Out of the frying pan...

Perez was surprised to hear the rumor that former public sector organizing director Neneki Lee's new West Coast job will be the unglamorous role of staff director at Local 99 in Los Angeles. Neneki, who was also trustee of Local 1984 in Georgia, just moved out to Californiraq with partner Laphonza Butler, who Stern will appoint as the new president/trustee of Local 6434.

Neneki is likely to have her hands full at Local 99, where management is locked in difficult negotiations with the staff union - staff recently voted down management's "last, best and final" offer. The main sticking point is health insurance, staff want to get rid of Local 99's two-tier system, which provides a deluxe PPO plan for managers, and a Kaiser plan for everyone else! The staff union requested that everyone be allowed to enroll in in the PPO plan, but management rejected the proposal.

Since staffers voted down the "last, best and final" offer, Local 99 Executive Director Bill Lloyd has started boss-style one-on-one meetings with staff members. Hey, Neneki - guess what your first assignment will be?