The other bloggers...

The well informed Zombie UHW prisoner keeps abreast of what's going in a media climate that doesn't cover labor issues unless there is a trusteeship, strike or other high profile event. The real coverage about what is going on in labor can be found in so called "alternative" sources such as Labor Notes, Daily Kos, Empire Report, In These Times, etc. The one exception has been the L.A Times journalist Paul Pringle's exposé of ULTCW's (United Long Term Care Workers) much maligned former president Tyrone Freeman.

Just as important and much more in depth than any Lame Stream media reporting are my fellow volunteer bloggers Sierra Spartan (retired) at ¡Adiós, Andy!, Tasty Burger at Stern Burger with Fries, and of course the highly respected and scathing-without-being-petty commentary of Perez Stern at (you guessed it) Perez Stern (back in action). What we all have in common is our burning desire to bring the evil of SEIU to the light of day and throwing in a little snark to take the edge off the daily dose of betrayal served up by the Zombies. And we do so gladly, for no compensation, real name recognition or any other means of motivation. We do it because it needs to be done.

So I find it especially galling that SEIU is now apparently paying members to blog about the trial against the former leaders of UHW in San Francisco these last 2 weeks. These likely dues-financed bloggers are (and likely without knowing it) taking one the remaining forms of unadulterated journalism and using it to deceive the few who read their blogs. I normally don't promote my intellectually inferior, morally bankrupt, react without thinking mortal enemies, but in the spirit of encouraging my readers to do as I do and form their own opinions I will list those bloggers below. I read them in my effort to keep a well rounded sense of what is going on down in San Francisco but I find their writing wholly unsubstantiated, irritating, highly speculative and far more biased than my own writing. Somehow I think it's more than just $8 an hour (California minimum wage) or $20 an entry. The way the Zombies throw around money, I wouldn't be surprised if this was the case. As for the pseudo-bloggers following the trial no new entries have been made since the verdict! Perhaps the Zombie have cast them aside, just like they wanted to cast us homecare workers aside!

Bob "Nolehace" Lewis: http://seminal.firedoglake.com/diary/author/nolehace (First entry 3/24/10)

Erica Boddie: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/erica-boddie/ (First entry 3/22/10)
"Homecare Mary" Harms: http://homecaremary.blogspot.com/ (First entry 3/19/10)
Rudy Vallin: http://www.calitics.com/userDiary.do?personId=4980 (First entry 3/19/10)

Apparently, the Zombies feel they have hit on something because now 3 more blogs popped up just today. They are centered around the KP national level bargaining. Notice how they all have the same kp prefix: it's kp-person's first name.blogspot.com. And they all were created on the same day, April 5, 2010. Clearly this wasn't a coincidence in either batch of bloggers.

	Silvia Torres-Limon (Northern CA): http://kp-silva.blogspot.com	First entry 4/5/2010
	Shirlee Anne Shirley (Southern CA): http://kp-shirlee.blogspot.com	First entry 4/5/2010
	Angela Young (Northern CA): http://kp-angela.blogspot.com	First entry 4/5/2010

As far as I know the progress of bargaining is only shared with the people represented: management negotiators report to management, labor negotiators report to the membership. This is how it was in homecare bargaining before the trusteeship. Oh wait, no, I'm wrong. According to Karen Timmons, Sonoma County bargaining team member for the first post-trusteeship contract renewal, said in no uncertain terms that:

Contracts are NEVER given to members to read until they are a done deal, signed by committee, IHSS/PA and the Supervisors.

For my outside of the wacky world of homecare readers, the IHSS PA is the In Home Supportive Service Public Authority, an arm of county government and the entity with which we bargain. The county supervisors double as the board of directors for Public Authority.

So why exactly is Zombie UHW encouraging and likely paying members to violate what I suspect is banned in the ground rules of bargaining? My guess: smoke screen. This way the Zombies can bargain away even more of the hard fought gains of Kaiser members without distraction of the members whose lives they will be harming. Prove me wrong Zombies! Show me your track record since the trusteeship was just temporary insanity!

This makes me so mad! So if you see any of these blind obedience to Zombie UHW folks running around off their leash...well send them on a Keyser Söze-inspired wild goose chase!

(10 minutes pass...)

And where were these pseudo-bloggers before the trial and before the KP bargaining? Perez Stern's got his start on 2/4/2009, Sierra Spartan 2/6/2009, me on 9/16/2009 and Tasty on 11/12/2009. In defense of Perez & Sierra, they may have started within 2 days of each other but took different approaches and used different writing styles. Also this was right after the train wreck in slow motion (trusteeship) was implemented.

Update (4/7/10): I found 3 more. They were all born yesterday, literally!

	Therese Fleming (Central Valley): http://kp-therese-f.blogspot.com	First entry 4/6/2010 All entries removed 4/8/2010
	Rachelle Heartte (MSW, ACSW):  http://kp-rachelle-h.blogspot.com	First entry 4/6/2010
	Victoria DeLacruz (Central Valley): http://kp-victoria.blogspot.com	First entry 4/6/2010

Memorial management to workers: We honor your choice...

..so long as you don't choose NUHW. So much for their commitment to honor the choice of the workers.
 
As you can see below Memorial management as taken on the duty of continuing the disturbing trend started by the Zombies: blame everyone else for your own failings. Courtesy of a fearless employee I have received a copy of the complaint from the hospital to the NLRB. We all know Memorial management has a long and varied history of union-busting; even so, this weak listing of complaints disgusts me and I wonder how long it will take for "NUHW and it agents and/or third parties" to put management in its place.

First off is management's opening volley. Everybody it's time to find an alibi because we're all implicated is this very wide casting of the net for the blame game.

In the matter of the Petition of National Union of Healthcare Workers (Petitioner), Service Employees International Union, United Healthcare Workers--West (Intervenor) and Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital (Employer)

Case No. 20-RC-18241

Employer's Objections to Conduct Affecting the Election

Pursuant to Section 102.69 of the Board's Rules and Regulations, Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital (the "Employer" or the "the Hospital") hereby files its objections to the Election held in the above captioned matter and requests that the Regional Director set aside the election because of conduct by the National Union of Healthcare Workers ("NUHW") and its agents and/or third parties, and because of conduct by Board agents which affected the election and prevented the maintenance of the laboratory conditions necessary to allow employees to vote in an atmosphere free from coercion and intimidation.

NUHW and it agents and/or third parties engaged in conduct, made statements and published material that interfered with, intended to prevent, the free expression of the employees choice, thus preventing employees from exercising their choice free of coercion and intimidation. In addition conduct by Board agents interfered with, intended to prevent, the free expression of the employees choice.

You'll notice not one word is mentioned about SEIU which was management's favored union. This seems odd given the reign of terror and rich history of very public screw-ups the Zombies have displayed statewide since the trusteeship.

1. NUHW and it agents and/or third parties repeatedly engaged in electioneering at or near the polling place on election days and during periods when the polls were open. In addition, such conduct breached an agreement entered into by the parties governing election day conduct.

Well this is an election and electioneering is allowed so long as nothing new is brought up in the 24 hours preceding the election. Can management offer any evidence the Zombies weren't allowed to electioneer at the hospital? Sure it may be hard to hold back 400+ staffers all at once but I'm sure they are easy to spot given their hideously-colored shirts.

2. NUHW and it agents and/or third parties engaged in campaign speeches within the period commencing twenty four hours before the opening of the polls.

Oh yeah, where? If not at the hospital and, again, if nothing new is brought up then this complaint has no merit!

3. NUHW and it agents and/or third parties engaged in surveillance and interrogation of employees attempting to exercise their Section 7 rights, including, among other things, videotaping employees attempting to attend employer-sponsored meetings, and videotaping employees attending such meetings, thereby creating a general atmosphere of confusion and fear of reprisal among voting employees.

I wonder what evidence they have about "NUHW and it agents and/or third parties" videotaping employees. Aren't video cameras using DVDs or memory cards by now. Way to proofread your own complaints!

4. NUHW and it agents and/or third parties restrained and/or prevented employees from exercising their Section 7 rights by massing outside hospital meeting rooms where the employer was attempting to hold voluntary meeting to inform employees on issues presented by the election and/or obstructing entrance to and exit from such meetings.

I can't speak to how NUHW behaved outside the meeting room but given their smaller numbers and generally polite demeanor as a group and individually I can't imagine they wanted to cause "confusion and coercion" in the minds of the very folks they have tried to help build a strong unified voice. Again, I wonder what evidence they have to offer.

5. NUHW and it agents and/or third parties issued statements and published videos creating a general atmosphere of confusion and fear of reprisal among voting employees.

I reviewed the videos on the NUHW website and found nothing even remotely coercing, intimidating or confusing. I can't know and therefore can't review every third part video recording, but if their complaint is about published videos on Empire Report (scroll down) then I stand by the comment I made in the previous sentence.

6. NUHW and it agents and/or third parties made statements and published videos which improperly suggested to voting employees that an organization entitled the "Fair Election Oversight Commission" (The "Commission") had right and standing to monitor pre-election conduct, and that, prior to polling, the Employer and Service Employees International Union, United Healthcare Workers-West ("SEIU") had each violated rules governing NLRB elections. By this conduct NUHW and its agents improperly assumed the role of the NLRB and gave voting employees the false impression that the NLRB favored one of the three parties.

Perhaps the suggestion about the Commission's right and standing seem improper to you, but is it illegal? Or immoral to have third party supervision? Outside of Memorial management does anyone think management really cares about what is the morally or legally right thing to do? These are the same folks that laid off 200 of their workers and then hired a few of them back at bargain wages with no benefits! Yeah, it's hard to convince someone you have their best interests at heart when you have on hand on their throat and the other hand rooting around in their wallet/purse.

7. NUHW and it agents and/or third parties made statements and published video which gave to voting employees the impression that the Commission was a neutral organization formed to monitor election conduct conduct by all parties, and that, prior to the polling, the Employer and SEIU had each engaged in improper conduct whereas the Commission was not, and is not, a neutral organization but at all times has favored and advocated for one of the parties, namely NUHW and/or the Commission created an atmosphere of confusion and coercion and interfered with the employees' rights.

They are neutral insofar as they have nothing to gain or lose based on the outcome of the election. As for confusion and coercion, do they really think anyone is going to buy into the idea that academics, politicians and faith leaders created an atmosphere of coercion and confusion in the week between the Commission's creation and the end of the election? Clearly confusion and coercion are the jobs of the Zombies and Memorial management.

I'm tiring of this "NUHW and it agents and/or third parties" dragnet. Why is NUHW being lumped in with their supporters? Why isn't anyone else listed by name? Is this their way of blaming the supporters of the organizing drive: BeyondChron, Empire Report, ¡Adiós, Andy!, In These Times, L.A.Times, Labor Notes, Daily Kos, and of course The Red Revolt?

8. Board agents failed to monitor and prevent improper conduct by NUHW, its agents, by employees in the voting area.

So, bite the hand that feeds you, huh? This should work out well. And how is the NLRB supposed to prevent improper conduct by employees in the voting area?

9. The Board created a ballot that displayed the employees' choices in different fonts and font styles thereby confusing voters and/or creating the impression that the NLRB disfavored the employer and considered a vote for "Neither" was not on equal terms and was of lesser significance to a vote for either union.

I can't believe I have to ask this again, but: just how dumb do they think their employees are? Do they really think if there were variations in the "fonts or font styles" employees would some how mess up voting? This isn't Florida: we aren't talking about hanging chads here!

10. By the above and other conduct, NUHW, and its agents and/or third parties, and by the above and other conduct, Board Agents, interfered with, coerced, and restrained employees in exercise of their Section 7 rights and interfered with their ability to exercise a free and reasoned choice in the election.

Clearly they have almost nothing worth investigating and certainly nothing worth holding up an election. Simply put, this is just a delaying tactic. We're all waiting and working for the day an NLRB spokesperson says "And the winner is NUHW!" In the mean time the workers and community will continue to build pressure and expose management for what it really is: a bunch of democracy hating, employee crushing individuals with only their own bottom lines.

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!

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)

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!

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.