In the latest sign of the sad decline of a once great SEIU local, SEIU-UHW’s Dave Regan is actually holding a contest for members to “win” a one-hour lunch with him. Apparently too busy or uninterested to eat lunch with the workers who pay his salary, Regan is offering the experience to workers who raise the most money for the union’s political fund. Such elitism would be unimaginable for such local labor leaders as UNITE HERE’s Mike Casey or SEIU 1021’s Roxanne Sanchez, and it undermines everything that labor unions are supposed to be about. Here’s the full story from the website Sternburger with fries.

SEIU-UHW members are supposed to be sooo thrilled about the possibility of dining with Dave that they’re supposed to go out and compete with each other to raise vast amounts of money for SEIU-UHW’s political fund, called “COPE.”

The prize for the lucky winners? The incredible privilege of lunching with Dave.

But wait! Just in case workers might be thinking they’re gonna get to spend some serious face time with rockstar Dave, the contest rules carefully specify that winners will be eligible to spend only 60 minutes with Regan. That’s right. Just 60 minutes!

Here’s what the announcement on SEIU-UHW’s website says:

SEIU-UHW members who raise the most money for the political fund each month will win a one-hour lunch with SEIU-UHW President Dave Regan. Lunch will be scheduled at the end of the year as a group with all the winners in each region.



Ya see, Dave is soooo important that he’s gotta race off to do tons of important stuff… like cutting backroom deals with Bosses to gut workers’ pension plans, liquidating workers’ $4.1 million strike fund and illegally rigging votes with hospital executives.

After all, why would Regan – who was recently called the “CEO” of SEIU-UHW by his buddy Duane Dauner at the California Hospital Association – want to spend time with the workers who actually pay his $300,000-a-year salary?