In the latest example of the SEIU-CPMC alliance, the union is not opposing the hospital giant’s attempt to weaken a state law passed sixteen years ago that required hospitals to increase seismic safety. CPMC has sponsored AB 289 (to be heard on August 25 in the Assembly Health Committee) in an effort to gain three additional years to comply with the seismic law. CPMC admits seeking the delay because of “complexities of the approval process” in San Francisco. In other words, CPMC wants to continue to play hardball with community groups, other unions and local government, instead of working out fair agreements that would enable it to meet the current deadline. SEIU’s unwillingness to oppose the measure---which is being vigorously fought by the California Nurses Association and other patients rights and community groups---is part of its larger working agreement with CPMC to essentially support anything the company wants to do in the development and political process.

Since my initial report last March about SEIU-UHW’s alignment with CPMC against virtually every community group in San Francisco, the situation has gotten much worse. SEIU-UHW is basing its San Francisco political endorsements on candidates support for CPMC’s Cathedral Hill project, and now is not opposing a state measure that weakens safety for the union’s own members.

I say “not opposing” rather than “supporting” because of SEIU-UHW’s formal neutrality. But sources in the capital tell me that SEIU lobbyists are urging legislators to back AB 289, and as Eileen Prendiville, a CPMC RN told me, “Any union would want to lobby against weakening of safety regulations to protect their own members. But where is SEIU on opposing the seismic extensions specially for CPMC?”

SEIU Dancing to CMPC’s Tune

The answer to Ms. Prendiville’s question is obvious----as part of its agreement with CPMC, SEIU does whatever it is asked when it comes to new hospitals, even if this means the potential closure of St. Luke’s and St. Francis hospitals (the latter is not owned by CPMC) in San Francisco and the worsening of health access for the urban poor.

And in the case of AB 289, CPMC is not even pretending to have a good faith motive for delaying complying with current state law. CPMC officials told Chris Rauber of the San Francisco Business Times that the “complexities of the plans, the complex approval process and the political reality in San Francisco makes for a high potential for delays. As a result, we support SB 289 and Sen. Ducheny’s reasonable and rational approach.”

Is it “reasonable and rational” to continue to move the goal posts on the state’s long-ago passed seismic safety law, particularly when CPMC reported over $157.4 million in profits last year? And when Stanford Hospital, which also seeks an extension, earned profits of over $77 million?

What the hospital giants really want is more bargaining leverage against community and neighborhood groups whose constituencies could be detrimentally impacted by the new hospitals. If the current 2015 deadline is maintained, CPMC might actually have to sit down and negotiate seriously with the Good Neighbor Coalition and other groups concerned about its Cathedral Hill project and the future of St. Lukes and St. Francis Hospitals.

SEIU-UHW ignores that hospital workers are those most at risk from seismically unsafe hospitals. This is quite a dramatic contrast to SEIU-UHW’s position on such issues when the Sal Rosselli leadership team ran the local.

Rosselli and his team, which now lead the NUHW, would never put their members’ health and safety at risk to help a mega-hospital chain battle community and health care advocates. But the new SEIU-UHW leadership team is accountable to no one, with its out of state leadership content to cut deals outside community processes.

Malinda Markowitz, RN, co-president of the California Nurses Association, described AB 289 as “an early Christmas for these wealthy hospitals. A hospital corporation’s failure to plan for future construction needs is no excuse to jeopardize the safety of patients and hospital employees by delaying the deadline again.”

AB 289 will be heard in the Assembly Health Committee on August 25. It will be interesting if SEIU-UHW comes out of the shadows to publicly support a measure that it is working hard on the inside to pass.

Randy Shaw is the author of Beyond the Fields: Cesar Chavez, the UFW and the Struggle for Justice in the 21st Century.