SEIU – United Healthcare Workers West approached Prime Healthcare Services a little over a year ago demanding a “quick” deal for SEIU members at PHS’ Centinela Hospital Medical Center in California, so that SEIU could avoid a challenge from the upstart NUHW. SEIU threatened to release reports that supposedly showed that patients were acquiring serious blood infections at PHS’ hospitals even though SEIU knew that the data identified conditions present on admission.
SEIU then stepped up the pressure by having an investment fund created by SEIU and other unions, make false and misleading statements to Medical Properties Trust (MPT), a publicly traded real estate investment trust which serves as PHS’ landlord and/or lender at several of its hospitals.
SEIU then deployed a state senator, Denise Ducheney, a long-time friend of SEIU, to repeat the false claim that PHS’ hospitals were not in compliance with California’s earthquake safety laws, a gross misrepresentation of publicly verifiable facts.
SEIU has continued using similar tactics to pressure PHS into neutrality agreements, but PHS has remained rock solid in defiance of the union’s extortion attempts, and has made a criminal referral to the United States Attorneys’ Office regarding SEIU’s activities.
Elsewhere in California, another Big Labor group has found a unique way to ensure contracts for new construction projects are funneled to them. Here’s how it works:
A labor coalition called CURE (California Unions for Reliable Energy) challenges construction projects on environmental grounds. However, once the construction contract is let to CURE’s largest affiliate, the State Building & Construction Trades Council of California, CURE then drops the charges, effectively blocking rival unions from the opportunity to bid for the work. CURE and the council operate out of the same Sacramento office and have the same top executive, Robert Balgenorth.
Since 2000, CURE has been involved in all 12 renewable energy projects planned for Southern California. CURE (and its affiliated unions) are engaged in 8 of the projects, and has suits still pending against 2 developers that did not use project labor agreements.
UHW is one of the highest profit hospital corporations in America. Pity the patient who loses everything to them if they are owed money. of course I know this website does not care about that.