Free Republic

A bill aimed at improving patient care and staffing at 560 California dialysis clinics that serve more than 63,000 patients is threading its way through the state Legislature despite sharp opposition from some in the industry. Authored by state Sen. Ricardo Lara, D-Bell Gardens, the measure has been fueled by dialysis workers in California who have been attempting to unionize through SEIU-United Healthcare Workers West. SB 349 calls for a staffing ratio of one registered nurse for every eight dialysis patients, one technician for every three patients and one social worker for every 75 patients. It also mandates a 45-minute...

The security firm that patrols the headquarters of tech giant Amazon has been accused of allegedly mistreating its Muslim workers, with critics claiming the contractor does not appropriately accommodate their demands for prayer breaks 5 times a day — and retaliates against those who speak out. Three workers have filed charges claiming the company retaliated against them for complaining. quote: PJ Media The Service Employees International Union and three Muslim guards who work for Security Industry Specialists, the security contractor Amazon uses to guard its facility, accuse SIS, and by implication Amazon, of refusing to allow the guards space to pray five...

After spending big on Clinton, Obama, SEIU now facing steep budget cuts Labor giant Service Employees International Union spent $60 million on politics and lobbying as well as $19 million on the Fight for 15 movement in 2016, and now finds itself laying off headquarters staff. The union's federal filing to the Department of Labor reveal that it experienced marginal growth in 2016, adding about 15,000 members from 2015. However, that increase did not correlate with financial growth as revenue fell by $17 million, fueling a $10 million budget deficit. The union, which represents healthcare and public sector workers, spent...

One of the most obnoxious trends in the nation, and one that is particularly acute in California, is the continued push to enshrine public employees as a special, privileged caste of Americans, exempt from the rules and obligations that apply to the rest of us. As I documented in my 2009 book, Plunder!, public employees often now receive the kind of pay, benefits, and protections more fitting for France, where civil service is the highest calling. In the United States, we traditionally valued entrepreneurship and freedom above pencil-pushing and bureaucracy. But times have changed. In California, a raft of public-employee...

Labor unions have been known to do many despicable things to grab dues money from workers who don’t want anything to do with them. A current Minnesota case is about as bad as you’ll ever find. In 2013, the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) got one of its favored politicians, Minnesota governor Mark Dayton, to sign an order declaring that home healthcare providers who receive Medicaid money to care for disabled family members were government employees. But they were “employees” only because that made them eligible for unionization. The SEIU figured that it had a good shot at finagling a...

As union honchos for government workers describe it, the paycheck protection legislation that passed the state Senate last month amounts to a political gag order on workers. But if there's any actual “gagging” going on, it's in attempting to swallow this union shibboleth. The Senate bill bars state, local government and school district employers from deducting any portion of union dues from workers' paychecks that fund political activity. Deductions for contract negotiations and other costs remain unchanged.

LAUSD .. schools are under-enrolled. "There are places where we have schools that are basically four blocks away from each other — and at a time, that made sense," Rodriguez says. Now, he says, "Buildings built for 1,000 kids may have something like 400. "It's expensive." ... Today, LAUSD's enrollment is around 514,000, a number that the district estimates will fall below half a million by 2018. But L.A. Unified's costs have not gone down. They've gone up. This year's $7.59 billion budget is half a billion dollars more than last year's. The nation's second largest school district is facing...

Union leaders in California continued a protest even after neighbors and police informed them they were at the wrong house because their target, Rep. Steve Knight (R., Calif.), had moved away months ago. The group of over 50 protestors, who arrived in Service Employees International Union (SEIU) vans, carried a fake coffin to the house to send a message that Knight's votes in Congress were "killing" them, according to a report in the local Antelope Valley Press. Police arrived at the scene to alert the union protestors that they were in the wrong place, but the activists—who had already been...

A group serving as a central hub of information for congressional town halls was founded by a former Hillary Clinton campaign staffer and its parent company is located at the same address as an organization funded by liberal billionaire George Soros. Democrats have insisted that recent town hall outbursts against Republican politicians occurred organically, likening them to the Tea Party, while President Donald Trump yesterday tweeted that the "so-called angry crowds in home districts of some Republicans are actually, in numerous occasions, planned out by liberal activists. Sad!" The Town Hall Project, a group that serves as a one-stop shop...

Omarosa Manigault, a top adviser to President Trump, said she has a recording of a recent contentious exchange with a White House reporter. April Ryan, a veteran White House correspondent for American Urban Radio Networks (AURN) told The Washington Post she was “physically intimidated” by Manigault after an exchange last week. "She stood right in my face like she was going to hit me,” Ryan told the newspaper. “I said, 'You better back up.' " Now, Manigault says she has a recording of the dispute that was also shared with some other reporters, according to the Post. Ryan said she...

http://chieforganizer.org/ "Is a Progressive Tea Party a Good Idea?" "Report from Behind the Bunker, that What We’re Doing is Working" Worth looking at from one of VJ's inner circle.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – In response to President Trump’s executive actions on building a border wall, immigration enforcement and restoring the “Secure Communities Program” today, SEIU International President Mary Kay Henry issued the following statement: “For a president who claims to represent and lead from a posture that is not partisan and of the people, Donald Trump’s executive actions have proven that his agenda is anything but that. It is clear our president is choosing to pander to extremists and act as a puppet for their agenda aimed at dividing and weakening our nation rather than honoring the commitment he made in...

What is the worth of a public employees union? Well not much these days according to the actions of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU). SEIU announced last week that its members must be prepared for a thirty percent (30%) budget reduction including an immediate ten- percent (10%) reduction in 2017. Of course the SEIU union bosses blamed it all on President-elect Donald Trump but there is really more to it than that. Private sector union membership has been on the decline for decades. It is the result of a combination of things – mechanization, international trade agreements, and a...

The Service Employees International Union (SEIU) — the second largest union operating in Massachusetts, with some 87,000 members in the state — is slashing its roughly $300 million national operating budget by 30 percent, citing the "threats" posed to organized labor by President-elect Trump. SEIU's international president told staff earlier this month that because the far right will control all three branches of the federal government, workers will face serious threats to their ability to join unions. SEIU local 32BJ is fighting for a $15 minimum wage and to unionize 1,500 workers at Logan Airport. 32BJ's Roxana Rivera said it’s...

The Service Employees International Union (SEIU) is planning to cut 30 percent of its budget by Jan. 1, 2018, the end of President-elect Donald Trump's first year in office. “Because the far right will control all three branches of the federal government, we will face serious threats to the ability of working people to join together in unions,” President Mary Kay Henry wrote in an internal memo obtained by Bloomberg Businessweek.

SEIU Urges President Obama To Keep Immigrant Families Together in National Push to Use Presidential Pardon Dividing immigrant families is bad for our economy and communities, deportation could lead to increased exploitation of immigrant workers and drive down wages for all Washington. DC- Today, in a letter featured in the New York Times, the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) joined a coalition of immigrant rights, labor and community organizations calling on President Obama to protect immigrant families by using his power to pardon immigrants who have committed minor infractions.  “Immigrants do the work that our families need and that drives...

After losing a lawsuit and facing a $7.8 million dollar judgment, Service Employees International Union Texas, alias SEIU District Five, has declared bankruptcy in order to escape the judgment. The plaintiff is going after the national union, as it should, so stand by lots more court appeals, But so far, the SEIU is losing at every step. Bill McMorris has an excellent account of the case and its background, at the Free Beacon. I recommend it. The bare bones of the story of this case paint a picture of a thuggish organization, in my opinion. It expanded into Texas by...

California’s largest public-employee union announced Saturday that it had reached a contract agreement with Gov. Jerry Brown’s administration. If workers ratify the deal, it would bring to a close contentious negotiations that led to a strike threat and allegations of bad-faith bargaining. Service Employees International Union Local 1000 didn’t immediately release the terms of the deal, but union President Yvonne Walker said in a statement that it achieves improvements in compensation, professional development, working conditions, and health and safety. …

Scores of demonstrators were arrested on Tuesday as U.S. workers from fast-food chains staged nationwide protests for higher pay, union rights and immigration reform in their first major action since Donald Trump was elected president.McDonald's Corp (MCD.N) restaurants in 340 cities were prime rally targets, while baggage handlers, cabin cleaners and sky caps at Chicago's O'Hare and Boston's Logan international airports planned to demonstrate in support of workers demanding starting pay of $15 per hour, organizers of the "Fight for $15" campaign said. More than 200 protesters gathered before dawn at Zuccotti Park in New York City's Financial District, the...

Mary Kay Henry on CNBCSEIU President Mary Kay Henry