My half-day in court

Warning: Brief occurrences of what some would call harsh language are shown below.

Update: Check out Elsa' comment below. I'm not the only one who had been threatened by Mark.

Long time readers of the Red Revolt will remember the pitiful rally the Zombies put on back in December in front of Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital as proof of the Zombies endless love for the workers (a love that was almost completely unknown to the workers and definitely not reciprocated). That 50-ish minute rally was such a bore. Luckily for me that evening had a brief moment of mild excitement. While writing the blog entry about the rally I was recieved a phone call from gravely voiced Mark Nelson (below, right). He called that night and stated that I was "a bitch", "an asshole" and he was "going to kill you and your wife if I ever see you again". This is in all likelihood a hollow threat...but a threat is a threat and I need to take whatever protective measures I can to protect my wife, my stuff and me, provided they are within the confines of the law. Working within the confines of the law...it's just the NUHW way!

*   *   *

From my own experience Mark is human megaphone and from the credible sources I've spoken to he is a world class union bully. He does as he is told without understanding, hesitation or any perception of the irony of member-on-member threats or violence. Division among the members is ok with him as long as he gets union staff approval. There will probably always be some bad blood between Zombie UHW supporters and NUHW supporters, especially those that are still represented by UHW. I have always tried to not fight against my homecare members, no matter how much their willing ignorance and blind obedience proves the need for enlightenment. Instead I educate my peers them by speaking in calms tones (as opposed to this witch), listening, and gently working into the conversation the Zombies own plans for world domination at the expense of it's dues paying members. Specifically I tell them, with supporting documentation that can be independently verified, UHW's publicly stated plans for dividing long term care workers (homecare and nursing home) from the hospital workers which form the rest of the quickly disintegrating Zombie UHW. Why Zombie SEIU ever thought separating long term care workers and placing us in the low wages for homecare workers local replete with corrupt leadership would ever fly is a mystery to me.

Balancing my need to protect my wife, our lives and things against this loose-cannon Zombie UHW supporter with convictions including 2 misdemeanor DUIs, disturbing the peace and theft, I filed the paperwork for a restraining the day after the December rally. And then I waited, and waited and finally asked what do I do next some time in February. I asked what happened to the paperwork and was told "it takes a while to process". So I waited a while longer and at this time it was the end of March. When I asked this time I finally found a clerk who would explain the restraining order process. Turns out restraining order requests received before 8:30 AM and processed by 2-3 PM the same day or the next business day if received after 8:30.You'd think after filing the paperwork and getting approval to proceed they'd at least call me to let me know I have to come down and take the next steps, but no that's not how they do business. I filed it again on March 31, and it was promptly rejected due to lack of information. I tried one more time: I filled in all the blanks and checked off all the boxes and refiled soon after, this time with an better explanation of the danger Nelson poses to my wife and me and his past criminal convictions. This time it worked and a court date was set.

I was kind of expecting Nelson to not show up to court. I'm not sure if he can drive or has a vehicle. I should have guessed that being a Zombie UHW supporter he'd behave in typical Zombie fashion and hit me with everything he's got, as you will see below. Not only did he supply a packet of mostly irrelevant and outdated paperwork including letters of recommendation and medical descriptions of his nephew's needs and dependency on him, he brought along his own cadre of blindly obedient Zombie supporters include Marie "look at me, I'm the Chicken Lady!" Melchor (below, left), Karen "I'll make a reference to 72 virgins at a Sonoma County Board of Supervisors meeting" Timmons, Bonita "but we're winning against NUHW" Graham, and both last and least impressive of all Zombie UHW field rep Shareefah "Reefah/you're kicked out of my office for life for trying to take a piece of paper that all UHW members have a right to have (explained below)" Joseph. There were a couple of other supporters there but, really, who cares?! Nelson also had his own "legal adviser", I did not. I didn't think I needed one he has a criminal record and phoned in a death threat.

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

*   *   *

So the trial began with the judge urging us to go onto the hallway outside the court and work out our differences with a court appointed mediator. Short (and boring) story short: we both agreed to stay out of each others for the next 2 years lives unless we are both at a union related function and then to keep 25 feet apart. I can do that, I've been doing it for years. Nelson and I don't run in the same social circles and rarely find any value in what the Zombie staff are saying so this should  not be a problem.

You might ask: "Yeah, so, where's the interesting part come in?!" and I'd say the same. Hold on to your socks folks, and get ready for me to bring on the stupid that is Zombie UHW staff and supporters.

*   *   *

So while waiting for Nelson to read over the mutual stay away order, I read the contents of the packet Nelson wanted to present to the court proving that I am indeed the devil incarnate. It may be a response to my letter explaining our need for protection from Nelson.

As you will note I didn't reveal the name of this mystery woman. I had no idea the Zombies, both Reefah and the member supporters, would attempt to identify her...and miss! At this point it's not really important who she is, suffice it to say she isn't the unanimously misidentified Elsa Stevens.

Here's Reefah's recollection of that evening.

Two questions come to mind:

1. Why wasn't Elsa allowed in? They had a roster to check who had voted so far. If a voter's name is crossed off that member doesn't get a ballot. The very fact they wouldn't allow members to speak out against the contract speaks volumes about the Zombies fear of informed members and NUHW's superior relationship with us, the prisoners of Zombie UHW.
2. What is this nonsense about the seat being "Mark's seat"? Do they view us a kindergartners? Of course they do!

Monica Reeder, another one of the "elite" bargaining team members responsible for our current ticking time bomb contract has some very nice things to say. I'm sure it's all true and Mark is as pure as the driven snow (bleeeeech), but what I find much more interesting is the quality of the writing.Clearly this is the kind of person that should NOT be bargaining labor contracts.

Spelling mistakes, word choice ("gotten"), lack of proofreading and clearly the writing of a grade school student...is it any wonder why the Zombies prefer their supporters to be unquestioning and blindly obedient? Add to this the changing last name of Elsa and the statement that Petaluma is Elsa's "area of voting" and you see there is confusion among even the Zombie followers about who gets to vote and where. Why would Elsa, who lives in Healdsburg be required to vote in Petaluma, 32 miles away? Sounds like voter oppression to me!

Keep in mind this restraining order request was about Mark's death threat phone call, not the rigged election.

(Begin rant)

The ratification vote was spread out across 3 days, one city on each day for 2 hours, (that's 6 hours for 5100+ members, or an average of 14 votes a minute, if we all had been able to show up) in the middle of rush hour. They did this under the guise of greater voter turnout but really they didn't want people to view the contract before voting, and certainly without a consultation from brainwashed bargaining team members before casting a ballot in the rigged vote. Before the trusteeship voting was done by mail, alone and with a copy of the proposed contract in hand so members had the opportunity to make an informed decision. Why would they be so secretive when the are just going to count the votes themselves? Purple paper ballots, without a vote concealing envelope, into a cardboard box...never have I felt like my vote didn't count. When I voted in Petaluma, I did so because the other 2 days I could have voted I had work. Voting  in Santa Rosa, where live would have been more convenient.

(End rant)

Finally is Karen Timmons recollection of Mark blocking members from attending the vote. Karen is convinced that Elsa came to disrupt the voting; knowing Elsa I believe she came to watch and take note of the coercive voting for her own "enlightenment".

Well at least the writing is commensurate with that of an adult but you can tell she is willing to accept the assumption about Elsa's presence and actions that night. Was Elsa at the Library in Healdsburg that night? I don't know or care. Her actions that night have nothing to do with Mark calling me.

How it is that Karen, a woman with a  Masters degree, crossed-over to the dark side? If you ever have the misfortune of meeting Karen you'll know in an instant. Some people are just dieing to drink the Purple Kool-Aid.

So you can see the Zombies are so desperate to oppress the truth with irrelevant claims and mutual assumptions about who did what, we can focus on something real. And this where it become quite interesting.

*   *   *

Shown below is Karen's defense of her part in an email exchange. I'd suggest you go read the email exchange first them come back to her "but he started it" claim below.

 

Karen was working with NUHW supporters until she emailed us stating:

Hi Everyone -

Because of health problems these past few weeks and upcoming personal matters, I will no longer be a member of the Steering Committee or a Steward. Best of luck to us all.

- Karen

It wasn't long before she showed her face with a sickly Purple tinge.

Also, what evidence do you have to prove "____ has a history of going 'where wise men fear to tread' "? Don't you just love the claims of the Zombies that are without merit or substantiation?! Unless I'm mistaken, I think this is nearly every claim made since the trusteeship!

One would think the rigorous training you received for you MA gave you the tools to look at what is going on objectively and make informed decisions. Sadly you are far too eager to turn your back of your fellow homecare workers for the privilege of bargaining an all give away contract.

Next up is Reefah's recounting of one day a long time ago about something that has nothing to do with anything presented in the restraining order request.

If only this statement tried to reflect what really happened that day. Yes, I was at the office, probably asking questions she didn't want to or knew how to answer. While there I saw some fliers advertising the UHW funded bus trip to Sacramento to lobby legislators about not killing funding for homecare.What Marie had in her hand was a copy of a flier with the date and time to get on the bus. I took a copy for myself since I have a lousy memory, and this really angered Marie and Reefah. Earth to Reefah: I'm a union member too! Turns out dues paying UHW members who are even suspected of being NUHW supporters, aren't allowed onto the bus. This was back when the Zombies still kind of cared about fighting for members instead of fighting with members, and Reefah was tolerant of NUHW supporters being in her office. Nevermind that I am a homecare worker just like them, this is a labor law violation and I am one of the few who have the courage and public speaking experience to address the Senate subcommittee. Reefah's M.O. is all about dividing the members according to union preference. Fortunately for me, I never really have to go to the Zombie UHW office, so this lifetime ban for "still"ing a piece of paper my own union printed for my benefit has no real impact on me. Reefah you have my word that, as soon as I figure out what it means to "still", I will never "still" anything, ever!

Next up is Reefah's partner in crime, Marie Melchor, a/k/a the Chicken Lady. I'll transcribe what she wrote since the copy is kind of light and hard to read. Jonathan Nelson is the nephew of Mark Nelson.

STATEMENT OF MARIE MELCHOIR

Dec, 9. 2009

I was at a union event outside [Santa Rosa] Memorial hospital. I am Marie Melchor and I was accompanied by Jonathan Nelson. I was the UHW mascott [sic] so I'm dressed as a UHW Chicken. I gave Jonathan Nelson to Mark Nelson so I could mascott. [Mascot is now a verb!] When we were done parading around on the sidewalk I took Jonathan Nelson with me after Jonathan and I [we?] watched Mark Nelson board the bus Jonathan and I were walking to my car when ____ came running up on us with flashing camera lights. Jonathan started yelling and hitting at the flashing lights. I was hit in the face by Jonathan and given a bloody nose. I yelled at ____ and told him he needed to back off. ____ refused so I said "if you don't back off I'll have to shit on you!" I took Jonathan Nelson back to my car and had him sit in the back seat. He hit the back of my seat violently and was yelling. I let him calm down before I got in and drove him to Petaluma. to where Mark was. I told Mark about what had happened and Mark was upset hearing it. Jonathan went with Mark and I drove home. I was so mad after having a bloody nose and knowing that Jonathan hit Mark that I made a phone call to ____ yelling at him when he picked up the phone telling him "You don't mess with the disabled" in my loud voice. Then I hung up my phone. The phone call to  ----'s house was made on Dec. 10, 2009.

Marie J. Melchor

Sheesh! There's so much to pick apart here, so I'd better get started.

First off, assuming Marie sustained injuries from Jonathan's reactions truly happened did Marie or Mark make a police report? I am suspicious of the date on her letter.

My recollection of that day was I stepped out from behind a bus shelter so I could take a picture of Maire in her Chicken Lady costume. When she asked me not to take a pictures of her I turned off my camera and walked away. There was no violence inducing flashing lights; the flash won't fire during the bright of day! The pair walked back down and then crossed the street without incident A bloody nose shortly after I allegedly took the "flashing lights" picture would have been awesome "smoking gun" evidence to warrant a restraining order or other court action, but I've never been served Why this didn't end up in a Zombie UHW flier speaks to the credibility of Marie's statement.

As for threatening to shit on someone...what finishing school did she go to? A woman who is willing to wear a UHW Chicken costume is quite telling of the kinds of members the Zombies are courting for purposes of "democratically elected" bargaining committees, stewards, etc.They seem to love the phrase "democratically elected _________" so they can assuage the thoughts of doubting members and the media. Also, shouldn't it be an NUHW Chicken costume?

If I were Mark I'd be upset about my nephew's temporary caretaker fabricating such a story. Marie, it's ok to tell - and hear - the truth.

Neither my wife nor I received the phone call she described. However, she had admitted to calling me at my home, so this might be good self-incriminating evidence to have on hand for the future. Heh heh heh, thanks Maire!

As for messing with the disabled, little does she know how long I have been with my wife and for the last 10 years taken her skiing with her disabled friends. Clearly I know nothing about the disabled.

Ok, folks we're almost done. I'm tired of researching, writing and editing this wonderfully lame story.

Finally, here is Mark's description of what he didn't do with a nauseating ending including a jab at NUHW that had nothing to do with anything.

First off is his statement that I didn't suffer emotional distress. Meh, whatever.

____ has not suffered emotional distress because of the accusations he made are false.

(I permantely disabled the caps lock on my computer and I'm not holding down shift while I transcribe; otherwise the transcription is verbatim. Text in bold was added for emphasis.)

Next is his side of the story.

____ assaulted my 23 yr old severely disabled and partially blind nephew and my friend, Maire Melchoir [sic] on Dec 9, 2009 by repeatedly flashing a camera in my nephews eyes 6 or 7 times) despite Ms. Melchoir's pleas to stop because my nephew has a seizure disorder and violent outbursts.) I was not present at that time and Ms. Melchoir called ____ the next day to tell him never to do anything like that again because my nephew had a

[continues on next page]

seizure disorder and a violent outburst that lasted over and hour and resulted in me getting hit, as well as Ms. Melchor right afterwards.

I never called Mr ______ or threatened/him despite what he did.

On Sept 23rd I was working with Monica Reeder, another UHW volunteer like me, greeting members at the doors of the Healdsburg Library when Ms. Else Stevens, the woman referred to in the complaint approached me. I motioned her to the door where union reps Shareefah Joseph and Gustavo Corralo [sic]. Confronted Ms. Stevens because she has already voted the day before in Petaluma on the union contract. After agreeing she has already voted, Ms. Stevens chose to stay and chat with me and Ms. Reeder for over 45 mins. These are not the actions of someone who feels threatened.

____ made false accusations against me, harassed other union members, and misused the justice system to further his NUHW cause.

Funny how his statement is based upon someone else's biased, stand alone statement. All he did was place the call, he had no other part in my complaint. Why didn't he bring his phone bill proving at least he didn't call me from his home or cell phones is beyond me. Proving a negative is difficult at best, but Mark could have tried. He also could have filed a police report or done anything to make his case and protect his nephew from us free thinking freelancing photographers

I have to agree with Mark: these are not the actions of a threatened person, too bad his assumption about who I refered to in the complaint is flat out wrong.

Finally, as for misusing the justice system to "further his NUHW cause", Mark you couldn't be further from the truth. UHW is the reining king of misuse of the legal system for it's own gain. Filing to block an election and then selectively pressing some of those same elections to be schedules is an abuse of the legal system that put my alleged misuse to shame. This is about your thoughtless, knee-jerk, death threat laden phone call. Grow up and leave us alone. If I had a recording of your phone call you would have had a restraining order by the end of last December.

*   *   *

Mark, Marie, Karen and other homecare workers not mentioned here were, at first, NUHW supporters. Mark was so committed to the cause he got, long before the trusteeship, a UHW tattoo. Yeah. Check his arms next time you see him, that is, if you dare get close enough. Unfortunately for them they crossed-over to the dark side and drank copious quantities of Purple Kool-Aid, forming a dependency within days. I think it is unfortunate because they knew what UHW had in mind for homecare workers, knew they were talking to peers who had mutual gain in mind and they knew UHW would say anything to keep it's members from defecting to a much better union. They knew full well what was going and still turned their back on their peers to serve themselves.

My theory about why this group of Zombie supporters so willingly and blindly following their master's lead included 3 likely reasons: they listen to whatever they perceive as an authority and follow that person's lead, especially if that person lavishes the subject with attention; the utter disbelief that UHW has fundamentally changed; and they've heard just Zombie UHW's perspective, and without some other source of information about the struggle for healthcare workers, this is all they believe. Part of why I wrote this very lengthy article was so I could try to tell the whole story and allow the reader to decide what's true and what's fluff. This, more than anything else, is what separate NUHW and its supporters from the Zombies.

I didn't get my restraining order but I did get a whole lot of insight into who makes up the Zombie "leadership" in Sonoma county.

Zombie UHW: pushing the anti-union vote at all costs, again

It seems the Zombies will never learn from their mistakes. As you may recall the vote for unionization at Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital last December was 283 for NUHW and - no kidding - 13 for the Zombies. This staggering loss was widely publicized, but what was not as well publicized is the vote for no union at all, a nerve-rackingly close 263. I was at the vote count that night and it was quite an emotional roller-coaster for all but the Zombie UHW supporters.

You'd think after such a staggering (21.8:1) defeat the Zombies would change their tactics, as would any normal person or group. But the Zombies - being a special breed of con artists - will keep using the same lame tactic while utterly convinced better results are just around the corner. What they are doing this time should make the unofficial alliance with Memorial management pale in comparison. To learn more, read Randy Shaw's article from BeyondChron to learn just what the Zombies have been up to down at USC University Hospital.

Worse yet is their attack on Barbara Lewis and NUHW (of course)! However, before I dissect their flier I just want to point out I just don't believe anything the Zombies have to say. They've outright lied so many times and aren't willing to back most of their statements it's difficult to say with absolute certainly what's truth and what's puffery. So I will instead point out the hypocracy in their statements, claims which I can easily back, and they are reluctant to talk about when presented with the truth.

So, right off the bat, the third and forth words in the title: Backroom Deal. Given the Zombies track record for backroom deals (listed below) and the fact that NUHW is running a shoe-string budget, with a much smaller staff than their Zombie counterparts, does anyone really believe that NUHW has the time or interest in negotiating a backroom deal? This would seem to go against one of the main reasons why NUHW exists!

Here a few of the juicier backroom deals Zombie UHW have negotiated on behalf of their prisoners, err I mean "members", courtesy of ¡Adiós, Andy!

The LMP Shakedown
Reganomics (also referenced above in paragraph 2)
SEIU Threatens To Dissolve CKPU
Pharmacy Agreement Going Down To Defeat?
Zombie UHW Taketh, Zombie UHW Giveth Away...
Signed, Sealed, Sold Out
Signed, Sealed, Sold Out (Part Two)
...and so on

Second is this long standing claim that NUHW officials, acting in their capacities as pre-Zombie UHW elected (not appointed) officials, are guilty of "misusing millions in union funds". This misuse of union funds is merely an opinion presented as fact from the International. As U.S. 9th Circuit District Judge William Alsup has told the jury many times in the trial between NUHW & the Zombies these last 2 weeks, resisting the trusteeship is not a violation of the law, it just doesn't sit well with the International leadership's plan to run all of SEIU from Washington, D.C. with no real regard for the members or prospective members. In simple terms this is akin to moving money from your wallet or purse to your hand. Unless it has changed hands it's still yours!

Finally, this bit about NUHW signing a "secret deal with management" and cutting "members out ... completely". This is almost identical to what the Zombies did to homecare workers up here in Sonoma county back in September. But I'm just speaking from experience, what do I know about Zombie UHW practices in California.

Zombies tell their "truth" about the Fresno slim victory

Desperate to get any attention even if it is easily disputed attention about a long passed election, the Zombies have have made up their own irrefutable (in their eyes) "truth" about the Fresno homecare election. Below is their slant on the Fresno homecare election's pyrrhic victory followed by a line by line dissection of the "truth".

SEIU-UHW was certified as the winner among 10,000 Fresno home care workers by the California State Mediation and Conciliation Service 8 months ago. An NUHW protest of the election had so little merit that it was dismissed without a hearing.

This decision is under review: just look here. 59 pages of complaints replete with several sworn declarations from harassed Fresno homecare workers.

What protest? When? Where?

NUHW waited four months to submit new bogus charges and has done nothing to move them forward. The Public Employment Relations Board (PERB) has taken no action and it is not even clear that they will consider them.

Well these complaints didn't surface overnight. It took a while for people to work up the courage to speak up. And speak up they did, see the above linked sworn declarations!

Many of the allegations were made anonymously and lack credibility. Some were made by people who were not even eligible voters. The chief accuser vowed to cause “trouble” for SEIU because he was not offered a job after the election.

Does being a witness to intimidation but not eligible to vote by virtue of not holding employment as a homecare worker always automatically discount a complaint 's validity? To put it another way can't I complain to the police if I see someone else being mugged? Must I be mugged to complain about being mugged?

The allegations surrounding threats on immigration are particularly deceitful and malicious. SEIU has more immigrant members than any other union and has helped lead the fight for immigration reform. Hundreds of SEIU supporters and staff in Fresno were themselves immigrants or sons and daughters of immigrants, and would not have put up with a strategy that threatened workers’ immigration status.

Yet the Zombies have a record for approaching those who don't speak the language natively, or others who are otherwise easily convinced in the very lopsided arguments put forth by the Zombies. My proof: just look around at who is now on the e-board, are stewards, and contract negotiators. They don't question and likely don't fully understand what is going on, but are all too eager to sign off on the truly dumb decisions made by Zombie UHW and those members who they control with a steady diet of lies, half truths and other propaganda.

If there is one thing I have learned from blogging it's that you can't just say something without backing it up in some credible way. Their statements above don't stand on their own; hopefully, my questions will provoke my readers to seek out the truth the Zombies don't want you to know.

Finding Sal Rosselli video makes South Park look sophisticated!

My oh my! The production values and cheesy "graphics" (if you can call them that) makes the animation on South Park seem on the cutting edge of animation technology. For my readers without an adolescent and crude sense of humor, South Park is an animated television program that, like SEIU, pushes the limits of decency, but unlike SEIU offers scathing social commentary, all while using sub-par animation. The horribly designed video and the clearly under-informed members speaking their "minds" attest to the quality of work of SEIU and the willingness of some to believe a perceived authority without question or comprehension.

As for NUHW not answering the door, my guess is they were out running circles around the Zombies while the Zombies were busy slapping members around or spreading lies about the $3 million that was "stolen" (not stolen just moved to another account, read the referenced E-Board meeting minutes).

Zombies catch election fever

A little background to explain why the Zombies are all of a sudden struck with election fever.

Post-trusteeship, the former leaders of UHW formed NUHW and quickly got down to the task of orchestrating the members gathering signatures for decertification of the newly Zombie-fied UHW. The Zombies naturally filed blocking charges to slow down, frustrate and hold their members hostage indefinitely. It appears that Zombies took stock of what they had to deal with (an underdog union supported by devoted UHW members dying to get out of the Zombies deathgrip, more than 100 community and political leaders supporting a fair and free from intimidation election, and losing 7 out of 9 elections in 2009) and reasoned that if they are going to win an election this year they had better focus their efforts on facilities where NUHW support is weaker, hence their appeal to the NLRB. NUHW viewed this as the Zombies trying to manipulate election scheduling, which ought to be handled by the NLRB with no bias for any party, be it union or employer, and tried to appeal to the NLRB's sense of reason. Unfortunately this request was not honored and the Zombies view NUHW's actions as being anti-member. Lame for sure.

* * *

Shown below is the Zombies attempt to prove substantial member backing for their desperate plea in getting NUHW to back off decert elections.  The astute reader will notice a none-too-clever attempt by the Zombies to increase the number of signatures.

A quick glance at the signatures in the right hand column shows that the first 5 listed are the same as the last 5! C'mon Zombies at least move the signatures around a little bit and make me work a bit for these blog
-entries...you make it too easy! I guess the proofreader was at lunch when this gem was pushed out via the UHW Report. Tasty over at Stern Burger with Fries, notes that this leaves 52 unique signatures. I wonder about the authenticity of these unique signatures since I am not able to match signatures to faces of people I know. Given the Zombies propensity for deceit it seems reasonable that some of these signatures could be forgeries.

So 52 signatures at 51 facilities...does this mean that there is one signature for 50 facilities and a staggering 2 for the remaining facility? Or did the Zombie(s) charged with collecting these signatures get smart and visit just a few facilities to round up a bunch of signatures? Either way the Zombies are desperate to publicize the names of their few supporters, no matter how pathetic that support looks. How pathetic could their support be? Heh heh heh, read on.

* * *

The Zombies, being a shifty group of sellouts, scabs and fighters fond of backhanding actually make things a whole lot worse for themselves by issuing a press release about most of the facilities where elections are soon to be scheduled.

When one compares the list of facilities shown in the open letter to those shown in the press release a number of discrepancies appear. First off are the facilities that appeared in the open letter but are not shown in the press release:

• Brookside Skilled Nursing Hospital
• Emerald Gardens Nursing Center
• Gilroy Healthcare and Rehab Center
• Golden Living Center - Fresno
• Grant Cuesta Sub-Acute and Rehab Center
• Heritage Care Center
• Home for Jewish Parents
• McClure Convalescent
• Northgate Care Center
• Palo Alto Nursing Center
• St. Francis Convalescent Pavilion
• St. Francis Heights Convalescent Hospital
• Valley Point Nursing Center
• Willow Tree Nursing Center

Is this an oversight or more likely a realization that these 14 facilities are still very much pro NUHW?

Second are the facilities they've added:

• Centinela Hospital Medical Center (Inglewood)
• Clovis Convalescent Hospital
• Creekside Care Center (Heritage) (Stockton)
• Enloe Medical Center (Crothall)
• In-Home Supportive Services Consortium (San Francisco)
• O'Connor Hospital (San Jose)
• Prison Health Services (Dublin)
• Saint Louise Regional Hospital (Gilroy)
• St. Francis Medical Center (Lynwood)
• Sutter Delta Medical Center (Antioch)
• Sutter Eden Medical Center (Castro Valley)
• Sutter Solano Medical Center (Vallejo)
• Tiburcio Vasquez Health Center (Hayward)

They have picked up 13 facilities totaling 4,080 members. Looks good for the Zombies, right? Well I have 3 things for you to keep in mind:

1. in the press release, the number of members shown after each facility doesn't indicate support for the Zombies; it's merely a count of the number of workers eligible to vote,
2. in the open letter, the number of workers at the 14 facilities listed above don't show their member count so a net loss or gain in voters is impossible to determine, and
3. net loss for facilities: 1

When one considers the open letter and the press release a startling fact can be derived: of the 6715 voting member, just 52 signed the open letter. That's just 0.77% -- less than one percent and folks, that's messed up. Zombies: if members are truly happy with your dismal representation, where's the support to back it up? There is virtually no member support for staying with the Zombies, period. At Memorial you lost badly: 21 NUHW votes for each SEIU vote. How badly do you think you are going to go down in this dress rehearsal for the Kaiser election this June? Tasty was right: math is hard!

One good swipe deserves another

If you get the UHW Report you'll notice they never write about their election losses, until now. The quote below is from their report dated January 28, 2010. What strikes me as odd is they look down on the workers who chose NUHW by a cumulative ratio of 6:1. Specifically they state that "NUHW has put these workers at grave risk for their own purposes". Nevermind that the Zombies have already done this!

Small Kaiser Group Votes to Take Risk with NUHW

Ballots counted Tuesday, January 26 in an election among 2,300 Kaiser professionals, psych-social workers, and RNs show that those workers voted to leave SEIU-UHW to join NUHW. The election only affects this small group in Southern California and not the nearly 50,000 other SEIU-UHW members at Kaiser who are launching the biggest and most active statewide contract campaign in history.

NUHW has put these workers at grave risk for their own purposes. These workers had their raises and benefits locked in for almost two years. Now, they will have to re-bargain their contract on their own in this economic crisis--at the same time Kaiser is cutting healthcare and other costs among management and non-union workers.

Over the past year, 53,464 SEIU members have chosen to stay united in SEIU-UHW for better wages, healthcare, and other benefits. Only 2,600, including the recent Kaiser workers, have chosen NUHW, which still has no members under contract and few resources to fight for workers

Funny how they spin a staggering defeat into a sour grapes-ish look at those poor unfortunate souls! I wonder what they'll say when the next defeat is handed to them by the members they so boldly claim to "represent". Faithful readers of the Report will notice not one word was written when they lost the Memorial election.

Bring on the stupid

As you may have heard a hundred times from Zombie robots roaming the streets we'll all lose our health insurance if we change unions, a claim that has been proven to be false in court. Even so the Zombies hired Fred Feinstein a lawyer/university professor to write a propaganda piece which has landed him in hot water and drawn his primary employer the University of Maryland into the NUHW/SEIU battle. Way to go Fred: voicing a union financed piece using university letterhead on something which you know nothing about! Just another way the Zombie's plan for world domination has back fired on them.

Anna Burger reaches out...

... with a survey that is in ALL CAPS! In the online world writing in ALL CAPS comes across as yelling. As annoying as this is, it seems appropriate since they are losing their grip with members, politicians, other unions, etc. Here's her invite for a "brief survery". Are they ever brief? Should you click on the image below you can read the survey. I feel apathetic about filling out the survey, since I don't know what the Zombies will do with the answers, but it's interesting to read the Obama related questions and substitute Stern. Now that would be a survey worth taking! Note to Zombies: if you have to ask you really are clueless, but thanks for the dues financed feel good survey just the same!

About face, SEIU style (part 2)

Perhaps the UHW is member led once again. Or maybe it's the tail wagging the dog? Either way it seems Karen Timmons' about face was a preview of things to come at the House of Zombies. The Zombies have long relied on filing charges with the NLRB to slow down the pace of elections. Since the landslide victory against them at Memorial, they have been looking for a way to eck out a win, no matter how dumb the method makes them look. Fear not readers, they've found a way to do just that: beg the NLRB to rescind the blocking charges they filed! Turns out they have had a change in their black hearts and now want elections to happen as soon as possible. One wonders why the Zombies have decided to have the election for these 4000 workers go forth after trying so hard to keep them for voting. I suggest reading Sierra Spartan's poignant write up and the comments that follow.

Shown below is the Zombies lame press release. It's worth noting that this press release is really a members' dues financed ad for UHW; nobody anywhere is willing to write about their false-truths and backwards accomplishments. What does this tell us about the Zombies standing in the world?

"You lie so much you believe yourself!"*

I can't believe the way the Zombies highlight their progress disasters in bargaining. Grab a seat, get a drink and get ready to laugh. Shown below is Zombie UHW Trustee Dave Regan* preparing for a meeting with disgruntled members. If I spent the last year selling out the futures of 150,000+ members held against their will in the crumbling, former flagship local of SEIU I might huff paint thinner too! Clearly the Zombies think numbers are the only measure of success they can share with the world.

2009: A Year of Progress for SEIU-UHW Members

On December 31, 2009 6:31 PM

Oakland, CA - For the members of the Service Employees International Union-United Healthcare Workers-West (SEIU-UHW), a look back at 2009 reveals a successful year of reengaging members, settling contracts, and improving jobs, wages, and healthcare in spite of the economic crisis.

"This past year demonstrated the power of 150,000 members to make a significant impact on the lives of workers and the people for whom they care. SEIU-UHW members continued to make strides on many fronts, despite a terrible economy, a hostile Governor, and the need to repair damage done by previous leadership," said Dave Regan, trustee of SEIU-UHW.

SEIU-UHW 2009 By the Numbers

Settled Contracts Covering Workers at:

21 Hospital facilities

42 Nursing homes

5 Clinics

Home Care Providers in 2 Counties

1 Strike at Tiburcio Vasquez Health Center resulting in strong, new contract

Notice the lack of information about how the contracts were settled. Back room deals? Giveaways? Secretive bargaining committees? Member intimidation? All this and more; this is just another day of work at Zombie UHW.

Protecting Wages in a Bad Economy

4.3% - Average wage increase for SEIU-UHW-represented hospital workers for the first year of a contract settled in 2009

2.3% - National average wage increase for the first year of a contract settled in 2009

2 - Home care contracts that protect providers' wages and
maintain healthcare benefits despite the economy and the attempts by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to slash wages $2 per hour

4.3%: do they have provision to keep those wages increasing once the initial contracts expire and they are stuck in Hotel California?

2.3%: Who cares about the national average wage increase, we all live in California. What I'd like to know is the average wage increase for first contracts in California. Thought I'm sure it would be made up I'd still like to know what number the Zombies pull out of the air.

As for the homecare contracts the folks in Fresno lost $1.25 an hour courtesy of the Zombies and here in Sonoma county we're looking at an almost guaranteed $2.00 an hour drop in wages when the second year of our horrible 2-year contract goes into effect. Spin that Zombies!

Reengaging SEIU-UHW Members

1,700 - Members participated in the October SEIU-UHW Leadership Assembly
300 - Member-leaders participating in the Union Wide Organizing Committee - four times the size of the old executive board and representative of all local members by occupation, geography, and division

3 - Meetings of newly formed Union Wide Organizing Committee, engaging member-leaders in planning the future of the union, including ongoing discussion of new bylaws and governance structures to bring the local out of trusteeship

More than $2 billion - Federal funds to CA hospitals as a result of the hospital fee legislation SEIU-UHW members helped pass

Oh my, Zombies are quite engaged...in breaking free of your death-grip. Remember when Zombie Trustee Dave Regan said everything would be back to normal way back in May? Look a what has been accomplished as of May 1. Since then it's only become worse.

Saving Jobs

2 Preliminary injunctions halting Governor Schwarzenegger's efforts to dismantle home care by cutting hours and reducing wages $2 an hour

21 Informational pickets at Kaiser facilities across the state
after Kaiser management proposed position eliminations

0 SEIU-UHW members who have lost a job as a result of Kaiser position elimination notices

Injunctions are temporary by nature and as for Sonoma county homecare workers the $2 an hour wage reduction is a practically a done deal. Before the Zombies messed everything up when wages were threatened we lobbied the legislators, now we have an iron clad contract that virtually precludes any chance of maintaining or increasing our wages. More than anything else this is why I am motivated to write this blog: no one else can be subjected to this kind of treachery.

Demonstrating Strength in Unity

68 Facilities with contracts settled in 2009
0 Members lost in 2009, despite attempts by management and an organization formed by former local officials to decertify SEIU-UHW members

Wow! 68 bargaining units all shackled to the Zombies. I wonder how many still believe the Zombies have their best interests in mind. 68 hollow victories is nothing to be proud of.

Finally as for the "0 members lost" we aren't willing residents of Hotel California.

(Quote in the title is from Metallica's Holier Than Thou.)

* Apologies to Mike Judge, creater of the above character, Beavis.

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.

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.

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?

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?

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.

Pure. Psychological. Bullshit.

As predicted the Zombies have begun their onslaught at Memorial with the following 2 propaganda pieces. The first is a mailer paid for with my dues money; the second was handed out mindless, I-sold-my-soul-to-the-devil-so-I-can-get-a-paycheck Zombies at the hospital.

A few things about this cartoon-ish mailer jump out at me.

1. Given the Zombies preference for sellout contracts, can they point to a single contract they've negotiated since the trusteeship that truly improves workers lives?
2. "NUHW represents no members under contract" ... yet!
3. The Zombies have been hemorrhaging cash and staff for months now, one wonders do they have any cash left to pay their bills? If not I'm sure they can tap into the $87.7 million loan SEIU took out from Bank of America. It's time for SEIU to STFU!
4. Couldn't they find any member at the hospital to quote? I guess not since they dropped the ball twice this year!
   
5. To the member quoted above (Julie Adams): Did she make her statement before the trusteeship? Does she still work at there since the layoffs Kaiser and the Zombies orchestrated, but denied involvement.

And then there is this recycled piece of garbage.

1. It seems SEIU has finally acknowledged that NUHW is a union.
   
2. The $3 million they "took for their own purposes" was meant to be spent defending itself from Andy Stern and his crew of dissent crushing lap dogs. There is no Federal law preventing a local from defending itself against it's parent union.
   
3. Why would anyone who left SEIU want to return? I'd rather work at McDonald's than work for SEIU.
   

Ugh...need I say more?

Zombie UHW pesters Memorial workers with another weak mailer

In what is sure to be one of many mailers from Zombie UHW aimed at re-winning the hearts and minds of Memorial workers, the Zombies mailed this bit of garbage. As you can see it uses the same tired and misleading arguments we've all heard since January 2009. Let's dissect this stinker, hold it up to the light and see it for what it really is: a message that came from the wrong union and came too late to make a difference for SEIU.

Who is NUHW?

The people who run NUHW were removed from office for misusing the members' dues money.

No, they were removed for not allowing the forced transfer of 65,000 homecare members from UHW to ULTCW. At the time UHW was a model local union and ULTCW was (and still is) reeling from their own corruption But the dues money used so far to negotiate sellout contracts (here, here and here) since the trusteeship began couldn't possibly be called misuse -- oh, no, no, no. Don't get me started on the fight for Fresno homecare workers, and the $10 million the Zombies spent there (at ~$3600+ per vote) to barely "win" an election, where SEIU claimed to have 5,000 -- an absolute majority of votes. Ugh, it makes me sick!

In January, NUHW leaders (then officers of SEIU-UHW) were found guilty by former U.S. Secretary of Labor Ray Marshall of misuing members' dues money and were removed from office. The very next day, they formed NUHW.

To me, this bit of crafty wording seems to imply that Secretary Marshall removed them from office, which is outside his authority reach or interest. Also, page 96 of Marshall's report states: " [...] I do not recommend imposing a trusteeship on these grounds at this time because these actions were merely symptoms of the basic underlying cause of the conflict between UHW and the International Union–the jurisdictional conflict over long-term care workers."

Once the leaders of the pre-trusteeship leaders of UHW realized that Rosselli's proclamation stating democracy "democracy dies in the darkness" had come true and UHW by extension and SEIU was a sinking ship, they headed for higher grounds.

What Did the NUHW Leaders Do Wrong? 

Since their removal from office, union members have found out that NUHW leaders:

• Transferred $3 million in members' dues money to a bogus non-profit for their own use.

 This should in no way be confused with the blatant misuse of dues money perpetrated by Tyrone Freeman one of SEIU International President Andy Stern's appointed (NOT elected) local leaders. Also, setting up a mechanism for defending itself from the tyranny of SEIU International can only considered wrong

• Stole thousands of dollars of union property and destroyed files needed to protect workers against management.

This is an unsubstantiated allegation. Assuming it happened you'd think it would have been extensively publicized.

• Left thousands of workers without union protection in the middle of the worst economic crisis of our lifetime by refusing to bargain more than 100 contracts and canceling extensions of dozens more.

Not like, say, the 50,000+ Kaiser Permanente members who had their futures and livelihoods sold down the river by Zombie UHW (as shown here, here and here) or the  4700+ Sonoma county homecare workers who had their fate sealed for the next 2 years.

What does the future hold for NUHW?

NUHW leaders will soon be going on trial in Federal Court.

Going to court does not mean a guaranteed guilty verdict.

In July, U.S district Judge William issued a preliminary injunction against NUHW leaders finding that they participated in a "broad-based scheme to take and destroy UHW property and information" contrary to the interests of the union members they once represented.

Who is saying the quoted phrase? It doesn't matter: one way it's an unsubstantiated allegation the other way it's a just nonsensical fear mongering.

Granted, in order to prevent the wholesale loss of faith and interest of its members worldwide SEIU has to
fight NUHW's advances but they could at least change their message to maintain appeal and relevance, unless of course they have nothing left to say.