SEIU staff lookin' for love in all the wrong places!

SEIU are still trying to hide their backroom deals with Catholic Healthcare West bosses and desperate attempts to prevent CHW workers from having a chance to leave SEIU for NUHW. But there's no hiding a failing field program! Perez thinks this week's events at CHW hospitals could be turned into a mediocre comedy movie. Here's a quick synopsis...

On Monday shop stewards at St. Mary's Medical Center in San Francisco received phone calls notifying them that the UHW trustees had assigned a new field rep to their hospital. Field Rep/Leper Herbert Fregia, best known for writing and performing a Gospel song about UHW several years ago, was coming to town to take over. The news was greeted with cheers of "Wait... Who?" But before the jubilant workers could stream across the street into Golden Gate Park to celebrate, the plan hit a snag. Fregia had actually been assigned to SMMC in Long Beach... not San Francisco. Oh dear! Somebody get these guys a map quick.

And at his new assignment Herbert quickly proved that he's as useful and motivated as ever. Herbert must really like "hot tamales" - all he does all day is hang out in the cafeteria and make comments about Latina women.

Then on Tuesday, Carolyn Gilkey and other SEIU staff ran themselves ragged at the Long Beach SMMC searching in broom cupboards and under tables for the shop stewards' council meeting they knew was scheduled. Meanwhile, stewards met calmly in a sunny garden off-site, ignoring Carolyn's threats that meeting outside the hospital or without her was a violation of their contract. All Carolyn could do was take it out on the bulletin board, which she stripped just like Liz Castillo did at Garden Grove.

Meanwhile, CHW Methodist Hospital shop steward Don Duran was contacted by SEIU rep Miles Granderson about an outstanding grievance he'd filed. Since his HR VP refused to process the grievance without a field rep present, Don figured he'd meet with SEIU to hear what they had to say.

After a friendly 20 minutes in which Don laid out the details of his grievance, Miles tried to get what he really came for, and began pumping Don for info - Who are the stewards? Who's on the bargaining team? Most importantly, who's passing the petition? When Don kept cool and on topic, Frustrated and still clueless Miles informed him that "people who pass decertification petitions generally don't ask for my help".

Rest assured, Miles, Don won't be asking for your help again! He will however be filing a charge against you with the labor board for your breach of the Duty of Fair Representation.