Labor activist Ken Hamidi was brutally mobbed by union goons from the Service Employees International Union (SEIU). See a CBS13 report on the incident here.
Apparently Hamidi was attacked while filming a TV show at a meeting of the SEIU. To see some of his videos go to the "Shout TV" website.
Over the years Ken Hamidi has been a tireless advocate for workers. I first found out about him when I was searching for information on age discrimination in big corporations. His pioneering website at FaceIntel exposed how Intel combined H-1B with a "Ranking and Rating" system to harass and discriminate against their older employees. For me finding FaceIntel helped me to put all the pieces of the puzzle together.
Hamidi's Pony E-mail express to Intel was pure theater and is an example of the "no guts no glory" attitude he has. See some pictures here.
Go here for some pictures of Hamidi at the Bank of America protest over Kevin Flanagan's death by suicide.
Hamidi is an Iranian immigrant who has fearlessly fought for many aspects of labor advocacy and he even ran for Governor of California! I haven't had much contact with Hamidi after he ran for Governor, and assumed that he was going to lay low. This video report at KCRA proves otherwise, but a warning — it's kind of bloody!
This isn't the first time that the SEIU has resorted to violence. Be sure to read this commentary by David Horowitz. So, it seems that the brown shirters at SEIU are the ones to worry about — not the Tea Party Express patriots or War Veterans that Obama and Napolitano seem to fear so much. Considering that the SEIU had a prominent role in the election of President Obama, and he has made no bones about his support for that union, we can only hope that Obama is equally enthusiastic about condemning the violence of the SEIU. Don't hold your breath though, because Obama seems to give a wink and a nod to left wing extremists.
FaceIntel means a lot to me. In 1998 I wrote my first public article "We have to Support Senator Harkin he is under enormous pressure" was published on that website. Writing that op-ed was definitely a turning point for me in terms of increasing my activism.
