Story from a former rank-and-file member, now former UHW staffer.

I am a former UHW Convalescent Division Rep and Kaiser Rank and File Member who was "released from probation" after I found and loudly confronted three "organizers" from SEIU sitting in the lobby of the Alameda Extended Stay America that I was staying at (otherwise known as my home away from home).

I questioned the staffers about how they could sleep at night and chastised them for ignoring the members voices, for refusing our petitions and for forgetting that the members ARE the union and our members will never allow a top down dictatorship to silence their voices and take away our democratic member driven union! After watching their faces fall when I told supposed rank and file member from Michigan Healthcare, Norma Kirsteen, that the rank & file members of UHW will never change their minds and will not be led by any money grubbing power gobbling appointees (as she should know about first hand since Rickman Jackson, the former president of Michigan Healthcare was an appointee directly linked to the corruption in SEIU Local 6434). I received a round of applause and cheers from the crowd in the lobby!

Norma attempted to make some comment about their president not stealing millions of dollars from the members but not before I cut her off and told her she must of course be speaking about Tyrone Freeman... Thief and APPOINTEE!

This confrontation was noted across the top of my SEIU "assessment" during the one and only interview I had prior to my "release", which occured on January 29th.

Oh, and did I mention that SEIU checked every single staffer out of the Extended Stay Alameda on January 30th, the day following the confrontation? Apparently the SEIU Staffers were very concerned that UHW Members would leaflet their doors and or harrass them... Little did they know that was only a taste of what's to come!

We, the members of this union are going to show them exactly what can happen when the members unite and stand together... We re-build our bottom up, member led union and we make history!

Krissi MacKay