1,200 registered nurses paying you a house call? Now that’s some serious health care!

The nurses – gathered in San Francisco for the California Nurses Association/National Nurses Organizing Committee national convention – will be making a “house call” to the home of U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein at 1 p.m. today to demand she become a cosponsor of the Employee Free Choice Act. Their news release says they’ll leave a rose with a personalized note telling their stories of being intimidated and harassed by management in their efforts to win recognition for their union—and the toll that such union-busting can take on patient care.

“In the past, Senator Feinstein has said she supported the bill, but appears to be wavering. 1,200 RNs are making this house call to let her know that employers are trying to silence us when we advocate in facilities, and that patients end up paying the price for this union-busting. Employers are breaking the law in their harassment of nurses, and we deserve a free choice and a fair chance to speak up for ourselves,” CAN/NNOC co-president Deborah Burger said in the release. “Studies have shown that unionized nurses save lives, reduce turnover, and increase caregiver morale in facilities. That would be good for any hospital—and every patient.”

I’ve sought but not received a comment from Feinstein, who is in Washington today for President Barack Obama’s address on health care reform to a joint session of Congress. I’m sure Feinstein’s neighbors in the exclusive Gold Coast/Pacific Heights neighborhood will be thrilled to see 1,200 angry nurses on their doorstep. After they’re done there, the nurses will head downtown for a 2 p.m. rally outside Feinstein’s office at Post and Market streets.

After covering a federal court hearing this morning in San Francisco, I was walking through Civic Center and saw several dozen state workers — most of them wearing the distinctive purple t-shirts of the Service Employees International Union — picketing outside the state building.

“We’re taking care of California, don’t hurt our families,” “Don’t balance the budget on our backs,” their signs read. “5 percent don’t pay the rent” and “The party of ‘no’ has got to go,” they chanted.

They were delivering to Gov. Arnold Schwarzengger’s San Francisco office copies of petitions signed by 35,000 state workers, urging the governor to drop his plans to cut another 5 percent from all state workers’ salaries; they’ve already lost more than a month’s worth of wages through the governor’s mandatory furloughs.

Instead, they want the governor to make a 10 percent cut in California’s $34 billion in private vendor contracts. Just since January 2008, the state has entered into more than 15,000 new private vendor contracts worth almost $6 billion; SEIU Local 1000 boasts it has sued to stop about 120 such contracts in the past two years, winning four out of five cases by proving the contracts were more expensive and less efficient than using state employees to do the same work.

“It’s time for the governor and his corporate supporters to begin giving back to help balance the budget by cutting private contracts and closing corporate tax loopholes,” SEIU Local 1000 President Yvonne Walker said in an e-mailed statement.

SEIU workers were outside Schwarzenegger’s State Capitol office in Sacramento today, too. Senate Republican Leader Dennis Hollingsworth, R-Murrieta, seemed to misunderstand the union’s intent, issuing a statement saying the union wants all of the state’s private vendor contracts eliminated.

“SEIU and AFSCME’s proposals are out of touch with reality, and they do more harm than good. Big labor’s agenda is clear, protect the bloated bureaucracy that got us into this mess,” Hollingsworth said, noting private vendor contracts represent thousands of private-sector jobs and billions of dollars in future tax revenue that would be lost.

In the last decade, he said, public-sector employment has outpaced private sector employment by 9 percent.

“Something is wrong with our system when the market no longer drives job creation. California’s bureaucracy should never out pace private sector jobs. SEIU is protecting a broken system and putting more hard-working Californians on the street. Budget priorities should be performance based, not based on which bully can shove the hardest,” Hollingsworth said, claiming that increasing the gas tax, instituting an alcohol tax and accelerating tax collection on small businesses would protect labor’s membership while shifting the cost to the general public. “Increasing taxes and proposing new ones is insane. It’s exactly what the voters said no to. We must cut programs that don’t work, end automatic spending formulas, and pursue long-term reforms that will keep us out of this mess for good.”

And California Republican Party chairman Ron Nehring had this to say about it:

“Today we see the union campaign of threats and intimidation move from the hearing room to the capitol steps. The venue is different, but the tactics remain the same: bully government officials into making decisions that make sense for their narrow interest instead of the public good.

“Today, SEIU will continue to reject a 5 percent cut in pay for state government bureaucrats while continuing to demand billions in new taxes to be paid by California families who are already struggling to make ends meet. The Governor and lawmakers should continue to stand strong in the face of this continued bullying and intimidation by union officials.”

UPDATE @ 3:13 P.M.: Schwarzenegger spokesman Aaron McLear notes the governor issued an executive order earlier this month to eliminate funding “for contracts entered into by state agencies and departments after March 1, 2009 for all goods and services excluding those necessary for public safety and to prohibit entering into any new contracts.” The order also directed all state departments to develop and submit to the Finance Department plans to reduce their future spending on contracts and purchases by at least 15 percent no later than 30 days after the adoption of the revised 2009-10 budget.

From Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger:

“When the world loses one-third of its wealth in 18 months, it is to be expected that historic levels of job losses will follow. Not surprisingly, we and our fellow states have seen unemployment numbers rise sharply during this difficult time. A full recovery will not happen overnight — it will take time, which only further underscores the need to continue the economic stimulus measures I fought for in the February budget. There is no greater priority right now than to stimulate the economy, create jobs and get California back on the road to prosperity.”

From California Labor Federation Executive Secretary-Treasurer Art Pulaski:

“While the rest the country is beginning to emerge from this deep recession, California remains stuck in the mud under Gov. Schwarzenegger’s failed leadership.

“If ever there was time to sound the alarm, it’s now. The staggering loss of 68,000 jobs in May means more families are teetering on the edge of financial calamity. Instead of throwing families in need a lifeline, the governor threatens to push them over the cliff with his ill-conceived budget proposal.

“The catastrophic cuts the governor has proposed to vital services will shred the safety net that so many families depend upon for survival in these difficult times. Budget cuts will also lead to additional job cuts, exacerbating unemployment.

“Behind every unemployment number is a heartbreaking story of a family in distress. Unless legislators and the governor reach a quick and fair solution to the state budget, we can expect job loss to accelerate and the pain families are feeling to intensify in the months to come.

“We can’t afford more Republican grandstanding. It’s time for a real budget that’s not balanced on the backs of working families.”

UPDATE @ 1:58 P.M.: More views, after the jump…
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Big labor is trying to turn up the publicity heat on U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., this week by staging a two-day fast outside her San Francisco office in support of the Employee Free Choice Act.

Feinstein will be in Washington meeting with business leaders who oppose EFCA even as the Oakland-based California Labor Federation launches its protest Wednesday, with participants starting a fast at 10 a.m. and ending it Thursday evening; some protestors will stay overnight outside Feinstein’s office at One Post St. in San Francisco.

EFCA would let workers form unions by having a majority of employees sign petition cards stating their intention to organize — often called “card check” — without management requiring that a secret-ballot election be held; such elections would still be an option if the workers want it.

The bill also provides that if an employer and newly formed union can’t agree on a first contract within 90 days, either can ask for help from the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service, and if that doesn’t produce a deal within 30 days, the dispute goes to binding arbitration; all time limits can be extended if the parties agree. And the bill would beef up penalties against companies that violate labor laws during organizing campaigns and first-contract bargaining.

The Senator in March backed off her previous support of EFCA, and is currently the only Congressional Democrat from California not on board with the bill. She has floated a sort of compromise in which workers could vote to form unions with mail-in ballots, thus alleviating some lawmakers’ stated concerns about protecting workers’ privacy from labor organizers.

The federation’s schedule says there’ll be a kick-off at noon Wednesday with Executive Secretary-Treasurer Art Pulaski, San Francisco Labor Council Executive Director Tim Paulson, community leaders and others; a 4:30 p.m. workers’ rally in support of those fasting; and a 9:30 to 11 p.m. candlelight vigil. On Thursday, there’ll be another rally – this one with elected officials and clergy – at noon, and then a prayer circle to end the fast at 6 p.m.

UPDATE @ 1:51 P.M. TUESDAY: California Republican Party Chairman Ron Nehring just issued a statement on a similar, pro-EFCA rally taking place outside Feinstein’s office in Los Angeles:

“Today, according to the union bosses, ‘workers and community supporters’ will be demonstrating in support of the Employee ‘Forced’ Choice Act (EFCA), which they claim will ‘help workers earn good wages, healthcare and retirement benefits.’ Unfortunately, it appears our friends have not been reading the news as of late, as unreasonable demands made by Big Labor have forced workers in the auto industry to lose their jobs and mismanagement of their programs have left worker benefit packages terribly underfunded.

“EFCA threatens to have the same affect on the small business community here in California and throughout the nation. By mandating contracts on employers and eliminating workers’ right to a private ballot, union bosses will decimate job creation and severely increase unemployment, slowing any economic recovery on the horizon.”

To clarify, EFCA wouldn’t be “eliminating workers’ right to a private ballot” – it would eliminate management’s right to a private ballot. Workers would still be able to choose a secret-ballot vote if they wish it.

Contra Costa firefighters have agreed to delay wage increases for two years in recognition of “current, unprecedented economic circumstances,” according to the office of Contra Costa County Supervisor Susan Bonilla of Concord.

The members of United Professional Fire Fighters Local 1230 agreed to defer  to 2011 of a 2.5 percent raise scheduled to go into effect on July 1, 2009, and to 2012 a second raise of 2.5 percent scheduled for Jan. 1, 2010.

In return, the county extended all other terms of the firefighters’ contract for two years.

“As firefighters, we experience on a daily basis the hardship many families in our community are facing,” said Local 1230 President Vincent Wells. “We wanted to work with the county in maintaining the level of public safety we have always provided … We are willing to defer our raises out a few years with the hopes that the economy will turn around.”

While the pay deferral was undoubtedly welcomed, the firefighters’ concession does not represent a permanent structural change in wages or benefits.

The county and its numerous labor unions have been in negotiations for months as the county struggles to reverse an unsustainable trajectory of rising wages and benefits. Most county employee compensation levels are prescribed in labor contracts, which cannot be changed other than through negotiation and agreement on both sides.

Unions are usually loath to agree to any concessions because it sets the stage for future talks as well as other unions’ negotiations, so it will be interesting to see if other public employee unions follow the firefighters’ example.

Click through to read the full press release.

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The Service Employees International Union filed suit today against arch rival California Nurses Association in the two group’s ongoing and nasty dispute over labor practices.

The two unions have been at odds over recruiting and organizing tactics for nurses and the fracas devolved into a shoving match at a labor conference in Michigan and unwelcome visits by SEIU representatives to the homes of California CNA leaders.

Unless national union leaders step in and broker some of deal between these warring factions, this fight will play out in California courtroom.

Click here for CNA’s specific web site on the dispute.

Read on for SEIU’s latest press release and a link to its dedicated web site on the matter:

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The Service Employees International Union will ask a judge to dismiss a temporary restraining order requested by the California Nurses Association, calling the nurses’ charges of harassment unfounded and politically motivated.

A Superior Court judge in Alameda County issued the TRO late Tuesday, and ordered a hearing for all parties on May 1.

The unions are locked in an ugly battle stemming from a fight over membership organizing in Ohio hospitals and a nasty, physical confrontation at a Michigan labor conference.

CNA chief Rose Ann DeMoro of Walnut Creek says SEIU sent 200 people to California to intimidate and harass her members. Some visited the homes of some of her association’s leaders and frightened them, DeMoro said. (See my blog entry yesterday for CNA’s press release.)

DeMoro said she has been forced to cancel two appearances under threat of SEIU protests and has had to take precautions to protect her personal safety.

Read more for SEIU’s press release issued a few minutes ago:
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The California Nurses Association, led by Rose Ann DeMoro of Walnut Creek, has obtained a temporary restraining order against the Service Employees International Union in what has become a highly contentious battle between the two unions.

The nurses group contends that SEIU is harassing, stalking and intimidating nurses in roughly a dozen California hospitals targeted for an SEIU take-over.

According to the CNA, SEIU Director Andy Stern will be required to appear in Superior Court in Oakland on May 1, where a judge will consider a request for a three-year injunction.

SEIU, on its website, accuses CNA of engaging in union-busting activities starting with a conflict in Ohio. De Moro later cancelled an appearance at a Michigan labor conference out of fear for her personal safety.

Click here for CNA’s press release or read on for the text. Read the rest of this entry »

The California Labor Federation has issued dual endorsements in the hotly contested California Senate District 9 race between Democrats Loni Hancock and Wilma Chan. This seat is currently held by outgoing Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata of Alameda.

The labor group also jointly endorsed three of the four Democrats running in Assembly District 14, the seat held by Loni Hancock: Nancy Skinner, Kriss Worthington and Tony Thurmond. The fourth Democrat, Phil Polakoff, apparently didn’t pass muster.

For a full list of endorsements, visit the California Labor Federation’s website at http://www.calaborfed.org/

Or read on for the list. Read the rest of this entry »

Union workers at the East Bay Municipal Water District have threatened to withdraw from the Contra Costa Central Labor Council if it continues to take positions counter to those of local voters, according to a letter from American Federation of State County and Municipal Employees Local 444 President Ruben Rodriguez.

In a very strongly worded letter (posted below), Rodriguez refers to the council’s opposition to the recall of Pinole Councilwoman Maria Alegria, support of urban casinos and former Richmond Mayor Irma Anderson.

Alegria was recalled on Feb. 5. Anderson lost her re-election bid in 2006. And Rodriguez says polls show that Contra Costa residents do not want Indian casinos in their communities.

The council, which is an umbrella group for labor in the county, is hurting labor’s reputation in the community, Rodriguez wrote.”Should the council continue to pursue such anti-union, anti-citizen and anti-democratic positions, we will be forced to withdraw from the council and will actively encourage other Locals (unions) to do so as well,” Rodriguez wrote. “We do not support the philosophy of ‘She may be a crook but she’s our crook.’ Why should citizens honor labor if labor doesn’t honor them?”

Here’s the full text of the letter sent to Contra Costa Labor Council:

February 21, 2008

Contra Costa Central Labor Council

Pam Aguilar, Acting Executive Secretary-Treasurer

1333 East Pine St., #E

Martinez, CA 94553

Dear Pam Aguilar,

AFSCME Local 444 is very concerned about recent political positions taken by the Contra Costa Central Labor Council (CCCLC). We are concerned about the Council’s support of Maria Alegria in the recent recall election, the Council’s support of Irma Anderson in the 2006 Richmond mayoral election and, lastly, the Council’s support for urban casinos.

In the case of Mayor Alegria, the citizens of Pinole formed a grass roots organization to unseat a politician who took advantage of her official position to act in a manner that was detrimental to the best interests of her constituents. Although her voting record may have been pro-labor, ultimately her actions hurt the community she served. Organized labor had no business involving itself in a campaign that will give unions a black eye in Pinole as well as other East Bay communities. Thanks to the actions taken by the CCCLC it will be a long time before organized labor will be respected in Pinole.

Endorsing Irma Anderson for Mayor of Richmond is yet another example of behavior on the part of CCCLC which our Local feels compelled to condemn. Irma Anderson was an ineffectual politician who, when caught in a financial dilemma in part of her own making, laid off over 200 SEIU workers. This action alone should cost her the support of all organized labor, yet the CCCLC endorsed her.

Finally, the CCCLC position on urban casinos is the most backward and anti-labor position a labor organization could take. The citizens of Contra Costa, when polled by State Assemblyperson Hancock, overwhelming stated they did not want casinos in their communities. The citizens of Richmond were never given the opportunity to vote on bringing casinos into the City. The opposition to urban casinos is based on overwhelming information, provided by public and private institutions, clearly indicating the harm casinos reap upon communities. It should also be noted that the individuals harmed most by gambling are the poor and blue collar workers, the very people CCCLC claims to speak for. The CCCLC’c position on casinos is both cynical and opportunistic.The proof that Local 444’s views on these issues are consistent with local public opinion can be found in the defeat by the voters of both Irma Anderson and Maria Alegria. In addition, there is a strong possibility that the Richmond casino deals will fall through.

The members of Local 444 are putting the CCCLC on notice that should the Council continue to pursue such anti-union, anti-citizen and anti-democratic positions we will be forced to withdraw from the Council and will actively encourage other Locals to do so as well. We do not support the philosophy of “she may be a crook but she’s is our crook.” Why should citizens honor Labor if Labor doesn’t honor them?

In Solidarity,

Rubin Rodriguez, President AFSCME Local 444 8400 Enterprise Way, Suite 101 Oakland, CA 94621

cc: George Popyack, Director AFSCME Council 57 Mark Foley, President AFSCME Local 2019Mark Gagliardi, Ex. board CCCLC Millie Cleveland, BA SEIU 1021 Tarnel Abbot, Shop Steward SEIU 1021, Richmond Chapter

Nagaraja Rao, Committee Chairman CCDCC (Contra Costa Democraic Central Committee)
Richard L. Verrilli, CCDCC (Contra Costa Democraic Central Committee)

Jeff Rubin, Concerned Citizens of Pinole