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WTF is up SEIU? Part 2

December 3, 2007 Brian Leubitz 4 Comments

Well, last week I wrote WTF is up with SEIU, and today we have a bit more of the answer in the form of a resignation letter of UHW’s president Sal Rosselli resigning from the presidency of the SEIU state council (UPDATE: but not from UHW). On Friday, the board of the California State Council made an attempt at a conference call to replace Rosselli, but could not gather a quorum. Today, Rosselli mooted the point.

In order to retain the focus on healthcare reform, I am writing to notify you and our colleagues in California that I will not accept any nomination to serve as President of the SEIU California State Council.

Although I am very proud of the State Council’s accomplishments over the course of my presidency and appreciate the opportunity to bring our fight for healthcare reform to the brink of victory, I do not want any contest for this office to serve as a point of contention among SEIU Locals in California or to hinder in any way our joint effort to win real healthcare reform now.

But’s not to say that there isn’t some tesnion here. Because there is. In large amounts to be specific.

This letter also serves as our notice to you and our California colleagues that UHW will not participate in the voting process.

The idea that organizations like SEIU Locals 6434 and 1877 will be able to fully participate while owing more than $1.5 million in back dues defies acceptable notions of fairness with regard to union democracy. Nor do the numbers attributed to each local coincide with recent reports from the State Council regarding full members and fee payers.

Similarly, your appointment to the State Council Executive Board of representatives from two “organizing” Locals that do not represent any members and three Locals that have not been affiliated with the State Council also is, in our opinion, a violation of basic tenets of union democracy.

And finally, that such a vote is slated to occur and conclude electronically on Monday, less than 24 hours before we are scheduled to meet face-to-face in San Diego on Tuesday, calls into question the integrity of the entire process. Consequently, we choose not to participate in such flawed proceedings.

The letter was addressed to SEIU president and media personality Andy Stern. According to Stern’s detractors, Stern is more about the media centered victories than about some of the more long-term victories. This isn’t some vague concept; this might end up being the major question of the labor movement for the foreseeable future. With rise in importance of the controversial “labor-management partnerships,” one should expect these type of debates, but now it seems to have touched the health care debate in California.

I’m not really in a position to judge one side or the other, as I think all of these people really have the best interests of working Americans in their heart, but this is a marked difference in tactics. But one thing that I can say? Elections are best served by transparency.

Full letter over the flip. (H/t to Capitol Alert.)

December 2, 2007

Dear Andy,

For the past twenty years, we have been working to win real healthcare reform in California to cover the millions of our state’s residents who are uninsured or underinsured. Today, that group numbers at least 6.7 million over the course of the year.

In 1994, our Local Union, along with other California SEIU Locals through our State Council, strongly supported Proposition 194, which would have created a single-payer system. In 2003-4, our Local Union, along with other California SEIU Locals through our State Council, supported SB 2, which was enacted by both houses of the California legislature and signed into law by then-Governor Gray Davis. SB 2 was repealed by a margin of less than one percent when corporate interests put it to a referendum in the form of Proposition 72.

And in the past year, UHW, other California SEIU Locals, our major healthcare employers Kaiser Permanente and Catholic Healthcare West, consumer groups and patient advocacy organizations, other progressive forces and the labor movement generally, have united to win real healthcare reform in California. Although the view may look different from Washington DC, here in California I believe we are close to achieving our goal of real healthcare reform as long as we have the courage to continue to stand up for our principles and advocate for the issues that are not successfully addressed in Governor Schwarzenegger’s healthcare proposal.

Specifically, a healthcare reform plan that accomplishes our goals and that California voters will support requires:

• A definition of the basic benefits that people must receive at a price they can afford if they are to be subject to an individual mandate – benefits that should include doctor’s visits, preventive care, hospitalization and prescription drugs.

• Cost controls which include bulk purchasing of prescription drugs, a public insurer to compete with private insurance, preventive medicine and more information on cost and quality.

The polls show that Californians want real healthcare reform, but will reject compromises made for political expediency that sacrifice key principles like affordability and quality. I ask that you join the SEIU California State Council in its consistent support for the elements outlined above and its insistence that they be included in any final healthcare reform.

Needless to say, it is our opinion — which we have learned is shared by many not just within SEIU in California, but outside as well — that your decision to choose this moment to declare the abolition of the pre-existing State Council, the elimination of its officers and Executive Board, and the implementation of the new State Council, could not have been more poorly timed.

Two weeks ago, SEIU leaders in California were totally united around our goal, strategy and tactics to win real healthcare reform, and while I believe that we remain united, your actions concerning the State Council have created a major distraction from maintaining the unified focus needed to achieve our objectives.

In order to retain the focus on healthcare reform, I am writing to notify you and our colleagues in California that I will not accept any nomination to serve as President of the SEIU California State Council.

Although I am very proud of the State Council’s accomplishments over the course of my presidency and appreciate the opportunity to bring our fight for healthcare reform to the brink of victory, I do not want any contest for this office to serve as a point of contention among SEIU Locals in California or to hinder in any way our joint effort to win real healthcare reform now.

This letter also serves as our notice to you and our California colleagues that UHW will not participate in the voting process.

The idea that organizations like SEIU Locals 6434 and 1877 will be able to fully participate while owing more than $1.5 million in back dues defies acceptable notions of fairness with regard to union democracy. Nor do the numbers attributed to each local coincide with recent reports from the State Council regarding full members and fee payers.

Similarly, your appointment to the State Council Executive Board of representatives from two “organizing” Locals that do not represent any members and three Locals that have not been affiliated with the State Council also is, in our opinion, a violation of basic tenets of union democracy.

And finally, that such a vote is slated to occur and conclude electronically on Monday, less than 24 hours before we are scheduled to meet face-to-face in San Diego on Tuesday, calls into question the integrity of the entire process. Consequently, we choose not to participate in such flawed proceedings.

In the next several weeks, our focus in California has to be on winning real healthcare reform. One fundamental component of our ability to achieve this goal is to ensure that our State Council has the necessary resources to complete this important work.

Accordingly, on Tuesday, when the State Council convenes, UHW will ask all SEIU Locals in California to support requiring all SEIU Local Unions in arrears in dues to our state organization to comply with their financial obligations. That will help ensure that we have the financial capacity to sustain the effort necessary to succeed.

In Unity,

Sal Rosselli

President

SEIU United Healthcare Workers West

Uncategorized

MySpace and MTV and McCain in Manchester

December 3, 2007 Bob Brigham 1 Comment

Disclosure: MySpace is paying for my travel

MANCHESTER-Following John Edwards and Barack Obama, tonight (7PM eastern) John McCain will be the first Republican candidate to participate in a MySpace/MTV interactive forum.

It should be an interesting night. On one had, New Hampshire’s same day registration provision allows candidates on both sides of the aisle potential for a youth surge not showing up in the polls — which could be a substantive boost in the expectations spin. For McCain specifically, he has been bleeding market share in the MySpace friends primary. I’ll be looking to the interactive perspective as it fascinates me. What do you think I should be looking for during the event?

Some pics, I’ll be posting live pics here:

It is cold and snowing:

Does the national political press demand lodging that includes multiple line phones no matter where they are doing business?

Ah…

Uncategorized

Have You Read the Headlines?

December 3, 2007 Maytak

Have you seen the headlines?

The squabble to be first in deciding the nation’s fate is intensifying. Early states are cleverly inching their primaries in a race to secure voting influence for their citizens. By the end of February, we’ll know who the presidential finalists are before more than half the nation gets a chance to vote, let alone meet the candidates. Sound Fair?

Check out the primary schedule.

The heavily frontloaded primary schedule does all of America a disservice. Leaving the power to decide who the next president of the America can be to a handful of people is just not right. The demographic make up of all the early primary state, even combined, does not accurately represent the American population. For instance, isn’t New Hampshire the third wealthiest state in the nation?

With less than a month left, there seems like there’s no hope. The Washington Post reports that the American people are being tempted by pessimism, and are losing faith in our political system. But, not to fear.
Register to host a caucus at www.nationalcaucus.com and get involved.

It seems like there’s no hope but to accept the circumstances. However, I came across this website, the National Presidential Caucus, that looks to give voters a fair chance to voice their opinions before the primaries kick off. It’s not a national primary or anything like that, don’t let the name mislead you.

Here’s how it works:
1) Post your caucus online
2) Meet offline with some friends, neighbors, whomever to discuss candidates and issues
3) Post your results from your discussions online

It’s as simple as that. It’s really just an effort to encourage and empower civic engagement and voter opinions. So why not…

How can we claim to go across seas to build a democracy, when our own political system at home is suffering? Get involved. sign up to host a caucus in your neighborhood today.

Environment

The Drought Worsens – Rationing on the Way?

December 3, 2007 Robert Cruickshank 12 Comments

Sure, we all laughed when Atlanta prayed for rain to help end its drought, and many Californians probably shook their heads at a red state’s reckless growth that helped produce the crisis.

But what’s that they said about stones and glass houses? California’s drought is becoming worse by the day. The State Department of Water Resources estimates NorCal will only be able to export 25% of usual water supplies to SoCal in 2008 – less than the 60% exports that were made in 2007. The Sierra snowpack barely exists, and the Colorado River drought has shown little sign of easing. Despite weekend rainfall here on the Central Coast and in SoCal, it’s not enough to ease drought concerns.

Already local water agencies are beginning to plan for rationing, such as in Santa Cruz and Riverside. The Monterey Peninsula Water District is even considering cloud seeding for the Carmel River watershed (don’t laugh, apparently it works).

Meanwhile, conservation activists are fighting to prevent the state from abrogating the 1960 promise that the State Water Project would give urban users priority in a drought. In 1995 the state tried to eliminate this guarantee, but the amendments were temporary, and this week the DWR is holding hearings about whether or not this should be made permanent or the original promises restored. Written comments can be submitted by January 14.

Certainly California has long-term concerns regarding overuse, sprawl, and global warming’s impact on water supplies. But we also have short-term concerns; only the unusually wet spring of 2006 has staved off disaster. We treat wet years as “normal” years and dry years as abberations, but perhaps it’s better we look at it the other way around, and begin to adjust our lifestyles and civilization to make do with less water.

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Edwards to the DNC: “There’s a Wall around Washington”

December 3, 2007 jamess

John Edwards frames a powerful new argument to the describe our Broken System of Government, which we put up with in Washington DC.

If you haven’t seen it yet, it well worth a listen:

Part 1:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=B6_…

Part 2:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=vB4…

Part 3:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=Npx…

Great Imaginary, fiery rhetoric!

But what exactly is “this Wall around Washington” that Edwards says we must tear down?

Explore with me, a few ways in which the “Rhetoric Meets Reality”, after the fold, in a simple photo-essay:

Here is the the Transcript of the DNC Speech:

Edwards DNC Speech Transcript, as prepared (pdf)

http://www.usatoday.com/news/p…

Here are some the key ideas about that “Wall around Washington” that John Edwards has so keenly identified:

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John Edwards:

There’s a wall around Washington and we need to take it down. The American people are on the outside.

And on the other side, on the inside, are the powerful, the well-connected and the very wealthy.

Every single day, working men and women see that wall when they have to split their bills into two piles, pay-now and pay-later;

when they watch the factory door shut for the last time;

when they see the disappointment on their son or daughter’s face when there’s no money to pay for college.

This is not okay. That wall has to come down.

That wall has taken the greatest economy on the planet and put it in jeopardy.

Too many good paying jobs are going to other places instead of your hometown. The tax code rewards wealth and not work.

CEO’s went to work on that wall to protect their huge tax cuts and loopholes and trade deals while the great divides between the haves and everybody else grow wider and wider.

It isn’t class warfare to talk about this — this is the Truth.

America needs a fighter to fix this. America needs a president who will stand up and stand proudly for working people again.

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