This should actually be criminal.

Fred Ross, Jr. is a long-time organizer and is deeply respected amongst organizers, workers and our supporters here in California. His father, an organizer with a religiously affiliated community group recruited a man named Cesar Chavez to be involved in migrant issues, and together they started the United Farm Workers.

Fred worked for SEIU for the last 10 years of his 40-year career, most recently working on the Saint Joseph Health System/Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital fight. He quit this last spring out of disgust with what SEIU was doing in California. Fred had been pretty vague in his disgust, but in light of SEIU's union busting at Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital, he has written a letter to the workers, featured in Beyond Chron.

So what exactly did SEIU do? Check out this except:

"Last February, SEIU leaders from Washington took over its California healthcare local, SEIU-UHW. The campaign was suspended (SRMH). Days later, over 200 SRMH workers were informed of impending layoffs. I offered to fight the layoffs alongside an experienced organizer who had spent two years on the campaign. However, this organizer was told by the new SEIU-UHW leadership, installed by Andy Stern, that SRMH workers were no longer a priority.

"Several days later, a national leader of SEIU told me that SEIU could probably get a free and fair election agreement from SJHS by that June. I was shocked by what he admitted next: that the international union made a decision in August 2008 no longer to support workers at SJHS or put pressure on the system, because they did not want you to have the opportunity to vote for a union led by Sal Rosselli."

Yes, you read that right. A nationally ranked leader of SEIU told Fred that the workers could have a deal with the employer to have a fair election, but not if it would look good for the then leadership of UHW. 21,000 workers lost the opportunity to vote in a fair election to be union members, just so Sal Rosselli would not be associated with the victory? Twenty One Thousand.

According to sources, the genius that told Fred about the potential victory that SEIU killed?

Scott Courtney.

Who is on the Naughty List?

Every year Jobs with Justice puts out a poll where you can vote for the "Scrooge of the Year." This award recognizes the greediest, most cold-hearted company or person of the year.



This year the choices are:

Bank of America
US Chamber of Commerce
Hyatt Hotels
Publix Supermarkets
Student Local Lenders Sallie Mae & Citibank

Of course, you can also write someone in...I guess what Tasty is saying is that if Tasty were writing anyone in, Tasty is writing in Mr. Andrew L. Stern. Who is certainly has shown his greedy cold hearted side this past year.

Enjoy:

http://www.jwj.org/scrooge/

Meet Scott Courtney. Do As He Says, Not As He Does.

Oh, SEIU staff. Why would any real organizer, researcher or any other staff come to California when everyone else in the labor movement says that the trusteeship is bad for workers, for EFCA and for the image of the labor movement?

Sure, 10% national unemployment and layoffs in the union certainly make some feel that coming to California is simply a decision to keep their jobs and put food on the table. But for some SEIU staff who specialize in organizing health care workers the answer is Scott Courtney.

Courtney, former organizing director at 1199WOK, is all too familiar with Dave Regan’s frequent testosterone tantrums and had been admired by many staff for rolling his eyes at Andy Stern’s latest gimmicks to organize a million workers with a new website, mail in contest or iPhone app. Courtney would say that he often agreed with the original UHW leaders about organizing strategy and many who were turned off by Andy and Anna’s shtick believed that Courtney was sincere.

Reportedly, he also made one thing clear to many staff: he would never work on the Trusteeship.

So, why is Scott in California? Well, first he said that he was angry at former UHW staff, who he believed tipped the California Nurse Association off that 1199WOK was running elections at several Ohio Hospitals. The CNA then intervened, and the elections were called off. CNA claimed SEIU was making a 'sweetheart deal' with employers and SEIU claimed that CNA was union busting because they were jealous rivals. Scott was furious that those workers would not have a union because of the ruined elections.

So did former UHW staff blow up the Ohio elections? The facts say NO. Among the reasons: there was press done about the elections BEFORE the elections, most likely the way that CNA found out about the elections. Also, workers know how to use the phone, perhaps one of them called CNA?!

After the election, Scott and his pal Dave Regan teamed up to infiltrate the 2008 Labor Notes Conference, Where CNA’s Executive Director Roseanne DeMoro was scheduled to speak-and it went just about as well as the Trusteeship is going!

Fast forward a year and find all of these same players signing organizing deals that potentially cover thousands of more workers, with Roseanne. I guess Ohio wasn’t such a deal breaker after all.

Your friend SternBurger might stop to marvel at this hypocrisy… BUT THERE’S SO MUCH MORE!

Not only is Scott inking deals with his former ‘enemies,’ but he is also working on the Trusteeship here in California. But most offensive of all: He brought a boatload of former Ohio staff to undermine the efforts of workers at a Catholic Hospital System that is trying to organize a union!

Sound familiar? Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital was prepared to sign an election agreement and refrain from negative campaigning. But it seems that Scott and his posse haven’t been able to get workers to dump NUHW and support SEIU. So instead of agreeing to allow workers to vote without employer and union negative campaigns, SEIU has rejected the agreement and allowed management to attack both SEIU and NUHW.

Some might say that SEIU’s behavior is unbelievable for an organization that purports to be a union. But Dave Regan is too easy of a target.

More notable is the rapid descent of Scott. When he thought Ohio workers had a chance to vote for HIS union, he told CNN Money/Fortune magazine that fair elections agreements were the way to go:

"I think we found something that is smack in the middle," Courtney said. "That really does say [management and union are] both going to trust the employees to vote, we're going to live by the results, and we're going to hold ourselves to a standard much higher than and much greater than what the law says."

So Scott, why can't we keep holding ourselves to this higher standard and let workers vote? Think carefully about your answer and remember—Andy Stern isn’t the only one whose credibility is on the line.

Trading Pink Sheets for Pink Slips: Worker's United Staff

SternBurger is hearing reports of massive layoffs at SEIU's Workers United. According to sources, SEIU officials are sending pink slips to about 40% of Workers United's staff because of SEIU's deepening financial problems. Meanwhile, other unions across the US are reporting that they're getting a flurry of job applications from the laid-off staffers.

Readers might recall that, earlier this year, Andy Stern laid off scores of SEIU staff amid reports of a serious financial shortfalls that caused SEIU to run to the bank for $25 million in new loans.

Sounds like SEIU's wars are beginning to bleed the union dry. SternBurger wonders when Andy will share the pain by taking a cut in his $275,000-a-year paycheck funded by SEIU members. When will Dave Regan take a cut in his quarter-million dollar salary?

In all fairness, it seems like SEIU's top officials, who have led SEIU's members into a series of disastrous and costly wars, should be the first ones to go out the door...

SEIU Drives Yet Another Ally Away

In May 2009 SEIU held a prayer breakfast and lobbying event on behalf of an important goal the Employee Free Choice Act, with an organization called "Faith Leaders for Workplace Support." This organization, purportedly started by SEIU, included the respected organization Catholic Scholars for Worker Justice.

See their website about the event.

But Today, that same group came out against the actions of the boss at Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital AND SEIU's ACTIONS!

Here is the text of the letter (emphasis original):

December 3, 2009

Mr. Kevin A. Klockenga

President and Chief Executive Officer

St. Joseph Health System Sonoma County

Sent Via Email

Dear Mr. Klockenga,

In your letter of Oct. 5, 2009 to Catholic Scholars for Worker Justice you explained that “SRMH leadership was scheduled to meet with NUHW officials to attempt to reach mutually agreed-upon ground rules for a future election.” We in CSWJ rejoiced in this statement since it demonstrated a new openness on the part of SJHS to improve labor relations and it was the first concrete application of the joint USCCB, CHA, and labor union document, “Respecting the Just Rights of Workers: Guidance and Options for Catholic Healthcare and Unions.”

We have followed developments in this matter and are disappointed that SEIU refused to attend a meeting with SJHS and NUHW to decide upon ground rules for an election. We believe, however, that you still had a moral obligation to meet with NUHW since the interests of the workers should not be held hostage to one party who refuses to attend a meeting. Simply meeting with a union to discuss ground rules in no way constitutes an endorsement of that union by SJHS. In the name of the common good, we urge you to meet at the earliest possible moment with NUHW to discuss ground rules for the last two weeks of the campaign. SEIU should, of course, be invited but it they refuse to attend we urge you to schedule the meeting anyway.

In addition, we are deeply alarmed at reports that SJHS has reverted to an earlier form of behavior and is actively seeking to bust the union movement at Santa Rosa. It is a violation of Catholic Social Teaching on workers’ rights for an employer to demonstrate anti-union sentiments. The decision for or against a union is rooted in the natural right of free association and the employer may under no circumstances violate or denigrate this right through actions or conversations with workers that have a clear anti-union prejudice. Accordingly, we call upon Saint Joseph Health System to cease its anti-union campaign and to follow the norms that are set forth in Respecting the Just Rights of Workers: Guidance and Options for Catholic Healthcare and Unions.

Sincerely yours,

JOSEPH J. FAHEY

Chairperson, Catholic Scholars for Worker Justice

Kaiser Clips...

See press about the NLRB's decision to finally allow 2,300 workers in Kaiser's Southern California professional units to hold union-representation elections.

(1) NBC: “Trouble in Paradise for SEIU - Kaiser Permanente employees could skip out on union”

(2) LA Daily News: “Healthcare workers could join breakaway union”

(3) Sacramento Business Journal: “NLRB gives huge victory to National Union of Healthcare Workers”

(4) San Francisco Business Times: “NLRB decision could open door to new health care union”

BREAKING NEWS: SO-CAL KAISER PROs TO VOTE!!!

The NLRB finally ordered a de-certification vote for three units of Kaiser professionals in Southern California (approx 2,300 workers in total). Workers first filed their petitions requesting a vote back in February of this year. SEIU and Kaiser management objected, claiming that a
contract bar prohibits workers from holding an election and, secondly, that NUHW is not an actual union.

The NLRB finally conducted a hearing on the issue and today, the NLRB Regional Director threw out both of SEIU's objections and ordered an election.

It appears that SEIU and/or Kaiser management could try to appeal the region's decision to a higher level within the NLRB.

Which, lets be real, they will do unless people push back on them. Fight Back Kaiser Pros!!!