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Call To Oppose Gov Brown's Appointment of Former San Diego SEIU 221 Pres to CA Public E

by repost
Former San Diego SEIU 221 President Eric Banks has been appointed by Governor Brown to the California Public Employment Relations Board and the rank and file are organizing to stop the appointment
Call To Oppose Gov Brown's Appointment of Former San Diego SEIU Pres to CA Public Employment Relations Board

From: Kroopkin Monty

Subject: [SMART] Eric Banks Nominated To California Public Employment Relations Board? !*#++!

Date: February 3, 2013 7:42:06 PM PST
Brothers and Sisters,

Please contact your State Senator and tell him or her to vote "NO" on confirmation of Eric Banks. Governor Brown has nominated him to a seat on the California Public Employment Relations Board. Find the contact information for your state senator at the bottom of the link http://senate.ca.gov/senators

Banks is grossly unqualified for this quasi-judicial position, ruling on union and worker disputes with public employers in our state, and setting precedents for years to come.

Banks is not an experienced labor law attorney. Indeed, he is not even an attorney!

As President of SEIU Local 221 in San Diego between 2010 and 2012, Banks showed poor management skills in running the staff of the union. The union ran at a budget deficit of hundreds of thousands of dollars each year he was in charge. He alienated many of the union's staff and membership. He showed little concern for the importance of enforcement of existing union contracts and labor laws. He frequently scheduled meetings of the union's executive board on such short notice that most members were unaware of the meetings until after the fact.

One of his first acts as Local President was to suppress the release of the union's internal ethics commission investigation findings regarding his former boss and predecessor, Local President Sharon-Frances Moore. The membership of the union has never seen that report. Moore suddenly resigned her position a few weeks before the union announced a settlement agreement with the federal Department of Labor over charges she had rigged her election in 2009. Banks served as her campaign manager for that election. The settlement agreement required a new election be held in 2010, two years ahead of the ordinary schedule.

SEIU did of course help get Jerry Brown elected governor. But Brown and our state senators need to know that appointing Eric Banks to this high position on a state labor board is no way to thank the hard-working members of SEIU and it would be no favor for all our state's public employees. All it would be is a reward for the "in-crowd" of SEIU bureaucrats who hob-knob and lobby Sacramento officials for a living.
Please add any more points your state senator should know, especially any that come from your personal experiences with Eric Banks.


Please forward this to your co-workers, friends and neighbors.


Yours for Workers' Rights,
Monty Reed Kroopkin
former candidate for president of SEIU Local 221

Here is a link to the KPBS article on the Banks nomination:

Subject: Ex-Union Official From San Diego Appointed To California Public Employment Relations Board

http://www.kpbs.org/news/2013/feb/01/ex-union-official-san-diego-appointed-california-p/?utm_campaign=user-share&utm_medium=apps&utm_source=kpbs.org&utm_term=kpbs-android An ex-union official from San Diego was appointed to the California Public Employment Relations Board today by Gov. Jerry Brown.
Thank You
Wally Gutierrez
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