Person

Davis Regan

Nationality:

American

President:

SEIU-United Healthcare Workers West Local 2005 (SEIU-UHW)

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Davis “Dave” Regan is senior labor union official in the Service Employees International Union (SEIU). As of 2025, Regan was president of SEIU-United Healthcare Workers West Local 2005 (SEIU-UHW) which represents over 110,000 workers in the health care industry, including at hospitals, nursing homes, clinics, and home-health agencies in California. 1 He is also a vice president of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU). 2

Regan is notable for his use of state ballot initiatives to leverage concessions from companies and lawmakers, 3 and his tenure has been marked by allegations of misconduct, assault, and abuse. 4

Background

Prior to joining SEIU-UHW as an appointed executive in 2009, 5 Regan was president of SEIU District 1199, a Service Employees International Union (SEIU) union representing more than 34,000 members in Ohio, West Virginia, and Kentucky from 1996 through 2008. 6

SEIU United Healthcare Workers-West

In 2009, then-SEIU president Andy Stern appointed Regan to administer a major SEIU local union, SEIU United Healthcare Workers-West, alongside fellow SEIU official Eliseo Medina. Stern had a dispute over the SEIU’s national organizing strategy with then-SEIU-UHW president Sal Rosselli, who also opposed a Stern-backed reorganization of SEIU local unions in California. Stern and SEIU national officials alleged that SEIU-UHW had committed “financial malpractice” under Rosselli’s leadership, enabling the takeover; Rosselli denied the allegations. 5

Regan was later elected president of SEIU-UHW in 2011 and was later re-elected in 2014 and in 2017. 6

Conflicts with Other Unions

After his ouster from SEIU-UHW, Rosselli formed a rival union, the National Union of Healthcare Workers (NUHW). 7 The two unions clashed over a series of elections to determine which would represent Kaiser Permanente health care workers. SEIU-UHW won the majority of the elections, but not without controversy. In 2011, a National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) administrative law judge set aside one election result that applied to 43,000 Kaiser Permanente employees and asserted that SEIU-UHW collusion with Kaiser had “interfered with employees’ exercise of a free and reasoned choice.” 8

Regan’s strategy of aligning with hospitals to ease union organizing and negotiating bargaining agreements, which Rosselli heavily criticized as head of NUHW, is controversial in the California labor union movement. The head of the California Nurses Association blasted Regan’s approach as “overtly disgraceful” and “an enormous embarrassment to the labor movement” in 2012. 9

In 2014, SEIU-UHW agreed to withdraw a pair of ballot initiatives opposed by the California Hospital Association after Association members approved a new “Code of Conduct” that made it easier for the union to organize health care workers without management opposition. 10

In 2015, SEIU transferred nearly half of SEIU-UHW’s members, about 70,000 workers, to a newly formed local in California that instantly became the largest health care workers’ union in the country. Regan wrote in a letter directed to SEIU leadership that the move was “a massive betrayal of our stated principles and values.” He said the transfer was “malicious and undertaken with the full knowledge that the interests of California healthcare workers are being sacrificed to the political needs of Mary Kay Henry,” SEIU’s national president. 11 12

In 2018, Regan’s approach helped break apart the Coalition of Kaiser Permanente Unions (CKPU). Kaiser Permanente, a national health maintenance organization, had long had amicable relations with its employee unions after negotiation of a “Labor Management Partnership” agreement in 1997 that gave Kaiser’s employees a substantial say in frontline staffing decisions. When the agreement was up for renegotiation in 2018, Regan and SEIU-UHW, as leaders of the CKPU, demanded that SEIU-UHW be given a larger role in the CKPU’s decision-making process and that smaller unions be given less say in developing Coalition policy. Regan stated that the proposal was sought to establish “basic notions of majority rules,” but officials at smaller unions within the CKPU accused Regan of a power grab. 13 14

Eventually, over 20 smaller unions left the CKPU and negotiated a separate agreement with Kaiser management. 14 Regan told reporters that the splinter unions were “going to discover […] that they made a mistake. They will regret what they’ve done.” 13

Ballot Initiative Strategy

Regan pioneered the practice of using the threat of state ballot initiatives to extract concessions from companies and law makers, a tactic that one critic likened to “using public policy as a gun.” 15 Regan and SEIU-UHW have sponsored state or local ballot initiatives on a host of issues, including attempts to raise the state minimum wage, prevent health insurers with high reserves from raising premiums, capping charges at nonprofit hospitals, or taxing millionaires to fund safety-net hospitals and clinics. Several of these initiatives were withdrawn partway through the ballot-qualification process, which has caused critics to accuse the union of abusing the initiative process for negotiating leverage. 3

Regan has defended the use of ballot initiatives as “cost-effective” public policy advocacy. In 2015, Regan invested $5 million to start a national group, Fairness Project, to work with state partners on ballot initiatives affecting health care workers and patients. 15 16

Regan and SEIU-UHW did qualify a $15 minimum wage initiative for the 2016 state ballot. In response, the legislature passed a bill raising the minimum wage in California to $15 by 2022. Regan said that he believed his union’s $1.6 million investment in qualifying the initiative would yield $20 billion in increased wages for low-income workers and called the ability to leverage state lawmakers through ballot initiatives “the best bargain in American politics.” 16

Regan and SEIU-UHW made three successive attempts in 2018, 2020, and 2022 to pass a requirement to set minimum staffing levels at kidney dialysis clinics, all while the union was seeking to represent dialysis clinic workers who are largely not union members. The two companies that own the bulk of those clinics, DaVita and Fresenius Medical Care, had spent more than $216 million through November 2021 to defeat the initiatives. Regan denied that the initiatives were an attempt to force the companies to recognize SEIU-UHW, stating, “We obviously are a health care union. Would we like to represent dialysis workers? Sure. Is that why we’re doing this? No.” 15

The union’s third attempt was one of the most expensive ballot initiatives in state history, with about $90 million in collective spending by both sides. The initiative failed with nearly 70 percent of voters voting no. 17 SEIU-UHW has also attempted to qualify the same initiative in other states, including Arizona. 18

Regan’s ballot initiative tactic has backfired at times, however. In 2013, SEIU-UHW filed to place two initiatives on the state ballot. The first would have banned hospitals from charging more than 25 percent above the actual cost of care, while the second limited the compensation of nonprofit hospital executives to $450,000. The initiatives were opposed by the California Hospital Association (CHA). In 2014, SEIU-UHW agreed to withdraw the initiatives after CHA members approved a new “Code of Conduct” that made it easier for the union to organize health care workers without management opposition. 10

The agreement, as alleged in a later lawsuit by the CHA, sought to “create a new model for labor relations that is based on cooperation rather than confrontation.” Under the Code of Conduct, SEIU-UHW agreed not to engage in “reputation or economic attacks; personal attacks; or instigating or supporting […] litigation” that was “directed at or with respect to CHA … and any of [its] officers, directors, managers or shareholders.” SEIU-UHW also specifically agreed that it would not “sponsor or support legislation, initiatives, or regulatory action adverse to the California hospital industry during the terms of this Agreement.” 19

The agreement also created a jointly funded $100 million fund to lobby the state for increased hospital reimbursements from Medi-Cal, the state’s Medicaid program for lower-income patients. National Union of Healthcare Workers head (and Regan rival) Sal Rosselli blasted Regan and SEIU-UHW for the agreement, going so far as to compare Regan to a World War II-era Axis collaborator. Regan defended the agreement as “one approach that ought to be looked at as we’re trying to reinvent a union movement that is in steep, steep decline,” and said that the ballot initiative fight would have cost the unions tens of millions of dollars. 10

The agreement between SEIU-UHW and CHA ultimately collapsed when Regan again moved to put the executive compensation initiative on the 2016 state ballot. 20 In November 2015, Regan and SEIU-UHW sued CHA, which counter-sued, with both sides alleging the other had reneged on the agreement. 21 An arbitrator eventually sided with CHA and forced Regan to withdraw the ballot initiative. 3

Personal Controversies

Regan has also been involved in controversies involving allegations of physical assault. In 2016, police in Kensington, California accused him of assaulting a process server who attempted to serve him papers as part of a lawsuit brought against Regan by the California Hospital Association. Regan was accused of pushing the process server down the steps of his home, leading the process server to require medical treatment. Police also alleged that Regan was aggressive and tried to intimidate an officer who came to investigate the incident. Through an attorney, Regan denied misconduct, claiming the process server had tried to intimidate Regan and refused to leave when asked. 22

In 2018, Regan was reported to have been “belligerent” when he got into a verbal altercation at a Sacramento restaurant with a California political consultant about a Supreme Court decision that struck down compulsory union dues in the government sector. When then-state Assemblymember Richard Bloom (D-Santa Monica) intervened to break up the dispute, Regan allegedly shoved Bloom, who later reported the incident to the General Assembly’s rules committee. Through a spokesperson, Regan denied a physical altercation with Bloom. 23

In 2020, SEIU-UHW settled a lawsuit brought by a former union employee who said that she had been physically and sexually assaulted by Marcus Hatcher, the former director of SEIU-UHW’s Kaiser division. According to a Fox News report, “the lawsuit and affidavits from former SEIU-UHW employees painted a picture of a workplace culture as saturated with alcohol and rife with sexual misconduct and misogyny.” 24 Fox News reported that Regan was described by former employees as drinking “to the point of drunkenness” at union events multiple times. 25

References

  1. Service Employees International Union United Healthcare Workers-West (DOL File Number 543-099), Annual Report of a Labor Organization (Form LM-2), 2023 https://olmsapps.dol.gov/query/orgReport.do?rptId=887178&rptForm=LM2Form
  2. Service Employees International Union, Annual Report of a Labor Organization (Form LM-2), 2023 https://olmsapps.dol.gov/query/orgReport.do?rptId=889436&rptForm=LM2Form
  3. Victoria Colliver. “California union leverages ballot initiatives for health care on its own terms.” Politico. Feb. 5, 2018. Accessed Dec. 26, 2022. https://www.politico.com/story/2018/02/05/california-union-ballot-initiatives-health-care-385052
  4. “New Report Exposes SEIU-UHW Controversial Leadership.” LaborPains.org, June 13, 2024. https://laborpains.org/2024/06/13/new-report-exposes-seiu-uhw-controversial-leadership/.
  5.  Raine, George. “SEIU Takes over Local Health Care Workers Union.” SFGATE, January 28, 2009. https://www.sfgate.com/business/article/seiu-takes-over-local-health-care-workers-union-3253105.php.
  6. “Biography of Dave Regan.” SEIU-UHW. Accessed Dec. 26, 2022. https://www.seiu-uhw.org/biography-seiu-uhw-president-dave-regan/
  7. George Raine. “SEIU takes over local health care workers union.” San Francisco Chronicle. Jan. 28, 2009. Accessed Dec. 29, 2022. https://www.sfgate.com/business/article/SEIU-takes-over-local-health-care-workers-union-3253105.php
  8. Steve Early. “Kaiser Election Results KOed: Judge Orders Rematch Between SEIU and NUHW.” In These Times. July 21, 2011. Accessed Dec. 29, 2022. https://inthesetimes.com/article/kaiser-election-results-koed-nlrb-judge-orders-rematch-between-seiu-an
  9. “CNA and SEIU-UHW Battle Over Labor’s Future.” BeyondChron.com. June 18, 2012. Accessed Dec. 29, 2022. https://www.nationalnursesunited.org/news/cna-and-seiu-uhw-battle-over-labors-future
  10. Chad Terhune. “Hospitals and union make deal to avoid ballot measure fight.” Los Angeles Times. May 6, 2014. Accessed Dec. 26, 2022. https://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-hospital-labor-deal-20140507-story.html
  11. Chris Rauber. “‘Massive betrayal’: Leaked memo reveals SEIU’s internal war over health care workers.” San Francisco Business Times. June 17, 2015. Accessed Dec. 26, 2022. https://www.bizjournals.com/sanfrancisco/blog/2015/06/seiu-united-healthcare-workers-dave-regan.html
  12. “‘corporate Collaborator’ Dave Regan Undercut by SEIU International; SEIU-UHW Members Caught in Crossfire.” National Union of Healthcare Workers, July 1, 2015. https://nuhw.org/corporate-collaborator-dave-regan-undercut-by-seiu-international-seiu-uhw-members-caught-in-crossfire/.
  13. Jaclyn Diaz. “Kaiser Permanente Labor Partnership Fractures After 20 Years.” Bloomberg Law. March 28, 2018. Accessed Dec. 26, 2022. https://bnanews.bna.com/daily-labor-report/kaiser-permanente-labor-partnership-fractures-after-20-years
  14. Don McIntosh. “Kaiser Permanente union coalition splits.” Northwest Labor Press. March 27, 2018. Accessed Dec. 26, 2022. https://nwlaborpress.org/2018/03/kaiser-coalition-divorce/
  15. Victoria Colliver. “Inside a California health care union’s obsession with kidney dialysis initiatives.” Nov. 19, 2021. Accessed Dec. 29, 2022. https://www.politico.com/states/california/story/2021/11/19/inside-a-california-health-care-unions-obsession-with-kidney-dialysis-initiatives-1394715
  16. Christopher Cadelago. “Dave Regan, key to minimum wage fight, divides labor family.” Sacramento Bee. April 11, 2016. Accessed Dec. 26, 2022. https://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/capitol-alert/article70811307.html
  17. “Californians Reject Measure to Alter Dialysis Clinic Rules.” Associated Press. Nov. 9, 2022. Accessed Dec. 26, 2022. https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/california/articles/2022-11-08/californians-get-third-chance-to-alter-dialysis-clinic-rules
  18. Howard Fischer. “Ballot measure deadline looms for some while others drop efforts.” Arizona Capitol Times. July 2, 2018. Accessed Dec. 29, 2022. https://azcapitoltimes.com/news/2018/07/02/arizona-ballot-measure-deadline-looms-for-some-while-others-drop-efforts/
  19. “Hospital Association’s Lawsuit Details SEIU-UHW Dave Regan’s Dirty Deal with CEOs.” Stern Burger With Fries. Feb. 2, 2016. Accessed Dec. 26, 2022. https://sternburgerwithfries.blogspot.com/2016/02/hospital-associations-lawsuit-details.html
  20. “SEIU-UHW Revives Ballot Measure To Cap Hospital Executives’ Pay.” California HealthLine. Nov. 23, 2015. Accessed Dec. 26, 2022. https://californiahealthline.org/morning-breakout/seiuuhw-revives-ballot-measure-to-cap-hospital-executives-pay/
  21. “More Implosions Hit SEIU-UHW Dave Regan’s Secret Deal with the California Hospital Association… and Expose Hidden Documents.” Stern Burger With Fries. Feb. 5, 2016. https://sternburgerwithfries.blogspot.com/2016/02/more-implosions-hit-seiu-uhw-dave.html
  22. “Union VP Accused Of Assaulting Process Server Outside Kensington Home, Intimidating Cop.” CBS News. Feb. 16, 2016. Accessed Dec. 29, 2022. https://www.cbsnews.com/sanfrancisco/news/union-vice-president-accused-of-assaulting-process-server-outside-kensington-home-intimidating-cop/
  23. Alexi Koseff. “A union president shoved him at a Sacramento fundraiser, lawmaker reports.” Sacramento Bee. Aug. 22, 2018. Accessed Dec. 29, 2022. https://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/capitol-alert/article217114105.html
  24.   Andrew Keiper. “SEIU branch settles sexual-assault lawsuit, overhauls internal reporting policies.” Fox News. Jan. 29, 2020. Accessed Dec. 29, 2022. https://www.foxnews.com/us/seiu-branch-settles-sexual-assault-lawsuit-overhauls-internal-reporting-policies
  25. Andrew Keiper. “SEIU branch settles sexual-assault lawsuit, overhauls internal reporting policies.” Fox News. Jan. 29, 2020. Accessed Dec. 29, 2022. https://www.foxnews.com/us/seiu-branch-settles-sexual-assault-lawsuit-overhauls-internal-reporting-policies
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