“What happens in Vegas…”

It turns out that Dave Regan’s reported effort to snatch 9,000 members from "SEIU Nevada" isn't his first attempt to rig events inside this local union.

In 2007, when Regan was the president of SEIU 1199 Ohio, he illegally funneled thousands of dollars to Andy Stern’s favored candidate in internal union elections taking place inside the same Nevada union.

In fact, Regan was cited by the U.S. Department of Labor for making illegal contributions to Stern’s candidate, Jane McAlevey, who was competing against rank-and-file members for control of the union.

In April 2008, the Department of Labor issued a two-page letter (see below) detailing Regan's illegal contributions, among other “investigative findings.” 

At the time, sources reported that McAlevey used Regan's illegal funding "to unseat officers who were on McAlevey’s enemy lists in the local because [they] questioned her pushing the Andy Stern agenda."

  U.S. Department of Labor's Findings on Vote-Rigging Scandal by SEIU 1107, District 1199 Ohio, Andy Ster...

Profits are UP for "Wall Street" Dave Regan

Last year, Dave Regan used SEIU-UHW to produce millions more in profits.

The Oakland-based union pocketed $8.6 million in profits during 2013, according to an annual report recently filed by SEIU-UHW with the U.S. Department of Labor. 

That's a profit margin of 7.8%.

In another section of the report, SEIU-UHW reveals that it stockpiled $37.8 million in cash by the end of 2013 -- the union's piles of cash jumped by 30 percent compared to twelve months earlier.

Remember…  SEIU-UHW made these profits from its members even BEFORE it implemented Regan’s giant dues hike, which took effect on January 1, 2014. Under that scheme, Regan boosted SEIU-UHW members' maximum monthly from $84 to $124.

So what's producing Regan's ridiculous profits? 

Tasty guesses the slashing of representation for members has something to do with it. Less spending on members = higher profits for Dave.

Here are some excerpts from SEIU-UHW’s recent filing:

   SEIU-UHW's $8.6 million in profits and $38 million in cash for 2013

SEIU Reports $42 Million in Red Ink to U.S. Department of Labor

SEIU is facing serious financial problems, according to an annual report it just submitted to the U.S. Department of Labor.

First, SEIU reports that it lost 45,000 members last year -- apparently one of the biggest losses of any union in the country. SEIU is expected to report additional membership losses in 2013, which could reduce its membership by an additional 100,000 workers.  

What about SEIU-UHW? Its membership has dropped by more than 3,000 since 2008.

Secondly, SEIU reports it’s bleeding money like a pig in a wood chipper. How much red ink? Last year, SEIU lost $41.9 million.  

And that’s not all. SEIU has slashed the amount of money it's spending on “representation” by $12.6 million -- a 15 percent cut.

But don’t worry. Even though workers are getting less representation, SEIU’s staffers are pocketing massive pay increases.   

At SEIU-UHW, Stan Lyles saw his paycheck increase from $105,758 in 2011 to $145,600 in 2012 -- a 37% pay increase! Meanwhile, Steve Trossman -- who’s linked to the Tyrone Freeman corruption scandal -- got a $10,000 pay increase that boosted his 2012 annual pay to $166,098.

And here’s a story that speaks volumes about the priorities of SEIU’s staffers. Workers at Kaiser Oakland Medical Center report that SEIU-UHW organizer Fola Afariogun is begging Kaiser workers to vote for SEIU-UHW so he won’t lose his cushy job. Like other SEIU staffers, Afariogun is apparently super nervous about the giant election.

How much does Fola earn? During the past two years, SEIU-UHW paid him more than $205,000, according to records from the Department of Labor.

Last week, Fola even paraded his teenage son through the hospital and told workers that if SEIU-UHW loses the election, he’ll have a hard time sending his son to college. Pathetic, right?

So what is Fola doing with the $200,000 he pocketed during the past two years? Well, here’s a hint. Fola drives a Mercedes Benz to work every day! And he’s regularly spotted in Brooks Brothers buying all the fancy clothes and hip caps that he wears to work every day.

Looks like SEIU has more than a financial deficit! 

Here’s an excerpt from the DOL report that details SEIU’s $41.9 million in red ink. (Click on image to enlarge.)

More California Workers to Bolt SEIU

This just in: a unit of 272 county workers has filed for an election to decertify SEIU Local 221 in San Diego, California so they can join an independent union called the Association of San Diego County Employees (ASDCE). The independent union was founded last year by another breakaway group of SEIU members.

Below, Tasty has posted the county’s official notice about the decert filing, dated November 21.

So what’s causing workers to rush for the exit signs? Here’s what one member of Local 221 says about SEIU’s leaders:

They treat us like "mushrooms." You know, keep us in the dark and feed us sh*t.

He goes on to describe the sell-out contracts negotiated by SEIU that “have left us with less money in our pockets and less respect from our employers.” And then there are “the bloated paychecks of the local president” …not to mention the six-figure severance packages and consulting gigs that allow SEIU's departing officials to line their pockets.

In recent years, at least six bargaining units have decertified SEIU Local 221. A member of Local 221 describes some of these departures by county workers:

In 2009 the Probation Officers (PO) Unit did it, and voted to form their own new union, the San Diego County Probation Officers Association (SDCPOA). That was about 900 members that SEIU lost then. In 2011 the Crafts (CR) Unit did it, and voted to form their own new union, the Association of San Diego County Employees (ASDCE)… This time, it's the CM Unit (Construction, Maintenance and Repair)…
 This is a huge vote of "NO CONFIDENCE" in the way SEIU Local 221 is being run, no matter how this all turns out! And for that, we can all thank SEIU Local 221 President David Garcias and his mentor, former President Eric Banks, and his former boss, former President Sharon-Frances Moore and former SEIU International President Andy Stern (who appointed her to run our union in 2007). SEIU Local 221, since it was chartered in 2007, has not had a single president that had even a clue about how to empower the union members to democratically run our own union.

And that’s not all. As Tasty recently reported, the US Department of Labor is conducting its second investigation in just three years over alleged vote fraud during the Local 221's recent internal officer elections. Stay tuned!
Notice of Decertification Petition by members of SEIU Local 221 in San Diego, California 11-21-12

Feds Investigate SEIU Local 221... Again

As attention in the U.S. focuses on Tuesday’s national elections, workers report that another one of SEIU’s own elections is under investigation by federal officials for alleged vote rigging.

A member of SEIU Local 221-- which represents public-sector workers in San Diego, California -- writes:

On October 30, 2012, the federal Department of Labor began an investigation into possible illegal union election campaign activity at SEIU Local 221. The union conducted elections for the positions of local president, vice president, secretary, treasurer and twelve other executive board seats on July 10, 2012. A legal complaint was filed contesting the election results.

So what’s going on?

Well, during the elections, the Purple Palace’s favored candidate for president -- David Garcias -- eked out a narrow victory by fewer than 250 votes.

Workers allege that SEIU committed multiple violations during the election, including these:  

First, they say SEIU sent out 777 “extra” ballots to “voters.” Even though the union had just 6,009 members who were eligible to vote, SEIU officials sent out 6,786 ballots. Who got the “extra” ballots? That’s the big question.

Secondly, workers allege that a posse of SEIU officials campaigned for Garcias while being paid by SEIU. It’s strictly illegal for SEIU officials to use members’ dues money to support one slate of candidates vs. another. The posse of allegedly illegal campaigners includes Eric Banks (the union’s former president), Barbara Mohondro (Banks’s office manager), Kirsten Clemens (Banks’s chief of staff) and executive board member Liliana Camarena.

For those who don’t know him, Banks is the guy who fell for this hilarious prank during the giant Kaiser election in 2010. Since stepping down as president of Local 221, Banks has signed a consulting gig with Local 221. His new title? “Strategic Adviser” to SEIU Local 221. Hourly billing rate? Unknown.

 

If the feds overturn Local 221’s recent elections, it will be the second time it has done so in recent years. According to member at SEIU Local 221:  

A similar complaint regarding the 2009 union elections resulted in the government throwing out the election and forcing the union to run a "do-over" election in 2010.

Below, Tasty posted the 2010 letter from the DOL announcing the overturning of election results at Local 221. 

Altogether, it sounds like SEIU is keeping the U.S. Department of Labor plenty busy -- earlier on, Tasty covered the news that DOL officials are apparently investigating alleged election violations at SEIU Local 721 in Los Angeles. Stay tuned!

US Department of Labor's Out-of-Court Settlement with SEIU regarding Misconduct during Elections at SEIU Lo...

Union Member: "The bloodletting has begun..." at SEIU Local 721

Just as SEIU President Mary Kay Henry tries to control the damage from John August’s sexual harassment scandal, more information is emerging about SEIU’s scandal on the West Coast.

In an email (see below), a member of SEIU Local 721 reports that three members of the union’s “senior staff” were fired after they “discontinued their monthly, personal contributions to Bob Schoonover’s Presidential re-election campaign.”

Schoonover, who’s seeking re-election to Local 721’s top post, reportedly requires each senior staffer to make monthly “voluntary” contributions to his personal campaign fund… or else!

Sources tell Tasty that Dave Regan used the same scheme to finance his campaign for the presidency of SEIU-UHW in 2011. In fact, Regan reportedly forced each senior staffer to “donate” $5,000 to his election fund. Furthermore, he instructed staff directors to ‘shake down’ the staffers whom they supervised for additional “voluntary” contributions.

A former staffer described what happens if you resist Regan’s “election tax.” A newly hired Field Rep in SEIU-UHW’s Nursing Home Division was fired by Myriam Escamilla (Director of SEIU-UHW’s Nursing Home Division) during the Field Rep's first week on the job after he expressed some reluctance at “donating” part of his paycheck to Diamond Dave’s election fund. This incident was confirmed by a second source.

Here’s the email describing what's happening at Local 721, which Tasty has excerpted because of its length. The email was authored by a member of Local 721.

To all,

The bloodletting has begun...

Rumor, but easily verifiable, is that higher level staff members (approximately 3, so far) of our Local 721 are being fired for having discontinued their monthly, personal contributions to Bob Schoonover's Presidential re-election campaign!  I want to give all a little more time to let the contents of this last sentence to sink in.

That's right!  Bob and company have, apparently, been filling his re-election campaign coffers by pressuring staff to contribute or you're out of here!  Remember, Bob's, currently, acting as the Executive Director of Local 721.  He can and most assuredly does tell Gilda Valdez, the Local 721 Chief of Staff, whose responsibility it is to hire and fire staff, what to do, how to do it and who is told YES and who is told NO! …

Because of the level of the source of the complaint, because of to whom the complaint was filed and because Mary Kay Henry will be unable to squash this complaint without much collateral damage, rest assured this Local is about to be blown up…

Buckle up!  Keep your eyes and ears open and don't be afraid to share information with the rest of us.  The ride is about to get real bumpy.

Still here,

Arturo      

Readers may have noticed that the member's email makes reference to the filing of a "complaint." What's going on? Apparently, the fired senior staffers have filed a formal complaint with the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL). 

The DOL is no stranger to illegal vote-rigging schemes carried by SEIU's top officials. In 2008, the federal agency cited Dave Regan -- who was then the president of SEIU District 1199 WV, KY, OH -- for illegally funneling thousands of dollars from his Ohio reelection fund to support Andy Stern's favored candidate in internal union elections in Nevada. See the DOL's letter below.

Regan funneled the money to support Jane McAlevey and her slate of Purple Palace candidates (called "Members United to Win"), who were competing with rank-and-file members over control of SEIU Local 1107 (now called "SEIU Nevada"). According to a former member of Local 1107, Regan's illegal funding "was used to unseat officers who were on McAlevey's enemy list in the local because we questioned her pushing the Andy Stern agenda."

The DOL's letter describes SEIU's multiple violations of federal labor law, including this one involving Regan: 

The Members United to Win slate of candidates used union funds to promote certain candidates in that $5,000 in donations came from a Solidarity Fund in the name of SEIU District 1199 WV, KY, OH, in violation of Section 401 (g).

Here's the full letter from the US Department of Labor:

U.S. Department of Labor's Findings on Vote-Rigging Scandal by SEIU 1107, District 1199 Ohio, Andy Stern, D...