SEIU Watch

You may already know about Mary Kay Henry’s decision to take 70,000 home care workers from SEIU-UHW and create a new local, SEIU 2015; which means you probably also know that Dave Regan is pretty worked up about it. He made it quite clear in his letter to local members when he addressed them as “UHW members” rather than “SEIU-UHW members,” and again in a highly opinionated seven-page memo where he stated, “To put it bluntly, this decision is a massive betrayal of our stated principles and values.” Hypocrisy strikes again. More details have emerged about Regan’s secret deal with the California Hospital Association in 2014. Besides agreeing to hold wages stagnant and prohibit employees from striking, Regan also told hospital executives he would impose a “gag clause” preventing SEIU-UHW and its members from reporting violations to patient care, issuing any communications that “raise concerns about hospital pricing and executive compensation in health care,” and engaging in any “Anti-Employer Activities.” Call us crazy, but this sounds like a “massive betrayal” of SEIU’s “stated principles and values.” As to the gag clause, NUHW has called on California Attorney General Kamala Harris, in association with other state representatives, to issue an injunction to block this clause at all CHA hospitals attempting to implement it. In other SEIU news:

• SEIU Healthcare Michigan’s 2014 LM-2 report reveals just how much money the union exploited from members during its near decade-long dues scheme. Dues collection went from $11.3 million during the last full year the scheme was active to $5.4 million the first full year without it. Read this News-Gazette Commentary for a personal account of one woman’s struggle within this scheme for years.
• SEIU, in conjunction with the Philadelphia City Council, is trying to weasel a labor provision into a lease deal with airlines at Philadelphia International Airport. If accepted, “workers would need only express interest, or sign a petition, to unionize, and the SEIU would become their union.” This would bypass decades-long NLRB voting procedures. The airlines, led by American, are currently refusing to sign the agreement.
• SEIU Local 1107 president, Martin Bassick, has been ordered back to work after being on paid leave from his job as a plans checker for Clark County in order to focus on union-related duties. This arrangement is pretty common practice by public-sector unions and local government agencies in Southern Nevada. However, after reviewing the amount the county is shelling out for union paid leave – $346,200 in 2013 – Clark County decided to take advantage of a new piece of legislation signed by Governor Brian Sandoval and ordered Bassick to come back to work. SEIU is, of course, disputing the county’s interpretation of the law.
• A recent Labor Pains article noted that while SEIU has been loud and proud about its participation in the Fight for $15 movement, having spent over $50 million in promotional activities, it has remained relatively quiet about the effect it’s having on their membership numbers: none.