NUHW Defeats SEIU-UHW in Today’s NLRB Election at Kaiser Permanente

Earlier today, Kaiser Permanente’s optical workers in Northern California voted by an overwhelming majority to be represented by NUHW.

Approximately 370 workers were eligible to vote in today’s NLRB election, and they voted for NUHW by more than a two-to-one margin. 

Here are the results:

NUHW:  214

SEIU-UHW:  103

No Union:  3

Challenged Ballots:  22

In 2010, this same unit of optical workers voted to decertify SEIU-UHW and join NUHW. Also in 2010, four other units of Kaiser workers bolted the Purple Palace and joined NUHW. 

Together, these 4,000 workers have fought the same benefit cuts that SEIU-UHW has already accepted from Kaiser, including cuts to workers' retiree health coverage.

In response to the workers’ fight-back campaign, SEIU-UHW teamed up with Kaiser to try to force the optical workers back into SEIU-UHW. 

SEIU-UHW poured untold amounts of money into their decertification campaign -- including weekly mailers, robocalls, live phone calls, fake telephone surveys, websites, purple buses, etc. SEIU-UHW staffers also worked hand-in-hand with Kaiser's managers to try to break the NUHW workers’ strikes.

Meanwhile, Kaiser has given every possible advantage to their “partner,” including giving SEIU-UHW free access to the optical worksites in order to carry out the purple campaign.

So… has Kaiser’s and SEIU-UHW’s joint campaign undermined optical workers’ support for NUHW?

Nope! According to today’s election results, optical workers’ support for NUHW has actually grown stronger since 2010.

In the 2010 election, NUHW won by a margin of 52% to 48% (154 votes to 142 votes). Today, NUHW won by a margin of approximately 70% to 30% (214 votes to 103 votes)... and with an even higher turnout among voters.

Tasty hears that NUHW’s margin of victory would have been far bigger, but SEIU-UHW’s Greg Maron blocked the NLRB from counting 5% of the ballots by frivolously challenging NUHW supporters’ right to vote. Maron (whom workers charitably refer to as “Greg Moron”) even challenged the voting rights of optical Shop Stewards who’ve worked at Kaiser for more than a dozen years!

According to workers, Moron and SEIU-UHW staffer Justine Fout couldn’t even scare up a single Kaiser worker to attend the vote count with SEIU-UHW.

Congrats to the optical workers!

Fyi, in case you're interested, here’s NUHW’s post on the election.

Three SEIU-UHW Shop Stewards Are Suspended for Threats, Harassment and Violence at Kaiser Permanente

Three of SEIU-UHW's shop stewards were suspended from their jobs at a Kaiser hospital in Northern California after harassing, threatening and assaulting rank-and-file workers and an NUHW staffer, according to sources.

So far, the three stewards -- Jennie Edney, Ella Henderson and Tina Anderson -- have been out of work for two weeks while investigations continue at Kaiser Vallejo Medical Center.

Apparently, Kaiser officials were dragging their feet on the investigation until a federal agency launched its own inquiry into SEIU-UHW's use of threats and assaults against its own members. That's when Kaiser officials finally decided they had to make a show of enforcing the rules against their Purple Partners. Sources tell Tasty that the three stewards will likely be terminated. Others may follow.

So who else is involved in the threats and violence?  Apparently, SEIU-UHW Contract Specialist Ollie Anderson and Field Rep. Justine Fout are "neck deep" in the scandal. And nearly two dozen other SEIU-UHW shop stewards reportedly participated in one of the violent incidents.

Of course, SEIU-UHW's use of threats and violence against its members is not new. SEIU-UHW's Dave Regan reportedly tells staffers and shop stewards to use threats, "shout downs," harassment, etc against workers who happen to disagree with SEIU and Regan.

Last month, the California Public Employment Relations Board issued a complaint against SEIU-UHW for threatening and assaulting homecare workers during a union election in Fresno, California.

And in 2010, three separate Superior Court judges issued restraining orders against SEIU-UHW Field Rep. Tiffany Ford after she threatened to kill a Kaiser employee inside a Kaiser hospital.

Labor legend Dolores Huerta described her experiences with SEIU's tactics in this video, which includes footage of SEIU-UHW staffer Angela Hewett beating her fists on tables inside a Kaiser cafeteria.

Stay tuned for more developments. Tasty hears that the three suspended stewards are renowned for bullying their co-workers.