What they aren’t telling us

NewsSeptember 20, 2012

What do an average 5% dues increase and a $6 million partnership tax have in common?

Both are part of SEIU-UHW’s plan for Kaiser workers, and both are things SEIU isn’t telling us about.

While NUHW members at Kaiser have received all of their scheduled raises and benefits and haven’t agreed to a single takeaway, SEIU officials have bargained away members’ retiree health benefits, protections against subcontracting, and even our right to keep personal information about our health and lifestyle choices confidential from management.

As if a contract full of cuts weren’t bad enough, soon we’ll see an average 5% increase in our dues, which are already 25% higher than the dues that NUHW members at Kaiser pay. And we’ll start to pay a partnership tax for every hour worked that adds up to $6 million a year to help SEIU’s friends in Kaiser management.

That means full time workers will be paying over $200 extra per year in increased taxes and fees to SEIU and Kaiser. In this economy, that’s a lot of extra expense that we can’t afford. And what are we getting out of SEIU’s increased taxes and fees? Benefit cuts and giveaways to Kaiser.

That’s a great deal for management, and a raw deal for us. No wonder SEIU is Kaiser’s preferred union.

Here’s a leaflet to share with your co-workers (SoCal and NorCal) spelling out some of the secrets that SEIU is keeping from Kaiser workers.

In NUHW, we’re united to win a fair contract with raises and no takeaways at Kaiser. Every day, hundreds more Kaiser workers learn about the NUHW difference. Please click here to learn more.

Sincerely,

Elizabeth Carter, LVN, Kaiser Richmond Pinole
BJ Johnson, Tech, Sterile Processing, Kaiser LAMC