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."

Internal Recording #3: The California Hospital Association Describes a Possible "Nuclear War" with SEIU-UHW over Secret Partnership Deal

Here's a third excerpt from an internal conference call conducted by the California Hospital Association (CHA) in June of 2015 regarding its secret partnership deal with SEIU-UHW.

In this excerpt, Duane Dauner (the CHA’s CEO) tells hospital executives that serious problems are brewing inside his newlywed relationship with SEIU-UHW, forged last year with Dave Regan.

In fact, the problems are so severe they threaten to blow up the entire deal and ignite what Dauner calls a "nuclear war."

What's going on?

First, Dauner says SEIU-UHW will not be successful in delivering the billions of taxpayer dollars required by the deal in order for SEIU-UHW to secure "organizing rights" covering 30,000 hospital workers in 2017.

In the deal, Regan pledged to use SEIU's political influence and $20 million of workers' dues dollars to deliver up to $6 billion a year in new Medicaid ("Medi-Cal") revenues to California hospital corporations by the end of 2016.

According to Dauner, Regan will fail.

Secondly, SEIU-UHW is apparently aware of its impending failure and is once again threatening to use ballot initiatives to pressure the hospital industry to allow it to unionize tens of thousands of hospital workers.

According to Dauner, SEIU-UHW may launch a third round of ballot initiatives as soon as the fall of 2015.

If so, says Dauner, SEIU-UHW will trigger a "nuclear war" that will "blow up" its relationship with the CHA. Dauner says the industry will go "all out" to defeat a new round of SEIU-UHW ballot initiatives.

Here's what Dauner says (you can hear the following statement at the 15:35 minute mark in the video below):

"UHW has threatened to introduce initiatives for 2016 by filing them in 2015 with the Attorney General for title and summary… We will be engaged in a nuclear war and we will be prepared. And we will go ‘all out’ to defeat those initiatives." (15:35)

Thirdly, Dauner reveals that the hospital industry is already maneuvering behind the scenes to mount legal challenges against SEIU-UHW. He mentions one lawsuit that's already underway and says California law prohibits Regan from using the state's ballot initiative system to extract demands from the hospital industry.

Fourthly, Dauner reveals that hospital workers are, at best, an invisible footnote in SEIU-UHW's top-down deal with hospital bosses. For example, SEIU-UHW's deal gives hospital CEOs -- not workers -- the right to choose which workers can actually form unions, according to Dauner. In another aspect of the deal, Regan agreed to a "gag clause" that blocks workers from reporting patient-care violations to government oversight agencies.

It’s no great surprise that the wheels are coming off Regan's so-called "audacious new proposal to save the labor movement." Regan's scheme violates every value of the labor movement and requires workers and their union, SEIU-UHW, to become errand boys for profit-hungry hospital corporations.

Furthermore, it's clear as day that Regan was out-maneuvered by the CHA during the negotiation of the partnership deal. Regan -- and SEIU-UHW's members -- are now stuck with a horrible deal that’s forced SEIU-UHW members to cough up tens of millions of dollars to hospital corporations, has failed to produce a single new union member for SEIU-UHW, and appears headed towards a nuclear conflagration.

Don't be surprised when Regan signs onto an even bigger sellout deal with industry bosses in a desperate attempt to dig his ass out of a hole that's growing deeper by the day.

Here's the audio file, along with PowerPoint slides that the CHA presented to hospital executives during the presentation:

Internal Recording #2: The California Hospital Association Discusses its Secret ‘Money-for-Workers’ Deal with SEIU-UHW

Check this out.

A source has sent a second excerpt from an internal conference call held recently by the California Hospital Association regarding its secret deal with SEIU-UHW, which is the subject of a complaint submitted to California Attorney General Kamala Harris.

The new recording is quite revealing.

We hear a description -- direct from top execs inside the hospital industry's Chamber of Commerce -- of the basic terms of the secret deal between hospital CEOs and SEIU-UHW’s Dave Regan.

According to the recording, the SEIU-CHA deal is basically a 'money-for-workers' transaction.

SEIU-UHW must deliver $4.4 billion a year in new taxpayer-funded Medicaid revenues to California’s hospital corporations… which are already enjoying big profits. (Last week, Kaiser Permanente reported $2 billion in profits during the first six months of 2015.)

And in return for delivering this enormous sum to the bosses ($4.4 billion), SEIU-UHW can basically purchase the right to unionize tens of thousands of California hospital workers. The workers would then be subject to stripped-down wages and benefits, a gag clause, and limited workplace rights.

(Note: In California, Medicaid is referred to as "Medi-Cal.")

The recording below also offers hints about the apparent troubles brewing between the CHA and SEIU-UHW. Note: The beginning of the video is silent while background information is presented to viewers. The audio begins at 45 seconds.