SEIU Claims Right of 'Free Speech' to Stalk, Harass, and Threaten Registered
Nurses According to the California Nurses Association
OAKLAND, Calif., April 21 /PRNewswire/ -- Attorneys for the Service
Employees International Union claimed in an Alameda County courthouse today
that their stalking, harassment, and other acts of intimidation against
officers, directors and staff of the California Nurses Association/National
Nurses Organizing Committee is nothing more than "free speech."
A temporary restraining order issued last week by Alameda County Superior
Court Commission Jon Rantzman remains in effect today. Rantzman said the court
was taking the matter under submission and directed additional evidentiary
papers to be filed on Tuesday, April 22.
In testimony to the court, SEIU attorneys portrayed the systematic
campaign conducted by SEIU under the direction of its President Andy Stern as
"protected" free speech -- dismissing the serious concerns voiced by numerous
CNA/NNOC leaders who have been subjected to the targeting, threats, and
intimidation.
CNA/NNOC attorney Pam Allen noted that free speech is very different than
the actions employed by SEIU bands who have gone to the nursing stations of
CNA/NNOC leaders looking for them and demanding home addresses and phone
numbers, following them in cars, pounding on their doors, pointing video
cameras in their faces, screaming at them, and refusing to leave until being
told the police were on the way.
In a statement to the court, Margie Keenan, RN, a CNA/NNOC Board member
described one such visit to her home and a visit by SEIU to the nursing floor
in the Long Beach hospital where she works.
At her home "they began yelling loudly, demanding that I come and speak
with them in a very aggressive, boisterous manner. I became very scared, as
they continued yelling and pounding on my door, so I dialed 911 and asked the
operator to dispatch police as soon as possible. While I was waiting for the
police to arrive, I climbed the stairs to the second floor of my house and
went quietly to a balcony to wait for the police. After several minutes, they
began to leave, then saw me on the balcony and began yelling again. I went
immediately back into the house and waited for the police to arrive. By the
time the police came, the intruders were gone.
"I was very frightened by the approach at my home because it was extremely
aggressive and hostile, and I live alone. Shortly after they left my house, I
received a telephone call on my home phone and the caller asked for me by
name. I recognized the voice as one of the intruders and immediately hung up
the phone." She later learned of the visit to her nursing floor.
"I felt very unsettled and frightened by these events, so much so that I
did not feel able to report to work (the following two days) which were my
next scheduled days of work. I called in sick both of those days and learned
over the weekend of a number of events that have only increased my fear and
concern for my personal safety," Keenan declared
SEIU attorneys today also challenged the restraining order on the basis of
a state law exemption of labor disputes from state court intervention. "It's
deplorable that SEIU would hide behind important labor law protections to
justify their disgraceful attacks against registered nurses," Markowitz said.
SOURCE California Nurses Association
Chuck Idelson, +1-510-273-2246, or +1-415-559-8991, for California Nurses
Association
