Service Employees International Union illegally collect Kansas healthcare workers' information

Sep 15 2009

AWF calls on Gov. Parkinson to condemn and abandon such practices

The Alliance for Worker Freedom (AWF) calls on Kansas Governor Mark Parkinson (D) to make information available regarding his Department's use of state resources and taxpayer money to obtain personal contact information of healthcare providers on behalf of the Service Employees International Union / SEIU Kansas.

Letters obtained by AWF, printed on Kansas State letterhead, are asking for healthcare "attendants' names, addresses and telephone numbers" so that these individuals can "receive important information regarding services offered by this organization [the SEIU]."

This type of information gathering using state resources on behalf of a union is unprecedented, says AWF Executive Director Brian Johnson. "Let's look at all the pieces," inquires Johnson. "Former Kansas Governor Sebelius is now in DC working with SEIU's healthcare muscle Dennis Rivera. Now, Kansas is doing all the SEIU's dirty work by using state funds to collect healthcare workers' contact information so the SEIU can hustle them." Johnson adds, "Taxpayers of Kansas should be outraged that their government officials are using their dollars to print and mail materials for the sole purpose of helping the SEIU organize healthcare workers into a union!"

In AWF's letters to the governor and other Kansas officials, Secretary Sebelius, and the two Senators from the state, Johnson calls on the governor to make public all financial documents relating to the cost of this "collection of names," as well as all correspondence between Kansas officials and SEIU employees or affiliates. No response has been received.