Slammed...

NUHW has had its collective ass royally kicked today.

First off is the Temporary Restraining Order issued by the US District Court for Northern California directing the return to Zombie UHW "any information" that was derived by NUHW partisans whilst in the employ of UHW - even if that information is currently stored on personally owned storage media. Quoth the Judge:

If defendants have commingled UHW property with their own personal property — such as by using their private PDAs to do UHW work — that is a problem of their own making and is no defense to having to return the UHW information and property. Although this order will provide an opportunity to sort the private material from UHW material, the main burden and cost of doing so should fall on those who commingled in the first place rather than on UHW.

It goes on and on, but basically Zombie UHW is effectively going to be able to eventually find out who is Politically Reliable and who is not, courtesy of the personal property of those who are not Politically Reliable.

Unfortunately, it doesn't stop there.



It looks like we're going to have to put Kaiser Permanente up on the Billboard of Shame, as the nice folks at NLRB evidently have decided that Andyism is far more important than actual constitutional rights...

NLRB Upholds SEIU UHW as Union for 48,000 Kaiser Workers, Dismisses Bogus Petitions to Decertify

SEIU UHW Kaiser Members Move to 2010 Bargaining Preparations

OAKLAND, Calif., and LOS ANGELES, April 8 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- On April 7, the National Labor Relations Board officially dismissed a petition seeking to decertify SEIU UHW as the union representing more than 48,000 caregivers at Kaiser Permanente facilities stating that "the Feb. 26 petitions were clearly filed outside the appropriate window period and after the local and national agreements were reaffirmed for an additional two years, I find that a contract bar exists to the processing of these petitions."

The ruling protects SEIU UHW member contracts, wages and benefits, and ends any other organization's hopes of invalidating the contracts members won and ratified in 2005 and 2008. Last month, the NLRB also threw out a similar petition at Catholic Healthcare West, reaffirming contract and union protections for another 14,000 SEIU UHW members.

"I couldn't be happier with the NLRB's decision after all the months of harassment and deception by people trying to decertify our union," Diane Barton, SEIU UHW Chief Steward, Kaiser Santa Clara. "The government's decision just validates that we have a strong, secure union at Kaiser with SEIU UHW. Now it's time for us to get ready to bargain a great contract in 2010 together with the rest of the 26 unions in the Kaiser Coalition of Unions."

SOURCE SEIU UHW

I hope that Diane Barton is very proud of herself. She has just declared herself a "Chief Steward" in an organization whose membership is looking for some way, any way, to get out.

I will endeavour to pick up more information about the NLRB decision, but this cannot be construed as anything other than an EPIC FAIL for NUHW, and a damn shame to boot.

It looks like the only way out of Hotel California for those of us who want out is either to quit the job or to fully decertify - neither of which is all that appealing...

Update @ 7:20 p.m. with NUHW Press Statement...

Oakland, Calif.—The following statement was issued by the National Union of Healthcare Workers:

"The reason the Employee Free Choice Act is supported by President Obama, Congress, and the entire labor movement is because the NLRB rules too often in favor of bosses instead of workers. Today, the NLRB ruled in favor of SEIU bosses, and against the workers at Kaiser Permanente.

"This ruling does not change the fact that a majority of Kaiser workers across California have repudiated SEIU's backroom deals and undemocratic practices.

"Since taking control of SEIU-UHW away from its members, national SEIU officials have already kicked healthcare workers out of national bargaining and allowed Kaiser to cut their retirement security, all without any vote by the workers affected.

"NUHW will appeal the NLRB's decision on behalf of Kaiser employees, and will continue to support their movement to join a union where they have a voice."

Oy...

Anyone out there got some good news?