIU-UHW’s Dave Regan, still reeling from the collapse of his secret partnership with the California Hospital Association, is now attempting a flip-flop of dizzying dimensions.

Just months ago, Regan was working hand-in-hand with the California Hospital Association (CHA) to boost Medicaid reimbursement rates for hospitals across the state.

Regan bussed SEIU-UHW members to legislators’ offices to push for higher Medicaid payments (called “Medi-Cal” in California). 

Last summer, he teamed up with the CHA to hold a “Medi-Cal Matters” rally on the steps of the state capitol (see pic below).

And that was just the beginning.

SEIU-UHW's "Medi-Cal Champion" Sen. Ed Hernandez

SEIU-UHW launched a multi-million-dollar “Medi-Cal Matters” media campaign with TV and newspaper ads, billboards, and beaucoup bells and whistles. 

SEIU-UHW even handed out “Medi-Cal Champion” awards to legislators who pledged to support Medi-Cal payments, including Sen. Ed Hernandez (pictured at right).

Not anymore.

Last month -- just days after a Superior Court judge ordered Regan to withdraw his ballot initiative -- Regan angrily announced that SEIU-UHW was setting aside $8 million to fight a Medi-Cal funding initiative that just months ago, umm, Regan wholeheartedly supported.

Dave’s fantabulous flip flop has many people scratching their heads.

After all, why would a union of hospital workers try to jeopardize $3 billion of federal matching funds for California hospitals? Isn’t that money kinda helpful for funding SEIU-UHW members’ pay and benefits?

SEIU-UHW/CHA Medi-Cal Rally: 2015

Regan apparently thinks his campaign to defeat the November 2016 ballot measure -- the “California Medi-Cal Hospital Reimbursement Initiative” (Proposition 52) -- is a “genius” move that’ll really piss off his former pals at the CHA.

Others don’t seem to think so.

In fact, virtually every union in the state supports Prop. 52.

In recent days, Regan and his chief political hack, Dave Kieffer, suffered a big setback when they failed miserably to convince the California AFL-CIO (known as the “California Federation of Labor”) to oppose Proposition 52. 

Instead, the AFL-CIO endorsed Proposition 52.

What’s next?

Stay tuned to watch Regan steer SEIU-UHW down another dead-end alley with no-win solutions for his union's members. 

Dave Regan: "I supported Medi-Cal before I opposed it."

Los Angeles Times Slams SEIU-UHW’s Dave Regan for Backroom Ballot Deal

On Monday, California’s largest newspaper published an editorial bashing SEIU-UHW for its ballot initiative fraud.

The editorial, authored by the Los Angeles Times’ deputy editorial page editor, describes how SEIU-UHW’s Dave Regan twice introduced statewide ballot initiatives for the “ostensible” purpose of protecting taxpayers… but then quickly tossed the public interest into the trash so he could cut secret deals with hospital CEOs.

According to the editorial, the “real purpose” of SEIU-UHW’s ballot measures was making backroom deals with CEOs, “as was made clear in an arbitrator’s report last month.”

“There’s something undeniably distasteful about the SEIU-UHW’s tactics,” says the Times.

That’s for sure.

Regan cynically exploited the public’s anger about soaring income equality, the shrinking middle-class, and worsening poverty... knowing full well he never intended to use voters’ 600,000 signatures to actually win improvements for the public. Instead, Regan traded voters’ signatures like so many poker chips during his secret negotiations with hospital CEOs.

That’s why the Times attacks SEIU-UHW for trying “to harness voters’ resentments to advance its own parochial interests.”

As a result of recent lawsuits, we now know that Regan committed an even bigger betrayal of the public trust.

In his secret deal with hospital CEOs, Regan not only agreed to drop the CEO salary initiative from the ballot, he also signed a gag clause that legally silenced SEIU-UHW from even mentioning CEOs’ off-the-charts salaries.

 

SEIU-UHW's Dave Regan 

According to court records, Regan’s secret pact -- called the “Code of Conduct” -- legally prohibited SEIU-UHW from issuing any “communications raising concerns about hospital pricing and executive compensation in health care.” [See Section I(B)(4)(a) of the Code of Conduct]

So just how concerned is Regan about CEOs’ sky-high salaries?

Let’s ask the 85,000 members and staff of SEIU-UHW who’ve had a giant piece of purple duct tape across their mouths for the past two years... thanks to SEIU-UHW President Dave Regan.

SEIU-UHW’s Dave Regan Withdraws Ballot Initiative and Launches “Big Lie” Campaign

SEIU-UHW's Dave Regan on the run

SEIU-UHW President Dave Regan has launched a disinformation campaign to try to deflect attention from the embarrassing blunders that forced SEIU-UHW to withdraw a California ballot initiative at a cost of millions of dollars to his union’s members and untold damage to SEIU’s reputation.

Yesterday (June 30), Regan bought ads in the Los Angeles Times and the Sacramento Bee where he published “An Open Letter to California Voters” to try to explain why he’s withdrawing the Hospital Executive Compensation Act of 2016 from the November ballot. (See a full copy of the ad below.)

Regan’s open letter -- composed of equal parts lies and deceit -- says he’s not to blame for a staggering series of f*uck-ups, failures, and ethical transgressions against workers, patients, and taxpayers.

The letter’s over-the-top deceit hints at the phenomenal scale of Regan’s blunders. 

• Last fall, Regan’s sweetheart deal with the California Hospital Association (CHA) exploded in flames.

• In November, Regan angrily filed the ballot initiative even though he had signed a secret pact with the CHA in May of 2014 that specifically prohibited SEIU-UHW from “sponsoring or supporting” any ballot initiatives or legislation that are “adverse to the interests of the hospital industry.” Regan’s secret deal also contained a gag clause blocking SEIU-UHW from “raising concerns about… executive compensation in health care” or saying “derogatory” things about corporations and their bosses.

• In January, a copy of Regan’s secret CHA deal was finally released to the public as a result of the CHA’s litigation. For nearly two years, Regan had treated the deal, known as the "Code of Conduct," like a tightly held state secret, refusing to show it even to SEIU-UHW’s elected governing board.

• In February, Regan’s face was splashed across TV newscasts after he unleashed an allegedly brutal assault on a process server who tried to deliver court records to Regan’s home regarding the CHA lawsuit. 

• In March, a Sacramento County Superior Court judge ordered SEIU-UHW to submit to binding arbitration over the filing of the ballot initiative in violation of Regan's secret CHA deal.

• In June, an arbitrator and a Superior Court judge ruled that Regan had violated his secret agreement with the CHA and consequently ordered SEIU-UHW to withdraw the statewide ballot initiative by June 30 or reimburse the CHA for its costs in opposing the initiative at the ballot box.

Now that Regan has withdrawn his ballot initiative, he's left with the task of somehow explaining his stunning series of f*ck-ups, failures, and sell-outs to his members, politicians, and the public.

For instance, why did the state’s largest healthcare workers’ union surrender its watchdog role by signing a secret pact with hospital CEOs that prohibits SEIU-UHW from doing anything “adverse” to the hospital industry’s interests?

In trademark fashion, Regan is refusing to acknowledge his failures. Instead, he’s promoting an aggressive “Big Lie” campaign to try to cover his tracks.

According to Regan's Big Lie, “an unaccountable arbitrator” is responsible for his phenomenal failures. In yesterday's newspaper ads and e-mail blasts, Regan comically casts himself as a righteous defender of the 99% who tirelessly battles fatcat CEOs.

Referring to the “unaccountable arbitrator,” Regan writes:

Yes, one person can deny the will of 650,000 people and prevent a vote by more than 17.9 million, all in the name of protecting multimillionaire CEO salaries. It's outrageous.

In fact, one person did deny SEIU-UHW the right to challenge CEOs’ outrageously excessive compensation packages. And one person has been protecting multimillionaire CEOs.

His initials are “Dave Regan.”

He personally signed the secret gag clause that blocked SEIU-UHW’s 80,000 members from talking about executive compensation for nearly two years. That's the same gag clause that blocked SEIU-UHW from taking independent positions on countless legislative, policy, and regulatory matters for two years.  

Dave Regan

Last week’s Superior Court decision ordering SEIU-UHW to withdraw its ballot initiative demonstrates just how restrictive the legal handcuffs are that Regan strapped onto his union’s 80,000 members through his secret deal with hospital CEOs.

Oh, and remember those “multimillionaire CEOs” that Regan now rails against?

Well, Wall Street Dave gleefully leapt into bed with those same CEOs only months ago. He held secret meetings with them in fancy hotels like the Fairmont Grand Del Mar where he traded away workers’ wages, benefits, freedom of speech, and right to strike – without even consulting workers.

In fact, Regan climbed so far down the pants of his pinstriped pals that he became their official errand boy, shamelessly pushing CEOs' anti-worker legislation in the halls of California’s legislature.

Make no doubt about it:  Regan is a two-faced liar who’s a disgrace to the labor movement.

Below are copies of Regan’s ads in the Los Angeles Times and the Sacramento Bee as well as an e-mail blast that he sent yesterday to SEIU-UHW’s members and the public as part of his “Big Lie” campaign.

  SEIU-UHW's Dishonest "Open Letter" regarding Withdrawal of California Ballot Initiative, Sacramento Bee:  J... by tastysternburger

Here's an e-mail blast Regan sent to SEIU-UHW members on June 30:

I just finished up a special meeting with our SEIU-UHW Executive Board, where we wrestled with how best to move forward after receiving a deeply flawed arbitration decision affecting the fate of our initiative, the Hospital Executive Compensation Act of 2016. In his ruling, the arbitrator ordered us to withdraw the initiative or risk being fined $65 million (or more). Given the fact the arbitrator was essentially threatening our union with bankruptcy if we moved forward in support of the initiative, our Executive Board made the difficult decision to recommend that the proponents withdraw the initiative in order to best protect the interests of SEIU-UHW members (see Resolution 22-16).

As I’m sure you can imagine, I am incredibly frustrated with the arbitrator’s ruling. With the stroke of a pen, one person has wiped away the clear intentions and hard work of so many SEIU-UHW members and staff, and the nearly 650,000 California voters who signed our initiative petition. I want to be clear, though, that this is only a temporary setback. The arbitrator ruled we can’t pursue this initiative this year, and his authority is only limited to this one decision. Going forward, we can freely use any and all of the tools in our ballot initiative toolbox to accomplish our goals of ensuring members are able to get to retirement with all our wages and benefits intact and ensuring access to quality healthcare for all Californians.

In our meeting yesterday, our Executive Board reaffirmed our commitment to speaking out against excessive hospital CEO pay, holding the hospital industry accountable to patients and workers, fixing California’s broken Medi-Cal system, and ensuring a rising standard of living for healthcare workers. To that end, an Open Letter to California Voters from our Executive Board will appear tomorrow (Thursday) as ads in the Sacramento Bee and L.A. Times.

Here is the text of that open letter:

OPEN LETTER TO CALIFORNIA VOTERS

The 85,000 hospital and clinic workers of the Service Employees International Union-United Healthcare Workers West (SEIU-UHW) want to work in a healthcare system that delivers affordable, high-quality care on an equal basis to all Californians. We also know we have a lot of work to do to get there. 

Take Sutter Health, one of the largest hospital chains in the state. Sutter is considered to be a non-profit charity, meaning it doesn’t pay taxes, a huge benefit courtesy of California taxpayers. In exchange, Sutter is supposed to serve the public and you would expect that it would operate in the service of all Californians.

But it turns out Sutter charges 25 percent more than other hospitals in California, nearly $4,000 per patient admission (based on 2013 prices). It can “get away” with this because many of its facilities operate in areas where there is little or no competition, enabling it to use its market power to raise prices.

It also pays its executives some of the highest salaries in the state. In 2014, at least 24 Sutter executives were paid more than a million dollars, 2 were paid more than $2 million, 1 was paid more than $4 million, and one executive was paid more than $6 million.

And they call themselves non-profits? Charities? Really? 

Sutter is one of the many examples in a California hospital industry where CEOs get extremely wealthy while patients face crippling costs. That is why the caregivers of SEIU-UHW sponsored the Hospital Executive Compensation Act of 2016, which would limit hospital executive compensation to the same level as the President of the United States, or $450,000 a year. And that is why nearly 650,000 California voters signed petitions to put it on the ballot in November. We believe this initiative would be an important step toward lowering healthcare costs and improving access to care. 

Hospital executives are desperate to deny you the right to vote on this initiative. They initiated legal proceedings and got an unaccountable arbitrator, named Richard L. Ahearn, to order us to withdraw the ballot initiative you signed – before you had a chance to vote on it. Yes, one person can deny the will of 650,000 people and prevent a vote by more than 17.9 million, all in the name of protecting multimillionaire CEO salaries. It's outrageous.

The caregivers of SEIU-UHW regret that we are being ordered to withdraw this initiative and that California voters are losing their right to vote on it THIS year. But we pledge that we will keep speaking out on the corrupting effects of excessive executive compensation in our healthcare system and will work to bring a similar initiative back to the ballot as soon as possible. 

All Californians need access to the highest quality, affordable healthcare. We will continue working day and night toward that goal.

Sincerely,

The Members of the SEIU-UHW Executive Board

I look forward to working with you in November and beyond to build a better healthcare system for California and a better standard of living for healthcare workers.

In Unity,

Dave Regan

President, SEIU-UHW

BREAKING: Judge Confirms Arbitrator’s Decision Requiring SEIU-UHW to Withdraw California Ballot Initiative

Sacramento County Superior Court

This afternoon, a Sacramento County Superior Court judge confirmed an arbitrator’s June 6th decision that orders SEIU-UHW’s Dave Regan to withdraw a statewide ballot initiative by June 30 or face tens of millions of dollars in fines, according to court records and sources who attended the hearing.

Judge David Brown announced his decision at the end of a hearing during which attorneys from SEIU-UHW and the California Hospital Association (CHA) argued their positions.

Yesterday, the judge issued a tentative ruling on the matter, according to the Los Angeles Times (John Myers, “Sacramento Judge Moves to Cancel a November Ballot Initiative Limiting Salaries of Hospital CEOs,” June 23, 2016).

SEIU-UHW’s spokesperson Steve Trossman told the Times that SEIU-UHW “will decide next week whether to appeal the judge's ruling or allow the initiative to be scrapped.”

The Superior Court judge’s ruling represents a massive defeat for Regan.

In 2014, Regan leapt into bed with hospital CEOs to forge a secret deal that sold out workers, patients, and the public. Regan triumphantly called the sell-out deal a “visionary” agreement that would transform U.S. labor relations and the healthcare industry.  Yeah right.

By late 2015, Regan found himself with nothing to show for his sordid act of lovemaking with the fatcat CEOs.

So, in November of 2015, Regan decided to file a statewide ballot initiative targetING his CEO pals and their multi-million-dollar salaries. Unfortunately, Regan forgot about the far-reaching gag clause that he’d written and signed… and which specifically blocks him from filing such a ballot initiative. 

Doh!

Regan must now carefully contemplate his next chess move after flawlessly steering SEIU-UHW into a tight-ass corner with no way out. 

Thanks to Regan, SEIU-UHW’s members are trapped in a no-win situation where they will watch as somewhere between $5 million and $50 million of their dues money is unceremoniously flushed down the toilet.

Way to go, Dave!

Stay tuned for Dave’s next Einstein move.