Op-ed: "Stall Tactics" at Memorial

Will management ever grow up? Without SEIU to do their dirty work they are now wasting money, credibility and only guaranteeing fierce resistance from workers, the community and it's leaders, media, etc.

Management whines about election results; Empire Report hits back hard

Wow, what a great piece of writing! Empire Report's Michael Aparicio rips management's allegations up one side and down the other with such ease and finesse. Get ready for a good belly laugh! Management's allegations are as hilarious as they are pitiful. Memo to management: the harder you try to fight the will of the workers the harder the community will fight back, and we way out-number you!

Tell Memorial Hospital to Drop Their Objections, Respect Workers' Decision

So, what can you do to voice your opinion about this disappointing but expected turn of events? You can attend the rally tomorrow. Below is the email I received from Steve Sidawi, union organizer for Memorial workers.

Urgent Action Tomorrow: Tell Memorial Hospital to Drop Their Objections, Respect Workers' Decision

Where: Outside Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital

When: Wednesday, December 30, 11:45 a.m.

We have just learned that Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital management is attempting to get the historic union election overturned. SRMH has filed outrageous "objections" charging that NUHW and community supporters engaged in conduct "preventing employees from exercising their choice." Among the absurdities they are alleging are surveillance, interrogation, videotaping employees, and obstructing the entrance to hospital meeting rooms. They also allege that the NLRB created confusion by using different "font styles" on the ballot. Management's objections are especially insulting because they are an implicit attack on the right of community supporters to advocate for a fair election.

See you there tomorrow!

Guess who's contesting the NUHW victory at Memorial?

For once it's not the Zombies. Nor it is the Memorial Bridge folks with their close-but-who-really-cares second place finish. It's the workers "best friend"...management! These are the folks who laid off 200 employees in February, just days after the trusteeship, and then hired them back at cut throat rates, with no health insurance, vacation time, or sick time. I'm just sayin'...lest we forget.

Memo to management: you lost, get over it. The workers voted and once the NLRB resolves the 17 contested votes your job is to either work with NUHW or go back to business as usual.

NLRB moves quick-ish to resolve Memorial contested ballots

Tim Peck of the NLRB stated:

We sent letters to both contenders to see if the parties would resolve their ballot challenge differences voluntarily with a requirement that they reply on or before Dec. 29. There will be no certification of the election until ballot challenge issues are resolved.

which is must quicker than I expected, especially since the Zombies, with their disgraceful 13 votes didn't want to do the right thing for their organization, their dues paying members or anyone else involved in this slow-motion train wreck and just throw in the towel after the beating the received Friday night.

This just in: someone from SEIU can't see how election loss might have happened.

As a comment to my previous entry shows, despite my best efforts to educate and enlighten, some people just can't be bothered with reading and thinking before commenting.

Yes, and no doubt NUHW will be able to negotiate a superior contract at SRMH, what with the overwhelming support represented by the vote of 283 of 675 members of the bargaining unit (42%), the opposition of 293 members (43%, counting 13 who voted for UHW, 263 who voted "no union" and 17 who cared enough to vote but whose votes were challenged by NUHW--think they are now NUHW supporters, whatever they were originally?), and 99 who didn't care enough to vote. How do the contracts NUHW has managed to negotiate so far stack up to the ones SEIU is boasting about? Hard to say BECAUSE THEY HAVEN'T GOTTEN ANY.

Oh gentle reader who hides in the shadows and does not bother to keep with current events (Victory for Memorial workers, NUHW, patient care, community, etc) where do I start picking apart your woefully under-informed comment?

NUHW's ability to negotiate a good contract has nothing to do with how many workers voted for them. It's the bargaining team and the contracts bargained by the old UHW, better known as NUHW, that will be responsible for bargaining a superior contract.

I'm not sure where how you arrived at the 293 figure, but to assume the challenged ballots are all SEIU or all NUHW is absurd.

The 17 ballots were challenged by the Labor Board since eligibility was suspect. As such they remain unopened and beyond the reach of either union and the Memorial Bridge chrometophobes. Perhaps they were hired after the election, or are members of management. Their eligibility will be worked out by the Board and Memorial management, not SEIU or NUHW.

As for the 99 who didn't vote, I'm sure you'll agree part of them were on vacation, laid off, home ill, or had some other reasonable excuse for not voting.

The 283 out of 576 votes NUHW received brings them to 49.1%. Another 6 votes brings them to the 50%+1 threshold necessary to win an absolute majority.

Sierra Spartan at ¡Adiós, Andy! put it best: "Those 17 ballots cannot by themselves make NUHW lose the election, but they can prevent NUHW from avoiding a runoff, and as such they can also prevent any results from being certified by the NLRB," and more importantly: "In order to prevail in that scenario, all NUHW would have to achieve is 6 votes out of those 17 challenged votes cast (roughly 35%); by the same token, in order to force runoff, the "no union" slate has to get 12 out of the 17 challenged votes (70.5%)."

The good things are SEIU is out of the game and they have wasted $1-2 million for 13 votes. Hard to explain to members why a dues increase is needed when cash is burned that quickly.

Zombies break arm slapping themselves on the back

In a vaguely worded article that doesn't cite any references, the Zombies submit their "but in our reality we are winning" press release. If any reader can cite an example of the Zombies bargaining an improvement over a previous please send the link my way. Sure they've bargained at lease one new contract for a new bargaining unit but initial contracts are by default better than what was available before. You'll notice the only good press the Zombies get is when they write the article. As time goes on there are fewer and fewer credible authors willing to tarnish their good name or publishing organization supporting the crumbling the Zombie empire. I'm sure we can look forward to a similarly (if not identically) worded UHW Report, spouting all kinds of fake "good news".

NUHW crushes SEIU/Memorial media round up

Here is a round up of the media coverage that has been published since I witnessed the edge-of-my-seat vote count Friday evening. 

I was busy hanging with the purple and yellow folks this weekend. No, not the Zombies (not ever), but rather the Lions club of which I am a member. Their colors are also yellow and purple like SEIU. However, unlike SEIU We Serve. We set politics aside, and in the context of a service club, we do what is best for everyone, regardless.

Anyway, my mind is wandering after an exhausting weekend so I'm gonna turn in. I'm taking "Mrs. Söze" on a li'l road trip tomorrow in honor of our 10 years together, so I'll be back in the office (read: on the couch) Tuesday morning. In the mean time, enjoy the blogs I look to: ¡Adiós, Andy! and Stern Burger with Fries for breaking news on Zombie stupidity.

UPDATE (12/24): Upstart Union Deals Blow to SEIU, Raises Prospects for Future Fights (In These Times)

UPDATE (12/21): NUHW Trounces SEIU 283-13 to Win Santa Rosa Election (Beyond Chron)

UPDATE (12/21): National Consequences for Memorial Hospital Union Vote (Empire Report)

NUHW is Decisive in Santa Rosa, SEIU Tries to Postpone Defeat (Labor Notes)
 
NUHW in Santa Rosa: a David versus two Goliaths (Daily Kos)

Breakaway union claims victory in Memorial Hospital vote (Press Democrat)

Upstart union wins a plurality in Sonoma County hospital vote (L.A. Times)

Victory for Memorial workers, NUHW, patient care, community, etc

First, the vote count.
Total votes:       576 out of 675 (85.3%) eligible
 

NUHW:              283 ( 49.1%)
 

No union:          263 ( 45.7%)
 

SEIU:               13 (  2.3%)
 

Contested votes:    17 (  3.0%)

 

Voided votes:        1 (  0.0%)
 

NUHW to SEIU votes: 21.8 to 1



NOTE: A few of the numbers corrected above based on comment below.

So as you can see we DESTROYED SEIU. And by "we" I mean mostly not me. The Zombies spent hundreds of thousands of dues paying members money to lose, and lose badly. The real work was done by eligible-to-vote workers and NUHW staff. The Zombies helped out a bit too what with their constant negative campaigning that backfired, shooting themselves in the foot on multiple occasions, gaining widespread contempt from everyone, and so on.

So as you can see not even the mighty Zombie/Memorial management war machine can defeat an upstart union that has widespread support and the backing of the workers.

What SEIU did wrong. They:

• abandoned workers in January
• didn't return numerous phone calls after the trusteeship
• only showed interest in Memorial after worker selection of NUHW
• refused to negotiate ground rules for campaigning
• earned bad press in:

• Empire Report
• Beyond Chron
• KRCB-FM (PBS)
• KSRO-AM
• Green960
• L.A. Times
• North Bay Business Journal
• Press Democrat
  

• were condemned by the North Bay Labor Council
• disregarded the previous guide for organizing at Catholic healthcare facilities "Respecting the Just Rights of Workers Guidance and Options for Catholic Health Care and Union"
  
• colluded with Memorial management
• aggravated workers with repeated phone calls, house visits, and disrespected them with repetitive, often cartoon-ish mailers that said nothing about how SEIU would be a better choice
• descended on Santa Rosa with 400 staffers to annoy 600+ workers, hence the 263 "Neither" votes
• abused the legal system to delay the vote & frustrate the workers
• and so on
  

What NUHW did right. THEY

• built a relationship with the workers
• ignored numerous taunts from the Zombies
• secured support from the workers, community leaders, politicians, clergy, the labor council, numerous columnists, bloggers
• choose to take the high road
• and so on

What can workers, community member, politicians, and so on take from this election campaign and its awe-inspiring result? Bigger does not always mean better.

Or, if you prefer (as I do) my own creed: "Just because you can doesn't mean you should." Applied to this battle for worker representation: Just because you, SEIU, can outspend, outstaff, and outpublicize NUHW with dues payers money, out of state staff and cakes doesn't mean you should. All SEIU staff and lackeys involved in this campaign, from Megalomaniac Stern on down to the UHW Chicken Lady and ought to be ashamed of their behavior, the money they wasted and the credibility they've squandered.

And now just for fun: a music quote from my favorite band Tool's most energetic song Ticks & Leeches:

Is this what you wanted?
Is this what you had in mind?
'Cause this this is what you're getting.
I hope you choke!

Judgement day is here. Everybody wave goodbye to the Zombies!

First off, KPFA interviews Nancy Timberlake and Jack Nicholson. It's good to hear the support for NUHW is still very strong and SEIU is, as usual, reeling from mass rejection from workers, politicians, clergy, community members, me, etc.

Next Labor Notes details the changes in SEIU that brought about the trusteeship, abandonment of workers at Memorial and a miserable failure at shuffling workers against their will and without a vote. I'm glad I jumped off this sinking ship long ago.

Finally, the New York Times Press Democrat announces the election for Memorial workers. Following this election will keep me busy but I can't wait for the vote count. When I know you'll know.

L.A. Times weighs in on Memorial election

It's been a while since I've seen anything from the L.A Times about what's going on "way up north" here in Sonoma county, but the knock-down, drag-out fight for unionization at Memorial is getting plenty of attention.
Funniest part of the article: "We think these workers would be much better off with a union that has resources, that has members, that has a track record" says Steve Trossman, SEIU media lackey. This man doesn't wear horse blinders he has a welding mask!

Nothin' to see here folks, move along

In response to yesterday's letter to the editor of the New York Times Press Democrat Jo Sandersfeld, VP of Mission Integration (what does she integrate?) penned this denial of wrongdoing letter to the editor. As far as I am aware they've said very little to defend themselves, which makes me suspicious and yet it speaks to management's collusion with the Zombies. (Scroll down to near the bottom of the letters.)

Memorial to follow NLRB guidelines, makes no mention of USCCB guide

You heard it from Ashley Furness on the North Bay Business Journal first: "We’ll be adhering to the process outlined in the National Labor Relations Act" But how does that square with the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) guide to Memorial hospital Respecting the Just Rights of Workers Guidance and Options for Catholic Health Care and Union? Just sayin'.

Outspoken worker Don Fugate tell it like it is, knocks the Zombies out cold

Dear friends and co-workers at Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital,

My name is Don Fugate. I have worked with and amongst you all for the past seventeen and a half years at SRMH. The past six of those years I have been actively involved in organizing a union for the service and technical staff here at SRMH. I began this journey because I sincerely believed, and still do today, that by all of us coming together and speaking with one voice that we could make a positive difference at SRMH. A difference for ourselves, for each other, for our patients, and for our community whom we serve everyday. That, by coming together, we could revitalize our hospital with the true spirit of the four core values that the founding members of the Sisters of St.Joseph originally committed too. The values of Dignity, Excellence, Justice, and Service are noble and worthy values and ones that we do our best to practice daily during our varies duties throughout the hospital. Unfortunately, over the years I have been there it seems as if the corporatization of the healthcare industry has made it more and more difficult to meet these worthy values. Cuts in staffing, pay, benefits, and a lack of respect for our ideas and concerns from Management has, much like how a river can form a canyon or chasm given enough time, eroded our commitment to these values. Frustration, anger, stress, and anxiety seems to have replaced our beloved values. But by joining together, I know we can change this trend! We can revitalize our workplace, and in the process our selves and our dedication to the values that have made Memorial Hospital the leading Healthcare provider in Sonoma County.

That's why I decided to become an employee organizer and joined many of our fellow co-workers on the Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital Organizing Committee. A committee founded by Memorial employees to create a union here at SRMH. When we began this process we decided to organize with SEIU Local 250. Local 250 would later merge with Local 399 and become SEIU-UHW West. We organized with SEIU for five years, until last January  when the leadership of the International placed UHW under trusteeship. After trusteeship we heard nothing from them about our organizing effort here at SRMH. Some time passed without word. During this time we were contacted by organizers from the newly created union, NUHW. These were the organizers for SEIU who quit in disgust because of the trusteeship. They told us their side of what happened at SEIU-UHW and the trusteeship. And they then offered to continue organizing with us if we chose to do so. We decided, in fairness, to contact SEIU-UHW to hear their side and perspective, and to ask if they were still interested in organizing with us. We placed several calls over the course of three to four weeks asking someone, anyone, with SEIU to return our calls. All we received was silence. It became apparent to many of us that organizing the workers at SRMH simply was no longer a priority for SEIU-UHW. In fact we just recently learned from Mr. Fred Ross Jr., who was a leader within SEIU at the time, that the decision to pull support from the campaign at SRMH had been made by the leadership of SEIU in August of 2008. Fully six months prior to the trusteeship which didn't happen until January of 2009! So we came together as a committee and discussed our options. They were: 1.) Continue to wait for a reply from SEIU, 2.) accept NUHW's offer to organize with them, or 3.) Quit altogether and walk away from a five year effort. After much deliberation, and the realization that we had been abandoned by SEIU, we voted unanimously to accept NUHW's offer. We knew them, they had the experience and dedication to create and forge this new union into a great organization that would be dedicated to the working men and women who made up its membership. So powerful a vision it is that the organizers are volunteers. These experienced and well educated people could have simply gone out and gotten jobs somewhere else. But they believe so strongly in the visionary mission of NUHW, to bring justice to the workplace and to the workers, that they have volunteered their time and own resources to help us organize. It has truly been inspiring for me to be a witness to their hard work, and dedication to this cause. Truly, these people embody the values of Dignity, Excellence, Justice, and Service. That is why I'm proud to say that on December 17th and 18th, I'm voting for NUHW! Join me in voting NUHW, and let's be the leaders that will reshape and revitalize our hospital, ourselves, and our commitment to our core values.

Sincerely and respectfully,

Don Fugate

Environmental Services Rep.

SRMH

Opinion: Memorial Vote

Long time resident Tony White gives a from-the-outside-in perspective of the unionization effort at Memorial. (Scroll down to near the bottom of the letters.)

Voice your support for Memorial workers

Send them a little 'lectronic love by clicking on the image below.

Memorial management shows it's true colors

What we all knew was going on behind closed doors is now exposed to the light of day. I suggest reading Michael Aparicio's article on Empire Report, then reading below for my own color commentary on the Zombies new bestfriends.

It's very telling of the Zombies cozy association with hospital management, the carte blanche access they enjoy and allegations they have almost thrown in the towel before the vote even began.

Here are the documents referenced in Michael's article.

First is management's voter guide. I thought the Zombies giving us homecare workers voting advice was bold and stupid but this takes the cake!

They start out using good reasoning by encouraging their workers to get as much "real, factual, honest information -- as possible" but then they blow it by offering paid attendance to "voluntary information sessions". These are the same sessions that the FEOC, the Fair Election Oversight Committee was barred from overseeing. If management is acting in an above-board manner then there is no reason for them to hide behind closed doors. Whatever they are stating in secret, it must be really good, good enough to pass up transparency and the chance to get the heat off them and cause a little union in-fighting!

As for "treating one another with the highest level of Dignity and Justice"...ask Melissa Bosanco, one of 200 workers laid off and then rehired in a relief position with no health insurance, vacation time, sick time or voice how their Dignity initiative is working out for her. Can you believe that: she works at a hospital and there is no offer for health insurance. I wonder if she gets an employee discount.

So when it comes to making an informed decision, Memorial management really means vote no union so they run rough-shod over their employees.

How dumb do they think their workers are? Do they really think their employer or any employer is anything but viciously anti-union? Can anyone cite any employer how has welcomed a union, ever?

It gets worse; read on. As shown below they go from nearly neutral to kiss-off-your-rights-and-voice by voting Neither union.

They're quite bold here.

"That is why when it comes time for you to cast your ballot, we hope you decide that your best choice is to vote for keeping your personal, direct voice, which means marking the ballot "Neither."

Finally, they seem to have come to their senses momentarily. Just kidding! Now they want to make sure you don't blow your chance to vote Neither!

Zombies anger every one, loses it's way, almost backed out of Memorial election

Randy Shaw of BeyondChron writes a good piece about how 2009 should have been labor's year to make substantial progress, but sadly the house of labor is in need of substantial repair. We all had such high hopes in January (EFCA, healthcare reform, etc), most of which were dashed due to the greed and reckless spending spree of Dictator for Life Andy Stern. The good news: it looks like the Zombies' fate is sealed at Memorial. They intended to pull out of the election last week, but decided to reverse course and continue management's work of busting union NUHW. Oh Zombies, will you ever understand human nature?

`Tis The Season...

...to kick the Zombies to the curb. Go forth and vote your conscience, vote for hope, vote a brighter future.

 

Enjoy your new union, your homecare siblings will join the party in October 2011.

Zombies offer bribe to vote UHW...

...in cake form. Can you believe this nonsense and desperation? Ugh, more of my dues money misspent chasing a Zombie dream that will never be. NUHW staff and workers tell me that Memorial workers scrapped off the all but the NUHW, or threw the whole cake out. At 2 cakes per department, that's a lot of wasted food!

This cake, and several others like it, mysteriously slipped past Memorial security guards at the hospital. If this cake and several known Zombie staffers made it into the hospital unscathed how else might Zombie staff be terrorizing workers around the hospital? Seems like the Zombies snuck a written message past the Sergeant Schultz style security guards, which is a violation of the hospitals own selectively enforced and possibly unwritten security policy. Lax security or sympathetic-to-the-Zombies employer? You make the call.

50-minute rally spawns a really weak mailer

Yesterday, SEIU did what it does best: makes a lot of noise but doesn't say anything of substance. At their rally, the chants were the very popular "We are the union/The mighty, mighty union" and "Hey-hey, ho-ho/NUHW has got to go". To those familiar with union chants the second one is popular because of it's flexibility: replace NUHW with whatever entity is the subject of the chanting and you have an easy-to-pickup rhyme. Even people completely unfamiliar with the situation can fit right in, which is especially useful when none of the people who got off of 2 huge buses rented by the Zombie was employed by Memorial. Among them was a handful of Sonoma county IHSS (homecare) workers, including the Zombie UHW Chicken Lady Maire Melchor, and human-megaphone Mark Nelson, both shown below.

Photo credits: Marie's image is from a frame I pulled out of the Shine a Light video; Mark is on Flikr. Both the video of her and the photo of him were submitted by the Zombies.

It angers me to no end that the Zombies are wasting the dues money of my fellow members and this rally is the latest showcasing of their arrogance and endless spending spree. Two sizable charter buses, 100 + anybody-but-Memorial-employees in attendance, an unknown number of hotel rooms, staff wages, food, gas, whatever bribes were offered and so on for a 50 minute "look at me" rally. Our very own Reefah Joseph was there, looking lost as usual. This really is a mini-Fresno battle.

UPDATE: I asked the folks at Coach 21 (the charter bus company) how many people can fit on a bus: 56. Hmmm so let's do a little math 56 x 2 = 112, but the Zombies claim over 250, which leaves at least 138 or another 2 full buses plus change. Where did they come from? I was there and I saw the a bus unload and 2 buses load up the whole circus. I know at least one Zombie staffer, IHSS (homecare) field rep Reefah Joseph was there so I suspect a number of the circus clowns were SEIU staff who were required to attend.

I'm sure you see the irony, and desperation, of the Zombies using the number 250:  it's nostalgic, and more importantly it's purposely confusing. And what is this "before we vote", "help us win a first contract" and "protect our jobs" nonsense? Do the Zombies really think they have any traction with the workers? The man to the left of the "Don't Be Fooled" sign with the sunglasses holding a sign high above his head seems to be the only one clutching at this long dead belief. I'm sure the Zombies are only interested in protecting their own jobs.

Zombie UHW knows full well why no one is under contract nearly a year after forming. The NLRB used to be in their back pocket but as the NLRB tires of SEIU's abuse of the legal system and their blocking charges fall one by one, the Zombies will slink away to lick their wounds and ponder where they went wrong. If only they had the ability to look at themselves from the outside in.

Recent NUHW/Zombie union mailers: compare and contrast

I've been waiting a while for this one folks: a chance to compare a mailer from both NUHW and the Zombies that hit mailboxes at nearly the same time.

Being the nice guy that I am I'll let the Zombies go first. Notice their tact of creating fear in the hearts and confusion in the minds of the very workers the seek to represent. What the lack in a credible attack on NUHW they make up for it by appealing to a reader's sense of fear. Nary a word about the Zombies' plans for improving workers lives, or advocating for patient care. It's been 6+ years: they should have something on the shelf by now. Sadly they frequently trot out the same weak and lame arguments. Are they clutching at straws? Yeah, I think so. This approach is suspiciously similar to the farm worker representation battle between the Teamsters and the United Farm Workers (UFW) back in the 1970s. Guess who was the 800 pound gorilla and who was the underdog that won. Hint: it's the one with the more fitting name.

Let's recall the 2nd comment left on the "Garbage in, garbage out" blog entry.

"As of October 2008, the 747 has been involved in 122 incidents, including 48 hull-loss accidents, resulting in 2,850 fatalities. The 747 has been in 35 hijackings which caused 882 fatalities."

(The VW Bug is a far better engineered and tested vehicle but this it not an automotive blog.)

The number of casualties for UHW is far greater. They certainly have gone out of their way to destroy themselves, their alliances, sell out their members and anger their many supporters.

The four bulleted points shown above were discussed in the "Garbage in, garbage out" blog entry.

Have you had you daily dose of the Zombies hyperbole, fear mongering and outright lies? You're not the only one!

*         *          *

What do you say to trading in this take for a look at NUHW's angle on unionization? They don't attack SEIU; rather they offer hope and solid ideas for furthering the interests of workers and patients. They don't use exaggeration, make silly comparisons, or distort the truth. Also, they show pictures of the workers' peers which adds a sense of credibility and plausibility the Zombies never had and never will. Dang! I wish I could vote for NUHW.

Memorial management continues to follow Zombie's lead...

... by angering everyone, lying through their teeth and backing itself into a corner. It appears they are beyond reason despite support from community, the Church, local politicians, and so on.

Another former SEIU staffer points the spotlight on the Zombies, Memorial management

Fred Ross Jr, a former SEIU staffer, now employed by IBEW 1245 give a brief history of his work for SEIU and the series of events that led him to abandon the Titanic-esque disaster that is SEIU. It's interesting how in real life and the movie people on the top of the social structure are sure everything is going to be fine while the folks on the bottom see the situation for what it is, grab their family and head for the lifeboats. I am sure Captain Stern is too proud of his sinking ship to jump off, he's already sent 2 people to die on his behalf.

In his open letter he describes how SEIU decided well ahead of the trusteeship to stop organizing. From there is goes downhill pretty quickly.

Southwest Clinic expands, Memorial profits, workers still lose

It's always good to have another perspective on the fiasco at Memorial. Hats off to frequent commenter Don F. who tells me that Memorial has another revenue stream: the leasing of 2,500 square feet of office space to Southwest Community Health Center. Good for Southwest, good for Memorial, but still bad for workers. I can't believe the way management talks out both sides of it's mouth: we have plenty of money for things, but no money people. And without workers to care for patients all this material wealth is useless.

Zombies recycle arguments, wastes paper

UPDATE: Don F. points out an excellent observation in the comments section below.

I have 2 more fliers to share with you. The first uses the same 4 lame arguments as shown in the SEIU rarely has anything new to say, ever post from last month but dumbs it down a bit with the statement "SEIU-UHW is the Kaiser union". Statement of fact is no reason to vote for the Zombies.

The second simply states "We work at Kaiser and SEIU-UHW is our union." Yeah, like that is a reason to be proud. As always, the Zombies neglect to say when the quoted members made their statement.

Look what we bought with the money we saved not paying you...a building we don't have plans for!

In a classic case of the left hand not knowing what the right hand is doing the executives at Memorial have decided to buy a building. It doesn't seem to matter we are going through a recession; Sonoma County's unemployment is 10.1% (yah...one in ten not working).

"We haven’t sat down and planned exactly what we will use it for," CBC (Chief Bean Counter) Mich Riccioni said.

So the damage wrought by management so far?

• hundreds laid off? Check!
• partnering with the Zombies to prevent unionization? You bet!
  
• loss of PTO and sick time? Already done! (No sick time at a hospital, that should be a mandatory!)
  
• lower morale than has been felt in years? Compliments of the Gloom and Doom partnership.

Clearly they have only the most intense contempt for their lifeblood (pun intended), their workers. Even so, they excel when it comes to patient care.

So there you have it folks: Memorial management has money, they just don't want to spend it on the very people that makes Memorial the nation's best place to go for a quick repsonse to a heart attack. Imagine that: save a person's life, and still have to contend with being laid off or just as bad be overloaded with work just for saying the word "union".

Memorial management & the Zombies: an unlikely alliance?

On May 20, 2009, SEIU had a prayer and lobbying event centered around the now abandoned Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA). Since they have made some very good friends with Memorial management. How good? I'm glad you asked.

In October when Memorial CEO Kevin Klockenga states that "SRMH leadership was scheduled to meet with NUHW officials to attempt to reach mutually agreed-upon ground rules for a future election," you'll notice he said "was scheduled". Since the Zombies couldn't be bothered with meeting with NUHW and Memorial management it never happened. Seeing one of the prospective unions hold up the election only served the Zombies and managements' wishes to frustrate and exhaust the workers. For both of them no union at all is better than NUHW. So the election that the workers have waited almost a year for was delayed yet again, all because of the Zombies selfish interests in delaying the inevitable landslide victory for NUHW.  

NOTE TO MANAGEMENT: Per the agreement created by your moral superiors in Respecting the Just Rights of Workers: Guidance and Options for Catholic Health Care and Unions "management agrees not to use traditional anti-union tactics or outside firms that specialize in such tactics". Management has already violated the anti-union tactics (which is reprehensible) and clearly SEIU is the outside firm (which is their new line of work). It's not for you to pick if and which union you do business with: this is the workers choice!

Judge Frank Roesch provides temporary relief to IHSS workers

A sense of relief across was felt across the state today when Alameda County Superior Court Judge Frank Roesch temporarily banned the state from blocking felons from IHSS employment. The injunction hearing is coming up January 29. If a grandma wants to hire her felon grandson, that's between the two of them, and the State needs to keep it's hand off!

The Zombies dig themselves ever deeper now with managment's help

A good summary of the Zombies nonsense so far. Hats off to Randy Shaw at BeyondChron. Get ready for a laugh-a-thon as you see them lose all credibility with the very workers they are desperately trying to get to vote for them (HAH!), discard previous gains made at the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops and workers, and lose their grip on reality. My favorite sentence: "Few could have imagined one year ago that SEIU’s number one hospital organizing drive in 2009 would focus on preventing workers from joining a union."

The real Red Revolt, Fresno style!

Watch the video, it speaks for itself. I have a whole new respect for Carlos Martinez. The fella shown below, John Wilkins, is an amazing guy. I met his at the State capital in the summer and again when down in Fresno helping the Red Team fight the Purple Plague. He's not one to mince words.

How to lose raises and your rights on the job in 6 easy steps!

Memorial hospital management has already begun their anti-union campaign with anti-union memos and one-on-one meetings between supervisors and employees. This week, St. Joseph Health System CEO Kevin Klockenga also sent a memo to all employees telling them that management wants them to vote against unionization. These practices are in violation of standards for fair union elections, and signal that workers’ rights continue to be at risk without an enforceable agreement between the parties.

Wait...what the? Hmmmmm This doesn't seem to square with their previous statement: "We are unwavering in our commitment to our employees, and honoring their dignity and choice on union matters," (shown on second page, second paragraph).

An employer offering anti-union advice is nothing new; Memorial management has released the following flier. I wonder how dumb they think their employees are?

Time to tear apart management style anti-union rhetoric.

1.) Why does the hospital allow union organizers to be in the cafeteria? They really bother me and my coworkers when we just want to eat our lunch in peace. Can we tell them to go away and leave us alone?

They offer a public cafeteria and can't choose who eats there. But should a worker be caught talking with a union rep and a worker willingly accept any written material...management would have you think that's a crime against humanity! As for needing permission to tell someone to go away...I don't believe any worker thinks this. This sounds like a subtle way of getting managements' wishes into the minds of their workers.

2.) In last week's information on union dues, you said that dues for SEIU are higher than for NUHW. Why are NUHW's dues lower?

First off thanks for supporting NUHW with the lower dues argument. A nice and unexpected bonus. Betcha ya didn't mean to say that!

It appears that the Zombies have been feeding propaganda right to the hospital administrators. Does the phrase about NUHW "[i]s going broke and facing a substantial judgment in Federal court" sound familiar? It's right out of SEIU's constant whining you read on the anti-NUHW fliers.

I don't think SEIU wants to further weaken it's position with workers at Memorial and NUHW is trying to differentiate itself from the Purple Plague by not gathering dues until a contract has been negotiated and ratified. Also, dues deductions are handled by the payroll department, not the union. D'oh!

NUHW offers lower dues since it isn't paying off an $87.7 million loan, nor did it squander $10 million in Fresno and frightening and intimidating former members (scroll down to pages 35-37, 48-50).

3.) We were told that the union won't charge dues until we get a contract. Is that true?

When dues are deducted depends on which union is selected. The Zombies have no problem deducting dues for workers who are not yet members, as was the case for homecare workers 8 years ago. It was $10 a month for 4 months but still $10 x 1,800 x 4 = $72,000 for months of no real representation.

4.) Should I worry about paying dues if I am going to vote Neither [no union]?

If viewed as an investment it's a guaranteed return of several hundred percent, every month, no risk. Unless a worker is allergic to money who wouldn't want that?! I pay $32 in dues a month, and get a paycheck that is a couple hundred dollars more than if I weren't represented (at least until October 1, 2010; scroll down to Section 7.1 Wages). If  members made less money with a union would anybody vote for them? Ever?

5.) What happens if none of the three choices gets a majority [at least 50%+1] of the votes?

In the absence of an "absolute majority" winner a run off will be held. Handy tip for preventing a run off: don't throw away your vote by voting for no union or worse the Zombies. They contracts they bargain go downhill pretty fast in subsequent contracts.

6.) I signed the card that authorizes the union to represent me, but I changed my mind. The union and its supporters are telling me that I have to vote for the union. Is that true?

As for being required to vote: this isn't Singapore (where voting is mandatory) --  no one has to vote, ever. However, if you don't vote you can't complain if the outcome of the election and resulting union presence/absence. Given SEIU previous behavior, I suspect they are the ones pressuring the workers, NUHW simply doesn't have the desire to bully workers. SEIU's abandoning of the workers not once but twice should be all the motivation the workers need to vote against the Zombies and hopefully NUHW.

Pow! Pow! SEIU shoots itself in both feet!

First, SEIU State Council and Local 99 President Bill Lloyd angers the most powerful labor ally in California state history, then he negotiates a sellout deal (is there any other kind?) on behalf of 1,200 members.

Typical SEIU: bargain a crappy deal, call it a victory for the workers, move on to the next atrocity. Rinse and repeat y'all: the SEIU life death cycle repeats itself. I thought UHW was raveling at breakneck speed, but with Local 99 feeling left out of the action it has now joined the SEIU implosion party.

Surly comment gets its own blog entry!

I received this comment today from a reader who completely missed the point of my Blast from the Past: Stern's words come back to haunt him! post. I was trying to point out how SEIU's actions of yesteryear are in perfect contradiction to it's actions of late as they relate to Memorial hospital. How dare you criticize my writing while not reading the blog entry thoroughly and then reading the referenced article. I thought I was explicit enough.

Wouldn't an even slightly honest account have at least mentioned the fact that, despite this dispute between SEIU and CNA/NNOC, CNA/NNOC has now sided with SEIU against NUHW? Of course, if that fact had been mentioned, it would have had to have been explained away--either by denigrating CNA/NNOC (which would have made CNA/NNOC not quite look like the champion of workers' rights portrayed by this blog post) or by excusing this choice by CNA/NNOC as reasonable (which would only be true if SEIU was seen as the winner as in the long run). If DeMoro's criticism of SEIU gets an "Amen, sister", doesn't her acceptance of SEIU over NUHW rate the same respect?

Also, why isn't it NUHW that should get used to losing? That's pretty much all that's happened so far.

So in response to this comment I will clarify my writing. 

The CNA/SEIU alliance benefits all 3 parties: CNA doesn't have to deal with SEIU's raids (or active probing as SEIU likes to spin it), NUHW gets a $1 million gift and an agreement not to interfere with NUHW's efforts SEIU has a friend to play with bringing the friend count to 2. However, with the way things are going for SEIU and nearly every other labor organization CNA might want to distance itself from the devil.

As for NUHW losing I have a few truths to share with my woefully (and likely willingly) underinformed reader:

1. when SEIU ties up election results with the NLRB, that's not a victory! 
2. Sequoias caregivers join NUHW
3. Los Alamitos Hospital join National Union of Healthcare Workers  
4. Workers win election at Doctor's San Pablo 
5. Union calls off bid to represent workers at Rady

The truth is out there, if you care.

Blast from the Past: Stern's words come back to haunt him!

A regular reader and commenter emailed me this damaging 4 page write up on the SEIU dispute with CNA/NNOC (California Nurses Association/National Nurses Organizing Committee) and CHP (Catholic Healthcare Partners), an employer of 7,000 hospital employees in Ohio. SEIU's actions then are very similar to what is going on now at Memorial. So sit back and have a good belly laugh as you compare Stern's statements of yesteryear with his union's actions today.

It's hard to believe any trade unionist would condone-much less lead—a campaign whose only purpose is ... to deny thousands of workers the chance to have a voice on the job.

Yet, this is exactly what happened with the various representation elections such as Fresno homecare, Providence Tarzana, Sequoias Assisted Living Facility in Portola Valley, and so on. SEIU has proved time and time again that:

1. any amount of money spent to prevent workers from choosing NUHW is wholly justified, and
   
2. no union at all is better than choosing NUHW.

Union-busting is union-busting, no matter who is at the helm, and it goes against everything we have all fought for over the years.

Unless, of course, SEIU is doing the union busting against CNA, UNITE-HERE, NUHW, whoever is in SEIU crosshairs that day then it's ok.

Both sides agreed there would be no negative re-election campaign so that workers would be able "to freely choose without undue pressure" from either party, SEIU President Andy Stern told BNA March 10 [2008].

We were just days away from realizing our dream when scores of out-of-state organizers descended on our hospitals and began to frighten employees with vicious anti-union leaflets and rhetoric.

Fast forward to the Zombies inability to agree to election ground rules, as shown here (scroll down to page 3): except for the "re" in re-election, this is exactly what is going on at Memorial.

Does "undue pressure" include 1,000 Zombie staff flown in from around the county to intimidate and coerce 10,000 Fresno homecare workers, (only to barely win an election whose suspicious outcome is being questioned by former staffers and Fresno homecare members)? Better yet how about the expected 300 staff who will do the same to the 600 workers at Memorial? In Fresno it was 10 workers to 1 Zombie staffer, at Memorial it could be 1 to 1 since all 600 workers aren't at work at the same time. The hell I predicted they'd go through may be a great deal more uncomfortable than even I had initially conjured up.

Change a few words and you can see that what was irritating SEIU in 2008 is not viewed as a problem at all in 2009.

"If CWA [Communications Workers of America] NUHW works to achieve an agreement with Verizon Wireless Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital for a valid union election, should other unions [UHW] jump in at the last minute?"

How is that any different from UHW doing the same earlier this year?

These workers made their choice a long ago.

They did: NUHW. Suck it up Zombies it's time to get used to defeat.

Last week, SEIU announced that after a three-year effort, CHP, Ohio's largest nonprofit medical system, and SEIU had established pre-balloting ground rules and procedures governing the nine representation elections.

If SEIU had been organizing at those hospitals for the last three years, why wasn't it able to collect union authorization cards from 30 percent of the workers, she [then CNA Executive Director Rose Ann DeMoro] said.

3 years to come to an agreement?! I know Mr.Rogers told us to take the time to do it right but this is ridiculous! Doesn't this run counter to SEIU's plan to grow as fast as possible?! Sheesh!

The Zombies complained NUHW staff stole the "signatures of the majority". If these signatures had disappeared for whatever reason re-gathering them should be quite easy: the workers know who is collecting the signatures and what they are about. They chose to ignore the members and that made them mad. Mad enough to despise the very presence of any SEIU staffer.

Stern, whose union pulled out of the AFL-CIO in 2005, said he contacted AFL-CIO President John J. Sweeney and asked him to get CNA, which is an AFL-CIO affiliate, to cease its campaign, but with no success.

Really?! So SEIU leaves the AFL-CIO and then comes crawling back looking for help with a member of the AFL-CIO?  Isn't that like going to an ex-girlfriend's parents and asking for their help in talking some sense into her only to be shown the door with her father, his shotgun and his itchy trigger-finger?!

All this SEIU nonsense lead me to recall a bit of wisdom from George Carlin: "[L]et's not have a double standard here, one standard will do just fine." A fitting quote, don't ya think?

Happy Thanksgiving, UHW style

First UHW mails out a cartoon mailer now they try to bribe the workers at Memorial with turkey shaped cholocate candy? Really? Is this what the Zombies have to do to even get a worker to acknowledge their presence? This is desperate and creepy in a "Hew there little boy, do you want some candy?" way. It this how they view the very folks they abandoned not once but twice? At least it's cheaper than a bunch of pizzas, and as a dues paying member prisoner of SEIU I am thankful for that. With a union that is so unaccountable for it's money management skills will they ever learn from their costly mistakes? Anything? Ever? I have a lot of questions for these clowns to answer.

I'll be back on the job Friday evening. Happy Turkey day y'all.

SEIU rarely has anything new to say, ever

Shown below are the latest mailers from SEIU.  The first contains a little bit more information than their previous mailers specifically the 60 new contracts. I'll go over my "UHW Report" emails from the last year (November 4, 2008 to present) and see if this claims bears out, but I think their claim is unusually high.

 "The odds are really against us."

It's funny, in a junior high/first break up kind of way. She (the workers) moved on a long time ago but he (the Zombies) has his head in the clouds. That SEIU still thinks they and Memorial workers still constitute an "us" is comical to say the least. Don't the Zombies know it's over? The "break up" happened in January, and the workers aren't on the rebound, they are trading up...way up!

"Let's not get stuck with a union that can't win a first contract.

NUHW has won 3 representation elections so far and contract negotiations are under way. It's a matter of time before the founding members of NUHW have a contract.

However, the desperation for recognition continues.

 Almost a year after forming::

• Hasn't negotiated a single contract

Unfortunately this is true because the Zombies are so paranoid about losing any of it's prisoners, I mean "prospective members" that they will delay an election just to prevent workers from possibly joining NUHW . In their eyes no union is better for the workers than NUHW. Imagine the insecurity of mind that views this as an acceptable their own efforts just to prevent the workers from choosing NUHW. In an effort to prevent the exodus the Zombies have filed frivolous blocking charges every step of the way. For example the Zombies ...

• Has no members under contract
  

The tide is turning and the Zombies are about to pulled in by the undertow.

• Has dozens of staff leaving
  

One pre-trusteeship UHW employee filed for unemployment, and in a desperate attempt to discredit NUHW, the Zombies published this one person's claim paperwork mailed to UHW. How does that become dozens? Unless of course the Zombies are inflating their numbers as they did in the Fresno homecare vote. Remember that absolute majority (more than 50% of members) they claimed, and then then 40-ish% voter turnout? Even a 5th grader could see the impossibility of this claim.

•  Is going broke and facing a substantial judgment in Federal court.
  
•  Struggling to stay in business
  

If they are going broke and struggling to stay in business then why is NUHW hiring? Two more claims shot down.

First contracts usually give the newly inducted workers the biggest gains since they typically start with nothing. Also, "up to 18% raises" means somewhere between 0% and up to an including 18%, but less than 18% for most people. An average wage increase of say 13% would be a more accurate description. It looks like the Zombies are using the same creative language as they did in the recent Sonoma County homecare contract: does "contingent upon available funding" sound familiar?

"Those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it." - George Santayana

Do you remember when SEIU threatened to pull out of the San Francisco Labor Council and take their financial support (40% of the Council's budget) in retaliation for UNITE/HERE Local 2's support of NUHW's decertification efforts of homecare workers in San Francisco and the Council's response? Fortunately for the Labor Council and it's members the remaining unions gladly stepped up to fill the funding gap. One might think that would be the last time the Zombies would take their ball and go home, but these are Zombies we are talking about here, and Zombies aren't known for using their brains, just eating them.

So imagine my surprise when Bill Lloyd, President of SEIU in California tried intimidating John Burton, Chairman of the California Democratic party, by threatening to withdraw funding for Burton's support of NUHW. Burton is not the kind of guy you ever want working against you. The L.A. Times summarizes it nicely.

Talk about shooting yourself in the foot just to make a point!

The Zombies didn't get their way in San Francisco and now they are about to lose all credibility with the state's Democrats. I wonder how the Zombies will claim this as a victory.

A reader's rant

This rant was emailed to me. I think you'll agree it's good enough to become an entry. Enjoy your first reader rant.

I often wonder where SEIU is hiding when the governor pushes his agenda to criminalize us and, ultimately, destroy the IHSS program. Do they not realize that by refusing to protest they're threatening their own "dues units" as they call us? Why is SEIU so silent about Arnold's continued assaults on our livelihoods and the very lives of those we serve?

Hey Dave and Eliseo, can you spare a minute from dressing up as chickens, throwing eggs at people and threatening the rest of the labor movement to actually do some real work in California??? Could you at least take your chicken and eggs and go visit Arnold? Maybe head off the next round of cuts to IHSS? Is that too much to ask in view of the OBSCENE amount of dues we pay and you waste?!!

It's brief but to the point: we're dues paying members who want represention, not chickens who hide from members and potiticians!

Whining, Zombie UHW style

Ever stop to think and forget to start again? Yeah, well...it happened to me. I was reading the SEIU Wages War on Progressives article by Randy Shaw at Beyond Chron and then the phone rang...and you can probably guess how this story ends.

SEIU's behavior in San Francisco (below) and especially in Los Angeles represents the kind of sniveling, whining, nobody-is-paying-attention-to-me nonsense they seem so fond of lately. They are draw attention to themselves while going out of their way to alienate their members, the North Bay labor council, labor allies and politicians. I suspect that when the 80 petitions to change union representation are processed by the NLRB, SEIU will have a very hard time finding anyone to help fight their battle, or listen to their trumped up complaints. This now brings the number of credible journalists who documents SEIU's disgusting behavior to 4: the Wall Street Journal, the North Bay Business Journal, the Press Democrat and of course Beyond Chron.

So without any further delay here is Randy's article.

My first rant: Keyser v. repetitive mailers

If you have been following the mailers and fliers (here, here, here and and 2 here) SEIU has been harassing Memorial workers with, you will notice the nature of the Zombies claims: "SEIU big, NUHW small" or if you like "might is right". Talk about an 800 pound gorilla that no one fears or even bothers to acknowledge. If the comments received on the Red Revolt accurately reflect a cross-section of the Memorial workers then I think I can post the following cartoon with confidence.

Tell me Zombies, which animal do you think represents your crumbling organization?

Nothing like being put in your place by a mouse, eh?

Is Zombie Trustee Eleiso Medina still "working" at UHW?

Unless I have the wrong email address I think the bounced email message below shows Zombie Trustee Eleiso Medina is no where to be found. It appears the email address scheme used at UHW -- first initial followed by last name followed by seiu-uhw.org when applied to Zombie Trustee Medina -- is routinely kicked back. One Zombie trustee down, one to go!

Emphasis added but you get the idea.

----- The following addresses had permanent fatal errors -----

    (reason: 550 5.1.1 : Recipient address rejected: User unknown in relay recipient table)

   ----- Transcript of session follows -----
... while talking to smtp18.msoutlookonline.net.:

>>> DATA

<<< 550 5.1.1 : Recipient address rejected: User unknown in relay recipient table
550 5.1.1 ... User unknown
<<< 554 5.5.1 Error: no valid recipients

Reporting-MTA: dns; a.mail.sonic.net
Received-From-MTA: DNS; 76-191-205-67.dsl.dynamic.sonic.net
Arrival-Date: Thu, 19 Nov 2009 23:58:00 -0800

Final-Recipient: RFC822; emedina@seiu-uhw.org
Action: failed
Status: 5.1.1
Remote-MTA: DNS; smtp18.msoutlookonline.net
Diagnostic-Code: SMTP; 550 5.1.1 : Recipient address rejected: User unknown in relay recipient table
Last-Attempt-Date: Wed, 11 Nov 2009 23:58:00 -0800

Ok, now the UHW Chicken makes sense!

UPDATE: NUHW volunteer Paul Krehbiel formerly of SEIU Local 660 penned an article detailing his experience. In it, he noted the appearance of a few free thinking Local 721 staff. Will they leave the dark side and join in the fight for union democracy and representation?

What turned out to be a pointless exercise in stupidity, that is dressing up a homecare worker in a chicken suit while the San Francisco bay area labor movement held a fundraiser for the Fund for Union Democracy, clearly SEIU needs eggs! Both Randy Shaw at BeyondChron and Sierra Spartan at ¡Adios Andy! report on the desperation of SEIU to get someone -- anyone -- to listen to their little and loud complaints.

There is no good defense for this behavior and as Randy Shaw so perfectly states: "SEIU is unifying the labor movement -- against it."

Garbage in, garbage out

Straight from the mailbox and on to the blog, here's the latest propaganda nonsense from the Zombies. Why do they keep using the same 4 arguments? Don't they have a legitimate victory they can highlight? I can think of three for NUHW.

Sequoias caregivers join NUHW 
Los Alamitos Hospital join National Union of Healthcare Workers 
Workers win election at Doctor's San Pablo

So in classic Söze style I will pick apart their 5 nonsensical arguments.

"No members under contract."

How do they know the above listed facilities aren't under contract? If they were the Zombies would surely avoid publicizing this most embarrassing loss.

"Dozens of staff leaving."

Who? Do they have names (or the positions they left behind) to back this claim? As far as I am aware they have only publicized the the unemployment claim of one worker, which in my opinion is private business between the former employer, the former employee and the EDD.

"Going broke and facing financial judgement in Federal Court."

What, specifically, are they talking about? SEIU is burning through cash pretty fast.Why else would they take out a loan for $87.7 million from Bank of America? Note: after they took out this loan then turned around and attacked B of A and it's CEO Ken Lewis. This is the new SEIU: attack your union brothers and sisters, squander members money, take credit for the work of others, etc, etc, etc.

"Struggling to stay in business."

If the lawsuit NUHW recently filed against the Zombies for their browbeating in Fresno is any sign then NUHW seems to be doing just fine. The damaging declarations gathered for the suit and then research for writing the PERB complaint show that NUHW has both the money and the muscle to fight SEIU.

Finally, "[a] union about to close it doors can't win a contract" has won 2 contracts so far. More are on the way, this is just the tip of the iceberg.

Stay tuned for more stupid; the election at Memorial is fast approaching and SEIU is sure to be a source of many tragically comical entries.