Laid off USW steward has a question for Debbie Schneider...

This report sent by former UHW employee Alexandra Early goes with the video Perez posted yesterday of the "all-staff" meeting at the Alameda office. Seems Debbie is either a little confused, or a lot dishonest... Alexandra also explains who those guys with the ladders were: anti union plumbers! Needed I guess because something (or someone) at the Alameda office is full of shit.

"I am one of the three United Staff workers stewards who participated in the Feb 13 action at SEIU headquarters and were laid off by SEIU that day. During the action were were assailed by the anti-union boss of the plumbing or construction company SEIU hired to do work that day. SEIU was too chicken shit to even open the door for the handymen when they saw the crowd of us outside. The first thing they did was call the cops and start video taping us through the closed glass doors.

While we waited to be let in to the all staff meeting the head contractor yelled, "you welfare recipients, go get another job!" we told him we were all employees of the union, "I hate unions!, he said, "I am 110% against unions. You are all a bunch of maggots, and lazy! Go get another job!" We told him that he was working for a union, and that did shut him up. But it doesn't seem right that the biggest union in the country couldn't put in the effort to find union contractors. Would they chalk that one up to their confusion, as well?

In the video, my coworkers and I addressed Debby Schneider about layoffs. We introduced her to a union steward that had been terminated, 2 days after his probationary period ended. She said, "I don't even know who you are. There have been no layoffs." 6 or 7 of us who attended that action were laid off that evening via email to our staff union president. A few of us found out first from my lead organizer who had resigned earlier that week. I received a letter the next day, February 5, saying I was released by my employer. It read: you have been released from employment, effective February 3. It was signed by none other than Debbie Schneider and dated February 3, the day before she said there were no layoffs.

So I would have another innocent question for Ms. Schneider. Are you a liar or just a puppet of the trustees, who tell you as little as you tell your trusteed employees?

I feel lucky that I was laid off because unlike my coworkers who were called back to work I don't have to betray my members in order to keep my job. I am not being monitored at all times as I am forced to phonebank using some bullshit script: "SEIU is great! We are all so happy they took over the union against the will of the members! Now we can get back to 'the real work of the union'! Well not really right now, because union reps aren't hardly allowed out of the Alameda office, but soon, real soon! If you have any further questions call this 1-800 number and leave a message! Thanks!"

A friend of mine is on the verge of quitting, like so many others, because of how she has been treated by her new employers. As they phonebank members they have a so-called SEIU "warrior" by their side listening to every word and they have been told that they must, to keep their jobs, sign a letter to their members praising the trusteeship. My friend was asked by a steward to attend a grievance meeting yesterday for a terminated employee. When she told her SEIU bosses she had to go to this meeting, they said "umm, well, that's not really allowed right now." She insisted and they agreed she could attend, but only with an SEIU monitor. On the car ride, the monitor was stone silent, not even asking about the details of the grievance.

Clearly, it is just as Dave Regan told us at our mandatory pre-interrogations staff meeting. SEIU really does care about serving its members and doing "the real work of the union." Right now it seems that "the real work of the union" is treating its employees like criminals and "serving the members" means assessing stewards to find out who is loyal to the elected leadership of UHW and should be removed from their elected positions.

With each passing day we get another three or four emails on our staff union list serve from more staff who are resigning because they can't in good conscience do this kind of real union work and they are sick of bosses that are worse than the worse nursing home or hospital workers we have ever encountered. At least a convalescent center administrator would have the decency to call you or meet with you to tell you you've been fired. And if they can afford it, those who quit join the elected leadership of UHW helping nursing homes and hospitals prepare for NLRB votes to leave SEIU controlled UHW and join the independent NUHW.

Before the trusteeship I did not think I would want to spend my free time working with the same supervisors who used to stress me out when I was UHW staff. But now that I have seen first hand SEIU's commitment to repressing its own employees as well as the democratic efforts of its members, I am committed to fighting them and sending them back to Washington with a new understanding of what the real work of the union is.

-Alexandra Early
Former UHW staff, USW steward"