We have continued to cover the fight between SEIU and NUHW over the tens of thousands of medical employees in California. Although it may seem we have been touting the NUHW “side” in this story, we have simply been highlighting the battle as one more of SEIU’s current woes. As a reminder that one union is typically no better than another, and that at the top they generally all appear to operate via the same playbook, the General Counsel of the NLRB recently released a finding that while still in office the former president of SEIU-UHW Sal Rosselli (now president of the fledgling NUHW) and other former SEIU-UHW leaders: • Deliberately failed to handle grievances and bargain contracts. • Stole and destroyed documents needed for grievances and bargaining. • Moved millions in members’ dues money into a private account they controlled. • Threatened and intimidated SEIU-UHW staff and supporters. Concluding the report, the General Counsel wrote:
“Thus, the evidence indicates that the former UHW leadership (Rosselli and the others while still in office in SEIU-UHW) made a conscious decision to abdicate its representative responsibilities with regard to grievances and bargaining in favor of carrying on an ongoing fight with SEIU and creating an ‘ungovernable’ situation for any trusteeship imposed. Unit employees’ collective-bargaining agreements were cancelled, apparently to further this fight, SEIU’s pre-trusteeship offices were invaded, non-employees were threatened and harassed, UHW offices were unlawfully occupied, documents necessary for UHW to represent unit employees after trusteeship were stolen or destroyed, and unit employees were restrained and coerced in the exercise of their Section 7 rights by individuals loyal to NUHW, including former UHW stewards.”
