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Resignation Letter of UHW President Sal Rosselli from the SEIU Executive Committee
Resignation Letter of UHW President Sal Rosselli from the SEIU Executive Committee
February 9, 2008
Andrew L. Stern, President
SEIU
1800 Massachusetts Ave., N.W.
Washington DC 20036
Dear Brother Stern:
Like you, I take great pride in the recent growth of SEIU and the prominent position our union holds in the labor movement and in public policy debates of critical importance to working families. I was honored four years ago when you appointed me to your executive committee. During the previous eight years, we had worked together constructively to help hundreds of thousands of health care workers in California and beyond join our union and change their lives.
In United Healthcare Workers West (UHW), we have always believed that our international union should be about more than numbers and headlines. Over the past two years, a stark difference has evolved between SEIU’s projected image and its real world practices. An overly zealous focus on growth – growth at any cost, apparently – has eclipsed SEIU’s commitment to its members. As labor leaders, we are obligated to place the needs of our members first and to uphold democratic principles not only in the workplace, but also in our union. That is increasingly being blocked, circumvented and manipulated.
It is said that “democracy dies in the darkness.” It is with deep disappointment and great concern that I have watched dark shadows fall upon SEIU, diminishing our hopes for revitalizing the labor movement. Let me shed some light on the undemocratic practices we in UHW have experienced firsthand:
# You unilaterally decided to eliminate the Catholic Healthcare West (CHW) Unity Council and appointed an International Union consultant to manage our collective bargaining relationship, even though the Council’s creation was adopted by CHW rank-and-file leaders and approved by the International Executive Board. By all accounts, our relationship with CHW had been enormously successful and had led to significant growth and dramatic improvement in the lives of SEIU members who work at CHW. Your decision potentially weakens us just as we are about to enter negotiations for 16,000 CHW employees, jeopardizing the lead contract of our 2008 contract campaign that has lined up the expiration dates of nearly 100 acute care hospitals covering approximately 100,000 caregivers.
# Similarly, you silenced workers’ voices in bargaining with the California Nursing Home Alliance by directing International Union representatives to meet with our employers behind our backs and then abused your power by barring UHW members and staff from participating in direct negotiations with our employers, despite the fact that UHW represents 75 percent of the nursing home members in bargaining. Based on our recent meetings with representatives of the nursing home industry, it is obvious that the International Union’s secret discussions with our employers are continuing.
# You recently decided to intensify the divisive debate about separating long-term care workers from hospital workers in California which will further undermine our unity just as negotiations commence for contracts at more than 100 nursing homes – contracts we fought for years to align on a common expiration date of June 2008 -- in order to win major improvements for caregivers and residents and secure organizing rights for workers in as many as 98 additional facilities, including 17 where organizing drives are already under way.
# Despite our representation of the largest number of workers in Catholic health care of any SEIU local and the direct involvement of two employers with whom we are engaged in active campaigns, you exclude UHW from participation in discussions with the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. In response to our request for review of your decision, you have now scheduled a hearing in Chicago for February 12, with only 8 days’ notice, whose scope is far broader than anything approved by the International Executive Board, on the alleged ground that it is necessary to review all aspects of our Catholic health care employer relations and representation, raising the specter that these matters will be placed entirely under control of the International Union and its bureaucracy where rank and file members will have no say, and no ability to affect their workplace destiny.
# In a deliberate attempt to create instability in important ongoing organizing campaigns by fomenting mass resignations among our Southern California organizing staff, your officers and staff helped orchestrate the recent resignation of Southern California Organizing Director, Amado David, whose letter of resignation appeared to have been created on SEIU equipment weeks before his resigning and is now being circulated by you to other SEIU leaders, all as a pretext for taking further action against UHW’s leaders and members. Despite this attempt, our UHW Southern California organizing program remains fully staffed and staff remain committed to UHW’s organizing program.
# You and other international officers interfered in the affairs of the SEIU California State Council – our collective vehicle for state legislative and electoral action – using the imposition of a revised constitution and bylaws to prompt a presidential election when none had been anticipated, then manipulating the per capita voting formula and procedures in order to produce the outcome you desired. Ultimately, you permitted provisional locals with no members (and locals that have never paid per capita) and locals that were months behind in per capita payments (owing the State Council nearly $2 million) to vote in the election so that you could control the outcome of the election and seat the leader of your choice.
# Your secret meetings with Governor Schwarzenegger and other elected officials, without the participation of SEIU California leaders, fatally weakened our many years of disciplined work to bring about true health care reform. Those secret discussions with the governor and his staff led them to believe that SEIU – and the labor movement along with us – would settle for far less than was necessary to protect the interests of working families or to win the support of California’s voters. The final deal that was struck, while far better than the settlement you had recommended, was flawed and tainted as a result of your actions and was politically doomed.
# Just last week you attempted secretly, although unsuccessfully, to squelch the SEIU California State Council’s endorsement of Barack Obama for President.
# You removed a UHW administrative vice president from the Executive Board of the California United Homecare Workers Union (CUHW) for asking questions about “budget and allocation of funds.” Your actions like this have created a culture of fear throughout SEIU, making local officers, members and staff afraid to speak up for fear of reprisal.
# Your international officers and staff manipulated voting procedures in Unity Council bargaining with Tenet Healthcare in order to thwart the will of the members and achieve your desired outcome. Specifically, international officers tried to cast “per capita” votes on behalf of unorganized workers who had no knowledge of the negotiations, paid no dues to SEIU, and were not even in the process of forming a union. Your failed effort would have given away our members’ right to strike for seven years and would have forced them to accept lower standards.
As you know, UHW (formerly Locals 250 and 399) is the oldest health care union in the country, with 75 years of proud and historic accomplishments. We stand for the principle of one member, one vote and the basic belief that members must have a seat at the bargaining table and the right to vote on all agreements that affect them. We believe that involving members at all levels of our union, providing rank-and-file workers with the support they need to decide our direction and lead our struggles, while winning good contracts that improve caregivers’ lives and the quality of the care we provide. These are the best examples we can use to organize the unorganized. Consistent with this, we believe that the deterioration of democracy in our union will have disastrous consequences.
The Nursing Home Alliance agreements and others negotiated by the International Union appear to relegate entire categories of workers to permanent second-tier status, without basic rights and standards to be expected in a union contract or any reasonable hope of achieving them. This transactional exchange of members’ rights and standards for greater numbers contradicts the core mission of SEIU. We must be committed to fight for higher standards so that workers who perform the same work will ultimately earn the same pay and benefits, regardless of the identity of their employer.
Let me be clear. We fully support a culture of organizing and strongly approve the goal of organizing our core industries. We also understand the obligation that union strongholds like California and New York have to help organize health care workers outside those two states. Our own organizing record, our leadership in developing and supporting the organizing recommendations of the President’s Committee 2000 and the establishment of the Unity Funds, our successful bargaining-to-organize fights in CHW, Tenet and HCA that led to growth opportunities outside of California, and our direct assistance to local and international organizing efforts throughout the country leave no doubt regarding our commitment.
Each year UHW provides $23 million in per capita payments and Unity Fund contributions to the International Union. We do so, even though this is the fourth straight year in which not a dime is spent in California. However, we cannot support, as you propose, sending even more of our organizing dollars to Washington and giving the International Union even greater control of their use when so many of SEIU’s organizing ventures have not and will not build power in our core industries, which was the purpose of the dues increase. Furthermore, we see an ever diminishing International Union commitment to improve workers’ lives now or in the future.
Much of what I have outlined here I have said to you directly and in Executive Committee meetings. I have abided by the code of conduct for Executive Committee members that requires what is said in the committee to stay in the committee and that positions adopted by majority vote of the committee should determine the position of all its members.
In good conscience, I can no longer allow simple majorities of the Executive Committee to outweigh my responsibility to our members to act out of principle on these critically important matters. I say this with no ill will, but with a deep sense of conviction.
As an elected leader of UHW and an elected international union vice president, I believe that maintaining my silence about the sacrifice of our principles and our failing to give voice to a clear and honest disagreement about the road we are on and the future direction of our International Union is too high of a price to pay. Therefore, my conscience leaves me no option but to resign my position as a member of the Executive Committee, effective immediately.
I believe that workers must have a voice. Indeed, that is the central reason I believe in our union. I believe that for workers to have a representative and effective voice, capable of changing their lives and the direction of our nation, many voices must be heard, not just those from Washington. I resign not to walk away, but to stay involved and to be able to speak freely.
In Unity,
Sal Rosselli
President
Andrew L. Stern, President
SEIU
1800 Massachusetts Ave., N.W.
Washington DC 20036
Dear Brother Stern:
Like you, I take great pride in the recent growth of SEIU and the prominent position our union holds in the labor movement and in public policy debates of critical importance to working families. I was honored four years ago when you appointed me to your executive committee. During the previous eight years, we had worked together constructively to help hundreds of thousands of health care workers in California and beyond join our union and change their lives.
In United Healthcare Workers West (UHW), we have always believed that our international union should be about more than numbers and headlines. Over the past two years, a stark difference has evolved between SEIU’s projected image and its real world practices. An overly zealous focus on growth – growth at any cost, apparently – has eclipsed SEIU’s commitment to its members. As labor leaders, we are obligated to place the needs of our members first and to uphold democratic principles not only in the workplace, but also in our union. That is increasingly being blocked, circumvented and manipulated.
It is said that “democracy dies in the darkness.” It is with deep disappointment and great concern that I have watched dark shadows fall upon SEIU, diminishing our hopes for revitalizing the labor movement. Let me shed some light on the undemocratic practices we in UHW have experienced firsthand:
# You unilaterally decided to eliminate the Catholic Healthcare West (CHW) Unity Council and appointed an International Union consultant to manage our collective bargaining relationship, even though the Council’s creation was adopted by CHW rank-and-file leaders and approved by the International Executive Board. By all accounts, our relationship with CHW had been enormously successful and had led to significant growth and dramatic improvement in the lives of SEIU members who work at CHW. Your decision potentially weakens us just as we are about to enter negotiations for 16,000 CHW employees, jeopardizing the lead contract of our 2008 contract campaign that has lined up the expiration dates of nearly 100 acute care hospitals covering approximately 100,000 caregivers.
# Similarly, you silenced workers’ voices in bargaining with the California Nursing Home Alliance by directing International Union representatives to meet with our employers behind our backs and then abused your power by barring UHW members and staff from participating in direct negotiations with our employers, despite the fact that UHW represents 75 percent of the nursing home members in bargaining. Based on our recent meetings with representatives of the nursing home industry, it is obvious that the International Union’s secret discussions with our employers are continuing.
# You recently decided to intensify the divisive debate about separating long-term care workers from hospital workers in California which will further undermine our unity just as negotiations commence for contracts at more than 100 nursing homes – contracts we fought for years to align on a common expiration date of June 2008 -- in order to win major improvements for caregivers and residents and secure organizing rights for workers in as many as 98 additional facilities, including 17 where organizing drives are already under way.
# Despite our representation of the largest number of workers in Catholic health care of any SEIU local and the direct involvement of two employers with whom we are engaged in active campaigns, you exclude UHW from participation in discussions with the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. In response to our request for review of your decision, you have now scheduled a hearing in Chicago for February 12, with only 8 days’ notice, whose scope is far broader than anything approved by the International Executive Board, on the alleged ground that it is necessary to review all aspects of our Catholic health care employer relations and representation, raising the specter that these matters will be placed entirely under control of the International Union and its bureaucracy where rank and file members will have no say, and no ability to affect their workplace destiny.
# In a deliberate attempt to create instability in important ongoing organizing campaigns by fomenting mass resignations among our Southern California organizing staff, your officers and staff helped orchestrate the recent resignation of Southern California Organizing Director, Amado David, whose letter of resignation appeared to have been created on SEIU equipment weeks before his resigning and is now being circulated by you to other SEIU leaders, all as a pretext for taking further action against UHW’s leaders and members. Despite this attempt, our UHW Southern California organizing program remains fully staffed and staff remain committed to UHW’s organizing program.
# You and other international officers interfered in the affairs of the SEIU California State Council – our collective vehicle for state legislative and electoral action – using the imposition of a revised constitution and bylaws to prompt a presidential election when none had been anticipated, then manipulating the per capita voting formula and procedures in order to produce the outcome you desired. Ultimately, you permitted provisional locals with no members (and locals that have never paid per capita) and locals that were months behind in per capita payments (owing the State Council nearly $2 million) to vote in the election so that you could control the outcome of the election and seat the leader of your choice.
# Your secret meetings with Governor Schwarzenegger and other elected officials, without the participation of SEIU California leaders, fatally weakened our many years of disciplined work to bring about true health care reform. Those secret discussions with the governor and his staff led them to believe that SEIU – and the labor movement along with us – would settle for far less than was necessary to protect the interests of working families or to win the support of California’s voters. The final deal that was struck, while far better than the settlement you had recommended, was flawed and tainted as a result of your actions and was politically doomed.
# Just last week you attempted secretly, although unsuccessfully, to squelch the SEIU California State Council’s endorsement of Barack Obama for President.
# You removed a UHW administrative vice president from the Executive Board of the California United Homecare Workers Union (CUHW) for asking questions about “budget and allocation of funds.” Your actions like this have created a culture of fear throughout SEIU, making local officers, members and staff afraid to speak up for fear of reprisal.
# Your international officers and staff manipulated voting procedures in Unity Council bargaining with Tenet Healthcare in order to thwart the will of the members and achieve your desired outcome. Specifically, international officers tried to cast “per capita” votes on behalf of unorganized workers who had no knowledge of the negotiations, paid no dues to SEIU, and were not even in the process of forming a union. Your failed effort would have given away our members’ right to strike for seven years and would have forced them to accept lower standards.
As you know, UHW (formerly Locals 250 and 399) is the oldest health care union in the country, with 75 years of proud and historic accomplishments. We stand for the principle of one member, one vote and the basic belief that members must have a seat at the bargaining table and the right to vote on all agreements that affect them. We believe that involving members at all levels of our union, providing rank-and-file workers with the support they need to decide our direction and lead our struggles, while winning good contracts that improve caregivers’ lives and the quality of the care we provide. These are the best examples we can use to organize the unorganized. Consistent with this, we believe that the deterioration of democracy in our union will have disastrous consequences.
The Nursing Home Alliance agreements and others negotiated by the International Union appear to relegate entire categories of workers to permanent second-tier status, without basic rights and standards to be expected in a union contract or any reasonable hope of achieving them. This transactional exchange of members’ rights and standards for greater numbers contradicts the core mission of SEIU. We must be committed to fight for higher standards so that workers who perform the same work will ultimately earn the same pay and benefits, regardless of the identity of their employer.
Let me be clear. We fully support a culture of organizing and strongly approve the goal of organizing our core industries. We also understand the obligation that union strongholds like California and New York have to help organize health care workers outside those two states. Our own organizing record, our leadership in developing and supporting the organizing recommendations of the President’s Committee 2000 and the establishment of the Unity Funds, our successful bargaining-to-organize fights in CHW, Tenet and HCA that led to growth opportunities outside of California, and our direct assistance to local and international organizing efforts throughout the country leave no doubt regarding our commitment.
Each year UHW provides $23 million in per capita payments and Unity Fund contributions to the International Union. We do so, even though this is the fourth straight year in which not a dime is spent in California. However, we cannot support, as you propose, sending even more of our organizing dollars to Washington and giving the International Union even greater control of their use when so many of SEIU’s organizing ventures have not and will not build power in our core industries, which was the purpose of the dues increase. Furthermore, we see an ever diminishing International Union commitment to improve workers’ lives now or in the future.
Much of what I have outlined here I have said to you directly and in Executive Committee meetings. I have abided by the code of conduct for Executive Committee members that requires what is said in the committee to stay in the committee and that positions adopted by majority vote of the committee should determine the position of all its members.
In good conscience, I can no longer allow simple majorities of the Executive Committee to outweigh my responsibility to our members to act out of principle on these critically important matters. I say this with no ill will, but with a deep sense of conviction.
As an elected leader of UHW and an elected international union vice president, I believe that maintaining my silence about the sacrifice of our principles and our failing to give voice to a clear and honest disagreement about the road we are on and the future direction of our International Union is too high of a price to pay. Therefore, my conscience leaves me no option but to resign my position as a member of the Executive Committee, effective immediately.
I believe that workers must have a voice. Indeed, that is the central reason I believe in our union. I believe that for workers to have a representative and effective voice, capable of changing their lives and the direction of our nation, many voices must be heard, not just those from Washington. I resign not to walk away, but to stay involved and to be able to speak freely.
In Unity,
Sal Rosselli
President
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Sal Rosselli, President
SEIU United Healthcare Workers- West
Leading tomorrow's labor movement. Sal Rosselli is the President of SEIU United Healthcare Workers-West (UHW), the largest and fastest growing healthcare union in the Western United States. UHW has a membership of over 130,000 caregivers in the hospital, nursing home and homecare fields and is the result of the unification of SEIU Local 250 in Northern California and SEIU Local 399 in Southern California. Rosselli helped lead the effort to create the new union, which is a beacon for a labor movement struggling to revitalize itself. Both locals had a proud history of accomplishments, and the new unified union will build on that legacy. UHW, because it is statewide, will be better able to protect patient care and good jobs and advocate in the legislative arena for high quality healthcare for all Californians.
Adapting to a changing industry. As healthcare transformed from small community-based hospitals to an increasingly corporatized, consolidated industry, Rosselli was one of the first union leaders to respond to the negative impact on the quality of care. He has focused on organizing and empowering workers across the entire industry to gain bargaining strength, a strategy reminiscent of the efforts of the Congress of Industrial Organizations to organize entire factories in the 1930s as a response to the rise of mass production. In addition, Rosselli has helped to develop industrywide standards. The standards, for example, have compelled hospitals to use worker input to set safe staffing levels, provide medical coverage for the children of employees and establish a training fund.
A history of compassion. Rosselli's commitment to build a movement of working people has its roots in the New York Hospitality House. In 1969, Rosselli lived and worked with Catholic Worker Movement founder Dorothy Day, cooking meals and providing shelter for the homeless. During his time working with Day, Rosselli affirmed and clarified his beliefs in social justice, compassion, democracy and non-violence. Catholic Worker communities are known for their support of human rights and labor unions, especially Cesar Chavez's United Farm Workers Union. Day wrote about the communities: "Our rule is the works of mercy. ... People say, 'What is the sense of our small effort?' They cannot see that we must lay one brick at a time, take one step at a time."
Community leader. After leaving the Catholic Worker community, Rosselli was involved in a range of social movements before joining SEIU in 1980. In 1971, he spent a year as a VISTA volunteer in southeast Indiana, organizing social and economic programs for low-income communities. He was president of the San Francisco Community College Student Government Association and the student member of the college's governing board from 1979-80. He served as president of the Alice B. Toklas Lesbian/Gay Democratic Club in 1984-85, a period which saw the club's membership grow to the largest in the country. Rosselli has also been a leader in the effort to defend affirmative action and civil rights and is a national director of Jesse Jackson's Rainbow/PUSH coalition. He now plays a leading role in advancing social justice issues, including achieving high quality healthcare for all and promoting peace.
Rosselli has been selected for lifetime inclusion in Who's Who in America, and named by San Francisco Focus magazine as one of the 100 most influential people in the Bay Area. Rosselli is a national vice president of SEIU and is vice chair of its healthcare division, which represents over 900,000 healthcare workers throughout the U.S. He serves as a vice president of the California Labor Federation of the AFL-CIO.
Rosselli's vision for the future includes: Achieving high quality, affordable healthcare for all, promoting higher healthcare standards in the nursing home, hospital and homecare industries, and uniting all healthcare workers throughout California and the nation into one union.
SEIU United Healthcare Workers- West
Leading tomorrow's labor movement. Sal Rosselli is the President of SEIU United Healthcare Workers-West (UHW), the largest and fastest growing healthcare union in the Western United States. UHW has a membership of over 130,000 caregivers in the hospital, nursing home and homecare fields and is the result of the unification of SEIU Local 250 in Northern California and SEIU Local 399 in Southern California. Rosselli helped lead the effort to create the new union, which is a beacon for a labor movement struggling to revitalize itself. Both locals had a proud history of accomplishments, and the new unified union will build on that legacy. UHW, because it is statewide, will be better able to protect patient care and good jobs and advocate in the legislative arena for high quality healthcare for all Californians.
Adapting to a changing industry. As healthcare transformed from small community-based hospitals to an increasingly corporatized, consolidated industry, Rosselli was one of the first union leaders to respond to the negative impact on the quality of care. He has focused on organizing and empowering workers across the entire industry to gain bargaining strength, a strategy reminiscent of the efforts of the Congress of Industrial Organizations to organize entire factories in the 1930s as a response to the rise of mass production. In addition, Rosselli has helped to develop industrywide standards. The standards, for example, have compelled hospitals to use worker input to set safe staffing levels, provide medical coverage for the children of employees and establish a training fund.
A history of compassion. Rosselli's commitment to build a movement of working people has its roots in the New York Hospitality House. In 1969, Rosselli lived and worked with Catholic Worker Movement founder Dorothy Day, cooking meals and providing shelter for the homeless. During his time working with Day, Rosselli affirmed and clarified his beliefs in social justice, compassion, democracy and non-violence. Catholic Worker communities are known for their support of human rights and labor unions, especially Cesar Chavez's United Farm Workers Union. Day wrote about the communities: "Our rule is the works of mercy. ... People say, 'What is the sense of our small effort?' They cannot see that we must lay one brick at a time, take one step at a time."
Community leader. After leaving the Catholic Worker community, Rosselli was involved in a range of social movements before joining SEIU in 1980. In 1971, he spent a year as a VISTA volunteer in southeast Indiana, organizing social and economic programs for low-income communities. He was president of the San Francisco Community College Student Government Association and the student member of the college's governing board from 1979-80. He served as president of the Alice B. Toklas Lesbian/Gay Democratic Club in 1984-85, a period which saw the club's membership grow to the largest in the country. Rosselli has also been a leader in the effort to defend affirmative action and civil rights and is a national director of Jesse Jackson's Rainbow/PUSH coalition. He now plays a leading role in advancing social justice issues, including achieving high quality healthcare for all and promoting peace.
Rosselli has been selected for lifetime inclusion in Who's Who in America, and named by San Francisco Focus magazine as one of the 100 most influential people in the Bay Area. Rosselli is a national vice president of SEIU and is vice chair of its healthcare division, which represents over 900,000 healthcare workers throughout the U.S. He serves as a vice president of the California Labor Federation of the AFL-CIO.
Rosselli's vision for the future includes: Achieving high quality, affordable healthcare for all, promoting higher healthcare standards in the nursing home, hospital and homecare industries, and uniting all healthcare workers throughout California and the nation into one union.
Good for you, Sal. Stern is paternalistic and blinded by power. Thank you for not losing track of what's important: the workers.
Thanks for standing for what your believe in and for workers. Way to go!
As a rank and file member I am not privied to all the internal issues of SEIU but I was listening to Mr. Rosselli and Mr. Stern on Democracy Now and I agree with Sal's position. What struck a chord with me is the politicking and schmoozing with elected officials because I believe this is going on here in GA. Meanwhile, people like me, the workers get sold out. Things are really looking bad for the workers. I pray some good comes out of this.
It sounds like the same internal union political forces that infect the UFCW. In my humble opinion the goal is to create a small handful of top down controllers that work thru trusted well paid union officials that have proved their loyalty to the controllers.
One wonders what other entities in D. C. are interested in manipulating and controlling Unions through this system. The International labor organizations based in D.C. are controlled by certain government agencies whose goal is to control the country.
Our only hope is to break away from the Internationals. Locals are now big enough to work regionally in many cases. We have to break up the D.C./International government controllers by devolving. They don’t have enough resources to control us as devolved entities.
Its sickening to see where we are going and the average union member will never grasp the scope of what is happening or even care until its too late. Even then they will look to the D.C. government Union International controllers for help.
One wonders what other entities in D. C. are interested in manipulating and controlling Unions through this system. The International labor organizations based in D.C. are controlled by certain government agencies whose goal is to control the country.
Our only hope is to break away from the Internationals. Locals are now big enough to work regionally in many cases. We have to break up the D.C./International government controllers by devolving. They don’t have enough resources to control us as devolved entities.
Its sickening to see where we are going and the average union member will never grasp the scope of what is happening or even care until its too late. Even then they will look to the D.C. government Union International controllers for help.
Sal...Bravo! It is high time a true leader stood up this Stern/CTW nonsense...and stood up for the members. God bless. We are with you, Brother.
I agree with Sal Rosselli's critique of Andrew Stern but it doesn't go nearly far enough. For example Stern needs to be voted out , however not by appointed convention delegates but in a National direct mail ballot election (That needs to be a national issue for SEIU activists .) . While i welcome Sal's embracing of union democracy one has to to ask is it practiced on his ''turf '', The UHW ? . Many rank and file members of the UHW question that . I also was told that Rosselli backed the suspension of several leaders of the SF City Workers Union for the ''crime ''of gathering signatures for a ''ded-cert'' from SEIU to the Public Employees Union .One can disagree with that tactic but no SEIU leaders can object on principle . The then SEIU 250 successfully led a decert at Kaiser -Oakland against X-Ray techs belonging to International Longshore and Warehouse Union #6 . For years SEIU Hospital leaders tried to outright destroy the California Nurses assoc. until a ''peace treaty '' was reached a couple of years ago.So no SEIU official can get self righteous about the failed attempt by a few rank and file reformers in Sf and smear them as '' union busters''.That needs to be corrected . The Brothers and Sisters concerned need to reinstated to full membership and their fines rescinded .
There's also the issue of Michael Moore's powerful film '' Sicko '' . It was a huge contribution to the movement for Universal Heath care . However Sal disagreed.He wrote a harsh attack on the movie (On the UHW website ) for, among other things , ''smearing '' Kaiser !(Rosselli has been the chief architect of the so called Labor /mgmt ''team '' approach at Kaiser )
So i'm glad Rosselli has ''seen the light '' re his longtime leader Stern . But his conversion would be more convincing if it was accomplied by some ''confessions'' about his own past (and present ) un-democratic ways .
There's also the issue of Michael Moore's powerful film '' Sicko '' . It was a huge contribution to the movement for Universal Heath care . However Sal disagreed.He wrote a harsh attack on the movie (On the UHW website ) for, among other things , ''smearing '' Kaiser !(Rosselli has been the chief architect of the so called Labor /mgmt ''team '' approach at Kaiser )
So i'm glad Rosselli has ''seen the light '' re his longtime leader Stern . But his conversion would be more convincing if it was accomplied by some ''confessions'' about his own past (and present ) un-democratic ways .
I hope that whatever comes out of this, that Sal is pushed out. I know a person who has worked at SEIU Local 250 for many many years and is very unhappy. Simply put, Sal and his administration will try do everything they can to force you out by the constant micro-managing and overly critical nagging. They have one of the highest turn over rates of any employer that I have ever known. From personal experience and listening to how they operate from a company stand point, NO ONE who works in the Oakland office under Sal and his administration are happy. From this stand point, it would be great justice to me and his employees if Sal was pushed out. The Healthcare workers that have posted on here do not realize what it is like to work for Sal and his administration....they only are coming from the point of view that SEIU Local 250 is a great union and offers them great benefits. What about the union that protects SEIU's employees? That union has had an overwhelming number of complaints against Sal and it's finally time for him to go. You will notice on SF Gate's article on this issue (see link below) the very first thing they speak of denying retaliation is first and foremost, about the employees. "Andrew McDonald, an SEIU spokesman, said the letter was sent in response to complaints from union members about Rosselli's actions at United Healthcare Workers West" Now isn't this ironic that this is first and foremost the #1 thing that is mentioned? This MUST BE STOPPED. Sal is NO GOOD.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/03/26/MNOOVQQUM.DTL
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/03/26/MNOOVQQUM.DTL
The way some SEIU-UHW Stewards harrass management and the depth that the union gouges employers without a commitment to work hard, come to work and help make the company successful and SURVIVE, will only lead our healthcare organizations down the same road as the United Auto Workers and the auto manufacturers in Detroit. SHAME ON YOU for not having a good work ethic and feeling like being unrealistic is OK for business and healthcare.
You all can't work well together, what makes you think that people REALLY believe you work well with employers.
You all can't work well together, what makes you think that people REALLY believe you work well with employers.
I worked as part of UHW's management under Sal for several years, and it was the most horrific experience of my life. While the work that they did on behalf of their members was commendable, the way internal UHW staff was treated was simply deplorable. Yes, the turnover rate was extremely high, and how I survived for the nearly 5 years that I did puzzles me. After I left, my staff left one by one because I was no longer there to protect them from the harrowing grips and mistreatment of Sal and his right and left hand pseudo-managers. Employees were forced to do political work on behalf of the union -- even if you personally were not in support of the candidate or the ballot measure. If anyone challenged this forced participation, they were threatened with losing their job. I can attest to the fact that those of us who "got out of there" with our sanity in tact, are extraordinarily happy in new jobs, working with competent and good-hearted people/leadership. In fact, many of us jokingly mention that we had forgotten what "normal" was like until we left UHW! While I am saddened for the non-management staff at UHW who had to bear the brunt of management's master/slave mentality, I can only hope that Sal and his remaining cronies have learned a lesson -- that you can't treat people like shit, and you can't (especially if you're a union) have a double or triple standard that serves to protect some, and mistreat and shame others.
It amazes me that staff of unions have to have their own unions to protect themselves against the abuses of the union they work for. If the union is supposed to protect its members, why do its staff have to have the protection of a union? How ironic!
I quit 3 months after working for SEIU 509 because John Templeton's secretary was such a terror who micromanaged me. Everyone in 509 knew this. But no one dared say anything to Templeton. What kind of democracy is this? The mental anguish staff suffers from manage-ment abuse goes quite deep. Despite my support for the concept of organizing, I do not respect unions who don't know how to care for their own staff people.
Is it Stern or Roselli who's in the wrong here?
I quit 3 months after working for SEIU 509 because John Templeton's secretary was such a terror who micromanaged me. Everyone in 509 knew this. But no one dared say anything to Templeton. What kind of democracy is this? The mental anguish staff suffers from manage-ment abuse goes quite deep. Despite my support for the concept of organizing, I do not respect unions who don't know how to care for their own staff people.
Is it Stern or Roselli who's in the wrong here?
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