Mendocino County employees have set up a website in an effort to gather enough signatures to approve a decertification vote. Ross Liberty, leader of the drive, said all SEIU has done for them is make things worse. “Union negotiators have created an adversarial relationship between employees and county officials that is beneficial to neither…I think that’s the nature of unions. They need to keep their members in a constant state of fear and loathing. That’s how they get the employees to part with their dues.” The situation for home care workers in Minnesota is even more interesting – they didn’t realize they were a part of the union until they saw dues being deducted from their check. Here’s what went down. Employees signed a card that as far as they knew simply meant they supported the decision to hold an election. SEIU, however, had included a note in fine print that said by signing the card they were in fact voting for the union as their bargaining representative. Even more, SEIU is now giving those that want to opt out the run-around. In California, a judge has just certified a class-action lawsuit against SEIU seeking an injunction for 34,000 nonunion employees who want SEIU to stop withdrawing money from their paychecks for political contributions. Currently, SEIU requires them to opt out of this every year before SEIU withdraws the money. Plaintiffs say the opt out information is “confusing and the process itself is cumbersome.” After waiting two months past the deadline to file their LM-2, SEIU Healthcare Michigan, the local that skimmed dues off of home-based caregivers for years, has finally revealed the effects of being caught in the scheme. Membership is down 80% and revenue is down 50%. Lastly, remember Dave Regan’s “leaked” piece slamming Mary Kay Henry for her decision to create a new local with half of Regan’s membership? It should come as no surprise that Dave Regan was the source of the leak. And how about this for another “Reganism:” he’s named his recent deal with the California Hospital Association that prevents workers from reporting patient-care violations…“Caring for Californians.”
