August 23rd, 2010
Kaiser charged with criminal breach of federal labor law
Management caught paying for staff to campaign for SEIU in government-supervised union election for 44,000 employees
Oakland, Calif.—Nine healthcare workers have filed a federal lawsuit against their employer, Kaiser Permanente, for allegedly providing criminal financial support to SEIU. SEIU is the union that Kaiser employees seek to replace in an upcoming election supervised by the federal government.
Under federal law, employers like Kaiser are prohibited from providing financial support to the unions that represent their employees, in order to ensure that unions act in the interest of their members and not on behalf of the employer. Violating this law is a criminal offense.
Kaiser employees’ lawsuit, filed in United States District Court for the Northern District of California, alleges that Kaiser violated the Labor Management Relations Act by paying for dozens of Kaiser employees to conduct full-time election campaigning on behalf of SEIU.
August 21st, 2010
KPFK interview with historian Cal Winslow about NUHW
KPFK’s Morning Show interviews historian Cal Winslow, author of Labor’s Civil War in California: The NUHW Healthcare Workers Rebellion.
August 21st, 2010
Video: We’re safe and strong in NUHW
NUHW members at hospitals and Kaiser facilities across California explain what happened after they voted to join NUHW.
August 15th, 2010
San Gabriel Valley Tribune: factious union dispute at Baldwin Park’s Kaiser Permanente
By Thomas Himes
A winner-take-all union campaign is leading to police calls and allegations of threats at the Kaiser-Permanente Medical Center as labor unions compete for control of 43,500 employees throughout the state, according to authorities and officials.
Baldwin Park police have been left to referee factious protests, authorities and officials said.
The dispute is building up to a Sept. 13 election in which Service Employees International Union (SEIU) could lose control of 43,500 employees to the National Union of Healthcare Workers (NUHW), according to authorities.
“There are at least six or seven employees who had their cars vandalized over the past year,” said Fred Seavey, NUHW research director. “The level of threats that have been made against workers are so severe … they’re afraid to walk out to their cars alone.”
A Superior Court commissioner issued a restraining order against an SEIU organizer July 16 following allegations she made death threats against an NUHW supporter in the center’s lunch room, according to court documents and members of the NUHW.
August 12th, 2010
More SEIU stewards endorse NUHW
Kaiser San Jose NUHW Organizing Committee welcomes endorsement of SEIU stewardsSEIU stewards representing thousands of Kaiser workers in San Jose, Sacramento, Los Angeles, Walnut Creek, Gilroy, Tracy, Panorama City and Santa Rosa are uniting in support of NUHW. Savonnda Blaylock, a Pharmacy Tech at Kaiser Tracy resigned as an SEIU steward on August 6. She […]