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This is all about us and our issues in our Labor Movement. Please feel free to share your opinion, your thoughts and exchange ideas with us. We may agree to disagree, but the sound of democracy has always been the the clashing of ideas and opinions.
“Censorship reflects a society’s lack of confidence in itself”-
Potter Stewart
August 9th, 2008 at 8:30 pm08
Welcome to the City of Los Angeles SEIU members site. This site was created for the Service Employees International Union members of the City of Los Angeles who would like to comment, share information, share news and offer opinions about their SEIU membership and/or worksite situations. However, Brothers and Sisters of other SEIU memberships are also welcome to post as well.
August 9th, 2008 at 8:30 pm08
L.A. Times Article Friday 8/8/2008 regarding SEIU genreous give back City of Los Angeles employees, Medical Bensfits accounts set aside and willingness to pay higher cost for Rx. T help the City of Los Angeles out.
Anybody hear about this?
August 10th, 2008 at 8:30 am08
From: uniondemocracy@yahoo.com
Subject: LA Times on Massive Corruption by Stern Appointee in LA?
Date: Saturday, August 9, 2008, 11:58 AM
Read below the front page story of union corruption in 6434. The leader of 6434 was appointed by Stern/Burger as the leader of Local 1985 in Georgia, then 434B in LA, the 6434 in LA, and it’s hard to believe they didn’t know what
their appointee was up to..The article details corruption that would make Gus Bevona blush. It also mentions another Stern/Burger appointee in Michigan.——————————————————
Union, charity paid thousands to firms owned by official’s relatives. The video production and day care companies are owned by the wife and mother-in-law of the head of the SEIU local, which represents low-wage home
healthcare workers.
By Paul PringleLos Angeles Times Staff Writer August 9, 2008
California’s largest union local and a related charity have paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to firms owned by the wife and mother-in-law of the
labor organization’s president, documents and interviews show.The Los Angeles-based union, which represents low-wage caregivers, also spent nearly $300,000 last year on a Four Seasons Resorts golf tournament, a Beverly
Hills cigar club, restaurants such as Morton’s steakhouse and a consulting contract with the William Morris Agency, the Hollywood talent shop, records show.In addition, the union paid six figures to a video firm whose principals
include a former union employee. And a now-defunct minor league basketball team coached by the president’s brother-in-law received $16,000 for what the union described as public relations, according to the union’s U.S. Labor Department
filings and interviews.Most of the 160,000 people represented by the union, a local chapter of the nation’s fastest-growing labor organization, the Service International Employees Union, earn $9 an hour or slightly
more tending to the infirm and disabled in private homes under taxpayer-funded programs. The workers, whose dues fill the local’s coffers, often are described as “the poor caring for the poor.” In its Labor Department filings, the local, headed by Tyrone Freeman,
has reported more liabilities than assets for each of the last three years.Freeman, who leads the United Long-Term Care Workers, said he and his union have done nothing wrong. “Every expenditure has been in the context of fighting
poverty,” he said.A rising star in labor circles, Freeman, 38, said the union’s members have benefited from the money spent on the video production and day-care companies that his wife and mother-in-law operate at their homes, because of what he
termed the high quality of the services.The union and the charity have paid those firms at least $405,700 since January 2006, not counting any outlays this
year.Nelson Lichtenstein, director of UC Santa Barbara’s Center for the Study of Work, Labor and Democracy, said the local’s spending recalls the excesses of organized labor’s past.”It’s very important for unions not to do this kind of thing,” he said. “Union
leadership is a public trust — all the more so when the people being represented are among the lowest-paid in America.”Based on documents filed with the Labor Department and Internal Revenue Service, the Guidestar nonprofit database, business records submitted to
several state and local agencies and numerous interviews, a Times investigation has also found that:* Payments to the company owned by Freeman’s wife were among the local’s largest single expenses last year. Payments by the charity, the Homecare
Workers Training Center, to his mother-in-law’s firm represented more than 10% of the nonprofit’s total annual
expenditures.* A housing corporation that Freeman helped found as a nonprofit has not been granted the IRS tax-exempt status it sought and was suspended from doing business in California. It also has claimed on its website to have a “strong
relationship” with the prominent California Community Foundation, which says it has no such relationship.* The union spent at least $123,000 more on the fund-raising tournament at the Four Seasons Resort in Carlsbad than it received in reimbursements, according
to Labor Department filings and interviews. Freeman said the event made money for the charity. The union’s expenditures included $100,000 in payments to entities associated with former professional football star Eric Dickerson,
which have been suspended from doing business in California. The payments were listed as donations to nonprofits, not as fund-raising expenses.* The local’s nearly $10,000
tab at the Grand Havana Room, a cigar lounge known for its celebrity clientele and invitation-only memberships, was for “lodging,” according to the union’s annual financial report. A Grand Havana spokeswoman
said the club does not provide accommodations. Freeman declined to characterize the expenditure, and after The Times inquired about it, he said he had refunded it.Freeman’s local has grown dramatically in recent years, largely because of a
consolidation campaign spearheaded by Andy Stern, president of the 2-million-member SEIU. The local is SEIU’s biggest California chapter, the second biggest in the nation — and it is bigger than many international
unions. Freeman also represents 30,000 workers as president of an affiliate, California United Homecare Workers.Stern, among the most influential labor leaders in America, has denounced excessive pay and perks for union officials.
He and
his spokesman would not answer questions about Freeman, who ranks among the country’s better-paid local labor chiefs, receiving $213,000 in salary and other compensation in 2007.In an e-mail, Stern spokesman Steve Trossman said: “As far as I can determine,
the International Union has not received allegations concerning [Freeman’s local]. If the International Union receives allegations about a local that warrant further action, we have internal union procedures for handling them.”
Video productionFreeman’s wife, Pilar Planells, 28, was a union staff member until 2006, earning more than $50,000 as an executive assistant. She left the local to pursue an entertainment industry career, according to another former employee.
That year, Freeman’s local paid roughly $36,000 to Planells’ firm, Lotus Seven Productions. In 2007, the local paid the company about $178,000, annual financial reports filed
with the Labor Department show.Labor Department officials said they have no record that Freeman filed a 2006 disclosure form that requires union officers to reveal payments to entities in which a spouse has an interest.
The officials said Freeman filed the 2007 form more than four months after the deadline, on July 17, about a week after The Times raised questions about the payments to Lotus Seven.He also did not identify his wife on the financial reports as the owner of the
firm.Freeman said Lotus Seven has produced 10 videos that promote the local’s work and have been shown on lease-access cable channels. He said that the company won the contract through a competitive bidding process and that his wife did
not personally profit from the payments to her company.”She only gets reimbursements,” Freeman said. “She does not profit at all.”Freeman said Lotus Seven had other paying
clients, but he declined to provide their names or respond to questions about whether the firm received more payments from the union this year.Pilar Planells, who also uses the stage name Pilar Sharai, declined to be
interviewed. In a letter to The Times, she said of the video contract: “Any money that was left over after paying staff and expenses went back into the company.”Los Angeles city officials said Lotus Seven does not have a business license
for the couple’s Studio City address. No other address for the firm could be found, nor could a phone listing.Freeman said that a union committee solicited bids before awarding the contract. The local did not respond to questions about the bidding process.
“At one time it was on our website, I do remember that,” Freeman said of efforts to advertise for bids. “And then that was it, I mean, and the word goes out. . . . I stayed away from
it.”Two losing bidders for the video contract, Freeman said, were Grand Ma’s Watching Productions, whose incorporation papers list former union employee Brian Cheatham as chief financial officer, and The Filming Inc.
The two entities still received money from the union, according to the local’s Labor Department reports.Last year, the local paid about $147,000 to Grand Ma’s Watching for other video work, Freeman said. It paid the company about $72,000 in 2006 for consulting.
Calls to Grand Ma’s Watching, which produces music and awards show videos, were not returned.The Filming was paid nearly $106,000 by the union, but Freeman said he had no information about the entity or the work it performed.
“I would suggest you track them down,” he said.The union’s financial report forms describe $82,000 of the payments to The Filming as a contribution to a nonprofit organization; the
other $23,650 was reported as advertising and promotional expenses for the golf tournament.No state incorporation record or IRS nonprofit listing for The Filming could be found, and the Los Angeles address given for it on the union’s financial report
could not be located. L.A. city officials said no business license has been issued for a company of that name at such an address.Day-care contractCarmen Planells, Freeman’s mother-in-law, provides day care at her Los Angeles
home. Her business had been receiving more than $90,000 annually for the past several years from the training center that Freeman founded as a separate nonprofit and chairs, according to IRS filings and interviews. Freeman’s wife
and brother-in-law, Hernando Planells Jr., are listed in state documents as officers in the mother-in-law’s business.Freeman said the day-care contract was awarded to Carmen Planells several
years before his 2006 marriage to her daughter. The state birth registry shows that Freeman and Pilar Planells are the parents of a daughter born in 2001.Asked about the day-care payments, Freeman responded, “She wasn’t my
mother-in-law when she got the contract.”Freeman said the day care was available to anyone who applied for it and that he did not use it. He added that his mother-in-law has been providing the service since 2000. IRS records show that the training center began reporting
itemized payments for day care — initially about $92,000 — in 2002.In a telephone interview, Carmen Planells said she still had the day-care contract. “Is there something wrong with that?” she said, before declining to
answer more questions.After The Times inquired about the contract, Freeman said the training center’s board would review it.Hernando Planells Jr., listed in state records as
one of three officers of the day-care service, was also coach of the Hollywood Fame, a former American Basketball Assn. franchise, according to the team’s general manager, Carl Williams. The team received $16,000 from Freeman’s local in 2006, the union’s
financial report shows.Freeman did not respond to questions about the payment, and Hernando Planells Jr. could not be reached.Another sports undertaking was the Four Seasons golf tournament last year,
which Freeman said netted $80,000 to $100,000 for the training center and the housing group. The Long-Term Care Housing Corp. is a separate entity from the local, but its “primary goal” is to help union members obtain affordable
housing, according to its website.The local’s financial report shows that it spent $418,000 on the event, not counting about $7,000 in unspecified lodging costs at the Four Seasons. That was at least $123,000 more
than the local received in return. Some reimbursements may still be outstanding, Freeman said.Lichtenstein said the tournament spending was troubling under any circumstances.”I don’t care if they’re making money or not,” he said. “It’s disconnected from
the world of the people they’re representing. No one’s playing golf who’s a home healthcare worker.”The local’s costs for the tournament included a combined $100,000 in payments to two entities associated with Dickerson, the former Los Angeles Rams running
back and a co-host of the golfing fund-raiser. Another NFL Hall of Famer and tournament host, Jackie Slater, was paid $30,000 in consulting fees.Freeman said the gridiron greats helped raise much more money than the sum paid
to the Dickerson entities and Slater. Dickerson “only got a portion of what he raised,” Freeman said. “If he didn’t raise it, he wouldn’t have got
it.”Dickerson did not respond to interview requests.In a brief phone interview, Slater said a former teammate had asked him several years ago to “help the workers” by hosting the tournament.
The union money that went to the Eric Dickerson Foundation and “Dickerson Sports” was recorded on the local’s financial report as contributions to nonprofits, not as fund-raising expenses for the tournament.
The state Franchise Tax Board has suspended Dickerson Sports from doing business for failing to file a statement of corporate officers in 1999, a spokesman said.The tax board has also suspended the Dickerson foundation for failing to file
numerous tax returns, the spokesman, John Barrett, added. Dickerson Properties has been suspended for not submitting tax returns or a corporate statement of officers, Barrett said. All the suspensions remain in force.
In addition, the tax board
suspended Long Term Care Housing Corp.’s right to do business because it had not filed tax returns since Freeman founded it in 2004.After the Times inquired about the suspensions, a law firm for the housing
entity said in a memo that tax-exempt status had been “delayed” because the IRS had made a “routine” request for additional information. The memo did not say when the request was made.The memo said the housing organization has filed its tax returns. As a result,
the Franchise Tax Board lifted the suspension Thursday, a spokeswoman said.On its website, the corporation says it has “a strong relationship with the California Community Foundation, and they are currently building 13 new homes”
in Lancaster. It said the foundation was “helping us purchase land.”"No one here has ever heard of the group,” said California Community spokeswoman Namju Cho. She said the foundation asked the
corporation to remove the statement from the website, and the corporation did so this week.The site lists a Bell Gardens address for the corporation. County property records show that the address is that of a home owned by Freeman’s former chief
of staff, Rickman Jackson, who now heads a local in Michigan. He did not return phone calls.Freeman said he did not know if the housing organization paid Rickman for use of his residence.All of the local’s expenses were justified, Freeman said, including $41,500
last year at three restaurants. The union had tabs of $12,500 at Morton’s in Burbank. The restaurant bills were for meetings of the local’s executive board and “large numbers of workers,” he said.
William Morris, which represents people in the entertainment industry and provides consulting services to companies, received $106,000 from the union last year.Freeman and his
representatives said the contract was for public relations and advancing the union’s political agenda.In an e-mail, a William Morris spokesman said the agency provided the union with strategic analysis and “advice and counsel” in such areas as media and
“membership awareness.”Neither Freeman nor the William Morris spokesman, Christian Muirhead, would offer specific examples of the agency’s services to the union. Freeman said the contract had nothing to do with his wife’s entertainment industry work.
August 10th, 2008 at 8:30 am08
Hi SMART Activists!
Here is a follow up blog on the Tyrone Freeman article posted on The Blockbuster Democracy Blog by Joe Mathews. FYI.
The Blockbuster Democracy Blog
http://www.newamerica.net/blog/blockbuster-democracy/2008/test-union-leadership-5960
A Test For Union Leadership
Joe Mathews -
August 9, 2008 - 7:25am
The LA Times today published an excellent investigative story on Tyrone Freeman, the leader of California’s largest SEIU local, which represents home health care givers. It’s an outrageous tale of self-dealing, with money from union affiliates going to the business pursuits of Freeman’s wife and mother-in-law.
Freeman is a young and talented leader; I saw that firsthand as a reporter covering labor for the LA Times in 2006. Freeman is popular within the union movement, and close to SEIU’s international president, Andy Stern. (The last time I saw Freeman, he and Stern were sitting down to a meal at the Pacific Dining Car). So this is going to be a difficult test of the union movement in LA and nationallly. But it’s a test. Freeman needs to step down and offer a full-throated apology. The union needs to ask for an independent audit of the local. And the public needs to hear immediately from union leadership — Stern, county labor chief Maria Elena Durazo, other top SEIU leaders such as janitors’ union chief Mike Garcia — about how such conduct must not be permitted in the movement. So far, the silence is deafening. Stern, in the story, refuses to address the conduct in question. That won’t cut it.
Why does the action need to be so clear-cut? Because the labor movement is on the rise in Los Angeles. To attend a city council meeting or a mayoral press conference is to watch the labor movement governing the city. As the journalist Harold Meyerson has written, the rise of the LA unions as a labor force has been aided by the widespread perception that our unions are not old-style, corrupt empires. This is supposed to be new labor. The public needs to see transparency and accountability in the response to this.
As for Freeman, I hope he can make amends for this conduct and have a future in the labor movement. But it can’t be as president of this local.
August 10th, 2008 at 8:30 am08
Hi Folks,
Freeman doesn’t mention in this Press Release that all SEIU Local 6434 E-Board members are appointed, not elected:
http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/seiu-6434-invites-international-union/story.aspx?guid=%7B8C5D91F6-2577-4E3F-9B4E-085D0496DFFB%7D&dist=hppr
~Catherine
SEIU 6434 Invites International Union to Review Its Book
Last update: 5:51 p.m. EDT Aug. 9, 2008
LOS ANGELES, Aug 09, 2008 (BUSINESS WIRE) — SEIU 6434 says today’s Los Angeles Times story regarding expenditures of SEIU 6434 and its vendors was not only misleading but also failed to mention that ALL expenditures are approved by the union’s 55 member Executive Board and vendor contracts are approved by the Executive Committee - which are solely comprised of long-term care workers who are members of the union.
“SEIU 6434 is an organization run by its members for its members,” stated Tyrone Freeman, President of SEIU 6434. “We take these mischaracterizations by the LA Times seriously and have invited our International Union to review our books at its earliest convenience. We are confident that the findings of this review will reinforce the integrity of our organization.”
SOURCE: SEIU 6434
For SEIU 6434
Scott Mann, 323-333-4850
Copyright Business Wire 2008
August 10th, 2008 at 8:30 am08
Julian, sounds like some deal making here. Information is still kind of sketchy and lacks details. I’ll do some inquiry on this. Here is the article from the times:
LOS ANGELES
Mandatory furloughs out
Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa on Thursday scrapped plans for $23 million in mandatory worker furloughs after reaching an agreement with city employee unions to cut costs elsewhere.
The mayor and the Coalition of L.A. City Unions agreed to only $3 million in furloughs, or unpaid days off, all of them voluntary. Mandatory furloughs had been considered a pivotal part of the mayor’s plan to eliminate a $406-million budget shortfall. Villaraigosa spokesman Matt Szabo said, however, that the mayor was happy to avoid such a move. “This is the same amount of savings without a cut in service,” he said.
Barbara Maynard, a spokeswoman for the union coalition, said her group’s employees agreed to make up for some of the shortfall by applying $18.25 million in unused healthcare funds toward the city budget. City workers also agreed to pay more for prescription drugs — a move that would reduce city spending by about $1.6 million.
August 11th, 2008 at 8:30 am08
Hi SMART Folks!
The prominent California Political blog Calitics and the blog Factesque have also picked up on the story of massive corruption at Local 6434. You will find those reports below. In addition to this the story has run in The San Francisco Examiner, The Fresno Bee, The Santa Cruz Sentinel, Blognet News and the bay Area Indy Media Center. It appears that the story has been picked up by the Associated Press and will no doubt spread far and wide.
Below are two of the blog reports and comments from SMART Activist Dan Mariscal on the situation:
I think that what Stern & Company does about this should be compared to what they tried to do with Sal Rosselli. Let’s see them throw the book at Freeman, one of their insiders. I also think that the Department of Labor should take close look as to whether some International honchos had any knowledge or should have had knowledge of what was going on. Stern sure seemed to keep a real sharp eye on Rosselli’s books. Did they do the same with Freeman’s books? If they did, why did it take the LA Times to break the story? Something just doesn’t quite add up here.
- Dan
SEIU Local President Enriches Self and Family with Member’s Dues
You hate to see this kind of shit.
For the better part of 3 decades, unions have been taking a beating from conservatives whose primary accusation has been corruption - that the union members’ dues often went to enrich union officials and their familes rather than to union business. It was a telling charge because it was so often true, and it has taken years for the Labor Movement to clean up its image (which it still hasn’t quite succeeded in doing) and just at the moment when it seems to be regaining some of its prestige, some jackass labor leader has to go and pull something like this.
The Los Angeles-based union, which represents low-wage caregivers, also spent nearly $300,000 last year on a Four Seasons Resorts golf tournament, a Beverly Hills cigar club, restaurants such as Morton’s steakhouse and a consulting contract with the William Morris Agency, the Hollywood talent shop, records show.
In addition, the union paid six figures to a video firm whose principals include a former union employee. And a now-defunct minor league basketball team coached by the president’s brother-in-law received $16,000 for what the union described as public relations, according to the union’s U.S. Labor Department filings and interviews.
Most of the 160,000 people represented by the union, a local chapter of the nation’s fastest-growing labor organization, the Service International Employees Union, earn $9 an hour or slightly more tending to the infirm and disabled in private homes under taxpayer-funded programs. The workers, whose dues fill the local’s coffers, often are described as “the poor caring for the poor.” In its Labor Department filings, the local, headed by Tyrone Freeman, has reported more liabilities than assets for each of the last three years.
Freeman, who leads the United Long-Term Care Workers, said he and his union have done nothing wrong. “Every expenditure has been in the context of fighting poverty,” he said.
A rising star in labor circles, Freeman, 38, said the union’s members have benefited from the money spent on the video production and day-care companies that his wife and mother-in-law operate at their homes, because of what he termed the high quality of the services.
The union and the charity have paid those firms at least $405,700 since January 2006, not counting any outlays this year.
To be fair, $90K/yr is not all that much depending on what kind of day-care center she’s running, and it’s a pittance when it comes to shooting and disseminating film or video, but that’s hardly the point.
The point should be obvious.
Nelson Lichtenstein, director of UC Santa Barbara’s Center for the Study of Work, Labor and Democracy, said the local’s spending recalls the excesses of organized labor’s past.
“It’s very important for unions not to do this kind of thing,” he said. “Union leadership is a public trust — all the more so when the people being represented are among the lowest-paid in America.”
And they are. It’s unconscionable to have a union leader blowing his family to big spreads of cash at a time when most of the members have yet to break $15/hr. $10/hr, even. The details leave some room for doubt and a lot of questions but the clincher is the pathetically inane responses by Freeman as he tries to excuse or explain what he’s done.
* Payments to the company owned by Freeman’s wife were among the local’s largest single expenses last year. Payments by the charity, the Homecare Workers Training Center, to his mother-in-law’s firm represented more than 10% of the nonprofit’s total annual expenditures.
* A housing corporation that Freeman helped found as a nonprofit has not been granted the IRS tax-exempt status it sought and was suspended from doing business in California. It also has claimed on its website to have a “strong relationship” with the prominent California Community Foundation, which says it has no such relationship.
* The union spent at least $123,000 more on the fund-raising tournament at the Four Seasons Resort in Carlsbad than it received in reimbursements, according to Labor Department filings and interviews. Freeman said the event made money for the charity. The union’s expenditures included $100,000 in payments to entities associated with former professional football star Eric Dickerson, which have been suspended from doing business in California. The payments were listed as donations to nonprofits, not as fund-raising expenses.
That’s part of part of the list. And Freeman? “Every expenditure has been in the context of fighting poverty”? Whose? His wife’s and his mother-in-law’s?
SEIU itself claims it knows nuzzink, NUZZINK!
[Andy] Stern spokesman Steve Trossman said: “As far as I can determine, the International Union has not received allegations concerning [Freeman’s local]. If the International Union receives allegations about a local that warrant further action, we have internal union procedures for handling them.”
Yes, and I wonder what those might be?
Gawdammit. The Labor Movement doesn’t need this crap. Neither do its supporters.
FYI.
http://calitics.com/
SEIU Local 6434 Faces Financial Criticism
by: Robert in Monterey
Sat Aug 09, 2008 at 15:44:56 PM PDT
A major article in today’s LA Times alleges Tyrone Freeman and SEIU Local 6434 routinely misused local funds, including giving contracts to family members:
The Los Angeles-based union, which represents low-wage caregivers, also spent nearly $300,000 last year on a Four Seasons Resorts golf tournament, a Beverly Hills cigar club, restaurants such as Morton’s steakhouse and a consulting contract with the William Morris Agency, the Hollywood talent shop, records show.
In addition, the union paid six figures to a video firm whose principals include a former union employee. And a now-defunct minor league basketball team coached by the president’s brother-in-law received $16,000 for what the union described as public relations, according to the union’s U.S. Labor Department filings and interviews.
It’s not clear if there are any legal violations here, and Freeman and his family members deny that there was anything inappropriate in the contracts and spending:
“Every expenditure has been in the context of fighting poverty,” [Freeman] said…. Freeman, 38, said the union’s members have benefited from the money spent on the video production and day-care companies that his wife and mother-in-law operate at their homes, because of what he termed the high quality of the services.
The article goes on to detail the expenditures and flaws with them, some of which went to nonprofits in trouble with the IRS and “entities” associated with former LA Rams star Eric Dickerson that have been suspended from doing business in California.
Labor unions constantly have to battle the usually false perception that they misuse funds, and face a well-funded right-wing campaign that seeks to undermine unions for even the slightest error. Most unions, including those I’ve been a part of, are very scrupulous about how they use money to avoid even the appearance of impropriety, so I am very surprised to hear that this was going on.
And I’m not alone in that. The article quotes Nelson Liechtenstein, one of the nation’s leading labor historians, as follows:
It’s very important for unions not to do this kind of thing,” he said. “Union leadership is a public trust — all the more so when the people being represented are among the lowest-paid in America.”…
Lichtenstein said the [$418,000 golf] tournament spending was troubling under any circumstances.
“I don’t care if they’re making money or not,” he said. “It’s disconnected from the world of the people they’re representing. No one’s playing golf who’s a home healthcare worker.
And Joe Matthews at Blockbuster Democracy blog is even more critical, calling for Freeman’s resignation:
So this is going to be a difficult test of the union movement in LA and nationallly. But it’s a test. Freeman needs to step down and offer a full-throated apology. The union needs to ask for an independent audit of the local. And the public needs to hear immediately from union leadership — Stern, county labor chief Maria Elena Durazo, other top SEIU leaders such as janitors’ union chief Mike Garcia — about how such conduct must not be permitted in the movement. So far, the silence is deafening. Stern, in the story, refuses to address the conduct in question. That won’t cut it.
Why does the action need to be so clear-cut? Because the labor movement is on the rise in Los Angeles. To attend a city council meeting or a mayoral press conference is to watch the labor movement governing the city. As the journalist Harold Meyerson has written, the rise of the LA unions as a labor force has been aided by the widespread perception that our unions are not old-style, corrupt empires. This is supposed to be new labor. The public needs to see transparency and accountability in the response to this.
As for Freeman, I hope he can make amends for this conduct and have a future in the labor movement. But it can’t be as president of this local.
Matthews has it exactly right. The SEIU leadership needs to show that they won’t tolerate this kind of action within their ranks. Union democracy is important, and so is union accountability, union honesty, and union ethics. The misdeeds of one local unfortunately tend to get used to attack the labor movement as a whole - and Andy Stern and Tyrone Freeman in particular owe that movement answers and action.
August 11th, 2008 at 8:30 pm08
For the health benefit year that begins January 2009, the Joint Labor-Management Benefits Committee increased the pharmacy co-pay from $5 (generic) and $10 (brand name) to $10 (generic) and $20 (brand) for Kaiser only.
As part of an overall coalition agreement, this ends the threatened $23 million in mandatory furloughs and ends proposals to change the Civil Service rules to gut seniority.
The Union’s sent out a blast e-mail & worksite updates are in the mail.
August 11th, 2008 at 8:30 pm08
_____________________________________________________
SEIU Sending Team to Review Finances at Local 6434, United Long Term Care Workers Union
Last update: 10:32 a.m. EDT Aug. 10, 2008
LOS ANGELES, Aug 10, 2008 /PRNewswire-USNewswire via COMTEX/ — The Service Employees International Union will send a review team to Los Angeles this week to investigate allegations concerning the financial practices at Local 6434, United Long Term Care Workers Union. The review team will come to Los Angeles after reviewing books and records at United Healthcare Workers — West in Oakland, a review ordered by SEIU in the wake of an improper transfer of $3 million in dues money to an outside fund that was uncovered earlier this year.
SEIU treats allegations of financial impropriety seriously wherever they occur. We are fully investigating the issues that have been raised, and will take any appropriate action to ensure that SEIU members’ rights and dues are protected.
SOURCE Service Employees International Union
___________________________________________________________________________
SMART Activist Howie Rotman’s Comments:
International SEIU 8/ 10 / 08 press release regarding United Healthcare Workers- West wrongly focuses attention on United Healthcare Workers-West, instead of on Andy Stern appointees in Local 6434.
The state court suit SEIU International filed against UHW board members and their local over allegedly improper transfer of UHW education trust funds was just dismissed.
The LA Times breaking news is the REAL ISSUE that needs to be looked at by SEIU International, although Int’l SEIU press release only gives graphic innuendo regarding a case already dismissed in Court.
SEIU 8/10/ 08 press release regarding review of finances at Local 6434 is focused on investigation of finances of United Healthcare Workers- West, which Washington SEIU feels is first priority.
The August 10 SEIU press release makes it look like big problem is with corruption in United Healthcare Workers-West, but Washington SEIU gives no details -[ see LA 8/9/08 LA Times breaking news]- in Press Release regarding the level of corruption in Local 6434, which is governed by Andy Stern appointees.
If there was a “case” against United Healthcare -West, this would have surfaced prior to the June convention, or at the June convention.
*******************************
SMART Activist Catherine Alexander’s Comments:
Yes, they should also investigate Kristy Sermersheim for holding SEIU management staff retreats at Hayes Mansion over several 3-day sessions, with full day-long catering, on our dime. Our union hall has a huge great room which is almost always completely empty.
Not to mention the $60K budgeted for parties to celebrate the birthday of SEIU 521, which almost no one attended.
Catherine Alexander
SEIU 521 steward
******************************
Quick Summary of SEIU Reformers Call Yesterday
by Brian Cruz of SEIU 1021
(Can someone send this to Andrea Grimes, Catherine Bremer, and Harry Baker
and non-employer addresses as they were invited originally? Also, feel
free to forward to others!)
On the call we had SEIU 1021 (Jon Meade, Alysabeth Alexander, Roxanne
Sanchez, Larry Bradshaw, Brian Cruz, and late was Larry Bevan), SEIU
UHW (Maya Morris, Porfirio ), SEIU 1000 (Donna Snodgrass, Ed Perez)
We decided to have an event/meeting for SEIU reformers from open to all locals on Sunday, 9/21, (earlier in the day was better) locals to
discuss strategy and form a common working agenda for SEIU reformers
use the upcoming elections merged locals as the main topic of discussion and focus of work
invite Mike Parker of Labor Notes (co-author of Democracy is Power) to discuss union democracy with a focus on elections (eg,aid current debates such as present pros/cons to prioritizing more getting good bylaws or the election itself). Larry will call
start having regular meetings to not only for coordination both inside and between locals, but also as a place to plug people into
have these meetings to air out debates and form a common agenda if possible
ensure that the reform movement is not isolated because it will be easily defeated if it is
ALSO, we need to decide on an exact location and time over e-mail. There’re two ideas of UHW’s SF office on Mission and at Alysabeth’s office in the Tenderloin.
Our next meeting will be after the SMART session at UHW’s leadership conference in San Jose in the afternoon on Friday, 9/5.
Everyone on the call was invited to the conference which will take place on Sept 4-5 in San Jose. e-mail mayaseiu@yahoo.com for the conference application.
It was noted that UHW’s fight against the Intl Union is the most significant fight taking place right now that needs our support. The fact that Tyrone’s 6434 has now been exposed for massive corruption gives us a lot of leverage. Donna will see if there’s a connection between Tyrone and SEIU 1000’s president regarding the corruption.
Outreach! We decided that it’s better to err on inviting too many people rather than to be careful about who we do and do not invite. We’ll have to deal with others who are against us anyway, and they’ll find out anyway. That said,
SEIU 1021 has important dates coming up. 8/23, 9/14, the MAC meeting, and others to which we should bring flyers and do the work of reaching out to people about what we’re doing and about this meeting on 9/21.
Roxanne will reach out to 521 folks she meet at the Convention
Maya will send this out to the SMART list (well, ones in NorCal)
Brian will draft a flyer
August 12th, 2008 at 8:30 am08
Tyrone Freeman’s Response to the LA Times article:
Response To The Times
As you may have read, Saturday’s Los Angeles Times ran a story that was an attack on me and our union. The story was motivated by an internal union conflict involving one of our sister unions. What is most unfortunate is that the Los Angeles Times failed to inform its readers that our elected Executive Board and its committees – which are comprised of 55 long-term care workers, review all of our expenses and vendor contracts. This procedure is just one of many to ensure that SEIU 6434 is a union of its members that is run by its members.
I want to reassure our members that we have taken this attack seriously and immediately extended an invitation to the International Union to review our finances at their earliest convenience. There is no doubt in my mind that this review will reinforce the integrity of our organization and put into perspective the vast misrepresentations made in the Los Angeles Times story.
August 12th, 2008 at 8:30 am08
An administrative law judge has found that persons claiming to represent SEIU Local 715 engaged in unfair labor practices in dealings with Stanford Hospital & Clinics and Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital, Stanford said Friday.
Information that the hospitals had requested to determine if Local 715 still was in existence and representing employees at the hospital was not provided, Stanford said, adding that the judge said “the substantial weight of the evidence reflects that the employer’s … information requests were both relevant and necessary for the employer to determine the identity of the labor organization with which it had an obligation to bargain.”
Greg Souza, vice president of human resources for Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital, said in a prepared statement, “We have doubted for some time that Local 715 continued to exist as a union and are pleased with this ruling.”
Souza said the international union directed the leadership of Local 715 — which has since merged into a new union, Local 521 — to transfer employee representation to yet another union. That one was United Healthcare Workers, Souza said, adding that all the moves were made without the employees’ consent.
SEIU Local 715 represented approximately 1450 housekeepers, food service workers, nursing assistants, phlebotomists, unit secretaries, transporters and employees in non-technical and non-professional titles at the hospitals.
These employees will keep their jobs but without representation. “These employees have the same rights, pay and benefits whether represented by a union or not,” said Souza.
Silicon Valley / San Jose Business Journal
August 13th, 2008 at 8:30 am08
The latest from the LA Times on the scandal in the second largest union in SEIU
led by Stern/Burger’s appointee:
http://www.latimes.com/news/la-me-union12-2008aug12,0,5733589.story
Meanwhile, Stern/Burger drag their feet. Aren’t they breaching their financial
duty by not acting swiftly?
Who’s next?
Full article:
Investigation of spending by care workers’ union is sought
Caregivers’ advocates react to report on United Long-Term Care Workers and its
chief, Tyrone Freeman. With 160,000 members, the local is the largest in
California.
By Paul Pringle
Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
August 12, 2008
Advocates for low-wage caregivers called on authorities Monday to investigate
the spending practices of a Los Angeles union and a related charity that have
paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to firms owned by the wife and
mother-in-law of the labor organization’s leader.
“This is very serious,” County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky, whose 1990s
legislation allowed the union to organize home-care workers here, said of the
financial transactions disclosed by The Times.
“The authorities responsible for policing these kinds of things ought to review
these allegations, and if there is any merit to it, delve into it and get to
the bottom of it,” he said.
Most of the 160,000 people represented by the United Long-Term Care Workers,
the largest union local in California, earn $9 per hour or slightly more
tending to the elderly and infirm in their residences, under taxpayer-funded
programs. Others work in nursing homes.
Patricia L. McGinnis, executive director of the California Advocates for
Nursing Home Reform, said the union president, Tyrone Freeman, should be
removed from office until any government probe of the union’s spending is
complete.
“I don’t see how these expenditures can be justified,” she said. “It’s
shocking.”
U.S. Department of Labor spokesman Loren Smith declined to say whether the
agencywould launch an inquiry, but added that its enforcement arm has “the
ability to investigate based on almost any source of information, including
media reports.”
The Times reported Saturday that the union and charity had paid at least
$405,700 since 2006 — not counting any outlays this year — to the firms owned
by relatives of Freeman, who is chairman of the nonprofit’s board.
In addition, the union last year spent nearly $300,000 on a Four Seasons
Resorts golf tournament, a Beverly Hills cigar club, restaurants such as
Morton’s and a consulting contract with the William Morris Agency, the
Hollywood talent shop, records show.
The union paid a combined $219,000 in 2006 and 2007 to a video firm whose
principals include a former employee of the local, according to Labor
Department filings and interviews. And a now-defunct minor league basketball
team that Freeman’s brother-in-law coached received $16,000 for what the union
described as public relations.
The local paid about $106,000 to a firm called the Filming, for which no
incorporation record, business license, address or telephone listing could be
found.
Freeman, who is also president of a 30,000-worker affiliate of the
long-term-care union, has denied any wrongdoing. He said the money spent on his
wife’s video company and mother-in-law’s day-care firm benefited his members
because of what he termed the high quality of the services.
A Freeman spokesman did not respond to questions Monday. On the union’s
website, Freeman said the Times story was “an attack on me and our union” and
contained “vast misrepresentations,” which he did not specify. He said all the
expenditures detailed by The Times were approved by the union’s board and that
the local welcomed an audit by the SEIU.
The SEIU’s Washington, D.C., headquarters said it was sending a team to review
the local’s books.
“We’ll take a look at things and see where we go from there,” said Steve
Trossman, spokesman for SEIU President Andy Stern. He would not elaborate, and
Stern has declined to be interviewed.
Freeman has been a rising star under Stern, who is among the nation’s most
influential labor leaders. In 2006, Stern appointed Freeman to head the L.A.
local after it had been expanded through a consolidation of several chapters.
Freeman had been president of one. Under a pending consolidation proposal, his
local would pick up 65,000 more workers from a Bay Area chapter.
On Monday, Los Angeles County Federation of Labor officials also would not
speak about Freeman’s local. “It would be unfair of us to comment on this
matter since we are unaware and have not been involved with the internal
decisions made by that organization,” federation spokeswoman Mary Gutierrez
said in an e-mail.
The Times reported Saturday that the payments to the company owned by Freeman’s
wife, Pilar Planells, were among the local’s largest single expenses last year,
at about $178,000. Planells has said she did not personally profit.
Payments by the charity, the Homecare Workers Training Center, to the firm
owned by Freeman’s mother-in-law, Carmen Planells, represented more than 10% of
the nonprofit’s total annual expenditures.
Also, a housing corporation that Freeman helped found four years ago as a
nonprofit has not been granted the IRS tax-exempt status it sought. It had said
on its website that it had a “strong relationship” with the California
Community Foundation, which told The Times it hadn’t heard of the group.
Meanwhile, the union spent at least $123,000 more on the fundraising tournament
at the Four Seasons Resort in Carlsbad than it received in reimbursements,
according to records and interviews. Freeman said the event made money for the
charity.
The union’s expenditures included $100,000 in payments to entities associated
with former professional football star Eric Dickerson. Those entities have been
suspended from doing business in California. Dickerson did not respond to
interview requests.
The local’s nearly $10,000 tab at the Grand Havana Room, a cigar lounge known
for its celebrity clientele, was for “lodging,” according to the union’s annual
financial report. A Grand Havana spokeswoman said the club does not provide
accommodations.
Freeman, who received about $213,000 in salary and other compensation last
year, declined to characterize the cigar expenditure. After The Times inquired
about it, he said he had refunded it.
August 15th, 2008 at 8:30 am08
August 14, 2008
Attn: Andy Stern, President, SEIU
Anna Burger, Secretary-Treasurer, SEIU
1800 Massachusetts Ave, NW
Washington DC, 20036
Re: Formal Charges Against SEIU Local 721 Appointed Leaders
On behalf of other concerned members of SEIU Local 721, we, the undersigned, file the following charges against Annelle (aka Cecilia) Grajeda for violating the following provisions of the International’s Constitution and Bylaws:
Article XVII, Section 1, (1), (2), (3), (5), (6) and (9).
We charge that Annelle Grajeda is employing her life partner, Alejandro Stephens, as a “lost-timer” for the local, which allows him to continue to receive the full benefits of county employment, including receiving a county paycheck appropriate to his payroll classification, while he is, simultaneously, also, on the payroll of the California State Council of Service Employees/Service Employees International Union. What work, specifically, is he doing for either entity?
Furthermore, Local 660/721 established and continues to provide support to the so-called “Local 660 Emergency Relief Fund, Inc”, a 501 (c) (3) non-profit organization which purports to provide emergency financial relief to Local 660/721 members in need. We want to determine, by name, who are the Board of Directors of this organization and if any of these directors is now receiving or has ever received a stipend or consulting fee, from this fund. Who, in fact, are the recipients of this relief and under what circumstances is this relief granted. Also, we are most alarmed that in 2006, the “Fund” paid out only $14,615.00 in contributions to members, while total expenditures of the “Fund”, in the same year, exceeded $157,000.00, including $81,251.00 for “professional fundraising fees”. Were these fees paid in a fashion that benefitted any staff or officers of Local 660/721, financially or otherwise?
Our serious concerns about these charges have been greatly elevated by the recently published article appearing in the Los Angeles Times, on August 9, regarding the alleged serious corruption and gross misuse of members’ dues monies by the President of Local 6434. We have grave concerns that this type of malfeasance may be possibly happening in our local union.
Therefore, in addition to the charges filed above, we, also, formally call on President Stern to immediately do a complete audit of Local 721’s finances to determine what, if any, union resources may have financially supported this alleged wrong-doing.
According to the statement made by SEIU representative Steve Trossman in the Los Angeles Times August 9 article, “if the International Union receives allegations about a local that warrants further action, we have internal union procedures for handling them”. We will take SEIU at its word and expect that immediate action will be taken regarding our concerns.
Respectfully,
Arturo Diaz
Shop Steward
Ron Tanner
Local 721 Retiree
August 18th, 2008 at 8:30 am08
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-union17-2008aug17,0,5401444.story
From the Los Angeles Times
U.S. investigates L.A.-based union’s election
The SEIU local allegedly made it nearly impossible for others to compete with the slate of leader Tyrone Freeman, whose financial dealings have drawn scrutiny.
By Paul Pringle
Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
10:41 PM PDT, August 16, 2008
The election of a Los Angeles union leader under fire for his labor group’s spending practices is the subject of a government review that could force a new vote because of complaints that the contest was unfair to challengers.
The U.S. Labor Department is investigating allegations that Tyrone Freeman’s union local made it nearly impossible for candidates not on his slate to qualify for the ballot, according to people familiar with the probe.
Freeman’s local, a chapter of the giant Service Employees International Union, has denied that the election rules were tilted against challengers. Freeman and his slate won by default because no challenger gathered enough signatures to make the ballot.
The dispute comes as the SEIU has begun rooting through Freeman’s books because of a Times report on the local’s finances, SEIU spokesman Steve Trossman said Friday.
Freeman’s local is called the United Long-Term Care Workers. Trossman said he hoped to have a preliminary report soon.
A source close to the union said Trossman was informed six years ago of allegations involving Freeman’s finances and personal relationships. It is unclear whether a review was undertaken at that time; Trossman said that the SEIU might have performed an audit of the local because of the allegations, but that he couldn’t be sure.
The source, who asked not to be identified because he feared retribution, said Trossman helped develop a strategy in 2002 to keep the allegations from embarrassing the SEIU at a time of epic membership growth.
Trossman’s efforts succeeded, the source said. Freeman’s local continued to expand as part of SEIU President Andy Stern’s much-celebrated campaign to organize entire industries state by state. The local and an affiliate ended up representing about 190,000 workers, most of them in the field of home healthcare.
Last week, Trossman said, “I don’t remember exactly what happened” in 2002.
Trossman said that he did remember a Times reporter calling him then about the allegations and that he believes he referred the inquiry to the local. Trossman said he did not talk to Freeman about the accusations, and does not recall whether Stern was informed.
The source, who told of discussing the allegations with Trossman, said they included complaints that Freeman fathered a child with a staffer, Pilar Planells, who later became his wife.
“Many people complained” that Planells was placed in a key administrative position after she started a relationship with Freeman, the source said. The source also said there were accusations that Freeman arbitrarily increased worker fees to pay the local’s bills, and that he spent too much money on perks such as cars for himself and favored lieutenants.
In an e-mail, Trossman said the union was “reviewing records and conducting interviews” at the local but offered no details.
A Freeman spokesman said in an e-mail that all the complaints about his spending practices and Pilar Planells were false.
Earlier this month, The Times reported that the local and a related charity had paid at least $405,700 since 2006 — not counting any outlays this year — to firms that Freeman’s wife and mother-in-law operate at their homes. The union also spent nearly $300,000 last year on a Four Seasons golf tournament, restaurants such as a Morton’s steakhouse, a Beverly Hills cigar lounge and William Morris Agency, the Hollywood talent house.
Freeman did not file any disclosure forms revealing the 2006 and 2007 payments to his wife’s video company, as required by federal law, until after The Times began inquiring about them last month, U.S. Labor Department officials say.
In response to the July inquiries, Trossman had issued a statement on behalf of Stern that said the union had received no allegations about Freeman’s local. Freeman denied any wrongdoing.
The source, who said he was party to internal conversations about Freeman in 2002, told The Times last week: “The international knew that there were allegations of impropriety many years ago. This is not news to them.”
Nelson Lichtenstein, director of UC Santa Barbara’s Center for the Study of Work, Labor and Democracy, said it appears that SEIU leaders, when confronted with qualms about Freeman, opted for a path taken by other union executives in similar straits.
“They say, ‘Let’s hope this thing goes away, ‘ ” he said. ” ‘When it becomes egg on your face, then you do something about it.’ ”
Lichtenstein said the union clearly had an “investment” in Freeman, a Stern protege who has been a high-profile loyalist in the SEIU push to consolidate regional locals into statewide chapters. That effort is being resisted by a handful of dissidents, notably the president of a 150,000-worker Oakland affiliate.
Stern wants to move 65,000 workers from that local to Freeman’s, a proposal that has triggered a nasty internecine fight.
The election dispute, meanwhile, centers on a requirement that prospective candidates collect about 4,800 signatures of dues payers within three weeks. Because most of the local’s members work in individual homes, gathering the signatures in that period was impossible, said Washington, D.C., labor attorney Arthur Fox, who has helped dissident union members challenge the election.
“It totally ensured the election of all the incumbent officers,” Fox said. Freeman and the other incumbents had been appointed before the election, after several locals were consolidated into one.
The Labor Department review has taken on a new context in light of The Times’ reports about the spending habits of Freeman’s local and a charity he founded.
In addition to the outlays to the firms owned by Freeman’s wife and mother-in-law, the union paid a combined $219,000 in 2006 and 2007 to a video firm whose principals include a former employee of Freeman. A now-defunct minor league basketball team coached by Freeman’s brother-in-law received $16,000 for what the union described as public relations, according to records and interviews.
The union also paid about $106,000 to a firm called The Filming, for which no incorporation record, business license, address or telephone listing could be found.
A second nonprofit that Freeman launched, the Long-Term Care Housing Corp., did not receive the tax-exempt status it sought, and had lost its right to do business in California because it failed to file tax returns, state and federal officials say. It claimed to have a “strong relationship” with the prominent California Community Foundation, which told The Times it had never heard of the group.
The address of the housing corporation, as listed on its website, is a Bell Gardens home owned by Freeman’s former chief of staff, Rickman Jackson, who now heads an SEIU local in Michigan, property records show. Jackson has not responded to interview requests, and the housing corporation has not answered questions about whether he has been paid for use of his residence.
Freeman has said all of the expenses of the union and the two nonprofits have benefited his members. He said he has refunded nearly $10,000 that the union paid to the Grand Havana Room, a cigar lounge known for its celebrity clientele and invitation-only memberships.
Peter Dreier, an Occidental College politics professor who studies labor, said Stern might have no option other than to place Freeman’s local under trusteeship and remove him.
“It’s a tragic situation,” said Dreier, who added that the local has done an excellent job in organizing workers. “The real question is will the union be weakened by this? If the SEIU cleans house and does what’s necessary, the union can continue to thrive.”
paul.pringle@latimes.com
******************************
LOCAL 1021 MEMBERS FILE CHARGES
Charges filed with Stern/Burger against Damita Davis-Howard, Josie Mooney and Mariam Steeg
SMART has just been informed that on or about August 9 or 10 Local 1021 members Larry Bevan, Oletha Hunt and Bryan Uyeno filed charges against Damita Davis-Howard, Josie Mooney and Mariam Steeg charging that in the Spring of this year, the above-named employees of SEIU Local 1021 used union resources, including staff time and records, to support the candidacies of certain Local 1021 members and staff who were running for delegate to the June 2008 SEIU Convention in San Juan, Puerto Rico, in violation, members believe, of federal labor law as well as Local 1021’s own policies and procedures and the SEIU International Constitution and Bylaws.
These members also charge that some or all of the above-named staff used Local 1021 and SEIU International resources to attack and malign the reputation of a fellow SEIU member. (Remember the Salsa Team?!)
Members stated that because these issues had been raised internally, and because no action was taken by the Stern appointed Local 1021 staff leaders, that they were formally calling on President Stern to assume original jurisdiction and oversee a hearing on these charges and asked for a complete audit of Local 1021’s finances to determine what, if any union resources financially supported the alleged charges.
August 19th, 2008 at 8:30 pm08
FBI investigating Delgadillo, paper says
Los Angeles City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo, a Democrat who has already run for statewide office once, is being investigated by the FBI, the San Francisco Chronicle reported today.
Delgadillo ran into troubles last year after he admitted that he had his city-owned SUV repaired after his wife ran into a pole in a parking lot. Taxpayers footed the bill. He also admitted using city workers to babysit his kids and run errands.
The Chronicle reports the investigation “appears to be a wide-ranging probe of Delgadillo.” Lance Wiliams, the reporter who broke many of the stories in the Barry Bonds steroids investigation series, is the lead reporter on today’s story:
Delgadillo, who is the city’s chief legal adviser and who has jurisdiction over the prosecution of all criminal misdemeanors in the city, has resisted allowing the city controller to audit $128 million in payouts from a workers’ compensation program supervised by his office, according to news reports.
The investigation is being run out of San Francisco because conflict of interest concerns might arise if the case were assigned to the U.S. attorney in Los Angeles, which sometimes works cases with the city attorney.
City attorney’s spokesman Nick Velasquez said Delgadillo knew nothing of an FBI investigation. “Any allegation of any wrongdoing is nothing more than trash,” he said. He blamed Delgadillo’s political opponents for pushing the story.
FBI spokesman Joseph Schadler said he could not confirm an investigation was under way.
The Chronicle also reported:
Another prospective target for investigators, said a source familiar with Delgadillo, was a local consulting business run by his wife, Michelle, a former city council aide. The firm had no business license and paid no state taxes for more than five years, records show. Velasquez, Delgadillo’s spokesman, said she corrected the problems after they were brought to her attention.
Delgadillo, a Democrat, lost in the 2006 primary for attorney general to Jerry Brown.
August 21st, 2008 at 8:30 am08
Hi SMART Activists!
Here’s the latest on Tyrone “Fancy Cigar” Freeman.
What happens to rank and file democracy when Local 6434 is put in “temporary trusteeship”? There is no democracy under a trusteeship. Once the trusteeship is lifted then SEIU International’s probable hand-picked leader will be able to run with the power of incumbency. By the time the law catches up with Tyrone no one is paying attention because he no longer heads a local so there’s no attention paid to his alleged misuse of member’s dues. Members can’t just let Tyrone slip out the back door! We can’t watch the rank and file who look to have been stolen from and deceived lose ANY small measure of democracy they might have had in 6434. This is indicative of Stern’s mis-management of SEIU. Tyrone was his three time appointee! What did Stern know and when did he know it?
Just my opinion on this particular tun of events… Let’s talk more about this on the next SMART call.
Let SMART know what you think.
In Solidarity,
Maya
New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/21/us/21union.html?_r=1&pagewanted=print&oref=slogin
August 21, 2008
Union Leader’s Spending Scrutinized
By STEVEN GREENHOUSE
If anything symbolized the success of the Service Employees International Union, the nation’s fastest-growing union, it was the campaign in 1999 to organize 74,000 home care workers in Los Angeles County. It was the largest successful unionization drive in the nation since the 1930s.
But now the service employees’ union has been embarrassed by disclosures that the local representing those workers has paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to companies run by the wife and various friends of the local’s president, Tyrone Freeman.
Annual reports filed with the Labor Department show that the local paid $177,000 last year to a video production firm run by Mr. Freeman’s wife, Pilar Planells. The local’s training center has often paid more than $90,000 a year to a child care firm run by Mr. Freeman’s mother-in-law. In 2006, the local paid $16,000 to a basketball team coached by Mr. Freeman’s brother-in-law. The expenditures were first reported by The Los Angeles Times.
The service employees’ union announced Wednesday night that Mr. Freeman, wanting to clear up the matter, had asked the parent union to place his local in a temporary trusteeship. He also said he was taking a temporary leave of absence, effective immediately.
The spending by Mr. Freeman’s local, United Long-Term Care Workers, has brought a burst of questions and criticisms about whether a local that represents workers earning $9 an hour on average should be spending money this way. The local represents 155,000 workers who take care of the aged, infirm and disabled, usually in their homes.
“Long-term-care workers work hard, and they need a powerful union to serve their interests,” said Tim Jemal, a former spokesman for the local and a former consultant to the long-term-care division of the service employees’ union. “Reports of nepotism and lavish spending smack of hypocrisy. These actions betray the trust of the workers who place so much hope in the union to better their lives.”
The disclosures about Mr. Freeman, 38, have embarrassed Andy Stern, the service employees’ president, partly because he took Mr. Freeman from a union job in Georgia and appointed him first as the leader of one Los Angeles local, then to his position as head of Local 6434. That local was formed in 2006 when the union consolidated six smaller locals.
“A lot of us were excited that the S.E.I.U. organized home care workers because it meant it was representing the working poor,” said Nelson Lichtenstein, a labor expert at the University of California, Santa Barbara. “But then Tyrone Freeman comes along and tarnishes the image of the S.E.I.U.”
A spokesman for Mr. Freeman, Scott Mann, said Mr. Freeman was busy with meetings on Wednesday and was not available for an interview.
In a statement this month, Mr. Freeman said the accusations against him included many mischaracterizations.
Mr. Freeman has said that all the expenditures were aimed at helping his union’s members and were approved by the local’s 55-member board.
He said his wife’s firm, Lotus Seven, had won its contract through competitive bidding to make videos about the local.
The Los Angeles Times reported that Mr. Freeman had refunded $9,856 the union paid to a cigar lounge after its article appeared.
The disclosures about Mr. Freeman come as Mr. Stern has sought to transfer 65,000 home care workers into Mr. Freeman’s local from a local in Northern California that is led by an outspoken Stern critic, Sal Rosselli.
Mr. Rosselli, who has resisted efforts to move workers from his local, said, “We and many others in California and beyond have long been expressing concerns to Stern about the leadership of the long-term-care union here.”
Michelle Ringuette, a spokeswoman for Mr. Stern and the parent union, said the union takes these accusations seriously.
“We are in the middle of an intensive investigation,” she said. “At the same time, we owe our members and our leaders due process. We’re trying to get to the bottom of this.”
She added: “We have a record of responding, and we take action when we find evidence.”
Under Mr. Freeman, the local paid more than $400,000 to sponsor a charity golf tournament, which spent some $100,000 more than it took in. To help attract interest in the tournament, the union paid $50,000 to a former Los Angeles Rams running back, Eric Dickerson, and $50,000 to his foundation.
Mr. Freeman ran unopposed for president of the local last March, but the federal Labor Department is investigating complaints that the local had imposed unreasonable barriers to running. Its bylaws require members to collect more than 4,800 signatures to get on the ballot.
“These aren’t factory workers who can easily gather signatures on the factory floor or in a parking lot during a break,” said Arthur Fox, a lawyer for the worker who has challenged the election. “These workers are isolated. They don’t have a clue who else is in the union. It’s a totally onerous burden. It’s virtually impossible for a rank-and-file person to get all these signatures.”
Federal law bars unions from erecting unreasonable barriers to running for office.
************************
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-union21-2008aug21,0,1600346.story
From the Los Angeles Times
Tyrone Freeman steps down as head of SEIU chapter
President of California’s largest local says it will be placed under a temporary trustee after Los Angeles Times stories reported payments to firms owned by his wife and mother-in-law.
By Paul Pringle
Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
7:35 PM PDT, August 20, 2008
The head of California’s largest union local stepped down Wednesday in the wake of Times reports that the organization and a related charity paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to firms owned by his wife and mother-in-law.
Tyrone Freeman, president of the Service Employees International Union chapter, said in a written statement that he was taking a leave of absence and that the local would be placed in a temporary trusteeship.
“In order to ensure that any investigation of the allegations is fair and free from any question of interference or influence, I am taking a leave of absence effective immediately for the duration of the investigation,” the statement said. “I believe these steps will allow our union to continue to serve the best interests of our membership during this time.”
The statement was released by the Washington, D.C., office of SEIU President Andy Stern, who has nurtured Freeman’s career as the 160,000-member local has grown dramatically in recent years, largely through consolidations.
“These allegations are of serious concern to all of us and we support Mr. Freeman’s decision to put the best interests of the members first,” Stern spokeswoman Michelle Ringuette said in an e-mail.
In addition to the payments to his relatives’ firms, Freeman’s local, the United Long-Term Care Workers, spent nearly $300,000 last year on a Four Seasons Resort golf tournament, restaurants such as a Morton’s steakhouse, a Beverly Hills cigar club and the William Morris Agency, the Hollywood talent firm.
Freeman has denied any wrongdoing.
paul.pringle@latimes.com
August 21st, 2008 at 8:30 pm08
Tyrone Freeman steps aside as head of SEIU chapter
President of California’s largest local says it will be placed under a temporary trustee after Los Angeles Times stories reported payments to firms owned by his wife and mother-in-law.
By Paul Pringle, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
August 21, 2008
The head of California’s largest union local has stepped aside in the wake of Times reports that the organization and a related charity paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to firms owned by his wife and mother-in-law.
Tyrone Freeman, president of a Service Employees International Union chapter in Los Angeles, said in a written statement late Wednesday that he was taking a leave of absence and that the local would be placed in a temporary trusteeship.
* U.S. investigates L.A.-based union’s election
U.S. investigates L.A.-based union’s…
*
Union boss under fire: A Times Special Report
*
Union, charity paid thousands to firms owned by official’s relatives
“In order to ensure that any investigation of the allegations is fair and free from any question of interference or influence, I am taking a leave of absence effective immediately for the duration of the investigation,” the statement said. “I believe these steps will allow our union to continue to serve the best interests of our membership during this time.”
The statement was released by the Washington, D.C., office of SEIU President Andy Stern, who nurtured Freeman’s career as the 160,000-member local grew dramatically in recent years, largely through consolidations.
“These allegations are of serious concern to all of us and we support Mr. Freeman’s decision to put the best interests of the members first,” Stern spokeswoman Michelle Ringuette said in an e-mail.
In addition to the payments to his relatives’ firms, Freeman’s local, the United Long-Term Care Workers, spent nearly $300,000 last year on a Four Seasons Resort golf tournament, restaurants such as a Morton’s steakhouse, a Beverly Hills cigar club and the William Morris Agency, the Hollywood talent firm, The Times reported earlier this month.
Altogether, the payments to Freeman and the home-based companies operated by his relatives, and to a former union employee totaled more than $1 million in 2006 and 2007, records and interviews show. That includes Freeman’s salary and other union compensation. The workers whose dues fill the union’s coffers make about $9 an hour caring for the infirm and disabled.
Freeman, who is also president of a 30,000-member affiliate, California United Homecare Workers, has denied any wrongdoing. He could not be reached for comment Wednesday.
His departure comes as several union staff members told of being pressured by Freeman’s lieutenants to sign a petition in support of him. Some of those who initially refused were transferred to positions far from their homes, according to three staffers who asked not to be identified because they feared reprisals.
About 10 workers who balked at signing the petition had their union-provided cellphone service discontinued, the staffers said.
The petition cited recent “attacks” on Freeman and the local and said, “Let it be clear that we . . . proudly and firmly stand with President Freeman and the work of our local,” according to a copy the staffers provided.
“It’s essentially a loyalty oath,” said one of the workers. He said the atmosphere at the union has been “very tense. . . . There’s a lot of intimidation.”
A Freeman spokesman did not return a phone call and e-mail message seeking comment.
The Times earlier reported that the union has paid $219,000 to a small video firm run by Brian Cheatham, a former employee. Freeman denied in an interview that Cheatham was a close friend of his wife, Pilar Planells.
But three former union employees said in interviews this week that Cheatham and Planells did have a close relationship, and that Cheatham is close to Freeman as well. They said Cheatham is pictured as a member of Freeman’s wedding party on the website of a Hawaiian nuptials service, http://www.pacificaisles.com.
The former employees asked not to be named because they feared retaliation. Cheatham did not return a phone call and e-mail message seeking comment. Written questions submitted to Freeman through a spokesman were not answered.
Meanwhile, the chief executive officer of a Florida-based company said in an interview Wednesday that it has no record of receiving $82,000 that the union reported in U.S. Labor Department filings.
The financial reports describe the $82,000 paid to The Filming Inc. as a contribution to a nonprofit organization. The union also reported paying $23,650 to the firm for work on the golf tournament.
The local’s financial statements said The Filming is based in Los Angeles, but it is located in Palm Coast, Fla. Tracey Hicks, the chief executive officer, said the company did receive payment for a video crew, but not the $82,000.
“We have no record of that,” she said. “I would know, because we’re a small company.”
n an earlier interview, Freeman said he knew nothing about The Filming. “I suggest you track them down,” he said.
The SEIU national office has said it is conducting an audit of the local as a result of The Times’ reports. At the same time, the U.S. Labor Department is investigating complaints that the election of Freeman and his slate of officers was conducted in a way that made it nearly impossible for challengers to quality for the ballot, people familiar with the probe say.
* U.S. investigates L.A.-based union’s election
U.S. investigates L.A.-based union’s…
*
Union boss under fire: A Times Special Report
*
Union, charity paid thousands to firms owned by official’s relatives
Labor Department officials have declined to confirm that the election inquiry is underway, or to say whether they are investigating the union’s spending practices.
Another Stern spokesman, Steve Trossman, has said the SEIU had received no allegations of financial irregularities by Freeman until The Times raised questions about the local’s finances last month. But a source close to the union has said that Trossman was informed six years ago of some concerns about Freeman’s spending habits and his having fathered a child with Planells, who was then a union staffer.
Trossman has said he remembers little about those reports, including whether he had alerted Stern to them.
Freeman has said the golf tournament netted $80,000 to $100,000 for both a charity he founded, the Homecare Workers Training Center, and a second nonprofit he helped launch, The Long-Term Care Housing Corp.
The local’s financial reports show that it spent $418,000 on the tournament, or at least $123,000 more than it received in reimbursements — not counting about $7,000 in unspecified lodging costs at the Four Seasons.
Freeman has said some reimbursements may be outstanding, more than a year after the tournament was held.
Last year, the local paid his wife’s company, Lotus Seven Productions, about $178,000, the financial reports show. The firm received roughly $36,000 the year before.
Labor Department officials said that only after The Times raised questions about the payments to Lotus Seven did Freeman file disclosure forms that require union officers to reveal payments to entities in which a spouse has an interest.
Freeman has said Lotus Seven has produced 10 videos that promote the local’s work and have been shown on lease-access cable channels. He and his wife have said that she did not personally profit from the payments to her company.
The Homecare Workers Training Center has paid nearly $100,000 a year to a day-care service operated by Planells’ mother, Carmen Planells. The training center began itemizing the payments on its Internal Revenue Service reports in 2002, the year after Freeman and Pilar Planells had a daughter together, records show.
Freeman has defended the arrangement with Carmen Planells, saying her firm provides high-quality day care. His wife and brother-in-law, Hernando Planells Jr., are listed on state incorporation papers as officers in the company.
Under the trusteeship, the union’s national office will take control of the local’s finances and appoint an interim president, said Stern spokeswoman Ringuette, who added that she had no other details.
paul.pringle@latimes.com
August 22nd, 2008 at 8:30 pm08
We sympathize with your plight. Currently, SEIU 721 is attempting to raid us and we are trying to avoid being subject to thier tyranny. Please feel free to contact us.
August 23rd, 2008 at 8:30 am08
Bob, there are a lot of questions that need to be asked by your members about what 721 intends to do with your dues money, how much will go to the international, how much control will the members have and how your members want to be represented. Has their been any 721 authorization cards circulating?
August 23rd, 2008 at 8:30 am08
Two rival L.A. unions fight over members
By Kerry Cavanaugh, Staff Writer
Article Last Updated: 08/21/2008 10:45:05 PM PDT
A turf battle between two Los Angeles city employee unions hit the airwaves Thursday, as one group began running radio ads asking the mayor and City Council to investigate its rival.
The Engineers & Architects Association and Service Employees International Union have fought over members before, with SEIU launching an unsuccessful drive in 2002 to decertify EAA and represent its 8,000 workers.
This latest fight comes as SEIU is under fire for alleged financial mismanagement in a local chapter representing home-care workers. The chapter’s president, Tyrone Freeman, has stepped down pending an investigation into charges that he funneled union money to firms owned by family and friends.
EAA has pounced on that, and in radio ads has charged that SEIU is a corrupt organization.
“SEIU reaps millions of dollars in dues from its membership, much of this money indirectly paid by taxpayers, and puts this money at play in the political arena,” the ads said.
The ads also urge residents to call Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, the Los Angeles City Council and Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors to demand an investigation of the union.
Aides to Villaraigosa said he did not want to comment on the union fight. His office received no calls from the public on the issue Thursday.
EAA Executive Director Robert Aquino said the union is just defending itself from an SEIU raid on its members.
But dissatisfied EAA member and
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supporter of the decertification effort Maximo Fortu said he was less about concerned problems in other SEIU chapters than the financial management of his own union.
“Our members are not very interested in that. We’re more interested in what’s internal in EAA. What’s going on in our own backyard,” said Fortu, a senior accountant in the Department of Neighborhood Empowerment.
“They are using our money around this campaign because I believe this is their last-ditch effort to stop members in decertifying.”
SEIU is trying to collect 30 percent of EAA’s members to file a petition in October to leave EAA. If successful, the city’s Employee Relations Board would hold an election.
kerry.cavanaugh@dailynews.com 213-978-0390
August 26th, 2008 at 8:30 am08
Union Leader’s Spending Scrutinized
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By STEVEN GREENHOUSE
Published: August 20, 2008
If anything symbolized the success of the Service Employees International Union, the nation’s fastest-growing union, it was the campaign in 1999 to organize 74,000 home care workers in Los Angeles County. It was the largest successful unionization drive in the nation since the 1930s.
But now the service employees’ union has been embarrassed by disclosures that the local representing those workers has paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to companies run by the wife and various friends of the local’s president, Tyrone Freeman.
Annual reports filed with the Labor Department show that the local paid $177,000 last year to a video production firm run by Mr. Freeman’s wife, Pilar Planells. The local’s training center has often paid more than $90,000 a year to a child care firm run by Mr. Freeman’s mother-in-law. In 2006, the local paid $16,000 to a basketball team coached by Mr. Freeman’s brother-in-law. The expenditures were first reported by The Los Angeles Times.
The service employees’ union announced Wednesday night that Mr. Freeman, wanting to clear up the matter, had asked the parent union to place his local in a temporary trusteeship. He also said he was taking a temporary leave of absence, effective immediately.
The spending by Mr. Freeman’s local, United Long-Term Care Workers, has brought a burst of questions and criticisms about whether a local that represents workers earning $9 an hour on average should be spending money this way. The local represents 155,000 workers who take care of the aged, infirm and disabled, usually in their homes.
“Long-term-care workers work hard, and they need a powerful union to serve their interests,” said Tim Jemal, chief executive of a public affairs firm and a former spokesman for the local. “Reports of nepotism and lavish spending smack of hypocrisy. These actions betray the trust of the workers who place so much hope in the union to better their lives.”
The disclosures about Mr. Freeman, 38, have embarrassed Andy Stern, the service employees’ president, partly because he took Mr. Freeman from a union job in Georgia and appointed him first as the leader of one Los Angeles local, then to his position as head of Local 6434. That local was formed in 2006 when the union consolidated six smaller locals.
“A lot of us were excited that the S.E.I.U. organized home care workers because it meant it was representing the working poor,” said Nelson Lichtenstein, a labor expert at the University of California, Santa Barbara. “But then Tyrone Freeman comes along and tarnishes the image of the S.E.I.U.”
A spokesman for Mr. Freeman, Scott Mann, said Mr. Freeman was busy with meetings on Wednesday and was not available for an interview.
In a statement this month, Mr. Freeman said the accusations against him included many mischaracterizations.
Mr. Freeman has said that all the expenditures were aimed at helping his union’s members and were approved by the local’s 55-member board.
He said his wife’s firm, Lotus Seven, had won its contract through competitive bidding to make videos about the local.
The Los Angeles Times reported that Mr. Freeman had refunded $9,856 the union paid to a cigar lounge after its article appeared.
The disclosures about Mr. Freeman come as Mr. Stern has sought to transfer 65,000 home care workers into Mr. Freeman’s local from a local in Northern California that is led by an outspoken Stern critic, Sal Rosselli.
Mr. Rosselli, who has resisted efforts to move workers from his local, said, “We and many others in California and beyond have long been expressing concerns to Stern about the leadership of the long-term-care union here.”
In a statement on Wednesday night, Michelle Ringuette, a spokeswoman for Mr. Stern and the parent union said: “These allegations are of serious concern to all of us, and we support Mr. Freeman’s decision to put the best interests of the members first. We are committed to protecting our members through strong and steady leadership and with a fair, free and accountable investigation.”
Under Mr. Freeman, the local paid more than $400,000 to sponsor a charity golf tournament, which spent some $100,000 more than it took in. To help attract interest in the tournament, the union paid $50,000 to a former Los Angeles Rams running back, Eric Dickerson, and $50,000 to his foundation.
Mr. Freeman ran unopposed for president of the local last March, but the federal Labor Department is investigating complaints that the local had imposed unreasonable barriers to running. Its bylaws require members to collect more than 4,800 signatures to get on the ballot.
“These aren’t factory workers who can easily gather signatures on the factory floor or in a parking lot during a break,” said Arthur Fox, a lawyer for the worker who has challenged the election. “These workers are isolated. They don’t have a clue who else is in the union. It’s a totally onerous burden. It’s virtually impossible for a rank-and-file person to get all these signatures.”
Federal law bars unions from erecting unreasonable barriers to running for office.
August 29th, 2008 at 8:30 pm08
Congress investigates L.A. local of the Service Employees International Union
The committee joins other federal authorities investigating the chapter’s spending practices after a report earlier this month by The Times.
By Paul Pringle, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
3:37 PM PDT, August 28, 2008
A congressional committee has opened an inquiry into disclosures that the Service Employees International Union’s largest California local and a related charity paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to firms owned by relatives of its president.
Rep. George Miller (D-Concord), chairman of the House Education and Labor Committee, announced today that the panel would examine the spending practices reported earlier this month by The Times.
“Our committee takes these reported allegations seriously and we plan to thoroughly review this matter,” Miller said in a statement. A spokesman said Miller had no further comment.
The Times has reported that small companies run by the wife and mother-in-law of the Los Angeles-based United Long-Term Care Workers president, Tyrone Freeman, received about $405,000 in 2006 and 2007 from the union and a charity he founded.
In addition, the union paid $219,000 in those years to a firm operated by a former union employee who is a close friend of Freeman and his wife, according to records and interviews.
The labor organization also spent at least $300,000 last year on a Four Seasons Resorts golf tournament, a Beverly Hills cigar club, restaurants such as Morton’s steakhouse and a consulting contract with the William Morris Agency, the Hollywood talent shop, The Times has reported.
Federal authorities have launched a criminal investigation of the expenditures, people familiar with the probe say. Among the agencies involved are two enforcement arms of the U.S. Labor Department as well as the U.S. Attorney’s office, the sources say.
Freeman has denied any wrongdoing. Most of his 160,000 members earn about $9 an hour caring for the elderly and infirm.
The leader of SEIU’s biggest Michigan chapter, Rickman Jackson, also has taken a leave of absence because of an internal union investigation into the Los Angeles local, where he recently served as chief of staff.
The Times has reported that a housing corporation Freeman helped found used the address of a Bell Gardens home that property records show is owned by Jackson. Union and housing corporation officials have declined to say whether Jackson was paid for any use of his residence.
Jackson has said in e-mails that he would have no comment on the matter.
A call and e-mail to a spokeswoman for SEIU President Andy Stern seeking comment were not immediately returned.
paul.pringle@latimes.com
August 29th, 2008 at 8:30 pm08
Dear Andy,
I have been retired since April, but I have been a member and/or staff of SEIU unions almost continually since the early 1970’s. I have worked for SEIU 535, 790, and UHW. I was deputy trustee of SEIU 1199 during that trusteeship. I first met you here in California in the 1980’s when SEIU was organizing state workers. Like many others, I was delighted when you were elected President of SEIU. What a breath of fresh air, someone from my generation and background (social services) finally in a position to make much needed changes in the labor movement. I had become very cynical about SEIU’s commitment to workers after my experience as Education Director at 790, discovering the Executive Director, Paul Varacalli, had stolen thousands of dollars from the membership, and kept his job. I was fired, along with four other staff leaders, for whistleblowing.
Within a few months of leaving 790 I became Education Director of Local 250, learned that Paul Varacalli was an aberration, that there still were honest and dedicated leaders within SEIU, like Sal Rosselli. Soon after, you became President of SEIU and I believed we were finally headed down the right path. You immediately took some bold steps to end corruption in SEIU and that was very encouraging. You seemed to be saying by your actions that there would be no place for self-serving union leaders in SEIU.
So when it became apparent that you were championing Tyrone Freeman here in California, I was puzzled. Tyrone’s illegal and illicit activities were no secret. In addition to the child care fiasco ( not only did the contract go to his mother-in-law, no members benefited, he lied to his executive board, only Tyrone and his top leadership staff had access to the childcare,) and other payments to relatives and friends, the cigar club, etc., there was also the history of sexual harassment and intimidation that went on within that local. Tyrone had numerious affairs with staff, and promoted women as a result of them,(easily documented because of the resulting pregnacies) and was sued for sexual harassment. This was common knowledge in the labor movement, and you had staff, John Barton for one, working in that local. You had to know what was happening, yet you not only let it continue, you condoned and encouraged it by promoting Tyrone’s leadership within SEIU. You were prepared to move 65,000 longterm care workers from a union (UHW) with honest and dedicated leadership into an organization which you knew was riddled with corruption. Because UHW objected to that move, you retaliated - threatened to take away union members democratic rights to choose their own leaders and run an organization free of corruption.
I understand you have political and philosophical differences with Sal (and others) regarding how best to move the union forward. However, whatever your differences are, you know he is honest beyond reproach, and you know that UHW is a effective Union, working in the best interests of its members.
Given your active support of the corrupt leadership of 6434, how can you be trusted to decide the fate of UHW?
I am sad to say after a life time of commitment to this Union, I am disgusted and embarassed by SEIU under your leadership.
Joan Braconi
August 31st, 2008 at 8:30 pm08
I’ll make this short.
I was a homecare worker, and member of UDW (United Domestic Workers of America/NUHHCE/AFSCME)
UDW was under administrationship, ousting a corrupt leader that impoverished the union. We were picking up the pieces when Freeman’s SEIU 434b launched a membership raid.
I am curious, how was the raid characterized to the membership of 434b?
Our rights were trampled, then we were forced into CUHW (California United Homecare Workers) with Freeman as so called ‘President’.
It was your money that was used for the raid. It wasn’t illegal. But it was wrong. Was the raid even disclosed to the membership of 434b? Or was it just called organizing?
We were in negotiations when Freeman halted them. Under UDW/NUHHCE/AFSCME we were in a true committee–we voted on the proposals and developed them. Under CUHW/434b (it was ran from the same office as 434b, now 6434) we were handed the proposals by Freeman’s lawyer, Beth Garfield and told what to say about them. No independent thought allowed.
I would like to hear from 434b/6434/CUHW members: illuminaticus@gmail.com
August 31st, 2008 at 8:30 pm08
3rd California union leader gives up post
The SEIU’s top state officer takes a leave of absence, and her ex-boyfriend is ordered to repay thousands of dollars.
By Paul Pringle, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
August 31, 2008
The Service Employees International Union’s top California officer has taken a leave of absence, and her former boyfriend has been ordered to return tens of thousands of dollars he received from the state council and Los Angeles local that she heads.
Annelle Grajeda is the third major SEIU leader to step aside following reports in The Times about the union’s financial practices. The SEIU acknowledged Saturday that Grajeda was on leave as president of the L.A. local and the union’s state council, and as an executive vice president of the national organization, because of allegations that she was improperly involved in the payments.
The union did not provide any details of Grajeda’s purported role in the payment to the former boyfriend, Alejandro Stephens. The SEIU said it has demanded that Stephens, who was a longtime president of the Los Angeles chapter before it merged with several others, return the money.
An internal complaint filed Aug. 14 also accuses Stephens of remaining on the Los Angeles County payroll while drawing a salary from the union. Attempts to reach Stephens were unsuccessful.
Grajeda said Saturday that she was “very confident” the inquiry would conclude that she did nothing wrong. She said she could not discuss specifics. The inquiry is separate from a federal criminal investigation and congressional probe of another SEIU local in Los Angeles, which were prompted by a Times report earlier this month.
“Our serious concerns about these charges have been greatly elevated by the recently published article,” states the complaint, brought by two members of Grajeda’s local, which represents thousands of county employees including social workers, nurses and clerks. “We have grave concerns that this type of betrayal of public trust and malfeasance may be happening in our local union.”
The SEIU is the nation’s fastest-growing union, with 2 million members in North America and more than 700,000 in California. Grajeda’s local has 77,000 members. She has been a close aide to its president, Andy Stern. The state council oversees the union’s lobbying efforts in Sacramento and its get-out-the-vote drives.
In 2007, Stephens was paid nearly $14,000 by the Los Angeles office in “disbursements for official business” and $75,000 in consulting fees by the state council, according to the union’s financial filings with the U.S. Labor Department.
As an SEIU executive board member, he also received more than $104,000 in salary and disbursements last year from the union’s headquarters in Washington, D.C., records show. The filings indicate that the national office reimbursed the state council for the $75,000.
SEIU spokeswoman Michelle Ringuette said the $75,000 was part of a severance deal with Stephens when he was removed as local president because of the consolidation.
She said he violated the agreement by receiving money from the local and remaining on the county payroll as an employee. It was not known whether he received similar payments this year. In addition to the union payments, the complaint calls on the SEIU to investigate a nonprofit that is affiliated with the local and headed by Stephens. The most recently available tax records show that it has devoted only about 9% of its expenditures to its charitable programs.
In a letter to Ron Tanner and Arturo Diaz, the two local members who filed the complaint, SEIU’s national office asked for more specific information. It also said the complaint about the charity was referred to the nonprofit’s board.
Donna Meredith, the charity’s vice chairwoman, said it was established after the 1994 Northridge quake to provide aid to union members affected by such disasters. She said it spent less than $15,000 on program services in 2006, the last year for which Internal Revenue Service reports are available, because it needed to build a reserve for future payments. “We have to keep putting funds into that,” she said.
The nonprofit spent about $81,000 in 2006 on fundraising expenses, more than half its total outlays. Meredith said costs for the charity’s fundraiser — a 5K and 10K run — were higher than expected. She defended Stephens’ stewardship of the charity and his work for the union, labeling the complaints against him sour grapes by Tanner and Diaz. “He is doing what he is supposed to do,” Meredith said of Stephens. “They are just unhappy with him because he is in charge.”
Diaz denied that he and Tanner harbor any grudge against Stephens. “I think he’s totally taken advantage of the membership,” said Diaz, a county computer programmer.
Tanner, a county retiree who still belongs to the union, said Meredith’s comment reflected “pure loyalty to Alejandro Stephens, whether he’s wrong or right.”
Previous Times reports have focused on the SEIU’s largest California chapter, the United Long-Term Care Workers. The head of that local, Tyrone Freeman, has stepped aside because of the resulting investigations into its finances.
His former chief of state, Rickman Jackson, who is now president of SEIU’s biggest Michigan chapter, also has taken a leave because of the probe.
The Times has reported that small companies run by Freeman’s wife and mother-in-law got about $405,000 in 2006 and 2007 from the union and a charity he founded, among other expenditures. Freeman has denied any wrongdoing.
A housing corporation Freeman helped found used the address of a Bell Gardens home that property records show is owned by Jackson. Union and housing corporation officials have declined to say whether Jackson was paid for any use of his residence. Jackson has said in e-mails that he would have no comment on the matter.
paul.pringle@latimes.com
September 3rd, 2008 at 8:30 am09
———- Forwarded message ———-
From: Garcia, Rafael SFC RET
Date: Tue, Sep 2, 2008 at 12:42 PM
Subject: Fwd: [fightfor347] BIGGEST ISSUE facing SEIU 721 is Executive Board & President Election
To: SEIULOCAL721REFORMERS@gmail.com
SFC Rafael Garcia
USAR
———- Forwarded message ———-
From: Rafe Garcia
To: fightfor347@yahoogroups.com
Date: Tue, 02 Sep 2008 19:37:55 +0000
Subject: [fightfor347] BIGGEST ISSUE facing SEIU 721 is Executive Board & President Election
The past several years have been tumultuous for SEIU 721 members.
In the City of Los Angeles, SEIU members received a paltry contract,
the contract before last.
In the County, SEIU members had an administration, that today, has
the President, Annelle Grejada, on leave, due to charges of
corruption due to a relationship with the former president of the
local.
The merger of seven locals into one was traumatic. Many of us will
never recover.
An election for Executive Board and President, Vice President,
Secretary and Treasurer will be coming up soon. If the election
were not coming up soon, you would not have existing incumbents
getting a slate together.
The proposed constitution is going to be railroaded and slammed down
the members throats. Watch.
The BIGGEST ISSUE in the coming election is this:
If you wish to continue to allow the International to control our
local, then re-elect the former officers and their chosen slate.
The International hand picked Annelle Grejada and Bob Schoonover to
head Local 721.
Everyone on the Executive Board knew the merger was going to happen
at the previous International Convention, the one before San Juan,
Puerto Rico.
So, if you want the International to continue to control Local 721, I
suggest you vote for the Bob Schoonover slate.
I have bad news for you. There is no tooth fairy. There is no
Easter Bunny. And there is no Santa Claus.
I am going to dispel another myth.
THIS IS NOT A MEMBER DRIVEN UNION
This is a member financed union. One that can pay Tyrone Freeman
exhorbitant salaries to himself, relatives and freinds.
One that can pay Local 660 former president a union salary and still
have him on the county roll. All, without even getting elected.
Just being part of the inner circle.
If you’re on staff, you have to keep your mouth shut. If you’re on
staff, you see a lot of things that are questionable, but if you are
on staff and want to keep your job, it is best to keep your mouth
shut.
So staff is not going to help the members.
Members will have to help themselves.
If you wish to see any significant change in the union, you will not
get change by keeping the same cronies in office.
Anyone interested in helping reform the Executive Board and open up
the decision making process to the membership you can contact:
SEIULOCAL721REFORMERS@gmail.com
Reform Issues:
Open the books. How much are we paying officers and staff?
Executive Board Members are paid $350 a month. They can meet on
Saturdays and evenings just like Stewards who do not get a red cent.
Rafe Garcia
September 3rd, 2008 at 8:30 pm09
Read the analysis below on the scandal in SEIU, the attack on UHW, and Andy
Stern’s feeble attempt to rise above (to protect his job prospects in a new
administration).
Who’s going to investigate Stern and Burger? Shouldn’t someone start to look
at the nepotism at the International Union?
This latest publicity stunt appears to be little more than to pre-empt the feds
from going after Stern and inner circle. But reports are that the FBI and IRS
are both now investigating SEIU and various locals. By the way, don’t Stern
and Burger have to address the $18,000 “consultant” agreement between the IU
and Rickman Jackson as well the SEIU cash that changed hands with Alejandro
Stephens.
Can’t wait to see Stern and Burger testify under the oath. The question is
whether it will be before Congress or a grand jury.
From CounterPunch, September 3, 2008:
Tyronegate & Trusteeship:
Can SEIU Members Exorcise the Purple Shades Of Jackie Presser?
By Steve Early and Cal Winslow
Thousands of SEIU members are expected in San Jose this Saturday, Sept. 6, to
protest spreading corruption—and Andy Stern’s latest grab for control over
SEIU’s third largest local (which has helped blow the whistle on scandalous
behavior elsewhere in the union).
The rally is being organized by United Healthcare Workers (UHW) and allied
dissidents in SEIU Member Activists for Reform Today (SMART). Both are
reacting to their national president’s scheduling of a Sept. 22-23 hearing to
remove the elected officers of 150,000-member UHW, including its leader Sal
Rosselli, and replace them with Stern appointees from Washington, D.C.
An SEIU activist for 25-years and now the union’s top reformer, Rosselli
describes Stern’s latest move as “an act of desperation and retaliation,”
designed to divert attention from serious problems in other locals.
Stern picked a bad time for his latest UHW take-over bid. His own skills as a
union CEO and talent scout are now in question. In August alone, three close
followers—all just appointed or promoted to big-paying jobs in key locals or at
SEIU headquarters—have been forced to step down due to mishandled funds. Among
those being investigated are Tyrone Freeman from Los Angeles, president of
SEIU’s second- largest local union; Annelle Grajeda, chair of its California
state council; and Rickman Jackson, a Michigan local leader involved in the
widely-condemned disruption of the Labor Notes conference in Michigan last
April by four bus-loads of SEIU staffers and stewards. (See “Purple Punch-Out
in Dearborn,” Counter-Punch, April 15, 2008.)
Thanks to Stern’s personal patronage, these three all serve on the Executive
Board of the 2 million-member union. At SEIU’s riot cop-protected convention in
Puerto Rico (See “San Juan Showdown,” Counter-Punch, June 3, 2008), Freeman,
Jackson, and Grajeda were among the 60-odd staffers and local officials
hand-picked by Stern in June to be part of his administration slate. All were
then chosen, in rubber-stamp fashion, by the assembled delegates. Less than
three months later, Freeman—who controlled Local 6434 while serving as an SEIU
Vice-President—is now the subject of a criminal investigation of racketeering
and embezzlement and a related Congressional inquiry by Rep. George Miller
(D-CA), chairman of the House Education and Labor Committee.
As Paul Pringle of the L.A. Times has reported in a stunning investigative
series, the U.S. Department of Labor is probing “payments of hundreds of
thousands of dollars by the union and a related charity to firms owned by
relatives of Freeman and expenditures of similar sums on a golf tournament,
restaurants such as Morton’s steakhouse, and entertainment companies.”
(Associated Press estimates the total amount misspent to be $1 million.)
Freeman is a 38-year old former SEIU staffer from Georgia, whose 160,000
members in California earn $9 an hour as home care workers. He initially
responded to The Times’ revelations in memorable fashion. “Every expenditure
has been in the context of fighting poverty,” he told Pringle—apparently even
his $10,000 tab at the Grand Havana Room, a Beverly Hills cigar bar known for
its Hollywood clientele. Within a week of that interview, Freeman took leave
of his job—”for the duration of the investigation”–but is still collecting his
$213,000 salary (quite a bulwark against poverty), while a Stern-installed
trustee runs the local.
Double-(or Triple?)Dipping
Going down in Freeman’s wake was Rickman Jackson, his former chief of staff at
Local 6434, who is now on “voluntary leave” as well. Jackson moved from
California to Detroit three years ago, becoming president of 50,000-member SEIU
Healthcare Michigan last August. (That local’s many low-income members include
home care workers like David Smith, who collapsed and died after the dust-up at
Labor Notes in April—an event he was bussed to, under Jackson’s direction, for
the alleged purpose of protesting “union-busting.”)
Jackson has run afoul of records showing that, despite his move to Michigan and
Stern-backed political ascendancy in a new local there, he continued to collect
$178,000 in salary and benefits from his alma mater in LA. (Plus, Pringle
reports, he got another “$18,000 from SEIU national headquarters for consulting
work.”) There’s also the little matter of Jackson’s home address in California
being listed as the site of a Freeman-run “Long Term Care Housing Corporation”
that’s now being investigated too; that entity, according to Pringle, “was
founded in 2004 as a non-profit but was not granted an IRS tax exemption and
had been suspended at one time from doing business in California for failing to
file tax returns.”
Last but not least, over Labor Day weekend, Pringle reported a third
investigation-related “voluntary leave.” With Stern’s backing, Annelle Grajeda
became head of SEIU’s California State Council earlier this year after Rosselli
was forced out of that position. She now has stepped down from the Council and
two other union jobs over accusations that she permitted double- (or
triple?)-dipping by her ex-boyfriend. Grajeda is a former local union staff
director, who has never been directly elected by the rank-and-file to any SEIU
office. Yet her loyalty to Stern was rewarded in San Juan just three months
ago—in the form of new $200,000 a year paycheck as one of six SEIU
international Executive Vice-Presidents. Her ex-boyfriend, Alejandro Stephens,
is accused of remaining on the payroll of Los Angeles County, while collecting
“tens of thousands of dollars” from various SEIU entities—including the state
council headed by Grajeda, Grajeda’s own 75,000-member local, and the
international union.
SEIU is now trying to recover some of the money paid to Stephens—in belated
response to a formal complaint filed by SMART member Arturo Diaz, who is also a
county worker. Diaz called the multiple pay-outs a “betrayal of the public
trust and malfeasance.” He and other members of Local 721 want to know what
role Grajeda might have played in enriching Stephens. Says Diaz: “I think he’s
totally taken advantage of the membership.”
Trusteeship vs Dismemberment
When Counter-Punch last visited the embattled members of UHW in late March,
they were rallying, by the hundreds, in their Oakland union hall—and calling
for Stern’s ouster. (See “Purple Uprising in Oakland,” Counter-Punch, April 3,
2008) At that time, the SEIU President had just sent his first letter to UHW
laying the groundwork for removal of its elected leaders on bogus charges.
However, that politically-motivated missive was quickly followed by the PR
fiasco of SEIU’s failed invasion of the Labor Notes conference in Michigan,
where SEIU rival Rose Ann DeMoro from the California Nurses Association was
scheduled to speak. And, then on May Day, the always image-conscious Stern
opened his New York Times to find a highly unusual “letter of concern”
addressed to him from 100 labor-oriented intellectuals around the country,
including Frances Fox-Piven, Adolph Reed, Robin D. G. Kelley, Noam Chomsky,
Howard Zinn, and Mike Davis. This half-page ad warned that “putting UHW under
trusteeship would send a very troubling message and be viewed, by many, as a
sign that internal democracy is not valued or tolerated within SEIU.”
But the powerful (and always persistent) SEIU president was not deterred for
long. Stern quickly moved to Plan B, which called for dismemberment of UHW. If
SEIU had to tolerate a dissident like Rosselli–for awhile longer–his local
was at least going to be much smaller. (And, despite the International union’s
on-going campaign of legal harassment and disruption, UHW has continued to grow
through new organizing.) So, at the San Juan convention in June, Stern rammed
through a “jurisdictional change” paving the way for 60,000 home care and
nursing home employees to be moved from UHW to Tyrone Freeman’s local.
Very few UHW long-term care union activists —overwhelmingly women of
color–have ever been fans of Tyrone. He’s viewed as a glib con artist and weak
negotiator–far less aggressive than Rosselli in upholding SEIU contract
standards. In balloting conducted by UHW last winter, the affected members
voted by a large margin to stay put. But, this being SEIU, what the members
wanted didn’t matter in Washington. Stern went right ahead with a two-day
“jurisdictional hearing”—held, in mid-July, in Manhattan Beach, California.
There, more than 5,000 UHW members laid siege to the hotel where the hearing
was held, protesting any decision by the Stern-appointed hearing officer that
would tear their local apart and, according to UHW, “doom healthcare workers in
California to years of substandard contracts and a weakened voice in patient
care.”
Internal foes of dismemberment were backed by outsiders who share that UHW
concern. Both fear that Stern wants to revive an industry-wide “organizing
rights” deal with nursing home operators that compromised SEIU’s ability to
engage in patient advocacy, while, at the same time, didn’t deliver promised
improvements in pay, benefits, and workloads for union members. In a July 9
open letter, UC-San Francisco sociologist and nursing professor Charlene
Harringon, a top researcher on nursing home financing , applauded a different
kind of contract, negotiated recently by UHW with Mariner Health Care
facilities in northern California. That agreement, she contends, “empowers
caregivers to stand up for their residents” and “shows there is a better path
to improve nursing home quality.” According to Harrington, SEIU’s attempt to
push UHW out of long-term care lobbying and bargaining “may have serious
negative consequences for nursing home residents and quality care.”
By mid-August–thanks to Tyronegate–Stern’s attempted downsizing of UHW was
looking pretty indefensible (although all parties are still awaiting a decision
from former UAW lawyer Leonard Page—a friend of SEIU General Counsel Judy Scott
–who conducted the controversial hearing in Manhattan Beach.) How could anyone
now justify the transfer of so many UHW members, against their wishes, to a
local they didn’t want to be in even before it was exposed as corrupt and had
to be put under trusteeship?
From Justice For Janitors to Injustice For UHW
Unfortunately, the ever-agile Stern just shifted back to his original
plan—putting UHW in trusteeship! On August 25, SEIU headquarters issued a press
release giving notice of a Sept. 22-23 “trusteeship hearing to address fraud
charges” against UHW. The “fraudulent” acts cited are mainly the very
reasonable steps UHW has taken—with full knowledge of its elected
leadership–to protect itself, legally and organizationally, from any abuse of
Stern’s trusteeship powers. In the release, Stern declares that he’s now
“committed to leading a reform movement in labor.” (He followed that up with a
Sept. 2 leak to the New York Times about SEIU’s imminent creation of a
“high-level ethics commission.”) Nevertheless, Stern’s primary goal is still to
crush the reform movement that already exists in his own union, via a purge of
Rosselli, plus all UHW senior staff and elected officers. Snuffed out along
with them would be the local’s valuable website (www.seiuvoice.org), which has
rallied SEIU dissidents around the country–before, during, and since the
union’s Puerto Rico convention.
Laying the groundwork for this “nuclear option”—and providing “left-cover” for
his boss (as usual)—is none other than Stephen Lerner. Lerner is the
much-heralded SEIU organizer and executive board member responsible for the
union’s “Justice for Janitors” campaigns. Like Stern, he’s also no slouch at
double-talk. Just a month ago, in an on-line exchange posted at MRZine, Lerner
scoffed at the “myth that UHW has been threatened with trusteeship.” He
reassured progressive readers that “this simply isn’t true, no matter how
often repeated” and claimed that such “misinformation” is just a “distraction”
from the “vibrant, open honest debate” that needs to go on about how labor can
secure what he calls “Justice for All.” Standing in the way of that goal is ”
‘Left Business Unionism,’ or maybe more appropriately, ‘Neo-Business
Unionism.’” According to Lerner, this previously unidentified species is
exemplified by UHW—which clings to “a business union model” and focuses too
much “on servicing and defending remaining islands of unionization (ie local
union interests).” In addition, UHW has apparently also been guilty of
indulging in “left rhetoric about militant struggle, better contracts…and
greater local autonomy.”
Lerner’s “discourse,” as the academics call it, would be laughable—given how
factually challenged it is–if it were not for one real fact. On August 25,
Stern named Lerner and three other officials to act as his “Personal
Representatives and Monitors” of UHW activity. So last week, instead of being
down in L.A.—where he could have been helping to secure justice for home care
workers (whose treasury has been pilfered by Tyrone)—Lerner was part of a
lawyer-assisted crew of Stern “monitors” hovering about UHW. All are now
busily engaged in peppering Rosselli’s local with burdensome “information
requests” about every conceivable aspect of its daily operations, particularly
those related to the local’s legal defense against Stern. Of course, nothing in
this intentionally disruptive intervention assists UHW members in any way,
particularly those out on strike or in difficult contract negotiations; rather,
it’s designed to impede “normal” union functioning, while manufacturing further
justification for a full-blown take-over that would (with UHW added) leave the
vast majority of California’s 700,000 members with un-elected leadership.
How do we know what life is like on the front-lines of UHW —in the middle of
the local’s multi-front war for survival? Well, in the interests of full
disclosure, the authors must note that we both have daughters working as UHW
reps. So we hear a lot about the added stress and frustration of doing
day-to-day trade union work under such trying conditions. One of our young
staffers reports that she’s been aiding nursing home members whose bosses have
become increasingly recalcitrant in bargaining. Unlike Mariner, some UHW
employers clearly hope that, by dragging their feet now, they’ll be able to
negotiate more favorable terms later on. Outfits like Kindred Healthcare would
much prefer to deal with friendlier faces from Local 6434–if UHW members ever
end up there–or with any Stern appointees who gain control of UHW.
Plain Old Business Unionism
How did a national union culture, long touted as one of labor’s most dynamic
and progressive, engender such a mess? How did it produce a Tryone Freeman and
the kind of press coverage he’s been getting lately (which hurts all unions,
not just SEIU)? In Pringle’s LA Times reporting, this “rising star in local
labor circles” is depicted–accurately, by all accounts (except Freeman’s
own)–as a free-spending 21st century SEIU version of Jackie Presser, the
biggest Teamster boodler of the 1970s and 80s. As other observers have noted,
there’s a steady drift, in too many SEIU’ locals, toward Presser’s brand of
plain old “business unionism.” First, SEIU operatives—at the Labor Notes
conference last Spring—resort to the same kind of thuggish behavior once common
in the Teamsters during the Presser era. Now, like purple shades of Jackie,
SEIU leaders collect inflated salaries, tolerate executive board
double-dipping, and ignore nepotism and casual looting of local
treasuries—until membership or media whistle-blowing forces them to announce a
“clean-up.”
One of Freeman’s early mentors–who asked not to be identified–had this
explanation of Tyrone’s rise and fall (as well as the career trajectory of
similar Stern proteges): “These are folks who did not earn their status, they
were handed it—and that leads to a dependence on who handed it to you. The
union’s leadership bench is actually very shallow today…A person’s talent and
skill and upward mobility now seem to be in inverse proportion in SEIU.”
If loyalty to Stern, rather than competence or honesty, is what leads to rapid
career advancement—and that would appear to be the case–there may be two,
three, many Tyrones in the union’s future. That’s because scores of
Stern-installed leaders now preside over huge, consolidated locals with few
structures for membership accountability or control; many have gotten where
they are today via initial appointment rather than through membership election.
Many have never worked a day in their life as an SEIU member but their local
by-laws have been rigged to insure that they will not ever be easily replaced
by anyone from the rank-and-file.
In Local 6434, for example, a worker who wanted to run against Freeman as
president is required, within a mere three weeks, to collect and submit the
nominating signatures of 4,800 fellow dues-payers! That would be an unheard of
hurdle, even in a local with members employed in traditional workplaces. In a
union of home-based workers–who may not run into five other members in an
entire month–it’s a guarantee of “presidency for life.” Along with its
criminal investigation of Freeman’s spending, the Labor Department is also in
the process of invalidating this nomination requirement and forcing a fair
election.
Legal work in that Local 6434 election challenge was done by Arthur Fox, who is
also assisting UHW. He got his start as a union democracy lawyer in the 1970s,
as founder of the Professional Drivers Council, a truck drivers’ group that
later merged with TDU—Teamsters for a Democratic Union. We also worked with
many of the same Teamster dissidents during that period—brave members of PROD,
TDU, and a rank-and-file caucus within United Parcel Service called UPSurge.
What’s striking to us about the situation in SEIU today is how much the lessons
of union democracy struggles during the 1970s have suddenly become relevant
again.
Learning Lessons of Past Reformers
To their credit, UHW organizers have been doing their best to brush up on this
subject. Among the fifty workshops and training sessions being offered this
weekend at a rank-and-file leadership development conference in San Jose is one
entitled “Reform Movements Through History.” UHW stewards (and invited guests
from other SEIU locals) will be grappling with the following questions: “What
kind of role are we, as union leaders, playing in today’s SEIU reform movement?
What kind of union are we building if there is no member involvement?” Stewards
at the conference are urged to “come learn about the history of the labor
movement and discuss lessons we can use in today’s struggle…”
Asked recently about this new focus of UHW staff training and member education,
Vice-President John Borsos explained: “One challenge we face is creating a
culture of solidarity in non-traditional worksites, where there may not be the
traditional kind of union consciousness. So we have tried to be very conscious
about instilling a sense of history and institutional culture. We want to
demonstrate that what we are doing has been done before. We want people to
realize there are precedents for it–in SEIU and other unions. I think our
struggle with SEIU has made UHW more democratic…”
That internal union battle has certainly made some SEIU rank-and-filers a lot
angrier with their top officers than they used to be. Last weekend, for
example, Bay Area hospital worker Maya Morris, a leader of SMART, was part of a
delegation of 35 UHW activists who dogged Stern and his second-in-command, Anna
Berger, at every stop on their “Take Back Labor Day” tour of the mid-west. At
this series of post-DNC press events—designed to highlight the need for labor
law reform–a busload of SEIU dissidents from California was not a
particularly welcome sight, because of their broader conception of “workers
rights.”
At a rally for passage of the Employee Free Choice Act, held in St. Louis last
Friday, SEIU Secretary-Treasurer Burger gave a big speech “about the right of
workers to have a voice on the job and form a union without having to face
intimidation from their employer,” reports UHW member Lisa Tomasian.
But, as Tomasian notes, Burger “didn’t talk about whether SEIU members deserve
a voice in their own union.” After the rally, Burger gave Tomasian the
brush-off, so later in the day, in Iowa City, the UHW steward cornered Stern.
She handed the SEIU president a video of the July protest in Manhattan Beach
where “members opposed SEIU’s attempt to force us out of our local and into
another.” Tomasian also invited Stern to the UHW educational conference and
rally in San Jose this weekend. “He was non-committal,” she says, “and referred
me to an assistant.”
Finally, in Wisconsin, the whole California delegation confronted Stern,
backing him into a tense hour-long meeting at a local union hall. There, SMART
protestors challenged him to a public debate about the current direction of the
union. Stern refused to answer any UHW trusteeship-related questions, citing
advice from his lawyers. Given recent developments in SEIU—and the rising tide
of rank-and-file discontent—such questions are not going away. As will be
obvious this Saturday in San Jose, there are just too many SEIU members now
determined to “take back” their own union, one way or another.
(Cal Winslow is a labor historian, labor educator, Fellow in Environmental
Politics, UC Berkeley, and Director of the Mendocino Institute. Steve Early
served for three decades as a national union staffer for the Communications
Workers of America and is currently writing a book about the role of Sixties’
radicals in labor. Both are contributors to Rebel Rank-and-File, a forthcoming
collection of essays, from Verso Press, on insurgent workers’ movements in the
1970s. Their email addresses are, respectively, cwinslow@) mcn.org and
Lsupport@aol.com)
September 4th, 2008 at 8:30 pm09
Docking Paychecks for Politics
July 28, 2008; Page A14
The mighty Service Employees International Union (SEIU) plans to spend some $150 million in this year’s election, most of it to get Barack Obama and other Democrats elected. Where’d they get that much money?
That’s a question the Departments of Labor and Justice are being asked to investigate by the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation. Specifically, the labor watchdog group wants Justice to query a new SEIU policy that appears to coerce local workers into funding the parent union’s national political priorities.
The union adopted a new amendment to its constitution at last month’s SEIU convention, requiring that every local contribute an amount equal to $6 per member per year to the union’s national political action committee. This is in addition to regular union dues. Unions that fail to meet the requirement must contribute an amount in “local union funds” equal to the “deficiency,” plus a 50% penalty. According to an SEIU union representative, this has always been policy, but has now simply been formalized.
No other major institution could get away with its bosses demanding that every single one of its workers step in line behind its political preferences. This is the sort of imposed political obeisance that infuriates so many workers and turns them away from unions.
The SEIU political mandate may also violate federal law. Union and corporate PACs are supposed to rely on “voluntary” contributions, and it is illegal for them to use money secured by the “threat” of “financial reprisal.” It’s hard to see that an SEIU mandate enforced by financial penalties of 50% isn’t a “threat” or would qualify under any definition of “voluntary.”
There’s more. As many workers who would rather not join a union realize, employees can be required to join a union or to pay dues as a condition of employment. It is illegal, however, for a union to take these compelled union dues and use them to affect federal elections.
SEIU locals will no doubt try to fulfill their national commitment with voluntary contributions. But the SEIU’s amendment suggests that unions that fail to meet that obligation will be required to pay for both the shortfall and penalty with member dues and agency fees. Any use of that dues money in a PAC would be a federal no-no. Meanwhile, use of dues from nonunion members (those who must pay dues even though they refuse to join a union) for any political activity, a PAC or otherwise, is prohibited.
The SEIU has in the past run close to the edge with the campaign-finance crowd. In the last Presidential cycle, SEIU President Andy Stern was among the founders of America Coming Together (ACT), one of the 527 groups that has sprung up to influence elections while avoiding individual campaign donor limits. Along with billionaire George Soros, the SEIU was among the largest contributors to that 527, raising some $26 million to elect John Kerry in 2004.
The Federal Election Commission later imposed a $775,000 penalty on ACT for violating campaign finance laws, the largest ever against a 527. Big as it was, the fine equaled less than one cent on the dollar for the $100 million that ACT improperly used to influence a national election. Mr. Stern was only a founder of ACT. But the political lesson is that the benefit of breaking the rules and potentially winning an election far outweighs a minuscule financial penalty well after the outcome is decided.
That’s why the feds should take this complaint seriously. The SEIU contribution demand isn’t just another technical violation of campaign-finance rules but may break serious rules about labor operations and union dues. The time to investigate this is before the election.
Union employees have every right to participate in elections. Union chiefs don’t have the right to coerce them.
September 4th, 2008 at 8:30 pm09
Tyronegate and Trusteeship
Can SEIU Members Exorcize the Purple Shades of Jackie Presser?
By STEVE EARLY and CAL WINSLOW
Thousands of SEIU members are expected in San Jose this Saturday, September 6, to protest spreading corruption and Andy Stern’s latest grab for control over SEIU’s third largest local (which has helped blow the whistle on scandalous behavior elsewhere in the union).
The rally is being organized by United Healthcare Workers (UHW) and allied dissidents in SEIU Member Activists for Reform Today (SMART). Both are reacting to their national president’s scheduling of a September 22-23 hearing to remove the elected officers of 150,000-member UHW, including its leader Sal Rosselli, and replace them with Stern appointees from Washington, D.C.
An SEIU activist for 25-years and now the union’s top reformer, Rosselli describes Stern’s latest move as “an act of desperation and retaliation,” designed to divert attention from serious problems in other locals.
Stern picked a bad time for his latest UHW take-over bid. His own skills as a union CEO and talent scout are now in question. In August alone, three close followers, all just appointed or promoted to big-paying jobs in key locals or at SEIU headquarters, have been forced to step down due to mishandled funds. Among those being investigated are Tyrone Freeman from Los Angeles, president of SEIU’s second- largest local union; Annelle Grajeda, chair of its California state council; and Rickman Jackson, a Michigan local leader involved in the widely-condemned disruption of the Labor Notes conference in Michigan last April by four bus-loads of SEIU staffers and stewards. (See “Purple Punch-Out in Dearborn,” CounterPunch, April 15, 2008.)
Thanks to Stern’s personal patronage all serve on the Executive Board of the 2 million-member union. At SEIU’s riot cop-protected convention in Puerto Rico (See “San Juan Showdown,” CounterPunch, June 3, 2008), Freeman, Jackson, and Grajeda were among the 60-odd staffers and local officials hand-picked by Stern in June to be part of his administration slate. All were then chosen, in rubber-stamp fashion, by the assembled delegates. Less than three months later, Freeman, who controlled Local 6434 while serving as an SEIU Vice-President, is now the subject of a criminal investigation of racketeering and embezzlement and a related Congressional inquiry by Rep. George Miller (D-CA), chairman of the House Education and Labor Committee.
As Paul Pringle of the Los Angeles Times has reported in a stunning investigative series, the U.S. Department of Labor is probing “payments of hundreds of thousands of dollars by the union and a related charity to firms owned by relatives of Freeman and expenditures of similar sums on a golf tournament, restaurants such as Morton’s steakhouse, and entertainment companies.” (Associated Press estimates the total amount misspent to be $1 million.) Freeman is a 38-year old former SEIU staffer from Georgia, whose 160,000 members in California earn $9 an hour as home care workers. He initially responded to The Times’ revelations in memorable fashion. “Every expenditure has been in the context of fighting poverty,” he told Pringle, a struggle that apparently includes even his $10,000 tab at the Grand Havana Room, a Beverly Hills cigar bar known for its Hollywood clientele. Within a week of that interview, Freeman took leave of his job “for the duration of the investigation” but is still collecting his $213,000 salary (quite a bulwark against poverty), while a Stern-installed trustee runs the local.
Going down in Freeman’s wake was Rickman Jackson, his former chief of staff at Local 6434, who is now on “voluntary leave” as well. Jackson moved from California to Detroit three years ago, becoming president of 50,000-member SEIU Healthcare Michigan last August. (That local’s many low-income members include home care workers like David Smith, who collapsed and died after the dust-up at Labor Notes in April, an event he was bussed to, under Jackson’s direction, for the alleged purpose of protesting “union-busting.”)
Jackson has run afoul of records showing that, despite his move to Michigan and Stern-backed political ascendancy in a new local there, he continued to collect $178,000 in salary and benefits from his alma mater in LA. (Plus, Pringle reports, he got another “$18,000 from SEIU national headquarters for consulting work.”) There’s also the little matter of Jackson’s home address in California being listed as the site of a Freeman-run “Long Term Care Housing Corporation” that’s now being investigated too; that entity, according to Pringle, “was founded in 2004 as a non-profit but was not granted an IRS tax exemption and had been suspended at one time from doing business in California for failing to file tax returns.”
Last but not least, over Labor Day weekend, Pringle reported a third investigation-related “voluntary leave.” With Stern’s backing, Annelle Grajeda became head of SEIU’s California State Council earlier this year after Rosselli was forced out of that position. She now has stepped down from the Council and two other union jobs over accusations that she permitted double- (or triple?)-dipping by her ex-boyfriend. Grajeda is a former local union staff director, who has never been directly elected by the rank-and-file to any SEIU office. Yet her loyalty to Stern was rewarded in San Juan just three months ago, in the form of new $200,000 a year paycheck as one of six SEIU international Executive Vice-Presidents. Her ex-boyfriend, Alejandro Stephens, is accused of remaining on the payroll of Los Angeles County, while collecting “tens of thousands of dollars” from various SEIU entities, including the state council headed by Grajeda, Grajeda’s own 75,000-member local, and the international union.
SEIU is now trying to recover some of the money paid to Stephens, in belated response to a formal complaint filed by SMART member Arturo Diaz, who is also a county worker. Diaz called the multiple pay-outs a “betrayal of the public trust and malfeasance.” He and other members of Local 721 want to know what role Grajeda might have played in enriching Stephens. Says Diaz: “I think he’s totally taken advantage of the membership.”
When CounterPunch last visited the embattled members of UHW in late March, they were rallying, by the hundreds, in their Oakland union hall and calling for Stern’s ouster. At that time, the SEIU President had just sent his first letter to UHW laying the groundwork for removal of its elected leaders on bogus charges. However, that politically-motivated missive was quickly followed by the PR fiasco of SEIU’s failed invasion of the Labor Notes conference in Michigan, where SEIU rival Rose Ann DeMoro from the California Nurses Association was scheduled to speak. And, then on May Day, the always image-conscious Stern opened his New York Times to find a highly unusual “letter of concern” addressed to him from 100 labor-oriented intellectuals around the country, including Frances Fox-Piven, Adolph Reed, Robin D. G. Kelley, Noam Chomsky, Howard Zinn, and Mike Davis. This half-page ad warned that “putting UHW under trusteeship would send a very troubling message and be viewed, by many, as a sign that internal democracy is not valued or tolerated within SEIU.”
But the powerful (and always persistent) SEIU president was not deterred for long. Stern quickly moved to Plan B, which called for dismemberment of UHW. If SEIU had to tolerate a dissident like Rosselli for awhile longer his local was at least going to be much smaller. (And, despite the International union’s on-going campaign of legal harassment and disruption, UHW has continued to grow through new organizing.) So, at the San Juan convention in June, Stern rammed through a “jurisdictional change” paving the way for 60,000 home care and nursing home employees to be moved from UHW to Tyrone Freeman’s local.
Very few UHW long-term care union activists —overwhelmingly women of color–have ever been fans of Tyrone. He’s viewed as a glib con artist and weak negotiator, far less aggressive than Rosselli in upholding SEIU contract standards. In balloting conducted by UHW last winter, the affected members voted by a large margin to stay put. But, this being SEIU, what the members wanted didn’t matter in Washington. Stern went right ahead with a two-day “jurisdictional hearing” held, in mid-July, in Manhattan Beach, California. There, more than 5,000 UHW members laid siege to the hotel where the hearing was held, protesting any decision by the Stern-appointed hearing officer that would tear their local apart and, according to UHW, “doom healthcare workers in California to years of substandard contracts and a weakened voice in patient care.”
Internal foes of dismemberment were backed by outsiders who share that UHW concern. Both fear that Stern wants to revive an industry-wide “organizing rights” deal with nursing home operators that compromised SEIU’s ability to engage in patient advocacy, while, at the same time, didn’t deliver promised improvements in pay, benefits, and workloads for union members. In a July 9 open letter, UC-San Francisco sociologist and nursing professor Charlene Harringon, a top researcher on nursing home financing , applauded a different kind of contract, negotiated recently by UHW with Mariner Health Care facilities in northern California. That agreement, she contends, “empowers caregivers to stand up for their residents” and “shows there is a better path to improve nursing home quality.” According to Harrington, SEIU’s attempt to push UHW out of long-term care lobbying and bargaining “may have serious negative consequences for nursing home residents and quality care.”
By mid-August,thanks to Tyronegate, Stern’s attempted downsizing of UHW was looking pretty indefensible (although all parties are still awaiting a decision from former UAW lawyer Leonard Page, a friend of SEIU General Counsel Judy Scott, who conducted the controversial hearing in Manhattan Beach.) How could anyone now justify the transfer of so many UHW members, against their wishes, to a local they didn’t want to be in even before it was exposed as corrupt and had to be put under trusteeship?
Unfortunately, the ever-agile Stern just shifted back to his original plan, putting UHW in trusteeship! On August 25, SEIU headquarters issued a press release giving notice of a Sept. 22-23 “trusteeship hearing to address fraud charges” against UHW. The “fraudulent” acts cited are mainly the very reasonable steps UHW has taken, with full knowledge of its elected leadership, to protect itself, legally and organizationally, from any abuse of Stern’s trusteeship powers. In the release, Stern declares that he’s now “committed to leading a reform movement in labor.” His first objective is apparently to crush the reform movement that already exists in his own union, via a purge of Rosselli, plus all UHW senior staff and elected officers. Snuffed out along with them would be the local’s valuable website (www.seiuvoice.org), which has rallied SEIU dissidents around the country, before, during, and since the union’s Puerto Rico convention.
Laying the groundwork for this “nuclear option” and providing “left-cover” for his boss (as in the past) is none other than Stephen Lerner. Lerner is the much-heralded SEIU organizer and executive board member responsible for the union’s “Justice for Janitors” campaigns. Like Stern, he’s also no slouch at double-talk. Just a month ago, in an on-line exchange posted at MRZine, Lerner scoffed at the “myth that UHW has been threatened with trusteeship.” He reassured progressive readers that “this simply isn’t true, no matter how often repeated” and claimed that such “misinformation” is just a “distraction” from the “vibrant, open honest debate” that needs to go on about how labor can secure what he calls “Justice for All.” Standing in the way of that goal is “ ‘Left Business Unionism,’ or maybe more appropriately, ‘Neo-Business Unionism.’” According to Lerner, this previously unidentified species is exemplified by UHW which clings to “a business union model” and focuses too much “on servicing and defending remaining islands of unionization (ie local union interests).” In addition, UHW has apparently also been guilty of engaging in “left rhetoric about militant struggle, better contracts…and greater local autonomy.”
Lerner’s line would be laughable, given how factually challenged it is, if it were not for one fact. On August 25, Stern named Lerner and three other officials to act as his “Personal Representatives and Monitors” of UHW activity. So last week, instead of being down in L.A. where he could have been helping to secure justice for home care workers (whose treasury has been pilfered by Tyrone), Lerner was part of a lawyer-assisted crew of Stern “monitors.” All are now busily engaged in peppering UHW with burdensome “information requests” about every conceivable aspect of its daily operations, particularly those related to the local’s legal defense against Stern. Of course, nothing in this intentionally disruptive intervention assists UHW members in any way, particularly those out on strike or in difficult contract negotiations; rather, it’s designed to impede “normal” union functioning, while manufacturing further justification for a full-blown take-over that would (with UHW added) leave the vast majority of California’s 700,000 members with un-elected leadership.
How do we know what life is like on the front-lines of UHW, in the middle of the local’s multi-front war for survival? Well, in the interests of full disclosure, the authors note that we both have daughters working as UHW reps. So we hear a lot about the added stress and frustration of doing day-to-day trade union work under such trying conditions. One of our young staffers reports that she’s been aiding nursing home members whose bosses have become increasingly recalcitrant in bargaining. Unlike Mariner, some UHW employers clearly hope that, by dragging their feet now, they’ll be able to negotiate more favorable terms later on. Outfits like Kindred Healthcare would much prefer to deal with friendlier faces from Local 6434–if UHW members ever end up there–or with any Stern appointees who gain control of UHW.
How did a national union culture, long touted as one of labor’s most dynamic and progressive, engender such a mess? How did it produce a Tyrone Freeman and the kind of press coverage he’s been getting lately (which hurts all unions, not just SEIU)? In Pringle’s Los Angeles Times reporting, this “rising star in local labor circles” is depicted, accurately, by all accounts (except his own), as a free-spending 21st century SEIU version of Jackie Presser, the biggest Teamster boodler of the 1970s and 80s. As other observers have noted, there’s a steady drift, in too many SEIU’ locals, toward Presser’s brand of plain old “business unionism.” First, SEIU operatives at the Labor Notes conference last Spring resort to the same kind of thuggish behavior once common in the Teamsters during the Presser era. Now, like purple shades of Jackie, SEIU leaders collect inflated salaries, tolerate executive board double-dipping, and ignore casual looting of local treasuries, until membership or media whistle-blowing forces them to announce a “clean-up.”
One of Freeman’s early mentors, who asked not to be identified, had this explanation of Tyrone’s rise and fall (as well as the career trajectory of similar Stern proteges): “These are folks who did not earn their status, they were handed it and that leads to a dependence on who handed it to you. The union’s leadership bench is actually very shallow today…A person’s talent and skill and upward mobility now seem to be in inverse proportion in SEIU.”
If loyalty to Stern, rather than competence or honesty, is what leads to rapid career advancemen, and that would appear to be the case, there may be two, three, many Tyrones in the union’s future. That’s because scores of Stern-installed leaders now preside over huge, consolidated locals with few structures for membership accountability or control; many have gotten where they are today via initial appointment rather than through membership election. Many have never worked a day in their life as an SEIU member but their local by-laws have been rigged to insure that they will not ever be easily replaced by anyone from the rank-and-file.
In Local 6434, for example, a worker who wanted to run against Freeman as president is required, within a mere three weeks, to collect and submit the nominating signatures of 4,800 fellow dues-payers! That would be an unheard of hurdle, even in a local with members employed in traditional workplaces. In a union of home-based workers who may not run into five other members in an entire month it’s a guarantee of “presidency for life.” Along with its criminal investigation of Freeman’s spending, the U.S. Department of Labor is also in the process of invalidating this nomination requirement and forcing a fair election.
Legal work in that Local 6434 election challenge was done by Arthur Fox, who is also assisting UHW. He got his start as a union democracy lawyer in the 1970s, as founder of the Professional Drivers Council, a truck drivers’ group that later merged with TDU — Teamsters for a Democratic Union. We also worked with many of the same Teamster dissidents during that period, brave members of PROD, TDU, and a rank-and-file caucus within United Parcel Service called UPSurge. What’s striking to us about the situation in SEIU today is how much the lessons of union democracy struggles during the 1970s have suddenly become relevant again.
To their credit, UHW organizers have been doing their best to brush up on this subject. Among the fifty workshops and training sessions being offered this weekend at a rank-and-file leadership development conference in San Jose is one entitled “Reform Movements Through History.” UHW stewards (and invited guests from other SEIU locals) will be grappling with the following questions: “What kind of role are we, as union leaders, playing in today’s SEIU reform movement? What kind of union are we building if there is no member involvement?” Stewards at the conference are urged to “come learn about the history of the labor movement and discuss lessons we can use in today’s struggle…”
Asked recently about this new focus of UHW staff training and member education, Vice-President John Borsos explained: “One challenge we face is creating a culture of solidarity in non-traditional worksites, where there may not be the traditional kind of union consciousness. So we have tried to be very conscious about instilling a sense of history and institutional culture. We want to demonstrate that what we are doing has been done before. We want people to realize there are precedents for it in SEIU and other unions. I think our struggle with SEIU has made UHW more democratic…”
That internal union battle has certainly made some SEIU rank-and-filers a lot angrier with their top officers than they used to be. Last weekend, for example, Bay Area hospital worker Maya Morris, a leader of SMART, was part of a delegation of 35 UHW activists who dogged Stern and his second-in-command, Anna Berger, at every stop on their “Take Back Labor Day” tour of the mid-west. At this series of post-DNC press events, designed to highlight the need for labor law reform, a busload of SEIU dissidents from California was not a particularly welcome sight, because of their broader conception of “workers rights.”
At a rally for passage of the Employee Free Choice Act, held in St. Louis last Friday, SEIU Secretary-Treasurer Burger gave a big speech “about the right of workers to have a voice on the job and form a union without having to face intimidation from their employer,” reports UHW member Lisa Tomasian.
But, as Tomasian notes, Burger “didn’t talk about whether SEIU members deserve a voice in their own union.” After the rally, Burger gave Tomasian the brush-off, so later in the day, in Iowa City, the UHW steward cornered Stern. She handed the SEIU president a video
of the July protest in Manhattan Beach where “members opposed SEIU’s attempt to force us out of our local and into another.” Tomasian also invited Stern to the UHW educational conference and rally in San Jose this weekend. “He was non-committal,” she says, “and referred me to an assistant.”
Finally, in Wisconsin, the whole California delegation confronted Stern, backing him into a tense hour-long meeting at a local union hall. There, SMART protestors challenged him to a public debate about the current direction of the union. Stern refused to answer any UHW trusteeship-related questions, citing advice from his lawyers. Given recent developments in SEIU—and the rising tide of rank-and-file discontent—such questions are not going away. As will be obvious this Saturday in San Jose, there are just too many SEIU members now determined to “take back” their own union, one way or another.
Cal Winslow is a labor historian, labor educator, Fellow in Environmental Politics, UC Berkeley, and Director of the Mendocino Institute.
Steve Early served for three decades as a national union staffer for the Communications Workers of America and is currently writing a book about the role of Sixties’ radicals in labor. Both are contributors to Rebel Rank-and-File, a forthcoming collection of essays, from Verso Press, on insurgent workers’ movements in the 1970s. They can be reached at cwinslow@mcn.org and Lsupport@aol.com
September 10th, 2008 at 8:30 pm09
Union Seeks Stronger Ethics Rules Amid Scandals
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By STEVEN GREENHOUSE
Published: September 2, 2008
The Service Employees International Union, the nation’s fastest-growing and most politically powerful union, said Tuesday it was setting up a high-level ethics commission after scandals at several of its largest locals.
Andrew L. Stern, the union’s president, said in an interview that this commission would be led by an outsider and would establish tougher ethics rules that all of the union’s leaders — at headquarters and in locals — would have to follow.
Mr. Stern announced the commission three days after the president of a local in Los Angeles representing 77,000 county workers stepped aside amid accusations that her local had paid thousands of dollars to her former boyfriend.
The announcement comes 11 days after a second Los Angeles local, representing 155,000 home-care workers, was placed into trusteeship because the local and its training center had paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to companies run by the wife, mother-in-law and friends of the local’s president.
“When we who have worked hard to rid ourselves of leaders who don’t respect our laws, when we hold ourselves out as people who expect companies to have high moral standards, and when we work for reforms in our union, our labor movement and our country, these things hurt,” Mr. Stern said.
Senator Barack Obama and the Democrats are looking to the service employees’ union and its 1.8 million members to provide more campaign help than any other union.
The revelations have come as Mr. Stern, who has ousted numerous corrupt officials in the past, has been preoccupied with politics, unionizing more workers and combining locals into larger, more powerful groups — actions that critics say have led to less accountability for local leaders.
Mr. Stern said the commission, expected to have 15 members, would consult anticorruption groups, including the Association for Union Democracy and Teamsters for a Democratic Union, to discuss what ethics rules to adopt and how best to enforce them.
“We will ask every local and every state council to immediately adopt as their minimum standards the international union’s code of ethics, which deals with conflicts of interest, self-dealing and gifts,” Mr. Stern said.
He announced the ethics measures after an internal discussion in which several top advisers urged him to take forceful action. According to e-mail messages obtained from a Stern critic, one longtime adviser, Matt Witt, wrote Mr. Stern that the scandals “will make it hard for you to pursue other opportunities outside S.E.I.U., whether with the administration or a foundation or whatever.” Mr. Stern said he had no interest in another job.
Mr. Witt added, “If you leave while what you built is steadily eroding, the blame will fall on you, not your successor.”
In another e-mail message, Jono Shaffer, a leader of the union’s Justice for Janitors campaign in Los Angeles, wondered why it had taken so long to uncover the problems in that city’s giant home-care local. “I wish I could say this is unbelievable, but for those of us in Southern California, the only surprise is that it took so long to make it to the public,” Mr. Shaffer wrote.
The Labor Department is investigating that Los Angeles local, and a Congressional committee has begun an inquiry about it.
Last week, the president of the union’s 55,000-member health care local in Michigan stepped aside amid accusations of financial wrongdoing. Also last week, the parent union served notice to a 130,000-member health care local in Northern California, threatening to place it into trusteeship because it set up a fund that the parent union says was used for improper purposes. That local is headed by a prominent Stern opponent, Sal Rosselli.
Mr. Rosselli and the other union leaders say they have been wrongly accused.
“By the time our board meets in January, we hope to have in place a world-class set of standards that make sure that the members’ moneys and rights are protected,” Mr. Stern said. “We want to articulate bright lines of right and wrong, and we want to enforce them.”
September 12th, 2008 at 8:30 pm09
Update on the Appeal of the Employee Relations Board case # C797-C801-
The Appeal has been filed with the Superior Court and we are waiting for a response from the Defendant, the Employee Relations Board and will set a date for hearing on the matter thereafter.
On or about August 15, 2008 I was e-mailed a SEIU report that indicated that SEIU Local 347 and SEIU Local 660 had been placed in emergency trusteeship about 20 days before the ERB hearing on April 28, 2008. This document contradicted evidence and/or testimony adduced in the ERB case in that Andy Stern stated that he had been contacted by the Executive Board of Local 347 over “grave concerns” about the Locals ability to fulfill “bargaining” responsibilities. Mr. Schoonover testified that as of April 23, 2007, there were no 347 Executive Board members. We have therefore filed a Motion for Reconsideration with the ERB. The matter will be heard by the ERB later this month.-Dan Mariscal
September 13th, 2008 at 8:30 am09
The SEIU responds
The union’s president vows his organization will represent organized labor’s ethical gold standard.
By Andy Stern
September 8, 2008
Over the last 12 years, the Service Employees International Union has led the fight for the political reforms that America’s working people need. On issues ranging from healthcare to immigration to corporate responsibility, we have pressed our clear and consistent view that America must change in order to win. Now it’s our turn to make some changes.
Recent reports in The Times have raised serious questions about how money from a local chapter may have been misused. The stories accuse Tyrone Freeman, president of Local 6434, of steering payments and contracts to companies owned by his relatives and other financial improprieties.
The SEIU, deeply troubled by these allegations, immediately launched its own investigation, and, within two weeks, Freeman and his field director had gone on leave and the SEIU had taken over running the local union.
FOR THE RECORD:
Union leader: A Sept. 8 Op-Ed article on reforming the Service Employees International Union misstated the affiliation of Alejandro Stephens. He was never the president of Local 721. He is the former president of Local 660. —
At the SEIU, we understand that reform, like charity, must begin at home.
Our unions represent some of the hardest-working men and women in America, workers who sweep floors and empty bedpans for a living wage. The first responsibility of every union official is to do what is right by those who pay dues out of their paychecks every week. When we fail in that obligation, our union loses its moral center and its soul.
Any misuse of member dues calls into question the hard work and reputations of thousands of honest and committed rank-and-file members, stewards, local union leaders and staff. What’s more, it hands anti-worker corporations and reform opponents the ammunition they need to defeat workers trying to organize and win fair contracts.
At the SEIU, we will not tolerate any actions that put the interests of our members at risk, and we will respond to credible allegations wherever they occur. Period.
In response to the allegations in Los Angeles, the SEIU immediately placed a team of auditors and investigators on the ground. Then we assumed day-to-day operations of United Long-term Care Workers Local 6434, and we retained former California Atty. Gen. John Van de Kamp to assist in the investigation and former California Supreme Court Justice Joseph Grodin to serve as the outside hearing officer to review our findings.
We’ve also taken action regarding allegations at two other California chapters. We have demanded the immediate reimbursement of monies that may have been improperly paid to Alejandro Stephens, a former president of Los Angeles-based Local 721. In addition, we are pursuing action against another of our chapters, Oakland-based United Healthcare Workers-West, where the leadership is charged with diverting millions of dollars of union treasury monies, in possible violation of federal law.
Most important, we are making changes to ensure that abuses such as this never happen again.
We are calling on every SEIU local across the country to immediately adopt a standard code of ethics — guidelines the International Union adopted several years ago — that protects the interests of members. The new rules:
* Prohibit conflicts of interest and nepotism by barring any SEIU officer or manager from deals involving a family member, a personal financial interest or the interest of a business partner;
* Ban accepting gifts or payments from restricted sources, such as employers negotiating with any SEIU local union;
* Strictly limit personal use of union property;
* Make sure trust accounts established to fund health, welfare or retirement benefits aren’t used to pay officers or managers; and
* Prevent individuals convicted of a felony related to abuse of their employment from serving as union officers or managers.
In addition, we have established a commission on ethics and standards to find ways to beef up our ethics education and enforcement. We will ask the commission to come back in 90 days with a comprehensive package of recommendations on how to make sure that our leadership from Los Angeles to Washington is held accountable. When we come out on the other side of this, we want the SEIU to represent organized labor’s ethical gold standard.
At the SEIU, we are committed to leading a reform movement within labor. That means setting the highest standards of honesty and integrity. If we want to continue to be the voice of millions seeking fairness in their workplace, we can be nothing less.
Andy Stern is president of the 2-million-member Service Employees International Union.
September 13th, 2008 at 8:30 am09
Re “The SEIU responds,” Opinion, Sept. 8
Andy Stern is missing the point when he calls on every SEIU local in the country to adopt a code of ethics. What he should do instead is empower executive boards at SEIU locals by allowing members to elect truly independent executive boards.
Most local presidents handpick their executive boards, which then become rubber stamps. This makes a mockery of unions being democratic institutions.
It appears that this was the problem with these locals. Independent executive boards with real power are desperately needed to end this corruption.
In addition, the allegedly corrupt officers should be criminally prosecuted. Merely reimbursing the money will not do.
Mr. Stern, get serious about rooting out corruption at these locals. Your members deserve no less.
Salvador Sanchez
Los Angeles
September 13th, 2008 at 8:30 am09
I have been an SEIU Local 347 member for about 19 years, and I am very puzzled by brother Andy Stern’s attempt at addressing corruption and ethical lapses in the union. Selecting local leaders, instead of electing local leaders, is what got us into this mess in the first place.
“Selecting” even more people is not the answer. The answer is called union democracy. As in: open, honest and fair elections, free from rigging, interference and bias funding.
I am particularly dismayed that brother Stern would keep trying to go after democratically operated United Healthcare Workers-West while his “selected” leaders damage the whole American labor movement, right under his nose. What would have happened if the media had not investigated and uncovered these alleged misdeeds?
Until we know just how far up this lack of integrity goes, any investigation by any “selected” commission should not be directed away from higher SEIU officials, but should go wherever the facts and evidence lead. Period.
Dan Mariscal
Steward, SEIU Local 347
Montebello
September 13th, 2008 at 8:30 am09
SEIU (Andy Stern) Responds.
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-oe-stern8-2008sep08,0,6028172.story
Interesting quote: “…Our unions represent some of the hardest-working men and women in America, workers who sweep floors and empty bedpans for a living wage.” “…In response to the allegations in Los Angeles, the SEIU immediately placed a team of auditors and investigators on the ground. Then we assumed day-to-day operations of United Long-term Care Workers Local 6434, and we retained former California Atty. Gen. John Van de Kamp to assist in the investigation and former California Supreme Court Justice Joseph Grodin to serve as the outside hearing officer to review our findings.
We’ve also taken action regarding allegations at two other California chapters. We have demanded the immediate reimbursement of monies that may have been improperly paid to Alejandro Stephens, a former president of Los Angeles-based Local 721. In addition, we are pursuing action against another of our chapters, Oakland-based United Healthcare Workers-West, where the leadership is charged with diverting millions of dollars of union treasury monies, in possible violation of federal law…”
Sounds like this attack on UHW-West is just for them standing up to him (Stern) and because of the personal affront to his always benevolent and magnanimous leadership!
I wonder how much the half-page ad and the public notification to the UHW-West cost the service employees? How about the cost for the Team of Auditors, Investigators, the Commission on Ethics and Standards, Van de Kamp and Grodin? How about the cost for their “organizers/foot soldiers”? Don’t tell us that they’re all doing it for free!
Is it true that the SEIU spends 50% of member dues to “organize” workers? Does this include harassing & attacking other unions like LA’s EAA (that is the longest standing City union with about 8,000 represented employees), Simi Valley, Orange County, Palmdale & Lancaster? What? Are they “dis-organized” or do you just want their dues & PAC fees?
Why not just REDUCE your SEIU member dues by 50% and increase their take-home pay? How about eliminating the PAC fees? Sorry, WHAT am I thinking? Do something POSITIVE for the MEMBERS? FORGET ABOUT IT!!!
From: http://opinion.latimes.com/opinionla/2008/09/palin-obama-mpa.html
Another interesting quote from the Stern Response. “At the SEIU, we are committed to leading a reform movement within labor. That means setting the highest standards of honesty and integrity. If we want to continue to be the voice of millions seeking fairness in their workplace, we can be nothing less.” No democracy is mentioned? Why? Because it will NOT be tolerated? Who is “we”? The royal WE?
GOOD LUCK to SAL & the UHW-West and their fight for Democracy! How about reducing member dues and getting the whole Local completely OUT of the SEIU and having a partnership with the CNA?
Posted by: Anonymous | September 09, 2008 at 10:17 PM
September 13th, 2008 at 8:30 am09
Why do some of us pay 0.8% for our dues and others pay 1.25% and as much as 2%? Some papers I read says some pay $6 for PAC and LA City workers pay $12.09. Why? MORE money for the leaders to WASTE? WHERE IS OUR MONEY GOING? DOWN THE DRAIN OR TO FAMILY MEMBERS, TOO?
September 13th, 2008 at 8:30 pm09
McKeon Calls for Hearing into Allegations of Misconduct & Financial Abuse by SEIU Local Officials
Allegations of Mismanagement & Abuse that Put Rank-and-File Union Members at Risk Must be Investigated Aggressively
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Citing multiple allegations of misconduct, financial mismanagement, and breach of fiduciary responsibility by local officials of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), the U.S. House Education and Labor Committee’s Senior Republican has called for a hearing into the allegations to determine the risk posed to rank-and-file union members and the degree to which federal laws may have been violated.
“The allegations against local union officials in California are deeply disturbing. If true, they would represent a serious breach in the public trust and a violation of the rights of thousands of dues-paying union members, and they deserve a thorough investigation,” said McKeon.
In late August, the Los Angeles Times and other media outlets reported that hundreds of thousands of dollars have been paid to firms owned by relatives of the president of a Los Angeles SEIU local. These funds, paid by the union and a related charity, could represent the misappropriation of dues paid by rank-and-file union members, a violation of federal law.
On August 28, Education and Labor Committee Chairman George Miller (D-CA) issued a press release announcing that the committee had opened an inquiry into the alleged financial misconduct reported by the Los Angeles Times and other media outlets. Since that time, the committee’s Republicans have received no communication from the majority regarding the ongoing inquiry.
Rep. McKeon sent a letter to Miller yesterday requesting that a hearing be convened to review the allegations and their impact on workers. The full text of the letter can be found below. Noting that the 110th Congress is scheduled to adjourn on September 26, with the House not scheduled to reconvene until January 2009, McKeon urged that a hearing be called quickly in order to avoid a months-long delay in necessary congressional oversight.
“With the Democratic Congress preparing to shutter the Capitol and leave town for the year, these allegations of financial abuse and misconduct must be investigated with all due haste,” said McKeon. “It would be inexcusable for these reports to be ignored simply because the alleged perpetrators are political allies of the Democratic majority, and I have every expectation that appropriate action will be taken, including the convening of a hearing before the 110th Congress adjourns.
September 13th, 2008 at 8:30 pm09
Employee Rights Group Seeks Federal Criminal Investigation into SEIU Union’s Political Fundraising
SEIU’s new rule forces local affiliates to raise PAC money or kick in workers’ forced union dues and pay penalties
Washington, DC (July 17, 2008) – The National Right to Work Foundation has formally requested that the U.S. Department of Labor and U.S. Department of Justice open investigations into a campaign fundraising scheme adopted by the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) at its recent convention.
After reviewing a new amendment to the SEIU constitution, Foundation staff attorneys have concluded that the union and its officers may be violating federal labor law and the Federal Election Campaign Act by imposing financial penalties on local affiliates who fail to meet Political Action Committee (PAC) fundraising targets.
“SEIU bosses are making a mockery of federal law. It’s vital the Department of Justice and Department of Labor take action now before the damage is done,” said Mark Mix, president of the National Right to Work Foundation. “Elections are a cornerstone of our democratic republic, and we need to do everything possible to ensure the results aren’t tainted by unlawful union activism that violates the rights of rank-and-file workers.”
Article XV, Section 18 of the union’s constitution now authorizes the SEIU’s national brass to fine local unions for failure to meet its annual SEIU COPE fundraising obligations. SEIU COPE is the union’s federal PAC, and the FEC lists it as the top labor union PAC with over $23 million in receipts for 2005-2006.
However, federal labor law forbids unions from political fundraising through the imposition of mandatory financial penalties and it prohibits the conversion of union dues to “hard money.” In addition to asking for a Department of Labor investigation, the coercive nature of the amendment’s punitive mechanism violates core provisions of the Federal Election Campaign Act, and warrants a Department of Justice criminal prosecution.
The new amendment also appears to allow local affiliates to use nonmember employees’ mandatory dues payments to cover PAC contributions and the SEIU’s fines. While imposition of financial penalties for failure to make political contributions is illegal regardless of how those fines are spent, the use of funds derived from nonmembers’ fees for political purposes also violates those employees’ constitutional rights.
Union officials have devoted enormous sums of money to influence the upcoming fall elections. Because the SEIU’s political contributions are so significant, Foundation attorneys believe that this amendment has the potential to irreparably compromise the integrity of the electoral process. By coercing local affiliates and nonmember employees into contributing to the SEIU’s massive general election fund, union officials threaten to disenfranchise voters with a firestorm of illegally funded political activism.
In the letter to Attorney General Mukasey, Mix writes for the Foundation: “Not only are large numbers of employees (forced to fill SEIU coffers) harmed by this crime, but, given the close vote in recent national elections, the illegal SEIU activity effectively disenfranchises voters who follow the law… To protect the rights of workers forced to pay compulsory dues and fees, and the integrity of the November elections, I trust you will act upon this information…”
September 13th, 2008 at 8:30 pm09
Here is a link to the text of a letter sent to the Departments of Labor (DOL) and Justice (DOJ) by the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation requesting a criminal investigation of SEIU regarding the forced and/or coerced payment of political funds by the rank and file to the International.
http://www.nrtw.org/press/seiu-illegal-pac-07172008
September 13th, 2008 at 8:30 pm09
SEIU Insider Blows the Whistle on Union’s Dirty PAC Fundraising Scheme
Tue, 08/05/2008 - 11:48 — Patrick Semmens
The National Right to Work Foundation’s letters calling for an investigation of the SEIU union’s apparently illegal scheme to coerce “donations” for its Political Action Committee (PAC) prompted this excellent editorial in the Wall Street Journal.
Now that editorial has caused a local union official to blow the whistle in this letter to the editor. Aside from cheering the Foundation’s efforts, her letter alludes to another problematic aspect of the SEIU union’s dirty political fundraising scheme.
Marlene Jones, a registered nurse who is also the head of her Pennsylvania-based SEIU local, writes the following:
“I have been a member of the Service Employees International Union (1199P) for 27 years. I am the president of a local nurses union in Pennsylvania. Every day I experience the pressure for our local nurses union to have all of our members contribute to the Political Action Committee fund. SEIU even goes as far as telling its locals that if a percentage of its members contribute, they will receive 1% of their high union dues back to the locals.”
[emphasis added]
So on top of the SEIU constitutional amendment penalizing SEIU locals by seizing dues money when they don’t hit PAC fundraising goals, Ms. Jones says top SEIU bosses are promising conditional kickbacks of certain union dues seized from workers and sent to the International affiliate. But those kickbacks apparently do not occur if the local union fails to meet the SEIU’s PAC fundraising mandates. This could be yet another way SEIU bosses are in violating federal law by securing PAC “contributions” with the threat of financial reprisals.
Nurse Jones ends her letter with the following plea:
“When will it end? Good luck with the investigation. Our members do not want to contribute to the PAC fund.”
September 13th, 2008 at 8:30 pm09
SEIU Low Down Dirty Tactics
Fri, 12/14/2007 - 11:19 — John Powell
One National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) administrative law judge recently overturned a very close decertification election and more than suggested that another election take place after union operatives practically rigged a vote in their favor.
Actually, the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 399 did win the tainted election – but by a difference of two highly questionable votes.
According the NLRB investigation, SEIU union thugs used intimidation tactics, including threats, harassment of employees, and efforts to bribe the petitioner into withdrawing the decertification petition, in order to help with the electioneering. Administrative Law Judge Gregory Z. Meyerson wrote that the SEIU union’s underhanded tactics likely scared employees so badly, that they were afraid to oppose the union in the decertification election:
“…wherein union business agent Ronquillo verbally and physically threatened Alan Smith…[and] union business agent Rodriguez offered Smith a number of benefits for abandoning his support for the decertification effort, including purple scrubs, a position as a keynote speaker at the Jesse Jackson rally, and most significantly, a job with the [SEIU] Union.”
Meyerson continued that the SEIU union’s low down dirty tactics “prevented the employees from freely and fairly exercising their choice in the election.” It is plain despicable these thugs will do anything in order to keep forced dues coming into their coffers.
September 14th, 2008 at 8:30 pm09
Do you want Ridley-Thomas? It doesn’t matter. That’s where your dues are going.
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-labor14-2008sep14,0,3383611.story?track=ntothtml
Where else? Out of state? Probably. To the international for their needs? Even MORE likely.
September 14th, 2008 at 8:30 pm09
Wasted coalition dues money being spent nationwide. See http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/washington/2008/03/union.html
“… The American Leadership Project aired $833,000 worth of pro-Clinton television ads in Texas and Ohio and has $300,000 in the bank for a new round of TV messages likely in Pennsylvania for its April 22 voting. The project disclosed it had raised $1.16 million overall.
But even at that significant rate, AFSCME was outspent by the rival Service Employees International Union, which backs Obama. Since January, SEIU and its affiliates spent $5.4 million to help Obama win the nomination, with the bulk of television and get-out-the-vote efforts pouring into Texas and Ohio.
Four years ago, both AFSCME and SEIU backed Howard Dean’s failed bid. Since then the labor groups have gone their separate ways. In fact, they’re now fighting each other over representation of many of the same workers, particularly those in healthcare and home care.
Notwithstanding its name, the American Federation of State, County & Municipal Employees represents more federal workers than any other union.
The head of AFSCME is Gerald McEntee, a longtime Clinton friend. …”
MORE money being given to friends? The SEIU trend continues to waste money & fight other “organized” unions for members. Are the others dis-organized and fair game for the SEIU leadership?
September 17th, 2008 at 8:30 am09
IS SEIU INTERNATIONAL RIPPING US OFF, AGAIN? I seen an email that says the SEIU will keep EAA dues at 0.5% percent indefinitely or at least until they get gains if any of the MOUs decert. Is this what happened to us when we joined or is the International just making the REST of us pay for the EAA? WHY IS THIS FAIR TO US? Is this just to get more money and trick the IDIOTS to join us and help us pay for more organizing?
September 17th, 2008 at 8:30 pm09
Today’s San Francisco Bay Guardian describes how Stern and Burger’s campaign
against UHW in California is draining vital resources away from the Obama
campaign.
Several SEIU leaders are challenging Stern and Burger to hold off on taking any
action against UHW at least until after the election, but Stern and Burger are
deaf to these concerns.
Is it because the scandal among their closest allies–Tyrone Freeman, Rickman
Jackson, Annelle Grajeda, David Holway–goes right to the top? Is saving
themselves more important than electing Obama?
——————————————————————————–
————————–
A house divided
SEIU’s internal battles could divert critical resources from the fall election
By J.B. Powell
jesse@sfbg.com
Just as the US presidential election hits the home stretch, internal strife at
one of the country’s largest labor unions appears to be diverting its focus
from electing Barack Obama.
The Service Employees International Union (SEIU) and its 2 million members
helped Obama defeat Hillary Clinton in the Democratic primary. Its ground
operation and bulging political war chest are crucial to Democratic Party hopes
in November, both in the presidential election and congressional races. But a
recent corruption scandal and an ongoing internal dispute that threatens to
blow up in the coming weeks could undermine the union’s political influence at
the worst possible time.
“If SEIU didn’t have to deal with this distraction, it would be able to do more
to influence the election,” Dan Clawson, a labor scholar and professor of
sociology at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, told the Guardian.
“California [where nearly all of SEIU’s recent turmoil has taken place] is not
where they should be.”
But according to several sources within SEIU, the union will be devoting
resources to the Golden State this fall, even though the state is widely
expected to remain a Democratic stronghold. The sources contend that the
organization is preparing to deploy hundreds of its staffers to the region to
take control of a local union affiliate and to deal with any potential fallout.
At least some of those staffers, the sources say, would have been devoting
their time and energy to the election campaign if not for SEIU’s internal
troubles.
Last month the union’s international office was forced to “trustee,” or take
over, its largest California affiliate after the Los Angeles Times ran a series
of articles exposing alleged corruption by its leader, Tyrone Freeman. Then, in
late August, SEIU announced it was initiating a process to assume control of
its second-largest California local, the Oakland-based United Healthcare
Workers–West (UHW). For months, SEIU president Andy Stern has feuded with UHW
head Sal Rosselli over Stern’s push to consolidate local union chapters into
larger and more centralized units [see “A less perfect union,” 4/9/08, and “The
SEIU strikes back,” 4/16/08].
Stern and the international have charged Rosselli and other UHW officials with
misappropriating millions of dollars. In late July, a federal judge dismissed a
lawsuit brought by SEIU covering these same charges. Now SEIU has scheduled its
own hearings on the matter to decide whether to clean out UHW’s leadership. The
hearings are set for Sept. 26-27 at the San Mateo County Event Center. A
separate lawsuit challenging UHW leadership brought by individual UHW members
is also moving forward. Rosselli and his supporters strongly deny the
allegations of financial misconduct. They claim the upcoming trusteeship
hearings are simply Stern’s latest attempt to stifle dissent within the union.
“It’s a kangaroo court,” Rosselli told us. “It’s a purely political move to
silence our members. And it’s a huge distraction.”
SEIU’s turmoil is not welcome news to progressives. Federal election records
show that the union’s political arm has dropped more than $10 million into
Obama’s candidacy, as well as millions more for other left-wing candidates and
causes. Beyond monetary support, Democrats are counting on SEIU organizers to
hit the ground across the country, especially in hotly contested states like
Pennsylvania, Florida, Ohio, Colorado, and Missouri. But because of the feud, a
good number of those foot soldiers could be spending this autumn in safely blue
California instead.
If the hearing officer hired by SEIU allows the union to take over UHW, another
labor scholar, who spoke to the Guardian on condition of anonymity, said, “It’s
hard to see how [SEIU] would do it without bringing in a significant number of
people.” He explained that in the event of a trusteeship, some or all of the
staff may need to be replaced. The union also might have to contend with a
large number of extremely disgruntled people in its 150,000-member affiliate.
Officials at UHW told us that members are planning “massive” demonstrations at
the two-day hearings in late September. And the upheaval could easily drag on
through the rest of the campaign season if the trusteeship moves forward.
Rosselli predicts there will be “major resistance” from his rank and file. He
would not elaborate on what that resistance would consist of, but a resolution
passed at a recent UHW leadership conference struck a decidedly militant tone:
“UHW will fight to keep our members united in one statewide healthcare workers
union and will use all available means.”
Rosselli told us that resisting SEIU’s trusteeship would “dramatically” curtail
his local’s political activities. During the primary season, he added, UHW
dispatched teams of organizers to Iowa, New Hampshire, and other critical
states. But for the general election, they will be staying home. “We’re in a
civil war,” Rosselli said. “We need everyone here to defend against Stern’s
dictatorship.”
The Guardian has learned that Obama and other progressive candidates may not
just be losing valuable campaigners from UHW. Several UHW sources said they
expect SEIU to send large numbers of union organizers to the Bay Area in the
wake of the hearings — and two management-level sources from the
international’s staff confirmed those suspicions to us.
The first source, who asked not to be identified, told the Guardian that
numerous colleagues at the organization have been approached by “senior
international staff, attempting to recruit them and other organizers to come to
California … to implement the [possible] trusteeship.” The source added that
people within the organization believe the union is planning to send “hundreds”
of people.
A second management-level source at the international, who also requested
anonymity, told us that they have personally assigned several organizers to
campaign work only to see those staffers reassigned to the UHW matter by
international higher-ups. The second source reiterated the first source’s
contention that the union is looking to send “hundreds” of what the source
termed “troops” to Northern California to replace any UHW staff who quit or are
expelled, and to quell any uprising by disgruntled UHW members.
“This has been deemed an imperative at the top levels of the union,” the second
source continued. “People have been told [the] numbers of people they need to
assign [to the UHW feud] and been told to look over their staff lists to see
who they can assign.”
Michelle Ringuette, a spokesperson for the international in Washington DC, told
us that “no one is being pulled off of political work” to deal with the UHW
situation. While she wouldn’t deny that some organizers who might otherwise be
involved in lower-level political activities “like get out the vote operations”
might be sent to California if needed, she denied that staffers who specialize
in politics would be diverted or that hundreds of staffers would be involved.
Get out the vote efforts such as phone banks and door-knocking are often
performed by union workers on behalf of Democratic candidates — and they can be
decisive in a close election.
“Of course this [the trusteeship hearing] is unfortunate timing,” Ringuette
said. “But … we don’t believe this is going to affect out advocacy for Barack
Obama. That is our top national priority.”
But a third employee of the international we spoke with rejected Ringuette’s
description of a division of labor within the union’s organizers. The longtime
employee, who also asked not to be identified for fear of retribution, told the
Guardian that a small number of international staffers may specialize
exclusively in political activism, but virtually all organizers would be
working on the fall campaign in a normal election year.
“If they’re sending organizers to California [to deal with UHW], they’re
definitely moving them away from battleground states. California is not
considered a battleground state.”
Our other two sources at the international echoed the third source’s
characterizations.
In a strongly worded letter to Stern dated Sept. 9, UHW’s secretary treasurer
Joan Emslie stated that the trusteeship hearings “can only distract” SEIU from
political activism and “hinder our ability to put the greatest possible efforts
into this critical national election.” The letter ended by requesting that the
trusteeship hearings be postponed until “a date no earlier than Nov. 10,” one
week after the presidential election. As of press time, the international has
not rescheduled the hearings.
Obama campaign officials we contacted declined to comment on what one called
“an internal union matter.” But some labor observers were willing to voice
their displeasure with the timing of the dispute. Professor Nelson
Lichtenstein, director of the Center for the Study of Work, Labor, and
Democracy at UC Santa Barbara called the trusteeship hearings “a huge mistake.”
With the upcoming election, Lichtenstein went on, “the consequences could be
enormous. What’s the rush?”
Wednesday September 17, 2008
September 17th, 2008 at 8:30 pm09
SEIU’S UNITED HEALTHCARE WORKERS WEST FILES CHARGES AGAINST ANDY STERN AND ANNA BERGER:
http://www.seiuvoice.org/article.php?id=548
September 18th, 2008 at 8:30 am09
SEIU accuses local union leader of misusing funds
Tyrone Freeman has been removed from the union’s payroll after an internal report alleges improper spending practices similar to those revealed by The Times.
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-union18-2008sep18,0,1661304.story
September 18th, 2008 at 8:30 am09
House pursuing probe of SEIU local in L.A., panel chairman says
After Republican charge of stalling, George Miller says his committee is simply taking care not to interfere with criminal investigation.
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-union17-2008sep17,0,874870.story
September 18th, 2008 at 8:30 am09
“FBI Raids SEIU 721″!!! https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=8826939&postID=8824281376148226027&page=1
Are the leaders going down? We can only hope … or help with the investigations. Goodbye Julie.
September 18th, 2008 at 8:30 pm09
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
FBI Raids SEIU 721
An insider has told us that the FBI raided the offices of SEIU Local 721. Stay tuned.
September 20th, 2008 at 8:30 pm09
Who works with us??? Who is leading us?
California state workers union official held in child-porn case
http://www.sacbee.com/749/story/1223994.html
More about the union leader arrested on child porn charges
http://www.sacbee.com/static/weblogs/the_state_worker/2008/09/how-did-a-convicted-child-mole.html
September 20th, 2008 at 8:30 pm09
Lots of information at he Sacbee. All are watching for offenders in our union.
http://search.sacbee.com/search?ie=&site=sacbee_search&output=xml_no_dtd&client=sacbee_search&lr=&proxystylesheet=sacbee_search&oe=&q=seiu%20child-porn
September 20th, 2008 at 8:30 pm09
Law Profesor’s discussion
http://lawprofessors.typepad.com/nonprofit/2008/09/seiu-union-lead.html
September 20th, 2008 at 8:30 pm09
Where is the info on the FBI Raid on SEIU 721? Are they hiding it or just a hoax? Was this just wishful thinking or fear on the SEIU’s part? Are they shredding with earnest? Julie, are you helping?
September 20th, 2008 at 8:30 pm09
Stern Invades UHW-West Territories, Locals setting up defense
http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2008/09/07/18533858.php
Are we next? Andy, Bob & Julie need to go for us to be safe!
September 21st, 2008 at 8:30 am09
Union’s ‘Secret Pact’ With Employers, Other Unions Raises Eyebrows
http://warnertoddhuston.newsvine.com/_news/2008/05/20/1500675-unions-secret-pact-with-employers-other-unions-raises-eyebrows
-By Warner Todd Huston
As president of the Services Employee International Union (SEIU), Andy Stern has presided over a union that has grown impressively while at the same time just about every other union in the country has diminished in size and power. Some might think this a tremendous victory for president Stern. But how he has achieved this feat is certainly a matter of concern for everyone, a concern that should cast a pal over this claimed victory.
Question: do unions have a reputation of being transparent with their members? Well, unions in America certainly have the reputation of being run by the worker, for the worker, so transparency is an ideal they all claim to live up to, for certain — graft, embezzlement, mob infestation and corruption aside.
So, why has the SEIU been making secret pacts with other unions as well as employers, the natural enemy of unions? Andy Stern says that it is all in the pursuit of growth. His detractors in the ranks say that his is a growth-at-any-cost effort that places them all at a disadvantage.
Why, Stern has even made secret deals with employers, the full details of which are not being made public even to his own membership. He has made deals that stipulate that the SEIU will give up the right to go on strike. In return, the employers agree with the union which of their plants and businesses will be “allowed” to be unionized as well as how many employees will be organized with the employer making a pact of non-interference of the process.
The Wall Street Journal reports that Andy Stern was impatient with the “old ways” and wanted to grow his union at an accelerated pace.
The SEIU’s president, Andy Stern, said the unions sought the agreements after realizing that traditional organizing campaigns at individual sites were proving ineffective. “The old ways aren’t working, and we’re trying to find different relationships with employers that guarantee workers a voice,” he said. He dismissed the idea that the new agreements are undemocratic. “These workers have no unions; that’s where we start from,” he said.
One of those newer, faster ways to organize will be to get rid of the ability of a prospective union member’s traditional right to a secret ballot where he can vote his conscience free of harassment when asked if he wants to be unionized. The so-called card-check system would find a prospective member forced to reveal to all his coworkers if he voted yes or no for unionization. This leaves the prospective union member open for pressure to vote yes or harassment if he insists on voting no, situations that could not occur if it were a secret ballot.
Naturally, this card-check idea and Stern’s penchant for secret deals and top-down leadership have brought forth accusations that he is anti-democratic in his policies.
It’s hard to fault anyone who’d think so, too.
The Journal summed up the current direction of Stern’s leadership.
The unions gave up the right to strike and to post derogatory language about the companies on bulletin boards. With Compass, the unions agreed to these restrictions “anywhere in the world.” In exchange, the companies agree not to oppose union organizing at the designated locations.
Labor experts said it was highly unusual for unions to give employers the ability to choose which employees a union can try to organize. “That’s not widespread,” said Robert Bruno, associate professor of labor relations at the University of Illinois at Chicago. “When you agree to these kinds of conditions the question is what is lost and what is gained?”
The agreements enable the unions to organize workers through a simple card-signing process in which the companies agree to remain neutral, rather than a secret-ballot election. The companies agree to provide the unions with lists of employees and access to workers. The unions give up the ability to strike and agree that they will present issues before a labor-management committee before engaging in leafleting or rallies.
It all seems rather cozy, doesn’t it?
Many union supporters as well as many SEIU members on the inside are afraid that Andy Stern has given away the store just to assure growth. They say he is slighting the future of the union, giving away too much power. But, there is an unrecognized soft underbelly to what is being perceived as the ironclad position that Stern is giving employers here.
Does anyone think, once the SEIU amasses the power of mass membership in the services industry, that the union will stay true to its agreement not to strike and to resort only to the arbitration systems between union and employer that current agreements have created?
Does ANYONE imagine that any union is trustworthy enough to stay within their agreements?
Anyone who believes that the SEIU will continue to abide by any agreements is a fool. The second the SEIU imagines they have enough power, all past agreements will be thrown on the scrap heap and strike signs will be raised anywhere the union wants to blackmail these foolish employers into buckling under to further demands — agreements or no.
In any case, it is rather interesting that the SEIU is pursuing secret deals, trying to take away the right of their members to strike as well as to take away their right to the common democratic process of the secret ballot, isn’t it?
No wonder SEIU president Stern is facing stiff resistance even among his own members.
===========
Do we think it matters to STERN WHAT we think or WHAT we want?
September 21st, 2008 at 8:30 am09
Check out where the SEIU COPE money is going:
http://www.newsmeat.com/fec/bystate_detail.php?zip=20005&last=SEIU+COPE+US+DIVISION&first=
No wonder they’re demanding that members pay so much.
How do the crooks stay out of jail?
http://www.stoptheaclu.com/archives/2008/09/20/ca-house-to-investigate-seiu-spending-scandal/
Are the members important? Or just power-hungry cronies leading the locals
http://www.reformseiu.org/2008/02/open-letter-from-smart-members-to.html
Open letter from SMART members to Annelle Grajeda
Ms. Grajeda,
SMART members listened to your March 19th interview on KPFA radio and heard the untruths you are now spreading publicly about our rank and file movement for democratic reform of SEIU.
We find it unimaginable that you have the time to attack the elected leader of another local union who supports our movement for rank and file reform of SEIU given that California’s budget crisis threatens virtually every program that your own members at Local 721 and that SEIU public sector workers deliver, not to mention the impact on the general public across the state of California. One would think you would be too busy addressing this staggering budget crisis to attack democracy for rank and file members in SEIU.
No single group of union members will be more impacted by Schwarzenegger’s proposed budget cuts than SEIU’s members, yet you as the President of SEIU’s California State Council are spending your time pursuing Andrew Stern’s political agenda rather than forcefully driving the mammoth effort that it will take from all of SEIU’s California locals to achieve an acceptable budget.
Perhaps you should have spent more time thinking about how to save the jobs of your own local union’s members and those across the state of California who are likely to be laid off and less time attacking a local union leader who is fighting for high contract standards and a democratic voice for rank and file members of SEIU.
Or maybe you could have spent a little less time globetrotting. We hear that you have used our dues money (flying the pricier business class) as you traveled to China, Vienna, Australia, Great Britain, Central America (and who knows where else) in the last year alone working with your boss, Andrew Stern. While you were busy globetrotting on the members’ dime California ’s Governor Schwarzenegger has proposed:
* The elimination of almost 7,000 jobs forcing layoffs in every school district in California.
* A 10% cut that is likely to cause over 1,000 of the approximately 18,000 trial court employees to be laid off.
* Almost $200 million in cuts to child development programs eliminating 8,000 child-care slots for low income families.
* A 10% Reduction to Medi-Cal that would cause the layoff of 1,200 Medi-Cal Eligibility Workers and put the burden of the true cost of this care on safety net hospitals and clinics who are barely hanging on as it is.
* Discontinued Optional and Part B benefits that would impact around 57,000 low income blind, disabled and seniors who will be unable to afford preventative care.
* Reduced funding to public, district, private and non-contract hospitals that will lead to many providers dropping care for Medi-Cal and uninsured patients entirely.
* Cuts to Child Welfare Services that would cause the layoff of 1,005 Social Workers.
* Cuts to Food Stamp Administration that will cause the layoff of 290 county eligibility workers.
* Additional cuts to Developmental Disabilities ($228 million) and Adult Protective Services ($6.1 million) that may result in layoffs.
* $110 million in cuts to In Home Support Services (IHSS) devastating home healthcare workers and putting these healthcare workers at risk of losing their own health care benefits.
* Potential cuts to Cal-OSHA, the Division of Occupational Safety and Health, and new fees on workers’ compensation premiums.
* Potential cuts of $222,000 from the Occupational Safety and Health Appeals Board and the Occupational Safety and Health Standard Board.
Members of your own union, Local 721, are facing 11.4 million dollars in cuts to the General Fund that will de-fund the Los Angeles Healthcare Workforce Development Fund meaning that thousands of your own members will not get the skills upgrade training needed to ensure that they can provide quality care to patients in the L.A. County Health system and worsening the nursing shortage in L.A. County.
SEIU Local 1000 members are facing cuts to the departments of Corrections and Rehabilitation, Justice, Mental Health, Social Services, Developmental Services, Health Care Services, Public Health and Veterans affairs eliminating 6,800 jobs in the next fiscal year.
And Governor Schwarzenegger has already reduced funding to the California State University budget by an incredible $ 386.1 million after previous reductions between 2002 to 2005.
We the undersigned rank and file SEIU members call upon you to support SMART’s Platform for Reform and demand your full focus as President of the California State Council to address the statewide budget crisis before our co-workers lose both their jobs and their access to vital public services.
If you can’t or won’t do the two things we have mentioned above, you should step down as the President of SEIU’s California State Council and allow a leader with a budget plan, who will listen to the voice of SEIU’s rank and file, to step up and lead the way.
You have obviously spent too much time jet-setting around the globe with Stern to remember your obligations to SEIU’s members here at home.
In Solidarity,
Art Diaz,
Shop Steward SEIU Local 721 (Fight for 347),
2008 Convention Delegate
Zev Kvitky,
President and Executive Director of SEIU Local 2007,
Member of SEIU California State Council
*Ed Perez,
Member SEIU Local 1000 Council (E-Board)
Dan Mariscal,
Steward SEIU Local 721 (Fight for 347)
Veronique Hunter,
Steward SEIU Local 1021,
Legal Processing Assistant
Monty Reed Kroopkin,
Steward SEIU Local 221,
County of San Diego
LaVerne Grant-Jackson
SEIU Local 1021,
Registered Respiratory Therapist
September 21st, 2008 at 8:30 pm09
RE: FBI Raid on 721
A tip by an anonymous source has indicated that hard drives were removed from 721 premises by FBI personnel.
The staff, that is aware of the FBI involvement, has been ordered to remain silent and those in the know are not answering questions.
September 24th, 2008 at 8:30 am09
http://socialistworker.org/2008/09/17/seiu-reform-struggle
…
STERN’S CAMPAIGN to take control of UHW has also been slowed down by a series of scandals involving top allies, including SEIU Local 6434 President Tyrone Freeman. Stern had intended for Freeman to get control of the 65,000 members transferred from UHW. But following a series of investigative reports by the Los Angeles Times, Freeman has taken a leave from his office and is under criminal investigation.
According to the Times, “Freeman’s local and a related charity have paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to home-based firms owned by his wife and mother-in-law, as well as $16,000 to a now-defunct minor league basketball team coached by his brother-in-law.” The local also ran up bills at pricey restaurants, an expensive cigar club and William Morris, the Hollywood talent agency.
Freeman’s rise to a powerful union position is typical among Stern’s allies in the SEIU. Originally put into office as a Stern appointee, he went unchallenged in a subsequent union election because Local 6434’s nomination requirements make it practically impossible for non-incumbents to run (4,800 nominating signatures must be gathered within three weeks in a local representing homecare workers, who rarely see one another).
Rickman Jackson, the former chief of staff for Local 6434, who moved on to be president of the largest SEIU local in Michigan, stepped down because he was implicated in one of the charges against Freeman (it was Jackson’s local that was involved in the violent attack on the Labor Notes conference in April to “protest” a scheduled appearance by a speaker from the rival California Nurses Association).
Also immersed in scandal is Annelle Grajeda, the appointed president of the 65,000-member SEIU Local 721. Grajeda became president of the SEIU California State Council in a Stern-backed coup against Rosselli, who had held that post. Grajeda was also elected by acclamation to become one of SEIU’s six International Executive Vice Presidents (a $200,000 per year post).
Now, however, Grajeda has stepped down as well, amid charges of permitting double- and even triple-dipping by her ex-boyfriend Alejandro Stephens. As labor journalists Steve Early and Cal Winslow reported, “Stephens is accused of remaining on the payroll of Los Angeles County, while collecting ‘tens of thousands of dollars’ from various SEIU entities, including the state council headed by Grajeda, Grajeda’s own 75,000-member local, and the international union.”
Stern has decided to try to use this disaster as an excuse to dispose of UHW. He’s proclaiming himself a proponent for “reform” within the labor movement and has promised to clean house.
Thus, he’s called for a new hearing to place UHW under trusteeship, recycling charges that were earlier dismissed by a federal judge. The hearing is set for September 26 and 27. However, the location hasn’t been announced yet, as Stern aims to undercut a mobilization by UHW members to protest the threat of trusteeship.
A trusteeship is the labor-movement equivalent of martial law. It allows the International to remove all elected officers, dissolve any and all leadership bodies, fire staff, and ignore rank-and-file bargaining committees. In their place, one appointed “trustee” is empowered to make all decisions. Labor law only permits an International to place a Local in trusteeship for very specific reasons, such as corruption or financial malfeasance.
What are UHW’s “crimes” that would justify a trusteeship? Blowing the whistle on backroom deals and substandard contracts conducted in the name of labor-management partnership; opposing the SEIU International’s support of California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s so-called health care reform, which is based on individual mandates; and sending a delegation to the International Convention to propose constitutional changes, motions and resolutions designed to give rank-and-file leaders a voice at all levels of the union.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
HOWEVER, STERN’S campaign to destabilize UHW seems to have had the opposite effect. The International’s use of smears, lies and innuendos against Rosselli has galvanized UHW’s membership around an explicit agenda of union reform.
Oscar, a member of UHW in Oakland, said, “People are pissed off because of the scandals. People are getting more and more involved and understanding the issues more clearly. [Member] turnouts are better, and people see with their own eyes the truth. They are more confident than ever. As we continue to win the best contracts ever and raise the bar for the nursing home industry, people are excited.”
The stakes in this battle are high. A trusteeship of SEIU would also weaken the voice for reform and democracy inside the union. No doubt one of Stern’s first actions would be to cut UHW’s ties to the SMART reform group.
Jon Meade, president of SEIU Local 1021’s Paramedic Chapter, warned, “If UHW is dismantled, union democracy will be hurt the most. This is a watershed event for union democracy inside SEIU. This is a landmark struggle for the labor movement. It represents union democracy verses corporatization.”
The broader labor movement would be weakened if the voices of dissent inside SEIU were silenced. Finally, the broader progressive community also would be harmed by a UHW trusteeship. With UHW out of the way, Stern would be able to ignore the membership’s desire for single-payer health care reform and cut political deals that protect the insurance industry.
This is why we should all turn out on September 26 and September 27 to protest at the UHW trusteeship hearing. This next protest promises to be as big–or bigger–than the membership turnout at the last hearing in July outside LA.
“Los Angeles will look like a no-show by comparison,” said Elsa from In Home Support Services in Sonoma County. Asked if Stern can be stopped, Elsa was somber, but resolute: “Yes, we can stop the trusteeship.”
September 25th, 2008 at 8:30 am09
An interesting bog site with some more information on the FBI’s raid on Local 721.
https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=8826939&postID=965985382816074086
check it out, and leave a comment…or two.
September 26th, 2008 at 8:30 pm09
Union paid millions to companies with family ties
An SEIU spokeswoman says there’s nothing improper about the payments.
By Paul Pringle
Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
September 26, 2008
The Service Employees International Union’s headquarters has paid millions of
dollars to consulting firms, political nonprofits and individuals with family
ties and other personal connections to some of the labor organization’s top
officers, records show.
One company partly owned by a union director also received more than $1 million
in SEIU consulting fees.
The nation’s fastest-growing union, the SEIU bills itself a standard-setter in
the drive to reform and modernize the labor movement. It has adopted a code of
ethics that bars officers from directing business to their relatives, although
a spokeswoman said no competitive bidding process is required when such
contracts are awarded.
Labor Department
https://cslxwep1.dol-esa.gov/Disclosure/OnlineSR30.jsp?ReportId=LM30 from 2003
through last year show that:
* The SEIU and its political affiliate contributed $3 million to America Votes,
an advocacy organization that was headed by Cecile Richards, wife of an aide to
SEIU President Andy Stern, at the time the payments were made.
* Melissa Mullinax was an SEIU political director when the political consulting
firm she held a 20%-to-25% stake in, The Edison Group, was paid more than $1
million, including expenses. In addition, the SEIU has spent about $41,000 on a
graphic design company owned by Mullinax’s husband, Jason Abbott.
* The union paid about $520,000 to a consulting firm co-founded by Democratic
Party and labor strategist Steve Rosenthal, the husband of another SEIU
director, Eileen Kirlin. Rosenthal, a longtime friend of Stern, also headed
America Coming Together, a get-out-the-vote nonprofit that received $23 million
from the union.
* Pamela Kieffer, wife of a third union director, David Kieffer, has received
about $70,000 in consulting fees and in separate payments from a firm that
provided recruitment services to SEIU.
In addition, the SEIU and an associated nonprofit paid roughly $210,000 in
consulting fees over four years to Don Stillman, husband of the union’s outside
legal counsel, Judith Scott. Stillman helped edit a 2006 book written by Stern,
a publication that has generated controversy because of how the union president
profited from it.
Although she is not an SEIU staffer, Scott disclosed her husband’s relationship
with the union on U.S. Labor Department disclosure forms filed by officers.
SEIU spokeswoman Michelle Ringuette said there was nothing improper about any
of the payments, which also were reported in the union’s annual financial
filings with the Labor Department.
She said the expenditures comply with rules against nepotism and self-dealing
that the union adopted in 2005. The officers had no input in the hiring of
spouses or in their compensation, she said.
“They did not work for, nor were they retained by, their spouses, and they did
a good job,” Ringuette said.
The SEIU represents about 2 million healthcare workers, government employees,
janitors and others in the private and public sectors. Ringuette said the union
received excellent services from Rosenthal’s organizations, America Votes, the
consulting firms and the individuals, Mullinax among them.
“She is a respected political consultant,” Ringuette said.
She said the money paid to America Coming Together was particularly well spent,
considering the group’s widely applauded efforts to turn out Democratic voters
in the 2004 presidential election. Ringuette added that Rosenthal more than
earned the $520,000 that his consulting firm received for political work.
Rosenthal said any criticism of his relationship with the union would be
“almost stunning.” “I hold the work I do up to anybody’s,” he said.
And Richards, now president of Planned Parenthood, said in a statement that
America Votes is a coalition of more than 40 groups, and that its financial
records are “transparent.”
Richards is the wife of former Stern chief of staff Kirk Adams, now a union
director.
Attempts to reach other officers and their spouses were unsuccessful.
The SEIU’s policies also require transparency in decisions to give union
business to relatives. But the number and size of the SEIU payments were
unusual, said a leader of a labor reform group.
“This is very uncommon in unions,” said Ken Paff, national organizer of
Teamsters for a Democratic Union. “We’ve had a lot of that in the Teamsters. .
. . It’s a bad indicator about a union when you have a pattern of husband and
wife in that kind of role.”
The SEIU has come under scrutiny recently by federal criminal authorities,
following Times reports last month that its largest California local and a
related charity paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to firms owned by the
wife and mother-in-law of the local’s president, Tyrone Freeman.
The local spent similar sums on a golfing resort, expensive restaurants and a
Beverly Hills cigar lounge. According to the union, Freeman also spent union
money on his Hawaiian wedding.
Fallout from The Times’ reports spread to other SEIU chapters, prompting Stern
to call on all locals to impose a code of ethics similar to the national
office’s.
The SEIU has brought internal charges against Freeman, who was initially
appointed by Stern. The union alleges that the payments could not be justified
for the services received, and instead were part of a broad corruption scheme.
Freeman, who has been removed from the union payroll pending a hearing, has
denied any wrongdoing.
Unlike the national officers, Freeman did not file disclosure forms until after
The Times inquired about the expenditures, which are required for union
payments to spouses, Labor Department officials say.
Two other SEIU local presidents have gone on paid leave, including Annelle
Grajeda, an executive vice president of the national organization.
Grajeda, a Stern appointee who heads the SEIU’s California council, stepped
aside because of allegations that her former boyfriend received improper
payments from the union. She has said she did nothing wrong.
Nelson Lichtenstein, director of UC Santa Barbara’s Center for the Study of
Work, Labor and Democracy, said the SEIU headquarters’ payments to officers’
relatives could set a bad example for locals, even if the business
relationships are out in the open and ultimately beneficial to union members.
“Clearly, there’s a kind of double standard at work,” he said.
Stern’s harshest critic within the SEIU, Sal Rosselli, the president of a Bay
Area local, says the 2006 book deal amounted to self-dealing. Stern received a
six-figure advance for “A Country That Works,” which the union helped
fact-check and promote, and which union locals bought in bulk.
“The money should have gone to the union workers,” Rosselli said.
In denying any impropriety, Stern has said that the SEIU’s board voted
independently to promote the book and urge locals to buy it, and that he
received no royalties from sales to the union.
The SEIU has accused Rosselli and his board of financial malpractice for using
members’ dues to set up a nonprofit and legal defense fund to wage an
internecine battle with Stern.
Rosselli labels the charges retaliation. They are the subject of an internal
hearing that begins today and could end in the SEIU’s placing the local into
trusteeship.
paul.pringle@latimes.com
September 30th, 2008 at 8:30 am09
SEIU Local 721’s General Assembly on October 4, 2008 at the Los Angeles Convention Center Starts at 8:00 A.M.
Among the issues to be addressed is the Constitution and By-laws of SEIU Local 721 and the draft of the by-laws.
So why haven’t all the 721 members been mailed draft copies of the by-laws? So they plan on springing it on us with little time to read and review them. Is that their plan?
According to the 721 leadership, the issue of the Constitution and by-laws has been placed last on the agenda for the General Assembly. You need to register in order to get a copy. The by-laws will determine how the union will be run and how we will elect our leaders. Who will have the power and who won’t. How the members will be allowed to participate, if at all.
We need to address the most important issue first, not when our members will tire from other less important issues. Who knows when 721 will have another General Assembly of this magnitude?
Will Annelle Grajeda impose herself as the President, again? She was supposed to be on administrative leave and should not be allowed to to host, introduce or otherwise MC any part of this General Assembly until her name is cleared of financial malfeasance. Her name as of yet, has not been cleared and she should respect the process in place, and not disrespect us, as dues paying members, by disregarding our need for integrity and due process. After all, she was not elected as President of Local 721. She has never been elected President of any SEIU local.
This is not a member driven union, but it should be. It’s time for the members to wake up and stand up. Before it’s too late.
October 1st, 2008 at 8:30 am10
Union trusts must provide financial data
The new Labor Department rules are designed to root out corruption.
By Paul Pringle, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
September 30, 2008
Labor union trusts that provide a variety of benefits for workers must disclose detailed financial information under new federal rules designed to root out corruption, officials said Monday.
In announcing the requirement, the U.S. Labor Department cited several cases in recent years of union officers stealing from trusts established for retirement funds, job training and disaster relief.
It was not immediately clear how the rules might apply to a Service Employees International Union local in Los Angeles, whose spending practices are the subject of a criminal investigation. The United Long-Term Care Workers has a related health trust and worker-training charity and is associated with a housing corporation that was founded as a nonprofit to help low-income workers.
Meanwhile, Willis Edwards, vice president of the Beverly Hills/Hollywood chapter of the NAACP and a member of the organization’s national board, said the FBI has questioned him about $25,000 in consulting fees the local paid him last year.
Edwards said the payments were for work on a website and the NAACP had not been involved. “I earned every penny of it,” he said. “I did nothing wrong.”
He appears in a brief video extolling the work of Tyrone Freeman, president of the United Long-Term Care Workers, who later was removed from the union payroll because of internal corruption allegations. Freeman has denied any wrongdoing.
Edwards said the $25,000 had nothing to do with his participation in the video, which has been posted on YouTube.
The video also features tributes to Freeman from the Rev. Eric P. Lee, head of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference of Greater Los Angeles, and Charisse Bremond Weaver, president of the Brotherhood Crusade.
In 2007, the local made $11,000 in donations and non-itemized payments to the Brotherhood Crusade and about $15,700 to the SCLC Dream Foundation, according to the union’s financial filings with the Labor Department.
Earlier this month, Weaver said her role in the video was unrelated to any union money her group received. She also said she would withhold judgment about Freeman until more information about his actions becomes public.
“I’ve had a good working relationship with Tyrone and the union,” Weaver said. She could not be reached late Monday.
Lee has not returned phone calls seeking comment. Freeman has told The Times that all the local’s consulting payments, such as the one made to Edwards, were proper.
An FBI spokeswoman declined to comment Monday.
The disclosure requirements for trusts take effect in January, but the information generally will not be public until 2010, when unions file the first annual forms with the Labor Department. In many respects, the requirements mirror those already imposed on unions, which must disclose most salaries and itemize other expenditures.
The rules for trusts will apply to unions with at least $250,000 in annual receipts.
“With meaningful disclosure, the department hopes to deter potential misuse of union trusts . . . and allow union members to know exactly where their hard-earned dollars are being spent,” Don Todd, a Labor Department deputy assistant secretary, said in a statement.
Unions have accused the Bush administration of adopting punitive disclosure rules because of an anti-labor bias, and the AFL-CIO has challenged some in court.
Attempts to reach officials with the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor and the SEIU’s state council were unsuccessful Monday.
Last month, The Times disclosed that the United Long-Term Workers and the charity have paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to Freeman’s wife and mother-in-law. The union has spent similar sums on a Four Seasons Resort golf tournament, restaurants such as Morton’s steakhouse and an exclusive Beverly Hills cigar lounge.
The Times’ reports have led to the criminal investigation and a congressional inquiry. In one of its internal charges, the SEIU has accused Freeman of violating record-keeping standards for the charity, the housing corporation and a union health trust.
paul.pringle@latimes.com
October 3rd, 2008 at 8:30 am10
A MESSAGE FROM GARCIA
This is my declaration of candidacy for President of SEIU Local 721 in the upcoming election for office. I believe that by beginning to campaign now, I can begin to raise the major issues facing SEIU Local 721 members today.
ISSUES
LEADERSHIP
The Union Leadership is comprised of three branches of leadership: The Stewards/Members; Officers, comprised of Executive Board and Officers at Large; and Staff.
It is important to note here that the Members elect the officers and the officers hire the staff. The members should be the engine that drives the direction the membership wants to go in.
I see three major leadership changes that need to be made in SEIU Local 721.
First, the general membership has to be made totally aware of the significant importance of the elections to come. The general memberships involvement in the coming election will be the hinge upon which SEIU Local will change for the better or remain a “member ridden, member financed bureaucracy” instead of a “member driven” Union.
The second major change needed is for the Stewards to put “Backbone” back into the “Backbone of the Union”. Stewards have to recognize their responsibility, exercise their enormous potential and take back the leadership role they are entitled to have but taken away.
The third major change is for the general membership of SEIU Local 721 to selectively choose and elect officers in the coming SEIU Local 721 election who will run SEIU Local 721 according to laws and bylaws of the SEIU International Constitution and not a fiefdom of the staff.
It is important that the Stewards Council be ran by the Stewards. Not staff or elected Executive Board members. That within the Stewards Council, Chief Stewards be elected by the Stewards. The Stewards Council Meetings is one body comprised of all SEIU Local 721 Stewards. Not to be fragmented and divided by City, County or Region. The International Constitution imposed the merger of seven SEIU Locals into one.
At the Stewards Council monthly meeting, an Executive Board Member will provide a report of Executive Board Agenda items and financial report. The Executive Board will not be answering to the Stewards Council but rather informing the Stewards Council of impending decision making policy and activity. In addition, staff shall have a representative who will be readily qualified to respond to inquiries made by the Steward Council to issues involving staff.
Emphasis on the unequivocal unique role and responsibility of the Shop Steward cannot be overstated.
PROPOSED CONSTITUTION OF SEIU LOCAL 721
The proposed Constitution of SEIU Local 721 should lelect to the Executive Board and Officers at Large members of Local SEIU 721 members of the Local 721 only who are represented by the Local.
In other words, in no uncertain terms, no staff member can run for or be elected to an Executive Board or Officer at Large position.
Los Angeles County Region members should not surrender their numerical representation in any SEIU Local 721 Constitution and Bylaws.
Executive Board Meetings need to be held on work day evenings and Saturdays. This will assure access to Executive Board Meetings by the membership. It is important that this is written in the Constitution and Bylaws, otherwise, an Executive Board can change this policy at any given time without the consent of the membership.
OPEN THE BOOKS
Members need to know where their dues are going. If the salary of the President of the United States, the Governor of California, the U.S. Senate, the U.S. House of Representatives, the Mayor of Los Angeles, City Councilmen, Chief Executive Officers of publicly held corporations, is public information, then there is no reason why the members of SEIU Local 721 should not know where there dues are going. Salaries, per diem, expense accounts, everything should be open information to the membership at large
OPEN EXECUTIVE BOARD MEETINGS
Executive Board Meetings have to be held on Saturdays and evenings so that members can attend. Executive Board members are paid three hundred and fifty dollars a month. Presently, Executive Board Members attend meetings during the weekday and it has been alleged that the Executive Board is double dipping, simultaneously getting paid by their employers and the Union, while the majority of members are at work.
On the other hand, Stewards have to attend meetings on Saturdays and evenings and are not compensated one red cent. If Stewards can attend Stewards meetings during evenings and Saturdays, so can the Executive Board. More importantly, if the Executive Board Meetings are held on Saturdays and work week evenings, the majority of members who wish to attend will be able to attend. This is about access to the decision making process of Union business by the members. Tri-County and Inland Empire internet webcasts will be made available to members for remote viewing and participation.
STEWARD STIPEND
I propose that Stewards attending Steward Council meetings be paid twenty five dollars per monthly meeting. Details will spell out the forfeiture of said compensation for tardy and cameo attendance, etcetera.
In addition, Stewards attending any SEIU Local sanctioned committee meeting will be compensated an additional ten dollars per month.
STEWARD TRAINING
Paid time off for training without having to take vacation time.
SEIU INTERNATIONAL CONVENTION DELEGATION IMBURSEMENT
I propose that all SEIU International Convention Delegates shall be paid their regular employment wage rather than have to go to this most important Union activity on the member’s personal vacation time as many members presently have to do.
FAIR CAMPAIGN PRACTICES
Make available to all members concerned in participating in SEIU Local Executive Board and Offices At Large elections, works site locations, member email lists, telephone numbers and any and all pertinent information that present office holders have access to.
Make staff activity in the participation of Executive Board and Offices At Large clear to everyone what the policy is.
Make equal access to Local SEIU 721 facilities, telephones and computers to all participants in the SEIU Local 721 Election Process.
Vice President Bob Schoonover has been holding meetings at the SEIU Local 721, 500 S. Virgil, Union Hall, to create a slate of candidates for the coming election.
Vice President Bob Schoonover has held City of Los Angeles Steward Council Meetings and discussed the upcoming election and his intention of building a slate of candidates.
All candidates should have the same opportunity to discuss these subjects with all of the Stewards and Members during forthcoming Steward Council meetings as well.
Equal Access for all members. Not a privileged few.
EFFECTIVE UNION LOCAL MANAGEMENT
The Executive Board and Officers At Large elected by the membership of SEIU Local 721 shall inform its intentions to the Stewards Council, the Membership and Staff in accordance with the laws and by laws of the SEIU International Constitution.
CONCLUSION
I encourage members to take the upcoming Local 721 Constitution and Bylaws vote and the election for Executive Board and Officers at Large with a very serious heart. The present administration at SEIU Local 721 was hand picked by the International in Washington, D.C. The Executive Board, Officers at Large and Staff of SEIU Local 721 should reflect the vision and goals of the members. Not the other way around. SEIU Local 721 members have to clean house of incumbent Executive Board members and incumbent Officers at Large. A clean slate. We, the members have a chance to take the Union Local SEIU 721 back away from the Staff that is micromanaging our Union in staffs’ best interests, not the members. Ask Bob Schoonover this question: How much did the recent Stewards Recognition Dinner at a downtown Los Angeles hotel with all expenses cost? Simultaneously, there were two other Stewards Recognition Dinners held in the Inland Empire and the other for the Tri-Counties. How much of the Union Members hard earned Union dues did it cost to rent the Los Angeles Convention Center instead of scheduling meetings at the Union Hall at 500 S. Virgil? How many Thanksgiving Day Turkeys or Holiday Season Cooked Hams could that have purchased for our members?
It is imperative that the membership take back the leadership of the Union away from staff who are micromanaging our Union.
Let’s stop being the head that gets wagged by the tail!
Rafe Garcia
SEIU LOCAL 721 Steward
SEIULOCAL721REFORMERS@gmail.com
October 3rd, 2008 at 8:30 am10
Under Shadow of Corruption Scandals, SEIU Launches Hearings Against Dissidents
http://labornotes.org/node/1919
— Mark Brenner
It’s crunch time for the November election, but top officials in the Service
Employees International Union (SEIU) are struggling to focus as corruption
scandals and internal divisions over a threatened trusteeship spread across the
union.
Since mid-August four International Executive Board members have left their
posts in the wake of reports detailing corruption and cronyism.
At the same time, the International is escalating its internal battle with
United Healthcare Workers-West (UHW), the 150,000-member local that has been an
outspoken critic of SEIU’s national leaders. The International announced
hearings for late September to examine whether to take over UHW, and sent
representatives to monitor the Oakland-based local’s operations.
This move stems from allegations that UHW’s officers improperly handled union
funds by creating a nonprofit organization to “finance a defense of the top
officers in the event of a trusteeship.” The monitoring program and September
26 and 27 hearings are “a purely political move to silence our members,”
countered UHW President Sal Rosselli.
NOW’S NOT THE TIME
The rush to trustee UHW has ignited concern in many quarters of SEIU,
particularly with the presidential election so close at hand. On September 12
the executive council of the giant 1199-United Healthcare Workers-East
overwhelmingly adopted a resolution encouraging the International to postpone
any deliberations until after the November election. Leaders from several other
locals have contacted International President Andy Stern urging him to delay
any action against UHW.
Despite these misgivings, the International denied UHW’s request for
postponement, and sources at the International report that plans are underway
to impose a trusteeship. Such a move could require dispatching several hundred
SEIU staff to California. SEIU’s trusteeship officer could take weeks to
announce a recommendation.
According to Rosselli, the specter of trusteeship will impact UHW’s plans for
the fall election. “We have a team of folks in New Mexico right now, and we are
waiting for approval from the International to send more people to New Mexico
and Nevada,” he said. “But our plan in California will be curtailed because of
this escalating battle against us.”
SEIU spokeswoman Michelle Ringuette denied that a trusteeship is in the works,
or that the September hearings will affect the union’s political efforts.
CLEANING UP OR PAYBACK?
Corruption Scandal Spreads Across SEIU
Tyrone Freeman, originally appointed by Andy Stern in 1999 to head SEIU’s
homecare operations in Southern California, stepped down in August after the
Los Angeles Times implicated him in a string of financial improprieties. Formal
union charges against Freeman include:
Directing more than $600,000 in contracts to his wife; Paying his mother-in-law
$8,000 a month to care for his daughter and the children of other union
staffers;
Using more than $13,000 in union dues for membership at a Beverly Hills cigar
club; Improperly paying himself more than $60,000; Charging the union about
$8,000 in expenses associated with his Hawaiian wedding.
Rickman Jackson, former chief of staff for Freeman and now the appointed
president of SEIU’s Michigan health care union, received $2,500 a month from a
housing group set up by Local 6434. According to the Times, Jackson continued
to draw a salary from Local 6434 while working in Michigan, and received
$18,000 in consulting fees from the International. Jackson went on paid leave
in late August.
Annelle Grajeda, appointed president of Los Angeles-based public sector Local
721, took paid leave following Times reports that her former boyfriend
Alejandro Stephens collected multiple salaries from the union while drawing a
salary as a county employee. In 2007 Stephens collected more than $150,000 from
SEIU, including $75,000 in consulting fees from the California state council.
Grajeda was tapped to lead the council last year after the International union
forced her predecessor, Sal Rosselli, out of office.
The UHW trusteeship hearings are unfolding as a corruption scandal spreads
within SEIU. A series of August reports in the Los Angeles Times document a
pattern of financial improprieties by several Stern-appointed political leaders
(see box). The allegations have led to leaves-of-absence for Local 6434
President Tyrone Freeman, his former chief of staff Rickman Jackson, and
Annelle Grajeda, president of Los Angeles-based Local 721 and head of the
union’s state council. Freeman has been suspended without pay and is facing
charges, while Local 6434 is under voluntary trusteeship. The union is
investigating Jackson and Grajeda—both on paid leave—as is the Department of
Labor. Amanda Figueroa, secretary-treasurer of Local 6434 and a member of the
International Executive Board, also took temporary leave from her union
positions.
Several local unions have expressed concern that any action now against United
Healthcare Workers-West could hurt SEIU’s efforts in the November presidential
election.
The allegations against UHW stem from the creation of a nonprofit organization
in April 2007, part of the union’s efforts to promote health care reform in
California. The International alleges the nonprofit was designed to “convert
union dues into a private source of outside funds to maintain their power.”
UHW transferred $3 million from the union’s treasury to the nonprofit account,
but spent only $100,000. As trusteeship rumors swirled earlier this year, the
UHW executive board dissolved the nonprofit and returned the remaining money to
the union.
Ringuette acknowledged that UHW leaders did not design the nonprofit for
personal enrichment.
“The International is trying to smear UHW when in fact it’s Stern’s allies who
are guilty of corruption,” Rosselli said.
Ringuette would not comment on recently leaked email communication between
senior International staff and officers discussing options for “UHW work.” A
June 5 email likened a UHW trusteeship to the invasion of Iraq: “easy to get in
and then a slog.”
UHW officials seized on the leaked documents as evidence that the trusteeship
is retaliation for their opposition to Stern’s attempts to centralize power.
LOSE-LOSE CHOICES
Shortly after announcing trusteeship hearings, the International also launched
an advisory referendum for SEIU’s long-term care members in California, asking
them to choose between a single statewide long-term care local and a single
statewide local for all health care workers.
The union signaled in July that the single long-term care local would be headed
by the leaders of now-trusteed Local 6434. Ringuette said that a statewide
health care workers union would be a new local, with leadership appointed by
the International.
“This will mean the dissolution of UHW,” Rosselli said. “Even if they don’t
succeed in imposing a trusteeship they are planning on eliminating the union.”
At a UHW leadership conference in early September, 2,300 delegates unanimously
voted to “use all available means” to fight attempts to divide their local or
replace their elected leaders with appointees. International monitors got a
preview on September 3, when 75 rank-and-file bargaining team members drove
them out of a bargaining session between UHW and Catholic Healthcare West.
Speaking to the leadership conference afterwards, George Wong, a pharmacy
technician at Kaiser–San Francisco, promised much more if the International
moved on UHW.
“When the day comes and they try to dissolve the executive board, they will
have to drag us out of there,” he said. “We are not going to go quietly into
the night.”
October 3rd, 2008 at 8:30 am10
Service Employees
More Hearings Set After National Elections
On Trusteeship of Large California Local
Following two days of hearings on whether to place the third largest local of
the Service Employees International Union in trusteeship, the outside hearing
officer in the case Sept. 27 said he would schedule one or more further
hearings after the Nov. 4 national political elections to provide additional
time for presentations by the parties.
Former Labor Secretary Ray Marshall, who was appointed by SEIU to conduct the
hearing on the proposed trusteeship of United Healthcare Workers-West, a
160,000-member local in California, said he would schedule more hearing dates
after Nov. 4 because the parties were unable to conclude their presentations
during the original hearing period Sept. 26-27.
Attorneys representing the international spent a day and one-half of the
hearing making their case for trusteeship telling Marshall that UHW-W leaders
“appear to have engaged in financial malpractice and a series of
misrepresentations to their members and the international involving
expenditures of millions of dollars of union treasury monies.”
UHW-W began making its case but was not able to conclude its presentation in
the time remaining.
UHW-W President Sal Rosselli told BNA Sept. 29 that on the second day of the
hearing Marshall allowed the members testifying on behalf of the local to tell
the “real story” of what the international has been doing to the local since it
went public last year in criticizing the international. “The real story will
now be told to the world,” he said.
UHW-W contends that the trusteeship hearings are in retaliation for the local’s
criticism of the international’s decision to proceed with what it considers
“concessionary” alliance deals with nursing home operators as well as the
local’s attempt at SEIU’s convention this summer to defeat a “justice for all”
plan the local said would “centralize resources and decisionmaking powers in
Washington, D.C.” (109 DLR C-2, 6/6/08
).
Thousands Protest Outside Hearing
Rosselli said some 8,000 of his members from around the state were inside and
outside the San Mateo, Calif., event center where the hearing was taking place
during the two days to show their commitment to their local. He said many made
two-minute statements during the hearing about how they have built the union
and stating that they want SEIU to “keep their hands off.”
The local also produced four videos about the hearing that included reaction
from members. The videos were put up on a Web site maintained by
UHW-W–http://www.seiuvoice.org.
In one of the videos, UHW-W members were told that in order to protect their
local they should boycott the “advisory” vote that is to take place on
long-term care jurisdiction.
Earlier this month, SEIU announced plans to hold an advisory vote among health
care members in California to allow them to “express their preference and help
determine the outcome of a proposed reorganization of California [health care]
locals.” Members of three locals that represent health care workers–UHW-W,
United Long-Term Care Workers Local 6434, and Local 521–will be asked to vote
on whether they want to be in a new single statewide local of long-term care
workers or a new health care local that would include other members employed in
health systems. If the workers chose the first option, UHW-W would lose about
60,000 long-term care workers; under the second option UHW-W would cease to
exist (178 DLR A-8, 9/15/08
), No date has been set yet for the vote.
Rosselli said the vote is a “sham” and either option provides “more power” for
the international and “less power” for the members. He contended that for the
last couple of years the international has advocated for one long-term care
local in California, while UHW-W has advocated for one local of all health care
workers. The international now has given itself a third option “to get rid of
the officers of UHW-W by asking members to approve a new local of health care
workers” and dissolve UHW-W, he said.
Further Process Outlined
According to the international, once the additional hearings are held the
parties will have 30 days to submit additional comments to the hearing record.
Members will be given the chance to submit written statements during this
period.
Following the close of the record, Marshall will review the record, including
written evidence, testimony, and briefs, and then will make his recommendation
to SEIU President Andrew Stern. Stern then will ask the union’s international
executive board to make the final determination on whether to impose a
trusteeship on UHW-W.
SEIU announced last month that it had scheduled the hearing in light of
allegations of financial malpractice and fraud by the local’s leadership that
involved the diversion of millions of dollars of union treasury monies and
property (166 DLR A-9, 8/27/08
). Earlier this year, SEIU sued 10 officers
of UHW-W alleging that they had violated federal labor law when they diverted
millions of dollars of dues to an Internal Revenue Code Section 501(c)(3)
education fund that they controlled. In July, a U.S. District Court for the
Central District of California judge found that SEIU had not brought any valid
legal claim upon which the court could grant relief, and threw out with
prejudice two of three SEIU claims (143 DLR A-9, 7/25/08
). A separate lawsuit filed by a
rank-and-file member of UHW-W is going forward.
An SEIU spokeswoman could not be reached Sept. 29 for comment on the hearings.
By Michelle Amber
October 4th, 2008 at 8:30 pm10
721 General Assembly October 4, 2008
SEIU Local 721 just held it’s General Assembly at the Los Angeles Convention Center. It was a packed house and it was also addressed by Senator Mark Ridely-Thomas who gave a rousing campaign speech to the cheers of most of the Local 721 members. The vast majority were county employees who would be directly affected by the Board of County Supervisors open position, of which Mr. Thomas is vying for.
The meeting was then separated into break-out sessions and thereafter a box lunch was served.
The Assembly then resumed for a presentation and discussion on the Constitution and By-laws. The draft of the by-laws had been placed in a packet on the tables, for the perusal of the members present prior to the General Assembly. The presentation was given by the individual members of the Governance Committee on the different subjects contained in the draft by-laws.
After the first presentation, an open mike session began on the Constitution and By-laws. The members thoroughly criticized the Draft of the Constitution and By-laws and angrily denounced them as too limiting, too much in favor of the present regime, not addressing corruption, lacking accountability, lacking checks and balances, and many stewards would not support them and would encourage their members to vote it down.
In fact, many members repeatedly demanded that the governance committee be expanded to include more members which reflected more of the membership, some even asked how do they get to be on this committee. Some even volunteered to be on the committee and made themselves available, on the spot. The Governance Committee issue was requested to be placed after the Stewards’ Council meeting for next Saturday October 11, 2008 at the Local 721 Union Hall at 500 S. Virgil Ave.
It became more apparent, as more of the membership spoke, that they are very dissatisfied with how their union is being run, so far. That they were exposed to the corruption that caused the appointed President, Annelle Grajeda, to step aside pending an investigation. They wanted the Constitution and By-laws to provide the checks and balances and limitations of power of the President. They demanded accountability to be reflected in their By-laws.
They repeatedly shouted that this was THEIR union and they OWN it!
October 10th, 2008 at 8:30 pm10
Why is the SEIU attacking the EAA? Are the members supporting this hostile action and the member dues Bob S & Julie B are wasting?
October 10th, 2008 at 8:30 pm10
See post on https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=8826939&postID=610485796626249001&page=1
Anonymous Worker said…
Mayor Villar? ACORN? SEIU? Prewitt? Don’t they ALL work together to keep WAGES LOW & UNION FEES HIGH for all union members of ALL races? THAT’s their job.
Good thing he doesn’t have to do anything PRODUCTIVE for the CITY to keep HIS salary high! What is he up to these days? Signing up more illegal voters and getting his picture taken? Prewitt STILL not unionized (http://www.seiuexposed.com/bustingunions.cfm) and getting over a $1,000,000 of siphoned member dues from SEIU??? SEIU/Prewitt: the Union-Busters union!
October 07, 2008 9:33 PM
October 11th, 2008 at 8:30 am10
John White and Julie Butcher fed the EAA members & drove them to & from City Hall on Friday. WAS IT IN THE SEIU BUSES? Did THEY pay for it or use the members’ dues? Has Julie lost her sanity because of her personal grudge against Bob Aquino and using member dues as her bank account to try to get rid of him, again?
Member dues have been used to buy many lunches, flyers and provide numerous Prewitt staff at all City buildings with EAA members. I know for a fact many are going JUST for the food! Beats paying for LUNCH!
ANOTHER serious concern for all the SEIU contracts that require renegotiation of contracts based on budgetary shortfalls:
http://www.sacbee.com/static/weblogs/capitolalertlatest/015980.html
Treasurer sees $4.6 billion hole in budget
Treasurer Bill Lockyer says that the 2008-9 state budget could be as much as $4.6 billion out of balance due to a sharp drop in revenues, demands by a federal court receiver for funds to improve prison health care and other “cash pressures.”
Lockyer makes the disclosure in a lengthy document issued by his office of the state’s desire to borrow $4 billion in short-term notes to ease a severe cash crunch. He and other state officials have worried aloud that with credit markets in turmoil and the state likely to run out of cash by the end of the month, the state’s “revenue anticipation notes” may be difficult to market. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has said the federal government may become lender of last resort, a possibility also cited by Lockyer in the state’s “preliminary official statement” for the RAN sale.
The state actually wants to borrow $7 billion to be repaid by next June, but is opting for a smaller initial amount to ease the immediate cash crunch because of turmoil in the credit markets.
The document lists a projected revenue shortfall of $4.3 billion as the chief “cash pressure” and adds $300 million being demanded by the prison receiver and other smaller items. Federal Judge Thelton Henderson today told the state to be prepared to give the receiver $250 million very soon, following a hearing earlier in the week.
The cash crunch, the RANs and the prison demands were to be the chief topics for a meeting of Schwarzenegger and top legislative leaders today, possibly leading to a special legislative session to consider adjustments to the suddenly unbalanced budget.
October 11th, 2008 at 8:30 pm10
So far the City has not asked for any contract re-opening, but at my work site there has been rumors of layoffs sparked by actual layoffs of 140 part time workers in the Department of Recreation and Parks. I’ve been with the City for about 19 years, and rumors of layoffs have always surfaced around contract bargaining time, as with rumors of strike preparations. Layoff rumors were also used around January of 2008 to help pass the “Phone Tax”. These rumors were used once again a few weeks back, which prompted a compromise on the Kaiser co-pay and Kaiser prescription charges.
It seems that the Mayor likes to “cry wolf” to try and balance the city’s budget on the backs of the employees, but doesn’t have too much trouble funding his pet projects.
On the other hand, this country has never faced the kind of economic challenges before us. At some point it will effect all governments; State, County and City. What we should look for is how judicious the City spends what money is available, its propensity to “hide the books” from us and how it prioritizes what’s important.
Are we gonna keep an eye out? You betcha!
October 11th, 2008 at 8:30 pm10
Is it true that the vast majority of members of SEIU 721 (i.e. County of Los Angeles workers — the former SEIU 660) pay 1.5% dues?
Will everyone else be required to pay that percentage soon OR MORE due to the huge SEIU political contributions?
October 11th, 2008 at 8:30 pm10
RE: SEIU Contract re-openings, October 11th, 2008 at 8:30 pm10
I’ve heard different from a source. At least for one of the major employee benefits but there may be others.
October 13th, 2008 at 8:30 pm10
SEIU Local 1877-
The International strikes again!
More evidence that the Stern Administration intends to spread his Corporate Unionism to the locals when it comes time to bargain with the employers. Could this happen here? The question is not if, it’s when.
From S.M.A.R.T-
“Local 1877 bosses have locked members out of their own union,
telling them this week that they would not meet with them as planned,
and in fact that members were not welcome at their own offices!”
“After striking this spring, Silicon Valley (Santa Clara, San Mateo,
Alameda and Contra Costa counties) janitors believed they had an
reached an agreement, however it now seems that SEIU wants to keep
negotiating behind members’ backs, and push them out of the process.”
“SEIU is trying to literally shut 1877 members out of their union, and
they are trying to do the same to members of many other locals by less
obvious means. This is part of a destructive strategy by national SEIU
bosses to create a union that is barely a union at all, totally
unaccountable to members and driven by staff and appointed officers
who seek growth through deals and concessions to our bosses.”
Stay tuned, our members are starting to wake up.
October 13th, 2008 at 8:30 pm10
Is it true that Annelle Grajeda has NOT stepped down, only stepped aside? Does she still collects her $213,000 a year salary for being “President”? Was she appointed by Andy Stern and not the members?
Was the Vice President Bob Schoonover ever elected to VP 721 and is now acting interim president, unless Annelle is in the room? Do the members serving on the Executive Board get a $350 stipend for each meeting while members attend on their own time?
Where are the 721 meetings held? Downtown LA or wherever the Local feels they’ll have the best reception or least opposition attendance?
According to http://www.reformseiu.org, “No single group of union members will be more impacted by Schwarzenegger’s proposed budget cuts than SEIU’s members.” Is this true due to the fact the contracts are written as requiring renegotiation at the employers’ option? Also see http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-budget8-2008oct08,0,3421604.story.
October 13th, 2008 at 8:30 pm10
Yes, Annelle Grajeda still collects her salary.
Yes, she has stepped aside and is on paid leave.
Yes, she was appointed by Andy Stern and has never been elected President of any SEIU local.
Bob Schoonover was elected President of Legacy local 347 and was appointed VP of Local 721 January 2, 2007. Prior to January 2007 Local 721 did not exist. 721 does not currently have any elected officials, only appointed ones.
Mr. Schoonover, has previously indicated that he is the “interim” president, but during the 721 Stewards Awards Dinner, the program for the Stewards Awards Dinner listed Ms. Grajeda as the President, and she did in fact appear and address the Stewards that night.
Yes, the 721 Executive Board does in fact receive a stipend for each meeting and any other rank and filer would have to take their own time to attend this meeting.
The meetings are usually held at the Local 721 Union hall at 500 S. Virgil Ave. and now use tele-conferencing to include board members located in neighboring counties.
The state’s budget cuts will affect SEIU members because SEIU represents many California members at the State, County and municipal levels, and also Health Care workers statewide. About 1/3 of SEIU members are here in California.
The law contains language regarding fiscal emergencies, but WE can also re-open if it is by mutual consent. Our past City contracts have also included this. [MOU 4 Article 1.8; “However, this Article shall not be deemed to preclude mutually agreed upon meet and confer in good faith sessions for the purpose of altering, waiving, modifying, or amending this MOU.”]
Caution: SEIU has a propensity to bargain behind the members backs. The members must be vigilant and involved, and report any “meet and confer” activity by SEIU staff.
October 16th, 2008 at 8:30 am10
Two Articles Regarding Rickman Jackson’s Stepping Down From His SEIU Post
After SEIU bans Rickman Jackson from office for three years, it turns around
and gives him a job with the International Union. Below are two articles, the
first from the BNA and the second from the LA Times.
Unions-
SEIU Official Removed From Office
Under Terms of Settlement Agreement
Rickman Jackson, an officer of the Service Employees International Union in Michigan who has been linked to allegations of financial improprieties at a California local, will be removed from office and will make complete financial restitution under a settlement agreement reached with the international, a union spokeswoman told BNA Oct. 14.
Under the settlement agreement, Jackson will be removed as president of
Healthcare Michigan, SEIU’s statewide local for health care workers, and as a member of the international’s executive board, and will be barred from holding union office for three years, according to SEIU spokeswoman Michelle Ringuette.
Jackson, who has been on leave since late August, has agreed to make full financial restitution and cooperate fully with an internal investigation, as well as a Department of Labor investigation, into alleged financial
improprieties at SEIU Local 6434 in California, where he once worked, she said.
The settlement agreement arose out of an internal investigation of Tyrone
Freeman, president of United Long-Term Care Workers Local 6434, who has been charged with engaging in “self-dealing and financial malpractice” in violation of the union’s constitution and local bylaws (182 DLR A-7, 9/19/08 ). Once the investigation into Freeman began, the international announced a separate investigation of Jackson, who was Freeman’s chief of staff for several years before becoming president of the Michigan health care local (166 DLR A-9,
8/27/08 ).
John Ronches, the trustee appointed by SEIU President Andrew Stern to oversee the day-to-day operations of Local 6434 after the allegations against Freeman surfaced, last month filed charges against Freeman with the international.
Among those charges was one that alleged that Freeman had transformed a “possible temporary housing arrangement for local union staff on travel
(involving Rickman Jackson’s Los Angeles home) into a $2,500 a month lease obligation for the Long-Term Care Housing Corp., a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization set up by the local. No further details of the allegation were provided.
Marge Fadille, Healthcare Michigan’s secretary-treasurer, who has been serving as the acting president of the local, will continue to do so, Ringuette said.
Jackson is taking a staff position at SEIU Healthcare, the organization that
represents all of the union’s health care workers, according to Ringuette, who added that in that position he will have no fiduciary responsibility.
——————————————————————————–
—————–
SEIU leader loses post over scandal
Service Employees International Union removes head of Michigan local who has been tied to spending probe of L.A. chapter.
By Paul Pringle, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
October 15, 2008
The president of the Service Employees International Union’s biggest Michigan
local has been removed from office and must refund $33,500 in housing payments
that have been linked to a spending scandal at the parent organization’s
leading California chapter.
Rickman Jackson has agreed to return the money, will no longer serve on the
SEIU’s executive board and is cooperating with a federal criminal investigation
of the Los Angeles-based chapter and other locals, according to union
spokeswoman Michelle Ringuette.
Jackson, who has been on leave and could not be reached late Tuesday, has been
reassigned to a staff organizing job at a reduced salary and is barred from
seeking union office for three years, Ringuette said. “These are serious
penalties,” she said.
Jackson, whose Michigan local has 55,000 members, received $196,000 in total
compensation last year from the L.A. union and the national office, financial
statements show. He previously served as chief of staff to the president of the
L.A. chapter, Tyrone Freeman. The union has removed Freeman from the payroll
pending the completion of an internal probe.
The Times disclosed in August that a housing corporation associated with
Freeman’s local listed Jackson’s Bell Gardens home as its administrative
address.
At the time, Freeman and representatives of the Long-Term Care Housing Corp.
would not say whether Jackson was paid for any use of his residence. Ringuette
said the $33,500 was the amount paid by the corporation to lease Jackson’s
home.
The corporation had been founded as a nonprofit, but never received a tax
exemption, lost its right to do business in California and claimed on its
website to have a relationship with the prominent California Community
Foundation, which said it had never heard of the group.
Compton is investigating Freeman and the corporation because the municipality
provided land to the housing entity with the understanding that it was a
nonprofit, officials said.
Meanwhile, The Times reported that Freeman’s 160,000-member local, United
Long-Term Care Workers, and a related charity have paid home-based firms owned
by his wife and mother-in-law hundreds of thousands of dollars. The local has
spent similar sums on a Four Season Resorts golf tournament, restaurants such
as Morton’s steakhouse and a Beverly Hills cigar club.
According to the SEIU, Freeman also billed the local for $8,100 in costs
incurred during his Hawaiian wedding.
A third SEIU official, Annelle Grajeda, has stepped aside because of the
widening scandal. Grajeda, who remains on paid leave, is an SEIU executive vice
president, and heads the union’s California council and another L.A local. She
went on leave because of allegations that her former boyfriend received
improper payments from the union.
Grajeda has denied any wrongdoing. Her former boyfriend, Alejandro Stephens, is
the former president of a local that merged with Grajeda’s.
Freeman, Jackson and Grajeda were all appointed to their posts by SEIU
President Andy Stern.
paul.pringle@latimes.com
October 18th, 2008 at 8:30 pm10
This is from uniondemcracy@yahoo.com:
The recent announcement of the plea bargain between SEIU and Rickman Jackson,
the person appointed by Stern and Burger to run the Healthcare local in
Michigan, raises several concerns:
1. Jackson was put on PAID administrative leave while the investigation was
ongoing.
2. The “investigation” found that Jackson stole at least $33,000 from some of
the lowest paid workers in the union, making $9 per hour.
3. The investigation does not explain what Jackson did with the additional
$25,000 he received from the International Union for “consulting services.”
4. After having stolen this money from the members and promising to pay it
back, SEIU then gives Jackson another job.
5. Jackson’s rate of pay in his new job is not specified.
Has any union representative had the experience where an employee steals
$33,000 from an Employer and the Employer agrees to allow him to repay the
money, while giving him another high paying job.
SEIU has said there will be no tolerance for corruption.
This agreement is itself corrupt.
October 19th, 2008 at 8:30 am10
Is it true that a most members of SEIU 721 (i.e. County of Los Angeles workers — the former SEIU 660) pay 1.5% dues?
Will all members be required to pay 1.5% or more soon to pay off the SEIU political donations?
October 19th, 2008 at 8:30 am10
https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=8826939&postID=965985382816074086
Anonymous said…
So what do you have to do to get fired?
The recent announcement of the plea bargain between SEIU and Rickman Jackson,
the person appointed by Stern and Burger to run the Healthcare local in
Michigan, raises several concerns:
1. Jackson was put on PAID administrative leave while the investigation was
ongoing.
2. The “investigation” found that Jackson stole at least $33,000 from some of
the lowest paid workers in the union, making $9 per hour.
3. The investigation does not explain what Jackson did with the additional
$25,000 he received from the International Union for “consulting services.”
4. After having stolen this money from the members and promising to pay it
back, SEIU then gives Jackson another job.
5. Jackson’s rate of pay in his new job is not specified.
Has any union representative had the experience where an employee steals
$33,000 from an Employer and the Employer agrees to allow him to repay the
money, while giving him another high paying job.
SEIU has said there will be no tolerance for corruption.
This agreement is itself corrupt.
October 18, 2008 11:18 AM
October 19th, 2008 at 8:30 am10
SEIU Loses Unfair Labor Case
http://www.bizjournals.com/sanfrancisco/stories/2008/08/04/daily52.html
Friday, August 8, 2008
Stanford prevails in unfair labor case
San Francisco Business Times
An administrative law judge has found that persons claiming to represent SEIU Local 715 engaged in unfair labor practices in dealings with Stanford Hospital & Clinics and Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital, Stanford said Friday.
Information that the hospitals had requested to determine if Local 715 still was in existence and representing employees at the hospital was not provided, Stanford said, adding that the judge said “the substantial weight of the evidence reflects that the employer’s … information requests were both relevant and necessary for the employer to determine the identity of the labor organization with which it had an obligation to bargain.”
Greg Souza, vice president of human resources for Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital, said in a prepared statement, “We have doubted for some time that Local 715 continued to exist as a union and are pleased with this ruling.”
Souza said the international union directed the leadership of Local 715 — which has since merged into a new union, Local 521 — to transfer employee representation to yet another union. That one was United Healthcare Workers, Souza said, adding that all the moves were made without the employees’ consent.
SEIU Local 715 represented approximately 1450 housekeepers, food service workers, nursing assistants, phlebotomists, unit secretaries, transporters and employees in non-technical and non-professional titles at the hospitals.
These employees will keep their jobs but without representation. “These employees have the same rights, pay and benefits whether represented by a union or not,” said Souza.
Silicon Valley / San Jose Business Journal
October 20th, 2008 at 8:30 pm10
L.A. Labor Leader Used Nonprofit’s Employees for Political Activity, Workers Say
Tyrone Freeman, head of SEIU’s largest California union local, ordered employees of a charity he ran to campaign for candidates, some ex-workers allege.
By Paul Pringle, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
October 20, 2008
A Los Angeles labor leader now the target of a corruption probe routinely ordered employees of a charity he headed to work on campaigns for political candidates — a practice barred by law — according to people who said they participated in such activities.
Tyrone Freeman, president of the Service Employees International Union’s largest California local, later denied to the Internal Revenue Service that the charity employees were required to do campaign work, said a person close to an IRS inquiry into the matter.
Because they are subsidized by taxpayers, charities are forbidden to take part in campaigns for public office, directly or indirectly. Violations can cost charities their tax exemptions and lead to other penalties.
It is unclear what resulted from the 2006 IRS inquiry into Freeman’s nonprofit, a training center for low-income workers. Citing privacy statutes, an IRS spokesperson declined to discuss any investigation of the group. The charity’s tax-exempt status apparently remained unchanged.
Six people who worked for either the union or the charity told The Times that Freeman, and others at the labor organization acting on his behalf, ordered the nonprofit’s staffers to join partisan get-out-the-vote drives and other campaign efforts during and after their regular hours. The former employees spoke on condition of anonymity because they feared retaliation and legal jeopardy.
“We constantly told Tyrone that it was inappropriate, but he constantly had us out in the field,” said one former charity worker. “Lists were always provided to him. If you weren’t there, you got ratted out.”
Freeman could not be reached for comment, and attempts to interview his attorney were unsuccessful. An SEIU spokeswoman in Washington, D.C., said the union knew nothing about any campaign work by the charity workers or an IRS examination.
“They did not report it to us, as far as we can tell,” Michelle Ringuette said of Freeman’s local.
A staffer made an anonymous tip to the IRS in late 2004 or early 2005, and the agency eventually sent a letter to the charity raising questions about the alleged political activities, two people familiar with the events said.
An IRS examiner subsequently interviewed Freeman at the union’s Beverly Boulevard headquarters, and he denied that the work was performed, according to the source with knowledge of the inquiry. By that time, Freeman had stopped using the charity staffers on campaigns, former employees say.
The March 2006 letter specified the 2004 race by future Assembly Speaker Karen Bass, a Los Angeles Democrat; John Kerry’s presidential run that year; and former Gov. Gray Davis’ 2003 bid to defeat a recall, one source said. There was no indication that they or the other politicians who benefited from the work knew the employees were from a nonprofit, several sources say. Bass became speaker this year.
Calls to her and Davis for comment were not returned.
“We campaigned very heavily for Karen Bass, very heavily,” said a former charity staffer. “You didn’t have a choice.”
The former workers say that employees were required to distribute fliers, walk precincts and staff phone banks for individual candidates and the Democratic ticket during the days leading up to primary and general elections.
“Generally, it was door-to-door,” said a former union employee. “Every single person was required to work.”
Freeman and his local, the United Long-Term Care Workers, are the subjects of a criminal investigation by the U.S. Labor Department, the FBI and the U.S. attorney’s office, people with knowledge of the probe say.
The investigation grew out of Times reports in August that the charity and Freeman’s local had paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to home-based companies owned by his wife and mother-in-law. The SEIU has removed Freeman from the payroll pending an internal review of his actions.
The former workers say Freeman called meetings at which he directed all employees to show up for election duty at union or campaign offices. “Tyrone said there would be consequences for anybody who didn’t sign in,” said one former charity employee.
A former union staffer said of the nonprofit workers: “It was mandatory that they attend all the meetings. They would complain about it.”
Freeman founded the Homecare Workers Training Center in 2000. It is located at the union’s offices near downtown, where it provides programming services and space for vocational classes and English language courses.
The charity came under scrutiny after The Times reported that it has paid a home-based day care service owned by Freeman’s mother-in-law nearly $100,000 annually for the last several years.
The union also has spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on resort golf tournaments, expensive restaurants, a Beverly Hills cigar club and a Hollywood talent agency. And the SEIU has accused Freeman of billing the union for $8,100 in costs incurred during his Hawaiian wedding.
Most of the local’s 160,000 members earn about $9 an hour caring for the elderly and infirm in their homes. Freeman also heads an affiliated local, California United Homecare Workers, which has about 40,000 members.
The spending scandal has spread to other SEIU chapters as well as the union’s national headquarters. An SEIU executive vice president, Annelle Grajeda, has gone on leave because of allegations that a former boyfriend received improper union payments. Grajeda also is president of the SEIU’s California council and a second L.A.-based local.
The president of the union’s biggest Michigan chapter, Rickman Jackson, a former chief of staff to Freeman, has been removed from office. The Times reported that his Bell Gardens residence was used as the address of a housing corporation associated with Freeman’s local. The SEIU later said that the corporation improperly paid to lease the house; the union has required Jackson to return $33,500 in payments.
The housing organization never obtained the tax exemption it sought when it was founded as a nonprofit, and had lost the right to do business in California. The city of Compton is investigating whether it was defrauded when the corporation enlisted it as a partner in the nonprofit enterprise to develop homes for low-income workers.
In the meantime, the SEIU has fired four of Freeman’s top managers and assistants. Two other employees either were fired or resigned after being accused of threatening colleagues suspected of speaking to The Times, according to an SEIU official.
paul.pringle@latimes.com
October 21st, 2008 at 8:30 am10
About the last paragraph, “In the meantime, the SEIU has fired four of Freeman’s top managers and assistants. Two other employees either were fired or resigned after being accused of threatening colleagues suspected of speaking to The Times, according to an SEIU official.”
I wouldn’t have expected less! When will more dirt be brought up about Annelle Grajeda? Probably soon.
October 22nd, 2008 at 8:30 am10
Just where, in SEIU, do you suppose Mr. Freeman learned how to run a SEIU local union? Who do you suppose trained this individual? Who taught him how to stay in power with these techniques?:
U.S. Labor Department
Seeks Ouster of L.A. Union Officers
A civil complaint against the United Long-Term Care Workers, already the focus of a spending scandal, contends that the March election of its president and his allies violated labor laws.
By Paul Pringle
October 21, 2008
The U.S. Labor Department has asked a federal court to overturn the election of all officers at a troubled Los Angeles union local, alleging that the organization made it too difficult for challengers to qualify for the ballot.
In a civil complaint against the Service Employees International Union’s largest California chapter, the department contends that the March election of local President Tyrone Freeman and his slate of officers violated labor laws.
Freeman is the target of a separate criminal investigation into the local’s spending practices.
The election complaint notes that the local required candidates to collect more than 4,800 nomination signatures in three weeks from members who worked mainly as caregivers in private homes.
Only Freeman and his allies qualified for the United Long-Term Care Workers ballot.
The complaint accuses the local of “failing to provide a reasonable opportunity for the nomination of candidates.” It seeks a new election under the department’s supervision.
Freeman has denied any wrongdoing. The union’s national headquarters has removed him from the payroll and placed the local into trusteeship because of the spending scandal.
All of the local’s roughly 50 board members and other officers have lost their posts because of the trusteeship.
In response to the complaint, union trustee John Ronches, who was appointed by the SEIU, said in a statement that it would “work closely” with the Labor Department to ensure that the election of officers “sets the highest standards of fairness and democratic representation.”
Meanwhile, five of the former board members have filed suit against the union, asking that the trusteeship be revoked.
They say that the SEIU illegally denied them representation at an internal hearing, and that they and the other board members should be restored to their positions.
Freeman is not part of that suit.
“The board is saying, regardless of what Freeman did, we want our union back,” said Gary Goodstein, an attorney for the panel members.
In a statement, SEIU spokeswoman Michelle Ringuette said the board’s suit is “frivolous,” and the union is “confident the trusteeship will be upheld.”
If the Labor Department prevails in its complaint, the suit brought by the ex-board members could become moot. Both actions were filed Friday in Los Angeles federal court.
The union has been under fire since August, when The Times reported that the local and a related charity paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to home-base businesses owned by Freeman’s wife and mother-in-law.
The local also spent large sums on golf resorts, expensive restaurants and a Beverly Hills cigar club.
On Monday, The Times reported that Freeman ordered employees of the charity to work on campaigns for public office — despite laws barring such practices — according to people who said they took part in the activities.
Freeman later denied to the Internal Revenue Service that he required the charity staffers to work on the campaigns, said a person close to a 2006 IRS inquiry into the matter.
Attempts to reach Freeman about the campaign allegation have been unsuccessful. The IRS has declined to comment.
An SEIU executive vice president, Annelle Grajeda, has gone on leave because of allegations that her ex-boyfriend received improper union payments.
Grajeda also is president of the SEIU’s California council and another Los Angeles-based local.
Last week, the SEIU ousted the president of its biggest Michigan chapter, Rickman Jackson, a former chief of staff to Freeman. The Times reported that Jackson’s Bell Gardens residence was used as the address of a housing corporation associated with Freeman’s local.
The SEIU later said that the corporation improperly paid to lease the house; the union has required Jackson to return $33,500 in payments.
The SEIU also has fired four of Freeman’s top managers and assistants.
Two other employees either were fired or resigned after being accused of threatening colleagues suspected of speaking to The Times, according to an SEIU official.
Pringle is a Times staff writer.
paul.pringle@latimes.com
October 22nd, 2008 at 8:30 am10
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/politics/cal/la-me-union21-2008oct21,0,5184334.story
U.S. Labor Department seeks ouster of L.A. union officers
A civil complaint against the United Long-Term Care Workers, already the focus of a spending scandal, contends that the March election of its president and his allies violated labor laws.
By Paul Pringle - October 21, 2008
October 23rd, 2008 at 8:30 am10
Julie Butcher, Local 721, refuses to answer if Annelle Grajeda, her boss, has been fired? Is she coming back bigger & badder? Is she hiding something too or is she under a gag order from the boss, Andy Stern? Shut up or get out? Transparency is most evident when the LA Times OUTS them, is my guess.
October 23rd, 2008 at 8:30 am10
The staff, and that includes Julie Butcher, have been thoroughly intimidated at 721 by Tanner and Co. Annelle is not all the way out, yet, as long as her cell phone still works. Andy is still technically calling the shots. Now is not a good time to be in the unemployment line, and Tanner is playing hard on that.
As you can tell by Tyrone Freeman’s Local 6434 methods, there is definitely retaliation for not “getting with the program”. Secrecy is how they maintain their strangle-hold on power. However that may change if there are free, fair and honest elections for 721 officers, but the By-laws will have to be ratified first. So far, Tanner has been able to control the 5 member hand-picked Governance Committee which has been drafting the by-laws. The By-laws will determine how transparent Local 721 will be.
October 24th, 2008 at 8:30 am10
Answer the question, Julie! You claim vehemently that there is transparency in SEIU! The members know better and fed up with YOU and Local 721!
Your negotiating for lousy contracts that benefit the employer and defense of higher dues sounds very similar to what Local 24/7 is opposing on
http://www.reformseiu.org/2008/10/security-officers-watching-their-local.html.
Security Officers Watching Their Local 24/7
By Catherine Cox, SEIU Local 24/7
‘No. No access. No entry. No you don’t. You will not cross this line’. If there’s one thing that security officers know, it’s how to prevent outsiders from crossing a line. In the fall of 2007, when the organizers and leadership of SEIU Local 24/7 forced us into a sell-out contract—in a sham ratification process in which they refused to show us the details of the contract before the vote—we felt in our hearts that a line had been crossed.
This corruption pushed us out of our ‘purple poodle’ phase—of that enthusiastic, well-meaning SEIU member who jumps when they say jump, who rallies when they say rally. Waking up from purple-poodle-dom isn’t fun; you realize that you have been conned and used. We could have started a support group, but instead we got organized. In the spring of 2008, we saw an opening: ‘What? No one is running against the incumbents who forced us into that lousy contract?!’
With little notice, our reform group pulled together a slate. Making it onto the ballot was a lot of work. In fact, it felt like a coup in and of itself. Then the full-on cheating by Local 24/7 incumbents and organizers began. The result? Eighteen separate election issues currently being investigated by the Department of Labor (DOL).
Here are just a few of the complaints being verified by the DOL:
- Our local’s membership list is so inaccurate that about 25% of the security officers who went to the polling place to vote were told that they weren’t eligible to vote.
- Union organizers were out in force campaigning for the incumbents’ slate. Some believe this is technically legal; however, it flies in the face of union democracy. It makes it almost impossible for working, rank-and-file members to hold office in their own union.
- Union organizers went so far as to talk security officers into handing over to them their pre-stamped, pre-addressed mail-in ballots which should have gone directly to a special election only P.O. Box.
It was almost two months after the polls closed that there was finally an official election result tabulated. Not surprisingly the incumbents’ team was declared winner. As we await the results of the DOL’s investigation, we have yet another wave of corruption coming at us. Our “elected” Secretary-Treasurer, Emily Heath has made a motion to raise our union dues. Heath has never worked a day in her life as a security officer but has for years been an organizer in a different SEIU local. In fact, she was only allowed to run for office in our local due to a special exception made by Andy Stern.
If voted on by the membership, this dues hike would never pass. As it is, almost every security officer you speak to is disgruntled with SEIU Local 24/7. So far the “elected” leadership’s tactic is to refuse to tell us the date, time and location of the vote.
But it won’t work. Our growing fraternity of security officers who want to clean up our local is visiting other officers at their worksites, collecting e-mail addresses and phone numbers so that when the date, time, and location of the vote are announced, we can spread the word in a flash to vote “NO!” on the dues increase that the leadership doesn’t deserve.
Not only do we security officers guard persons and property, we also keep guard of our dignity and of our rights to participatory democracy within our union.
October 24th, 2008 at 8:30 am10
Julie Butcher praises the Democracy in SEIU. It looks like Julie is just slow at learning or lying about the SEIU brand of democracy that S.M.A.R.T. is fighting as shown on
http://www.reformseiu.org/2008/10/what-union-democracy-doesnt-mean.html!
What Union Democracy Doesn’t Mean.
By Mary C. Magee and Roxanne Sanchez, SEIU Local 1021
The troubles in the Service Employees International Union, and within SEIU Local 1021 in San Francisco, share a similar theme. How much do individual locals direct their work in the face of the international’s set agenda? And more important, how do union members themselves direct the vision, use of resources, and work of both their local and international union? What is union democracy and how is it made real?
Active members in Local 1021 learned a painful lesson recently when we discovered that senior 1021 staff ran a clandestine campaign during a member election to choose delegates to SEIU’s quadrennial convention this June. These same senior staff demanded that their junior staff remain completely neutral and uninvolved in the election….
A key tenet of union democracy is recognition by all parties that the union staffers work for the members, whose dues pay for their salaries and benefits, their offices, and the programs run by the union. Local 1021’s governing bodies were appointed by Andy Stern, president of the international, at the time of the merger of ten locals into one. Next year, Local 1021 holds its first officer and executive board elections. It is essential that we lay out bylaws and an election process guaranteeing that the direction of our local union will be led by its members. We are at a vital juncture. Do we allow the programs and process to be driven by the international, Stern, and his loyalist staff — or do we assert ourselves as members, examine the issues for ourselves, and choose how we prioritize the work to be done? At stake is not just the true empowerment of our union, but its credibility. We demand a sense of fair play from the employers we bargain with and consistently take a hard line against managerial favoritism.
In practically every contract campaign, there is a battle over the definition of our union and our very identity. We put forth photographs of our members, use their quotes in the press, and otherwise say to the public, the press, and elected officials that “these people are the union — the nurses, transit workers, librarians, road crews and others who serve our community.” Meanwhile, management — as well as anti-union lobbies, officials, and think tanks — speak in more pejorative terms of “union bosses” and “big labor,” conjuring images of bureaucrats who cut deals, make the real decisions, and are disconnected from their rank-and-file membership. It is critical that we don’t prove our opponents right. If the boss-like behavior of our leaders and the manner in which they govern this union promotes double standards, favoritism, and a lack of local autonomy, we only make it easier for anti-union forces to drive a wedge between our members and their union.
Nobody has more at stake in SEIU than the members who pay the bills and whose wages, benefits, and working conditions are being negotiated. Without the international showing respect for local autonomy or democratic empowerment at the local and worksite levels, we cannot hope for existing members to feel like stakeholders in their union, or to inspire prospective members to join us in the future.
Mary C. Magee, RN, works at San Francisco General Hospital. Roxanne Sanchez works for Bay Area Rapid Transit. They are members of SEIU Local 1021, a northern California public sector local with 55,000 members. This letter first appeared in the San Francisco Bay Guardian on April 16, 2008.
October 24th, 2008 at 8:30 am10
Julie was negotiating give-backs yesterday. How much did she give away? I’m sure the losers and the rest of the members will be told it was a resounding victory!
Then she went on trying to convince a few EAA members to sign cards based on half truths, hindsight and simple numbers for comparison that don’t reflect all the variable and designed to make her COLA look better! As if that could happen! Take into account the give-backs, furloughs and HIGHER DUES and her lack of understanding of math shows even more.
October 24th, 2008 at 8:30 pm10
I agree that democracy in SEIU is on life support, at this time. Truth and integrity seem to be on the endangered species list. It’s getting harder to find a reliable source of pertinent information. Even the staff at 721 aren’t being told the whole story.
As for the contract, anytime you have to “re-negotiate” it at the behest of the employer, that cannot be good news for the members.
Investigation time.
October 24th, 2008 at 8:30 pm10
The by-laws don’t seem to be helping members get a voice in how the local will be run. Why can’t the most “democratic” ones of the merged locals be used? Won’t any of them really represent the members & protect them from retribution of the leaders?
Where does Annelle park her … car… these days? On her home phone directing Schoonover & writing the By-Laws? Schoonover, Butcher, Mims & Co may end up as the unelected leaders and then posted on the ever-growing SEIU MOST WANTED list at http://www.reformseiu.org/search/label/whoswho. It’s odd the Schoonover & Tanner aren’t listed considering how they are having such a repressive effect on Local 721.
Do you all, ALSO think that?
October 24th, 2008 at 8:30 pm10
What 721 has currently are interim by-laws that came from Andy Stern. The Governance Committee was charged with writing new by-laws, about 22 months ago. The Committee started out at around 15 members and were told by Annelle to “slow down” and that there is no hurry. As the progress turned into a slog, many became disenfranchised due to the inactivity and the committee dwindled down to the final five, chaired by Charley Mims. Although, at the General Assembly on October 4, 2008, there were about 600 members in attendance and many,overwhelmingly voiced outraged that there were only 5 members drafting the By-laws for about 80,000 members. They demanded that this committee be opened up or expanded to be more representative of the actual diversity of the local 721 union.
Unfortunately, these concerns fell on deaf ears. The committee has not shown any interest in paying any attention to the members.
As far as the by-laws of the legacy locals, we all share different work situations and one type may not fit all. But the idea that we should take the most effective language from each legacy local has a lot more appeal. The obstacles are currently Mr. Tanner and Mr. Mims. There is currently a sub-committee of stewards and activists being formed to demand, of the Executive Board, that the Governance Committee be opened up to more volunteer members.
Yes I do think that Tanner and Grajeda are repressive and I think that Schoonover is being promised a “reward” for his “co-operation”, seeing as how the rest of SEIU operates.
October 30th, 2008 at 8:30 am10
http://www.sacbee.com/static/weblogs/the_state_worker/2008/10/column-extra-your-money-and-pr.html
SEIU donations to Obama, against McCain exceed $16.5 million
October 30th, 2008 at 8:30 am10
Does anybody know what each of the MOUs in Local 721 pay in dues? I’ve heard that some pay 1.25% while a majority of the members pay 1.5%. Do any pay less or more?
Does anybody know how the bus trip to Nevada to campaign went? How many went? Do members get paid for going?
October 30th, 2008 at 8:30 pm10
http://action.seiu.org/new/FINAL_AMEND_RESOLUTIONS.pdf
SEIU 2008 resolution 205a:
Every local union will set aside 20% of its post per capita budget to organizing in a separate fund. These local union resources will be blended with the Division’s dedicated Unity Fund of at least $12 million as the primary resources to carry out a Division’s plan. That plan will include each local in order to maximize focus on where it will make the most difference in uniting more workers and changing workers’ lives.
The International Union’s resources will be used to implement the one national strategy approved by the International Executive Board rather than being automatically allocated in rigid percentages.
All levels of the union will be accountable for their contribution to the strategy. Once decisions are reached through the collaborative process, everyone will work together to carry them out.
There will be a regular union-wide review and evaluation of progress, leading to adjustments in resources as well in strategy.
Translation: SEIU administration will control more of members money.
Constitution Amendment #317 Adopted at the 2008 SEIU Convention Underline indicates language added
Article XV
DUTIES OF LOCAL UNIONS
Amend Section 18 of Article XV regarding funding for the Union’s political education and action program:
Section 18a.
Every U.S. Local Union shall contribute an annual amount equivalent to at least $6.00 per member per year, or as determined annually by the International Executive Board, to support the overall SEIU political education and action program. This annual SEIU COPE fundraising obligation may be satisfied by voluntary member contributions to SEIU COPE or a designated organization approved by the International President or a combination thereof. All contributions to SEIU C.O.P.E. collected by local unions shall be sent to SEIU C.O.P.E. Any contributions in excess of $6.00 per member per year or such other amount as determined by the International Executive Board shall be returned to the local union for its political program. If a Local Union fails to meet its annual SEIU COPE fundraising obligation, it shall contribute an amount in local union funds equal to the deficiency plus 50%, or such other amount determined by the International Executive Board, to support the overall SEIU political education and action program.
b. A goal of every local union shall be to enroll and maintain at least 20 percent of its members as voluntary participants in an employer check-off or regular deduction program assigned to SEIU C.O.P.E. or to an organization approved by the International President.
How and why did COPE payments turn into an obligation?
“equal to the deficiency, plus 50%”, sounds like a penalty to me. That would explain how SEIU was able to generate all this money for candidates.
November 1st, 2008 at 8:30 am11
Is it time for SEIU 721 members to start worrying about furloughs because of the “mutual gains” language the leaders agreed to in the current 5-year contract?
If it could even be possible, maybe it’s time to get rid of some of the high paid, dead weight from these directors & work organizers on: http://www.seiu721.org/Los_Angeles_Office_Directory.aspx
.
http://www.ksby.com/Global/story.asp?S=9248075
Furlough period will soon go into effect for Santa Barbara County employees
Posted: Oct 27, 2008 05:16 PM
The sour economy is creating some tough times for many, especially for one county on the Central Coast.
Santa Barbara County has announced it will go into a furlough period. That means county employees will be off of work for a total of eight work days without pay starting in December. This is to help balance the county’s budget.
During the furlough, many county employees have agreed to take a 64-hour pay cut, something they said is hard to swallow - especially during the holiday season.
The furlough is expected to begin December 22 and last through January 4, but some county employees are already feeling the effects.
Darryl Scheck works for the county appraiser’s office and is a member of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 620. His labor union negotiated with the county to spread out the 64-hour pay cut over 20 pay cycles. That means 3.2 hours will be deducted from each of Scheck’s next 20 paychecks, eventually adding up to a 64-hour deduction.
“It was just under 60 percent of our members actually approved of this furlough, so it was a very contentious issue across our union,” said Scheck. “By doing this furlough we are postponing any layoffs at least thru June 2009.”
Muriel Jones, a county employee for about 12 years, described the furlough as “very degrading, because when I think about it, as a county employee you think you have a safe haven, that your jobs are protected.”
Earlier this month, the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors approved the furlough. This includes cuts across the board from managers, to executives, to rank and file.
A county spokesperson said the furloughs are expected to save the county about $10 million. Public agencies like the sheriff’s department and fire department will not be affected by the furloughs.
There are a number agencies with modified schedules during the furlough period. You can find a complete list and more information on the furlough [at http://www.ksby.com/Global/story.asp?S=9247139&nav=menu544_7.
November 2nd, 2008 at 8:30 pm11
FUN WITH LM-2’s
For those who may not know, LM-2 forms are required by the U.S. Department of Labor for labor organizations that generate over $250,000 in dues collections from their general membership. They must list information like the names of the officers, employees, administrative employees and their respective salaries. They also include information like expenditures, liabilities, total assets, travel expenses, charitable contributions, allowances, etc. LM-2’s must be filed every fiscal year and are available online.
Many have inquired about Local 721 regarding this type of information, so the link and SEIU Local 721 DOL file number will be posted here.
http://erds.dol-esa.gov/query/getOrgQry.do
721’s file number is 543-613
click on SUBMIT
SCROLL down to REPORTS SPECIFIC TO LM-2’s and CLICK on the circle of that category and CLICK on SUBMIT.
The information on officers and personnel, and their respective titles, is listed in alphabetical order.
Did you know that for fiscal year 2007:
Bob Schoonover, an officer (vice-president), was paid $11,276
Linda Dent, an officer, was paid $$19,974
Cheryl Elam, board member, was paid $2,440
Bob Hunt, General Counsel (licensed attorney) was paid $91,718
Jorge Sanchez, a lost timer, was paid $109,785
Annelle Grajeda’s name is listed as Cecilia Grajeda and these LM-2’s do not list what she is getting from the International or the California Council.
And that’s just the beginning!
November 4th, 2008 at 8:30 am11
Bob lives on $11,276? What are their REAL, ANNUAL salaries for all the SEIU Local 721 staff members?
Some more information on salaries are at http://www.labornotes.org/node/1517
SEIU Local 434 (Los Angeles, CA) - http://unionfacts.com/unions/unionOfficers.cfm?id=542218&year=2006
SEIU Local 660 (Los Angeles, CA) - http://unionfacts.com/unions/unionOfficers.cfm?id=540301&year=2006
These are all paid for by the member dues and hard work. Does it seem right that they get paid so much?
November 4th, 2008 at 8:30 am11
Bob still gets his City salary in addition to what the union pays him. What you get paid by the union may depend on whether or not you “play ball”.
Which may explain why things like, as noted above, a “Lost Timer” would get paid more than a licensed attorney.
These kinds of inequities would certainly generate more questions about what the staffers actually do for the members, in relation to their salaries.
November 5th, 2008 at 8:30 am11
Please replace the link on the line of “Some more information on salaries are at http://www.labornotes.org/node/1517” with http://www.unionfacts.com/unions/unionOfficers.cfm?id=137&year=2006
If their numbers can be trusted, salaries just for the International employees in 2006? $59,738,295.00
November 6th, 2008 at 8:30 am11
Members are complaining of the tyranny imposed by Andy Stern and his appointed staff of Annelle Grajeda & Bob Schoonover. Is anything being done to remove them permanently from the Executive Board?
$59.7 Million for 990+ salaries in 2006? How much has this outrageous number grown? Are members of the opinion, yet, that they would be better off WITHOUT the International seeing as their dues help pay for their inflated salaries and don’t keep the money in the area for the members that are paying the dues?
Check out the 120+ directors, staffers & work organizers JUST for Local 721 on: http://www.seiu721.org/Los_Angeles_Office_Directory.aspx. Annelle Grajeda is still listed as President and no Bob Schoonover? What does Mayee do? (Anybody know? Did she take over for Bob?)
Sounds like Annelle, Bob, Julie & Charlie are ruling through “Taxation Without Representation” and making SEIU a union financed for the leaders and NOT a union for the benefit of the members. Is that a fair statement?
November 6th, 2008 at 8:30 pm11
Federal law dictates that an election of officers must be held 3 yeas after a merger, but the by-laws must be passed, denoting the process of elections prior to the election. The appointed governance committee has been “working” on the by-laws and has issued a draft of them. On October 4, 2008, at the General Assembly held at the LA convention center. The members who took the open microphone voiced anger that the governance Committee was only comprised of 5 members and the draft didn’t even address the election process or place term limits on the officers.
A representative of newly formed sub-committee, by stewards and activists of legacy locals, attended the Governance Committee meeting yesterday, and demanded that the governance committee be expanded or opened up to more volunteers that want to participate in the drafting of the local’s by-laws. The representative displayed over 200 signatures of members demanding that the Governance Committee be opened up and the numbers are growing exponentially and will continue to be collected.
The members obviously want control of their union back and democracy restored.
November 7th, 2008 at 8:30 am11
The 5-member committee only have their own best interests in mind! Do you really think 200 or 1,000 signatures will be enough to convince Annelle, Bob, Julie & Charlie to allow more general members to become part of the Governance Committee? Did Julie or Mayee oust/replace Bob or is he still the appointed Acting President for Annelle?
It doesn’t sound like members have ANY control of the union or ANY democracy. Is that because of Annelle, the 20+ “Directors”, Andy Stern or all of them?
November 7th, 2008 at 8:30 am11
How much are the President, Regional Directors, 20+ Directors, Assistant Directors, Deputy Directors, Communications Specialists, Lead Worksite Organizers, and dozens of Worksite Organizers paid?
All THIS just so the net COLA for members is 1.75% (3-1.25%) or 1.5% (3-1.5%) per year? IT ISN’T FAIR when they make 2 to 3 times more than REGULAR, hard-working members! Do they pay dues and get similar COLAs?
Did you see http://www.dailynews.com/search/ci_10870866?IADID=Search-www.dailynews.com-www.dailynews.com and Zine’s motion on 10/31/08 to reduce salaries. The reopener language in the current SEIU contracts increases the likelyhood of not getting the raises the City initially committed to. After all, a commitment is not binding, right Annelle?
November 8th, 2008 at 8:30 pm11
As far as the 200 or 1000 petition signatures , to open the Governance committee, are concerned, they will create the basis for further action should the Executive Board fail to heed the demands of the membership. Annelle, Julie, Bob and Charlie know full well that a slate for president will have a hard time if they have a known and proven propensity for ignoring the interests or demands of the members.
Bob has recently touted himself as the “acting president” to the mechanics of the Fire Department, yet on the website he is still vice-president. But it’s a good point that was brought up, that Bob was appointed and can be un-appointed, as with any board member or officer of the 721 union.
It is true that it doesn’t seem like the members have any control of their union at the present time. This is because of the 2007 merger and the staff. Local 347 and local 660 were placed in emergency trusteeship in April of 2008. It sounds weird that supposedly merged unions were placed in emergency trusteeship by Andy Stern over a year after being merged. Go figure.
November 8th, 2008 at 8:30 pm11
The salaries of the staff and compensation for officers/board members for fiscal year 2007 can be viewed online. See “FUN WITH LM-2’s” above.
Many have inquired about Local 721 regarding this type of information, so the link and SEIU Local 721 DOL file number will be posted here.
http://erds.dol-esa.gov/query/getOrgQry.do
721’s file number is 543-613
click on SUBMIT
SCROLL down to REPORTS SPECIFIC TO LM-2’s and CLICK on the circle of that category and CLICK on SUBMIT.
The information on officers and personnel, and their respective titles, duties and salaries, are listed in alphabetical order.
Coucilman Zines motion, in of itself, is not binding. The City will open itself to a lawsuit if it tries to withhold contracted wages without a “meet and confer”. But, it is true that SEIU now has a propensity to deal behind the backs of the elected bargaining team as they did for United HealthCare Workers-West and Local 1877.
If this starts happening the members will need to quickly mobilize and get involved to protect their interests. Even though, at this point, it will be like trying to herd cats.
November 9th, 2008 at 8:30 pm11
Annelle, Bob, Julie nor Charley will address the net COLA for members is 1.75% (3-1.25%) or 1.5% (3-1.5%) per year that the employees are actually getting once the dues are deducted. Are they oblivious to the fact or just don’t want to call attention to THEIR take and want to keep it from becoming evident?
I know for a fact that Charley is smart enough to see what he REALLY got as take home or would if he paid the same dues as the legacy locals. Why is he trying to make the EAA ALSO pay the same high dues? Just to pad his own pockets?
On the reopener, the language is in many of the current contracts so the City would not be violating the contract terms. As you know and truthfully say, the “SEIU now has a propensity to deal behind the backs of the elected bargaining team” and the same can be said for what they do to their members.
The “herd” needs to wake up!
November 11th, 2008 at 8:30 pm11
Have you seen where some of the larger amounts of SEIU 721 money are going according to http://erds.dol-esa.gov/query/getOrgQry.do?
Payer/Payee Category Purpose Grand Total
SEIU LOCAL 721 PAC 500 S VIRGIL ST LOS ANGELES, CA 90020 POLITICAL ACTIVITIES(PAYEE) PAC FUND $422,662.00
SEIU - International Hdqtrs 1800 MASSACHUSETTS AVE WASHINGTON, DC 20036 REPRESENTATIONAL ACTIVITIES(PAYEE) ORGANIZING $350,000.00
WEINBERG ROGER & ROSENFELD 1001 MARINA VILLAGE PKWY ALAMEDA, CA 945011091 REPRESENTATIONAL ACTIVITIES(PAYEE) LEGAL $335,046.00
DISNEY RESORT DEP 35R 136 HARBOR BLVD ANAHEIM, CA 92796 GENERAL OVERHEAD(PAYEE) AMUSEMENT PARK $264,167.00
SEIU LOCAL 998 SUITE 3 2472 EASTMAN AVE VENTURA, CA 93003 GENERAL OVERHEAD(PAYEE) LABOR UNION $220,017.00
November 11th, 2008 at 8:30 pm11
Those PAC fee payment was HUGE! Wonder what other payments were for “consulting”, legal, member center, credit service, amusement parks, airlines, “Representational Activities” or “General Overhead”?
Payer/Payee Category Purpose Itemized Total Non-Itemized Total Grand Total
BONNEVILLE Mortgage Company SUITE 125 111 EAST BROADWAY SALT LAKE CITY, UT 84111 GENERAL OVERHEAD(PAYEE) MORTGAGE COMPANY $212,741.00
SEIU SERVICE CORP 18 MASSACHUSETTS AVE WASHINGTON, DC 20036 GENERAL OVERHEAD(PAYEE) MEMBER CENTER $205,929.00
WEINBERG ROGER & ROSENFELD 11 MARINA VILLAGE PKWY ALAMEDA, CA 945011091 GENERAL OVERHEAD(PAYEE) LEGAL $166,883.00
AT & T PAYMENT CENTER SACRAMENTO, CA 958870001 GENERAL OVERHEAD(PAYEE) TELEPHONE $156,384.00
HEARTLAND BUSINESS CREDIT DENVER, CO 802910202 GENERAL OVERHEAD(PAYEE) CREDIT SERVICE $141,796.00
PASADENA HUMANE SOCIETY 361 SO RAYMOND AVE. PASADENA, CA 91105 GENERAL OVERHEAD(PAYEE) LANDLORD $141,759.00
RAEL & LETSON 378 VINTAGE PARK DR FOSTER CITY, CA 94404 GENERAL OVERHEAD(PAYEE) CONSULTANT $137,880.00
FOX PRINTING COMPANY INC. 9330 SAN FERNANDO RD SUN VALLEY, CA 913521417 REPRESENTATIONAL ACTIVITIES(PAYEE) PRINTING AND SUPPLIES $137,663.00
AT&T MOBILITY PO BOX 617 LOS ANGELES, CA 900600017 GENERAL OVERHEAD(PAYEE) TELEPHONE $123,370.00
L.A. DEPT. OF WATER & POWER PO BOX 388 LOS ANGELES, CA 900300808 GENERAL OVERHEAD(PAYEE) UTILITIES $120,389.00
SEA WORLD SAN DIEGO 5 SEAWORLD DR SAN DIEGO, CA 92109 GENERAL OVERHEAD(PAYEE) AMUSEMENT PARK $108,028.00
UNIVERSAL STUDIOS INC FILE 5641 LOS ANGELES, CA 90074 GENERAL OVERHEAD(PAYEE) AMUSEMENT PARK $102,172.00
KNOTTS BERRY FARM 839 BEACH BLVD BUENA PARK, CA 90620 GENERAL OVERHEAD(PAYEE) AMUSEMENT PARK $100,205.00
BERLAND TECHNOLOGIES INC. 19TH FLOOR 642 WILSHIRE BLVD. LOS ANGELES, CA 90048 GENERAL OVERHEAD(PAYEE) IT CONSULTANT $97,000.00
JEFFREY A. SACHS ASSOCIATES IN SUITE 29C 87 UNITED NATIONS PLAZA NEW YORK, NY 10017 GENERAL OVERHEAD(PAYEE) CONSULTANT $92,560.00
THE VELARIUM GROUP SUITE 825 155 W. Washington Blvd LOS ANGELES, CA 900153581 GENERAL OVERHEAD(PAYEE) NETWORK SRVCE $92,140.00
VISION PROMOTIONAL PRODUCTS PO BOX 1315 FORESTDALE, MA 026440000 GENERAL OVERHEAD(PAYEE) RETAIL STORE $83,858.00
DE LAGE LANDEN FINANCIAL SRVCE PO BOX 4161 PHILADELPHIA, PA 191011601 GENERAL OVERHEAD(PAYEE) COLOR COPIER $82,049.00
BUILDING SERVICE CO. OF L.A. 85 SOUTH UNION AVENUE LOS ANGELES, CA 90017 GENERAL OVERHEAD(PAYEE) JANITORIAL SRVC $76,864.00
CANON BUSINESS SOLUTIONS-WEST PO BOX 1924 PASADENA, CA 911890924 GENERAL OVERHEAD(PAYEE) COPIER SRVCE $72,742.00
KENSINGTON CATERERS 5556 W. WASHINGTON BLVD LOS ANGELES, CA 90016 REPRESENTATIONAL ACTIVITIES(PAYEE) CATERING $72,490.00
MAYNARD Consulting Srvces, INC SUITE 5-A 2404 WILSHIRE BLVD LOS ANGELES, CA 90057 REPRESENTATIONAL ACTIVITIES(PAYEE) CONSULTANT $71,697.00
RICOH AMERICAS CORPORATION PO BOX 15533 ATLANTA, GA 303485533 GENERAL OVERHEAD(PAYEE) COPIER SUPPLIES $67,980.00
3345 WILSHIRE-KENMORE PO BOX 79551 CITY OF INDUSTRY, CA 917169551 GENERAL OVERHEAD(PAYEE) LANDLORD $66,369.00
JEFFREY A. SACHS ASSOCIATES IN SUITE 29C 870 UNITED NATIONS PLAZA NEW YORK, NY 10017 REPRESENTATIONAL ACTIVITIES(PAYEE) CONSULTANT $64,396.00
LINDQUIST LLP 3 POINTE DRIVE BREA, CA 92821 GENERAL OVERHEAD(PAYEE) CPA $63,044.00
Nu WEST INSURANCE SERVICES PO BOX 18973 IRVINE, CA 92623 GENERAL OVERHEAD(PAYEE) INSURANCE COMPANY $59,834.00
SECURITAS SECURITY SERVICES FILE 5722 LOS ANGELES, CA 900747220 GENERAL OVERHEAD(PAYEE) BUILDING SECURITY $58,093.00
SIX FLAGS CALIFORNIA P.O. BOX 55 VALENCIA, CA 91385 GENERAL OVERHEAD(PAYEE) AMUSEMENT PARK $57,477.00
SPRINT PO BOX 2191 KANSAS CITY, MO 641219100 GENERAL OVERHEAD(PAYEE) TELEPHONE $55,939.00
AVAYA FINANCIAL SERVICES PO BOX 93 CHICAGO, IL 606733000 GENERAL OVERHEAD(PAYEE) TELEPHONE LEASE $55,794.00
CONTINENTAL COLORCRAFT 1166 W. GARVEY AVE MONTEREY PARK, CA 91754 REPRESENTATIONAL ACTIVITIES(PAYEE) PRINTING $52,183.00
US POSTMASTER 3751 W. 6TH ST LOS ANGELES, CA 90005 GENERAL OVERHEAD(PAYEE) POSTAGE $51,745.00
FOX PRINTING COMPANY INC. 933 SAN FERNANDO ROAD SUN VALLEY, CA 913521417 GENERAL OVERHEAD(PAYEE) STATIONERY $51,001.00
CINGULAR WIRELESS PO BOX 617 LOS ANGELES, CA 900600017 GENERAL OVERHEAD(PAYEE) CELL PHONE $50,507.00
The amounts less than $50,000 are even more telling! Golf club dues? Catering? Restaurant costs? Union Raiding? Questionable non-profits? ACORN? Check them out.
November 13th, 2008 at 8:30 am11
SEIU 721 wastes the money and asks that members do “voluntary” furloughs (http://www.lacitycoalition.com/voluntary-furlough.html) after giving away $18,250,000 of our Wellness Fund and increasing our co-pays by 100%. What are Annelle, Bob & Julie giving back except the free food and all the fabulous glossy flyers to the EAA? The “Challenge” is for membership to save face for the SEIU leaderships’ “bargaining prowess” that they keep preaching to members & the EAA people. Don’t the MOUs call for renegotiating with the City at a minimum of every 6 months? What will they give back next? Reducing the current COLA that is 1.75% after dues are deducted?
Furlough Challenge:
Your Help is Needed!
A Voluntary Furlough Program will help close the final $3.13 million budget gap
“I’m leading the way and encouraging everyone in my crew to take a furlough day. It just takes an average of one day from each of us. These are tough budget times, and we are dedicated to being part of the solution.”
– Dave Bunjac,
Crew Leader at Hyperion and LIUNA 777 Chapter President
The City entered this budget year facing a huge shortfall — $300 million by some estimates. The Coalition of L.A. City Unions, through our “mutual gains bargaining process,” worked hand-in-glove with the City to make sure that the budget was balanced with the least impact to City services and City workers.
At the end of the day, more than 700 budgeted positions were eliminated, a budgetary move that kept current City workers off the unemployment line while reducing overall payroll costs. Further, the unions’ work during the past few years through the joint-labor management committee to slow down health care costs has helped the budget significantly. And the dozens of smart ideas submitted by workers across the City have just begun to make an impact.
All of our hard work together has made a tremendous difference, but we have just a little bit more to go. We need your help to close a $3.13 million budget gap through voluntary furloughs. This may seem like a lot of money, but to reach the goal each person who is eligible (see below) just needs to take an average of ONE DAY off unpaid between now and the end of the fiscal year (June 30, 2009).
That’s the good news. The bad news is that if we fall short of our goal, the remaining amount could be made up in mandatory furloughs at the end of the year for anyone who hasn’t taken one. Better to take furloughs now at a time of your choosing and when it fits in your family’s budget!
If you can take more than one furlough day, please do! It’s no secret that the downturn in the economy is affecting local government budgets. So the more we can save this year, the better shape the City will be in next year. Every furlough day makes a difference! “We’re all in this together as a city—the workers, the residents and city officials. This is our city, it’s facing a real problem, and city workers are part of the solution. We want to do everything we can to maintain the high level of services that city residents are used to and expect.”– Bob Schoonover, Heavy Equipment Mechanic and SEIU 721 Vice President
Frequently Asked Questions:
How do I take a furlough?
Request your furlough days just as you would request a vacation or other time off. Payroll code “WF” should be used to code furlough time off.
Am I eligible to take a furlough?
You should be eligible if you are a full-time civilian employee as long as the day you take off would not require a substitute to be called to duty or work overtime.
Wasn’t the Coalition opposed to furloughs earlier this year?
The Coalition fought against the mandatory furlough program that was proposed earlier this year. With a mandatory furlough program, the burden would have fallen hardest on those of us who can least afford it. A mandatory across-the-board furlough could have forced departments to backfill certain positions and take other revenue-producing positions off duty – meaning many workers’ furloughs would actually worsen the budget situation.
We have no problem with voluntary furloughs. If workers are able to take an unpaid day off, and can do so without causing others to fill their positions at extra cost, they should certainly have the opportunity to do so. They’ll be helping to preserve city services and their co-workers’ jobs at the same time.
Do I have to take furloughs in full days?
Salaried (exempt) employees must take time off in full days. Employees who are paid hourly (non-exempt) may take furloughs in hourly increments.
How many furlough days can I take?
In order to maintain your pension, you must have at least 40 hours of compensated time in each pay period. Most pay periods are 72 or 80 hours. City employees should watch how many furlough hours or days they take to avoid falling below 40 hours of compensated time in any given pay period.
November 13th, 2008 at 8:30 am11
Did you see Local 721 expenses for hotel, lodging & room rental costs in DC, Maryland, Oakland, San Jose and other places for $121,135?
Would you believe the airline expenses is almost as bad? $99,672
Add up the catering and food expenses. The total may surprise you as much as the postage.
November 13th, 2008 at 8:30 am11
Wow! $121,135 is a lot of money for these kinds of expenses as well as the airline total. It would be nice to have details as to how many people did this traveling and what the purpose of this traveling was for. How does all this traveling benefit the members? 721 sure is taking advantage of the fact that the interim by-laws has no checks and balances or accountability.
November 13th, 2008 at 8:30 pm11
Looks like they’re also borrowing to pay for their extravagance! Check out the credit payment and the credit card lines. I still can’t get over the postage Anonymous Worker points out!
November 13th, 2008 at 8:30 pm11
Hello all. I don’t need to be anonymous and I’m sure most of you know our plight. I was wondering if any of you would be willing to talk at a “membership meeting” or lunchtime seminar. I think many EAA members would love to hear, or moreover I think they NEED to hear, your perspectives. I work at the PWB on Broadway but, like you, we have members all over the city. I’m sure I/we could find a way to at least buy you lunch. Even if I had to but them myself, it’s worth it to me not to join SEIU.
I sympathise with the comments I read above. I don’t like the re-openers you have been stuck with. I’m no lawyer but I hear they have a re-opener every 6 months and can suspend the 1/2 step increases. Even if that doesn’t happen I would be willing to bet that the “flex cash” will never find it’s way to the members bank accounts.
They call your furlough day “voluntary” yet they put a dollar amount on them. Who is that crew leader telling the staff to take time off? What does that do to the COLA you recieved? You should try to organize your people and not take any days off with out pay. That would force Julie and the city to re-evaluate the vouluntary nature of those $3.1 million furlough days!
Since SEIU is set to leave the AFL-CIO brotherhood and “go rouge”, maybe in the future we can work together to find a way to reduce your dues to .5%. Just thinking out loud…
November 14th, 2008 at 8:30 am11
From: https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=8826939&postID=6763859898448827070
Anonymous said…
SEIU 721 dues are 1.5%, not 1.25%
October 03, 2008 11:44 AM
Anonymous Anonymous said…
Is this is the same union that apparently has been representing temporary workers (i.e. taking 1.5% of their gross as dues) at the County, some of them working as temps for decades, without ever taking action to get them permanent employment with retirement? That is just wrong.
October 05, 2008 10:01 PM
Anonymous Anonymous said…
Raiding is wrong. Period. Interfering in the internal affairs of other unions, is wrong. There is something wrong when over 85% of the American workforce is unorganized and the unions engage in union cannibalism.
Why would city employees want to flock over to a union that just had its President step aside for investigation of corruption? If I were these “dissatisfied employees” I would explore an affiliation agreement with an emergency off ramp, before out right commitment. A corporate union is not exactly an improvement. But I guess the lesser of two evils is not much of a choice anyway, huh?
October 05, 2008 11:08 PM
November 14th, 2008 at 8:30 am11
Have you or the EAA nuts that want their members to join SEIU taken the COCU/SEIU FURLOUGH CHALLENGE? See http://www.lacitycoalition.com/voluntary-furlough.html for more details.
November 15th, 2008 at 8:30 am11
Hi, Johnny Sosa. As members of 721 we are sympathetic to unions who are being interfered with. Heaven knows, we at 721 would not want another union interfering in our internal affairs either. At this time we, as rank and file, are not yet in full control of our local and are engaged in trying to assert our control. We are in a fight over control of this 721 local, to be sure.
An aspect to this struggle is to maintain a balance so as not to “lose our warriors” to technicalities from our International’s by-laws, specifically Article XVII which contains language which could be used and/or interpreted against a steward, activist or member. Specifically subdivision (7) which could subject a member to charges of , “Advocating or engaging in dual unionism, including but not limited to aiding a rival labor organization, or secession in violation of Article XXV…” As long as the critical comments or dissent is internal and not about decertification or succession or in violation of this article, it must be tolerated.
As long as our criticism or activism is internal and doesn’t violate the by-laws, we can better and more effectively maintain this fight over control. But, we must maintain our balance and not jeopardize our fight. However, feel free, as we do, to advocate union democracy, membership control and accountability for all unions…on this site, or anywhere else for that matter.
November 15th, 2008 at 8:30 am11
More members have to join S.M.A.R.T. to REFORM the SEIU! See http://www.reformseiu.org/search/label/about
November 15th, 2008 at 8:30 am11
Johny, SEIU went rouge long ago when they attacked other unions; even those in their “current” coalition. http://www.labornotes.org/node/778
Administrator, to quote you, “I agree that democracy in SEIU is on life support, at this time.” This directly opposes what Julie Butcher tells EAA members. Sound like an outright lie by JULIE to me!
It sound like she says what benefits her by not pointing out that the EAA can do whatever they can do to protect themselves where your own bylaws severely restrict its own members by saying, “Advocating or engaging in dual unionism, including but not limited to aiding a rival labor organization, or secession in violation of Article XXV…”
Would your supporters get thrown out just for talking to EAA staff about the dissension and problems in the SEIU? Would that be considered as aid? It sounds like it is a serious violation of your Freedom of Speech.
We need to talk.
November 15th, 2008 at 8:30 pm11
Mr. E, If Julie said that we have a democratically elected Executive Board, that would not be a true statement. I’ll stand behind that fact that all the 721 officers and Board members were all appointed. Because I’m a City worker and am obligated to perform services during working hours and can’t be there when Julie makes a statement, I’m not privy to comments and claims that she has made when addressing EAA members. But I have confronted her numerous times regarding many internal issues, that I feel are questionable statements by her.
I would not begrudge any union organization the right to defend itself, in whatever forum it deems necessary. The fact that many of us opposed the 721 certification process at the Employee Relations Board, to the point of having a three-day hearing on those issues, should say a lot about that belief.
Our supporters, probably, would eventually prevail against charges of “aiding a rival union”, if the SEIU hearing process was going to be a fair one (”Fair” being the operative word), if we were to answer questions about why we are dissenting on our internal issues. But if that information was taken out of context, used as the basis of an administrative EAA defense or for propaganda purposes against 721, there could be some issues. If it was a press conference to the media, no problem. If it was a planned meeting with only EAA members and officials for the purpose of opposing 721’s “organizing efforts”, there could be a problem.
As for the Freedom of Speech rights, we also have the right not to incriminate ourselves. The struggle to regain democratic control of 721 is reaching critical mass.
November 16th, 2008 at 8:30 pm11
She says you have a democratic union. PERIOD! Maybe she meant on the board level for those she likes or when she’s the top dog and she wrote the issues for discussion.
The way Julie puts it is that there is no reason that you or any member in a union can’t talk about “improving” the union. Sounds like she likes to deceive those that will listen & don’t know any better.
Wow, you had 3 days of hearings and they STILL ignored the wishes of the members? They must have had a predisposition to merge local 347 into 721. Do your supporters have a large base? Are you likely to have a significant voice in the current organization or will you have to go back to the ERB to get any attention? Would that be what it would take to get Arnnelle, Bob S, Julie & Charley to give their members any voice and allow for a “fair” representation? The old saying of “Taxation Without Representation” seems to hold VERY true for Local 721!
Johny, you & I need to meet to share ideas. Julie can’t say THAT’s wrong, can she?
November 16th, 2008 at 8:30 pm11
It’s not Julie that would instigate charges, It’s Andy & Co.
November 16th, 2008 at 8:30 pm11
http://www.nlpc.org/view.asp?action=viewArticle&aid=2727
SERVICE EMPLOYEES (SEIU)
Members of Large California Health Care Local Sue SEIU, Stern
The insurrection by a major California affiliate of the Service Employees International Union against Washington, D.C. headquarters is getting closer by the month to an all-out confrontation. The dissenting faction, known as United Healthcare Workers-West (UHW) and led by Sal Rosselli, for the last couple years has been openly critical of international President Andrew Stern and his top lieutenants for focusing on membership expansion at the expense of quality contracts. On September 17, nearly 30 members of the Oakland, Calif.-based local took the battle to a new level, filing a complaint in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California that accuses SEIU leaders of suppressing their rights. The action, a retort to a failed action this spring by the parent union, seeks declaratory and injunctive relief. […]
Fully 28 UHW-West members, all elected officers of the union, accuse Stern and his allies of unjustly curtailing free speech and participation rights spelled out under the Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act (LMRDA), also known as the Landrum-Griffin Act.
Over the past eight months, SEIU President Andrew Stern has engaged in a relentless and pervasive campaign that has been intended to, and has in fact, intimidated and chilled dissent and criticism of his policies, decisions and actions by SEIU members nationwide. Beginning in early 2008, Stern has employed all of the SEIU’s personnel and resources in an unprecedented campaign to target, retaliate, discredit, and hobble his principal critic, United Healthcare Workers-West, SEIU (“UHW”), its members and leadership. Stern carpet-bombed the entire SEIU leadership, nationwide, with his negative publicity, attacks and threats of retaliation aimed at UHW, over the months that followed, thereby transmitting an unmistakable message to the entire SEIU leadership and membership: “cross me, and you, too, will suffer similar reprisals,” up to and including, the ultimate form of punishment – imposition of trusteeship wherein Stern assumes autocratic control over a dissident subordinate entity, its members, property and assets, and terminates its democratically elected leaders.
- - - - -
Re: “… campaign to target, retaliate, discredit, and hobble [] principal critic[s]” Arnnelle, Bob S, Julie & Charley must be tying to be just like Andy!
November 16th, 2008 at 8:30 pm11
Check out the California Political News Does this represent the Local 721 leaders too? See http://capoliticalnews.com/s/spip.php/www.autobase.cc/ecrire/links.sfgate.com/spip.php?breve6095
More SEIU Corruption-against Halfway Honest Staffers
Friday 5 September 2008
Looks like more corruption of the SEIU has come to light.
Like any other criminals syndicate, the leadership must sign on to the corruption of the top leadership. In the Mafia if you fail to support the “Don”, they shoot you. At least in the SEIU all they do is fire you.
Why hasn’t the Attorney General indicted the leaders of the SEIU? Why hasn’t the Department of Labor taken over this corrupt union? Why does government demand that workers pay bribes to this union, in order to work?
In California, corruption is spelled SEIU.
SEIU, beset by spending scandal, places a senior manager on leave The Service Employees International Union says two lower-ranking staffers have lost their jobs because of allegations that others in the Los Angeles local were retaliated against.
By Paul Pringle,9/5/08, Los Angeles Times Staff ,Writer
The Service Employees International Union announced Thursday that it had placed a senior manager at its biggest California local on leave and that two lower-ranking staffers had lost their jobs, because of allegations that other employees were retaliated against in connection with a widening spending scandal.
The Times reported last month that some workers who did not immediately sign a letter of support for the Los Angeles local’s president, Tyrone Freeman, who is at the center of the scandal, had their union cellphone service canceled and were transferred to distant jobs.
One staffer who balked at signing the letter was later fired, according to co-workers.
During a subsequent staff meeting, some employees threatened to retaliate further against anyone who provided information to The Times about Freeman, several of those in attendance said.
In a statement Thursday, SEIU President Andy Stern said: “Any acts of intimidation or retaliation against our members, staff or leaders are deeply offensive to our core values as a union, and we will move immediately and aggressively to bring disciplinary action, including termination if necessary, against any responsible parties.”
A union spokeswoman said the fired Bay Area staffer has been rehired, the transfers have been revoked, and the cell service has been restored.
The alleged retaliation and threats are part of a federal criminal investigation into the local’s spending practices, people familiar with the probe say.
The manager placed on leave, Matthew Maldonaldo, is a top aide to Freeman, who stepped aside last month; he could not be reached for comment.
The two lower-ranking employees also could not be located for interviews. SEIU spokeswoman Michelle Ringuette said one was fired and the other resigned.
Neither Ringuette nor Stern offered details on the alleged conduct that prompted the union to take action against the three.
“There have been some steps in the right direction,” said one of the employees who complained of being retaliated against. He asked not to be identified.
“There is a wait-and-see attitude, because there are still some loose cannons floating around,” he said.
In addition to Freeman, two other leading SEIU officers have stepped aside in the aftermath of The Times’ reports.
The SEIU has demanded that a fourth official return thousands of dollars in what union spokespersons say were improper payments made by another local he used to head.
Freeman’s local and a related charity have paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to home-based firms owned by his wife and mother-in-law, as well as $16,000 to a now-defunct minor league basketball team coached by his brother-in-law, The Times has reported.
The local also has paid $219,000 to a small video company run by a former staffer, Brian Cheatham.
Three other former employees have said that Cheatham is a close friend of Freeman and his wife, Pilar Planells.
The local spent at least $300,000 last year on a Four Seasons Resorts golf tournament, a Beverly Hills cigar club, restaurants such as Morton’s steakhouse and a consulting contract with the William Morris Agency, the Hollywood talent shop.
And the union has paid $82,000 to a Florida video firm, an outlay described as a contribution to a nonprofit, according to the local’s financial filings with the U.S. Labor Department.
The firm is not a nonprofit, and its chief executive told The Times that the company never received the money.
The 160,000-member local, United Long-Term Care Workers, represents low-wage caregivers who tend the elderly and infirm.
*
Other news
* 16 November – Unions: Why US Auto Industry in Collapse
* 15 November – Sac Bee: Let Auto Industry Go Bankrupt
* 15 November – Nurses Union Makes Schools Unsafe for Diabetic Children
* 15 November – Union Demands City of Vista go Bankrupt
* 14 November – Guvs “Fun Tax Folly”—LA Times
* 14 November – Voters Don’t Trust Elected Officials Union Sweetheart Deals Any More?
* 12 November – Will State be Allowed to Save Money Running Prison System
* 10 November – GM, Ford to go Belly Up: Thank the Unions and Bad Managment
* 8 November – Auto Industry to Get ANOTHER $50 Billion in tax Dollars
* 8 November – Auto Industry to Get ANOTHER $50 Billion in tax Dollars?
November 17th, 2008 at 8:30 pm11
Arnnelle, Bob S, Julie & Charley are “towing the line”, but there is a growing movement to install a democratic process. There are currently petitions being circulated to open up the Governance Committee, writing the by-laws, to volunteer members. Hundreds of Petitions, so far, have already been presented to the Executive Board and the Governance Committee will meet on a Saturday, December 6, 2008 at the Union Hall on Virgil St. which will be open to attendance by the rank and file members. The Constitution and by-laws will be the determining factor in a democratic process, or be the way control over the local is maintained.
November 18th, 2008 at 8:30 am11
Toe the line? I can hear Annelle say it now, “Oh horseshit” (http://eaaunion.net/SEIU_Transparency_204.page) just as she said on Sat, Oct 25, 2008 at 3:09 PM, from her SEIU address at annelle.grajeda@seiu721.org
Wasn’t she on administrative leave time?
November 18th, 2008 at 8:30 am11
Forced volunteering? http://theunionnews.blogspot.com/2008/07/seiu-politics-are-shakedown-racket.html
SEIU politics are a ’shakedown racket’
Related story: “Andy Stern: Master of forced-labor unionism”
Where did the SEIU get $150 million for politics? That’s a question the Wall Street Journal asks, and the Justice Department wants answered. The National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation has requested an investigation into the practices of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), specifically to its mandatory contribution policies. The SEIU has forced locals to guarantee a per-member minimum contribution to their political action committee apart from its dues, and that may violate federal law:
The union adopted a new amendment to its constitution at last month’s SEIU convention, requiring that every local contribute an amount equal to $6 per member per year to the union’s national political action committee. This is in addition to regular union dues. Unions that fail to meet the requirement must contribute an amount in “local union funds” equal to the “deficiency,” plus a 50% penalty. According to an SEIU union representative, this has always been policy, but has now simply been formalized.
No other major institution could get away with its bosses demanding that every single one of its workers step in line behind its political preferences. This is the sort of imposed political obeisance that infuriates so many workers and turns them away from unions.
The SEIU political mandate may also violate federal law. Union and corporate PACs are supposed to rely on “voluntary” contributions, and it is illegal for them to use money secured by the “threat” of “financial reprisal.” It’s hard to see that an SEIU mandate enforced by financial penalties of 50% isn’t a “threat” or would qualify under any definition of “voluntary.”
There’s more. As many workers who would rather not join a union realize, employees can be required to join a union or to pay dues as a condition of employment. It is illegal, however, for a union to take these compelled union dues and use them to affect federal elections.
Combine this with the EFCA legislation, otherwise known as Card Check, and voters can draw their own conclusions about the direction of the SEIU and Big Labor. They want to expand their pool of mandatory contributors to their PAC, and the Democrats have worked hard to deliver it. Card Check would make it easy for union organizers to intimidate workers into voting for the union by eliminating the secret ballot, and then the SEIU and other unions could force more cash from workers into the pockets of Democrats.
As the Journal explains, SEIU chief Andy Stern is no stranger to illegal influence in elections. Stern helped found America Coming Together in 2004, when it acted as a Kerry support group. The 527 raised over $26 million, much of it coming from George Soros and the SEIU, while violating campaign finance laws. ACT got a $775,000 fine from the FEC for those violations, but that happened well after the election, and after any undue influence had already occurred.
Now the SEIU suddenly has $150 million, from which they’ve already committeed at least $85 million specific to Democratic candidates. That money got squeezed out of the locals under duress, in obvious violation of the spirit and letter of federal law. The union knows how to protect itself and its interests, and the lockstep nature of their support for Democrats should awaken voters to the threat their policies comprise. This is nothing more than a closed-feedback loop for Democrats, and Card Check is the prize that will ensure its rapid growth. The Department of Justice needs to put an end to this shakedown racket immediately.
(hotair.com)
November 18th, 2008 at 8:30 am11
Do you think Annelle, Bob S, Julie, Charley or the SEIU shills in the EAA they’ve brainwashed know which COLA is larger; 2.5% or (1.75% - PAC fees - COPE fees)? Aren’t some SEIU dues actually 1.5% and NOT 1.25%?
Annelle, Bob S, Julie, Charley or the SEIU shills, don’t forget to take the Voluntary Furlough Challenge as you’ve challenged members on http://www.lacitycoalition.com/
November 18th, 2008 at 8:30 am11
Did you see the ACORN / SEIU 721 connection in the 2007 expenses? I wonder what was paid this year.
http://theunionnews.blogspot.com/search?q=embezzlement
ACORN punishes dissenters
Related: “ACORN crime covered-up by Drummond Pike”
More ACORN stories: here • Voter-fraud stories: here
Union-backed group deals with objectors the fascistic way: Oust them
Community organizing group ACORN, investigated this year for filing fraudulent voter registration forms, has fired two board members it had asked to investigate allegations that an ACORN founder’s brother embezzled nearly $1 million.
The fired board members were investigating allegations that money was embezzled from ACORN eight years ago.
An internal document from the ACORN executive board, obtained by CNN, shows that members Karen Inman and Marcel Reid were “removed from any office or committee position you may have held.”
A separate document says that “the memberships of Karen Inman and Marcel Reid in ACORN is canceled, and they are removed from the Association Board.”
The documents, dated November 11, are signed by Maude Hurd, president of the ACORN Association Board.
Hurd was not immediately available for comment Thursday afternoon, an ACORN receptionist said.
But ACORN member Gloria Brown, speaking from the group’s main office in New Orleans, Louisiana, said in response to a CNN request for comment that Inman and Reid were removed because “they’ve been saying from the beginning things that were not true.”
Brown said she was the only person available from ACORN to speak with CNN at the moment.
Inman, who is from Minnesota, contends that only her state branch can remove her and it has not done so.
She said the ACORN board’s actions will lead to a criminal investigation. Video Watch Inman respond to ACORN’s move »
“Why would you want us not to clean up things?” she asked. “Why would you not want to do your own investigation instead of bringing in the sheriff?”
Asked whether she thinks the sheriff is coming, she answered: “I think the sheriff’s coming.”
The possible embezzlement by Dale Rathke, brother of ACORN founder Wade Rathke, allegedly occurred about eight years ago. But the ACORN board did not find out about it until this year.
In July, the ACORN board selected an interim management committee to look at the possible embezzlement and its concealment. Inman and Reid were two of the members appointed to the committee.
When an ACORN affiliate that acts as the group’s accounting firm denied the committee members access to the books, Inman said, she, Reid and several others filed a lawsuit to have the court order ACORN to preserve the books and give them access to all accounting matters.
That suit became known as the ACORN 8 because, according to Inman, eight ACORN people signed onto it. She now says there are 25 members demanding the accountability.
ACORN said the interim management committee essentially had no authority and countersued.
“They didn’t have authority from that committee,” ACORN member Brown said Thursday. “They filed this lawsuit that basically was not on behalf of the board at all.”
According to the documents obtained by CNN, the ACORN executive board met Sunday and decided to remove Inman and Reid and any other members participating in the lawsuit.
The problems at ACORN already have cost it the financial support of one of its major donors.
The Catholic Campaign for Human Development froze contributions to ACORN in June amid the embezzlement allegations.
This week, as the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops met in Baltimore, Maryland, the campaign’s chairman said it was cutting all ties with the group.
“We simply had too many questions and concerns to permit further CCHD funding of ACORN groups,” Roger Morin, the auxiliary bishop of New Orleans, told his colleagues in an earlier letter to the conference.
The CCHD has donated more than $7.3 million to ACORN-related projects over the past decade, including $40,000 to an ACORN chapter in Las Vegas, Nevada, that was raided before the November 4 election in an investigation into fraudulent voter registration forms.
ACORN, which conducts voter registration drives, has acknowledged that some of its hires had turned in improper voter registrations. Those workers were fired and some even prosecuted, the group said.
“In nearly every case that has been reported, it was ACORN that discovered the bad forms and called them to the attention of election authorities, putting the forms in a package that identified them in writing as suspicious, encouraging election officials to investigate, and offering to help with prosecutions,” ACORN said in an October 9 news release.
Morin said a church review completed earlier this month found ACORN no longer meets standards for further funding.
In a statement to CNN, ACORN Executive Director Steven Kest said his group is grateful for the church’s funding.
“We look forward to continuing discussions with CCHD officials and the bishops in the months ahead in hopes that we can continue working together on projects which have been so important to so many in low-income neighborhoods across the country,” Kest said.
But Ralph McCloud, the Human Development campaign’s director, said the church has “severed ties” with ACORN and there are no plans for further discussion.
November 18th, 2008 at 8:30 am11
I have some stupid questions for Annelle, Bob S, Julie or Charley.
1. Are you going to take “Voluntary Furloughs”?
2. Doesn’t the “Voluntary Furlough” just reduce the COLA for the Coalition union members that take it and the rest of the members benefit?
3. Why not just reduce the COLA outright and make it fair for everyone?
4. What COLA reduction would be enough for the Coalition union members to take to satisfy the City? Reduce the base COLA to 2.5%?
November 22nd, 2008 at 8:30 pm11
ELECTION CHARGES FILED AGAINST SEIU LOCAL 221
Date: October 3, 2008
To: SEIU Local 221 Executive Board and to the Elections Committee for the Bargaining Team elections of October 1 – 4, 2008
Subject: Formal Election Protest and Charges
Whereas the conduct of the current elections for seats on the Local 221 County Members Bargaining Team is seriously flawed, we hereby formally protest the elections and demand that they be halted and the results set aside.
Most of the members we have asked, tell us they have not received the mailer that the local sent to the membership, to provide notice of the times and places for voting. The election is taking place without proper notice to thousands of our members.
Mail ballots are not being used for this election, and a very limited selection of polling locations, dates and times will make it almost impossible for most members to vote, due to the very large geographical area in which members of Local 221 live and work.
There is no proper security of the ballots from the time a ballot will be cast until the time the ballots are counted.
Not all members in good standing are allowed to be candidates. To be “eligible” to become a candidate, a member is required to be
“…a member in good standing and serve as ONE or more of the following:
Executive Board Member
Member Political Organizer
Current Steward
Labor Management Committee Member “
This is especially disturbing, given that Local 221 is a provisional local, with an appointed executive board, appointed stewards, appointed labor-management committee members, and unelected (volunteer) members of the Member Political Organizers. The candidate “eligibility” requirement unfairly advantages appointed incumbents and infringes upon the right of every member to participate in union activity, specifically the right to stand for election to the bargaining committee.
The time between the filing of nomination petitions (9/26/08) and the elections is so short as to constitute a “snap” election, with almost no time for candidates to campaign. Candidates lacking name recognition are strongly disadvantaged by this abrupt election schedule. Candidates who are current officers and/or executive board incumbents, or who have held office in the recent past, are unfairly advantaged.
At least one candidate was improperly kept off the ballot when staff at the union hall purportedly could not locate the nomination petitions he submitted. His petitions were submitted in person by another candidate, and it is not credible that they are lost.
Candidates and members received no published election rules and no indication of the names and contact information for the election committee members. Some candidates requesting this information at the union hall were told that there is no election committee and that a member of the staff is conducting the election. Staff should not be involved in the election. Some candidates requested that the Local 221 Director of Training and Bargaining Lois Balfour provide the information regarding the identification of the election committee, the election rules and the procedure for election protests. Some candidates requested the same information from Local 221 Secretary Omar Lopez. No reply has been received after more than 48 hours.
The publication of the list of candidates was not distributed to the membership until the day before the election began. Members have had virtually no time to talk to candidates and to decide which candidates to vote for. The list of candidates was not mailed to the membership, but was handed out haphazardly to stewards and activists at worksites. Distribution has not reached many members even now, while the election is already underway for two days.
We hereby file a formal protest regarding each of these concerns. We demand the election be halted and the results set aside.
FURTHERMORE, insofar as some of the conduct of this election constitutes a violation of the SEIU Constitution and Bylaws, we hereby file formal internal union charges against the (as yet unidentified) election committee, and against the executive board of Local 221.
The SEIU Constitution, Article XV, establishes continuous good standing eligibility requirements for nomination for election to office in an SEIU local union. Section 2, thereof, allows that “Any Local Union may provide in its Constitution and Bylaws for further limitations upon eligibility for nomination, provided such provisions are approved by the International Union.”
No such special approval for the severe restrictions on candidate eligibility were approved by the international union, for the Local 221 election of October 1-4, 2008. Therefore, we charge the election committee and the executive board of Local 221 with violation of Article XV, Section 2, and violation of Article XVII, Section 1, Subsection (1) “Violation of any specific provision of this Constitution or of the Constitution and Bylaws of the Local Union”.
We further charge said election committee and executive board of Local 221 with violation of Article XVII, Section 1, Subsection (6) “Engaging in corrupt or unethical practices or racketeering.”
We further charge officer members of said election committee and executive board of Local 221 with violation of Article XVII, Section 1, Subsection (4) “If an officer, gross inefficiency which might hinder and impair the interests of the International Union or the Local Union.”
We further charge said election committee and executive board of Local 221 with violation of Article XVII, Section 1, Subsection (3) “Gross disloyalty or conduct unbecoming a member.”
Sincerely,
Monty Kroopkin
4409 Donald Avenue, San Diego, CA 92117 – (858) 270-8067 — mkroopkin@juno.com
Kathleen McGlown
4240 Cloudywing Road, Hemet, CA 922545 – (951) 658-9661 — suzzyaa@yahoo.com
John Rochfort
8780 Hayes St., La Mesa, CA 91941 – (619) 463-8311 — irishniners@cox.net
-Pay particular attention as to the significance of having no by-laws written and ratified by the rank and file, in relation to the people “in power” staying “in power”. Stern’s interim by-laws are “silent” on many important issues. Was this by design?
November 23rd, 2008 at 8:30 am11
Sounds like the above is a perfect way for Annelle, Bob S, Julie or Charley to stay in power. Way to go Julie!!! Keep control of the swarm and the meek lemmings!
November 23rd, 2008 at 8:30 pm11
Update on Sub-Committee for by-laws;
November 15, 2008
Report from members who attended the 721 Executive Board meeting held on November 17, 2008 at the 721 Union hall.
Over 300+ signatures were submitted and personally delivered to the Vice President, Bob Schoonover demanding that the Governance Committee be opened up to volunteers who wanted to participate and that it was a disservice to 500+members, who attended the October 4, 2008 General Assembly at the Los Angeles, Convention Center, to keep the Governance Committee closed to members who wanted to participate as equal voting members.
One of the Executive Board members commented that the General Assembly degraded to a “gripe” session. Another comment from a Board member was that there could not be 300+ equal voting members in the Governance Committee.
However it was made clear, by the Sub-committee members that the 300+ signatures were only demanding that the Governance Committee be opened, and did not imply that there were 300+ volunteers (That would be a beautiful problem to have).
The sub-committee members went on to state that the 721 Constitution and By-laws was THE most important document for the local and that there was still much more work to do on them. That document was just too important to handle lightly and with only 5 or 6 people, and a “selected” group (as opposed to elected) at that. It was also stated, by the sub-committee members that it would not bode well, for those Executive Board members desiring to seek elected positions, to ignore the wishes of the membership and that the signatures contained names of members who were stewards and activists with substantial influence among the General membership.
Bob Schoonover, stated that he would take up the matter in a Conference setting among the Executive Board, by December 6, 2008. December 6, is when the Governance Committee will convene on a weekend and will be open to the membership, however, not as equal voting participants.
November 23rd, 2008 at 8:30 pm11
Annelle, Bob S, Julie, Charley or the SEIU shills in the EAA, calc the larger COLA of 2.5% or (1.75% - PAC fees - COPE fees). Which os larger? Aren’t some SEIU dues actually 1.5% and NOT 1.25%? Annelle, Bob S, Julie, Charley & the SEIU shills, don’t forget to take the Voluntary Furlough Challenge as you’ve challenged members on http://www.lacitycoalition.com/
Do you have plans in the by-laws to bring all dues to 1.5%?
November 24th, 2008 at 8:30 am11
Re: Update on Sub-Committee for by-laws; The less time members have to consider the proposals, the better for the committee. WAY TO GO, ANNELLE, Bob S, Julie, Charley! You all learned from the best! Andy
November 24th, 2008 at 8:30 am11
CONTRACT CAMPAIGN CONFERENCE
NOVEMBER 22, 2008
CAL POLY POMONA
SEIU 721 held it’s first Contract Campaign Conference and over 200+ members attended. A committee of about 12 “selected” members submitted proposals regarding minimum standards for 721 members. The proposals were about Health Care coverage and Stewards rights at the worksites. The proposal contained a statement to the effect that a contract cannot be settled unless these minimum standards were met. The proposals were explained and then the matter was opened up to discussion through an open microphone. Members were allowed 2 minutes each to speak. Many members offered criticisms, deletions and changes, as well as agreements with the proposals. One recurrent issue was why there is a core “selection” of members to sit on these “committees” and why there wasn’t more different members asked to sit on these committees. It was also odd that when it came time to vote on different aspects and amendments to these proposals, the vote counting was done through “eyeballing” and not an actual numerical count of votes. It was only when one member asked for an actual vote count, that the votes were counted as opposed to “eyeballing” the vote. On the vote that was actually counted the vote was within ten votes difference. There was also a couple of votes that were near unanimous.
There was a determination to have some kind of standards to the point that amendments were made verbally and then voted on, rather than have the amendments reduced to writing and then resubmitted for a vote. Although a few amendments were made and voted on, we have yet to see if the amendments that were voted on, were actually incorporated into a finished product as worded verbally at the conference.
The “finished product” should be posted on 721’s website so that the amendments that were voted on can be verified by the members who attended that conference and that no other changes or additions will appear, after the fact.
Since the current interim By-laws are silent on these procedures, the checks and balances are also not addressed.
November 24th, 2008 at 8:30 am11
MEETING WITH BOB SCHOONOVER
DECEMBER 4, 2008 AT 6:00 P.M.
721 UNION HALL
500 S. VIRGIL AVE.
A meeting with Mr. Schoonover is being planned for the time and date stated above.
Mr. Schoonover should be available to answer members questions about the progress and future of the 721 local, the by-laws , the Governance Committee and other committees, as well as members concerns about the direction, shape and operations of our local union.
November 24th, 2008 at 8:30 pm11
Mr. E, there are plans to bring dues equalization to the forefront. Even though Ms. Grajeda and Mr. Schoonover have written letters of intent to members of other unions to entice them to join 721, the fairness of paying a fair share is becoming of concern to members already funding services of other chapters within local 721. That’s another reason that the by-laws are so important and must be opened to more members from other chapters who have a vested interest in the by-laws contents.
November 24th, 2008 at 8:30 pm11
Leading progressive in California rallied behind the fight for reform in SEIU
and the broader labor movement.
More information on that effort can be found at http://www.fundforuniondemocracy.org.
http://www.beyondchron.org/articles/Progressive_Outpouring_for_Roselli_SEIU_UHW_
6313.html
PROGRESSIVE OUTPOURING FOR SAL ROSSELLI, SEIU-UHW
by Randy Shaw, 2008-11-19
A Who’s Who of progressive San Francisco came out to honor SEIU-UHW last night,
striking a defiant stance against efforts by SEIU International to change the
local’s leadership. Hosted by Dolores Huerta, John Burton, Clint Reilly and
Aaron Peskin, it was attended by a long roster of labor and political leaders
including Mark Leno, Tom Ammiano, Ross Mirkarimi, Sophie Maxwell and Eric Mar.
Billed as a “Salute to Union Democracy,” it raised $240,000 for SEIU-UHW’s
fight to maintain its local control. The party followed the end of the latest
round of SEIU hearings into UHW’s alleged malfeasance, a process that could put
the local into international trusteeship. But last night confirmed that
SEIU-UHW is prepared for a lengthy fight to preserve its current membership and
leadership. John Burton, who raised $40,000 for the local, captured the crowd’s
mood, sending a public message to SEIU International leader Andy Stern that “if
you strike the king (Sal Roselli), you better kill him.”
Lost amidst the ongoing jubilation over Barack Obama’s victory is the
intensifying internal war that threatens to undermine SEIU, the nation’s
strongest and most politically powerful union.
The War Intensifies
The dispute between SEIU International and its 150,000 member UHW local has
been raging since March, and even threatened to divert union energies from the
November elections. But the final hearings on the international’s claims that
UHW had committed financial improprieties were delayed until last week, and
appear to have concluded without sufficient evidence to support putting the
local into trusteeship.
Ideally, this would have been the end of the matter. With Barack Obama and
progressive forces needing a strong SEIU to win universal health care and other
battles come January, this is the worst of all times to have these forces
divided over internal fights.
But as readers of my new book, Beyond the Fields: Cesar Chavez, the UFW, and
the Struggle for Justice in the 21st Century, will learn, unions do not pick
the best times to self-destruct. The UFW imploded after winning its greatest
victory in the fields, and SEIU—home to many UFW alums—faces a full-fledged
internal war just as Barack Obama creates historic openings for progressives.
Following hearings that left the case for trusteeship based on corruption
inconclusive, SEIU International announced what UFW describes as its “Plan B.”
International President Andy Stern notified UHW last Monday that SEIU had begun
mailing ballots to hundreds of thousands of SEIU members across California .
According to UHW, the ballot gives UHW members the option of forcing 65,000
homecare and nursing home workers out of UHW and into a statewide long-term
care union, or of voting to authorize SEIU to eliminate UHW entirely by
creating a “new” statewide healthcare workers union.
Understandably, this choice between losing nearly half its members or all of
its members is not real popular with UHW. This explains why Andy Stern’s name
brought down a cascade of boos each and every time it was mentioned last night,
and why there was an overwhelming mood of defiance in the face of this new
election challenge.
“They Can’t Control Us”
I asked Sal Roselli about the source of his conflict with Andy Stern. He stated
that “they can’t control us, and they are used to unchecked power.” Roselli
suggested that having failed on Plan A, which was to force UFW into trusteeship
for alleged corruption, and having now lodged Plan B (the election), Stern was
already moving toward “Plan C.”
According to Roselli, Plan C involves the international filing charges against
24 elected UHW leaders. This would potentially disqualify them from serving in
leadership, paving the way for a takeover of UFW by those loyal to the
International.
Barbara Lewis, Administrative Vice-President of UHW and Director of the
Hospital Division, has been with SEIU for 22 years, the last four with UHW.
Lewis says her members “are happy the way things are.”
Having known Lewis since 1981, and her husband, Gary Guthman, since his UFW
days in the 1970’s, I know they would not say their members are happy if this
were not true. There are UFW alums and people of tremendous integrity on both
sides of this struggle, which is why a unified SEIU is so powerful and having
these activists at war with each other is so destructive.
Can President-Elect Obama Mediate?
Andy Stern has an ambitious and pro-active organizing agenda for Obama’s first
One Hundred Days. SEIU’s entire organizing team will be in the field building
support for universal health care, the Employee Free Choice Act, and other
union priorities.
But it will not be easy for Stern to accomplish this agenda while also battling
Sal Roselli and UHW. And this is not a fight that will be confined to
California . No way. UHW will be taking this fight to progressive groups across
the nation, and academics, politicians and labor officials are already choosing
sides.
Can anyone stop this from happening? Well, incoming President Obama needs SEIU
and UHW on the same team. Obama (or his Secretary of Labor) may be the only
figures who can broker a peace that keeps SEIU and UHW working together for
change.
As Obama repeatedly said on the campaign trail: the stakes are too high, and we
have come too far, not to finish what we have started. The progressive movement
needs a strong and unified SEIU, and this worsening civil war must be stopped.
November 24th, 2008 at 8:30 pm11
PROPOSED MERGER OF CALIFORNIA HEALTHCARE UNION LOCALS DRAWS INTENSE PROTEST
SEIU aims to create one massive local representing the entire state, saying it will give all members a bigger voice. Leaders of one local are waging a sophisticated opposition campaign.
By Evelyn Larrubia
November 24, 2008
The presidential election has come to an end, but a stormy political battle of another sort is in high gear in labor circles, with long-ranging consequences for California healthcare workers.
At issue is whether as many as 300,000 employees now represented by three separate local unions across the state will be rolled into one enormous local, a proposal that was put to a nonbinding vote of members on Monday.
At the same time, the Service Employees International Union wrapped up hearings this week into allegations that leaders of one of those locals misused dues, creating a secret war chest to fight the merger.
Both sides say the outcome will affect patients because many concessions the unions fight for — such as workloads — affect quality of care.
Some within SEIU say the proposed megalocal would be too big and unresponsive — most loudly the heads of the United Healthcare Workers West, the subject of the trusteeship hearings and a local that would either be reduced by half or swallowed completely in the merger. They claim that their parent union’s real motivation is to squelch dissent and that they will be ousted either by consolidation or trusteeship, replaced by pliant appointees.
“This is an unprecedented war by an international union against a local,” Sal Rosselli, president of UHW, said outside the hearing room at the San Jose convention center. The rift has become so ugly that guards were hired to stand at the door.
Rosselli and other officers have waged a sophisticated opposition campaign, circulating petitions, courting public officials and the media, running a website complete with video and blogs, and staging large protests outside meeting halls and union offices — including one in Los Angeles this month. They have also sent mailers to members, urging a boycott of the merger vote.
UHW has won allies, including at least one with celebrity status in labor circles: Dolores Huerta, who with Cesar Chavez founded the predecessor to the United Farm Workers union. She testified on UHW’s behalf and sponsored a fundraiser in San Francisco last week, pulling together $240,000 for the group’s legal costs.
The SEIU denies that the proposed merger is an effort to unseat Rosselli or others, calling it part of a years-long process to consolidate locals around the country. SEIU President Andy Stern said consolidation gives members more heft in negotiating with international corporations and state governments and makes it easier to organize more workers.
“It’s not to be bigger for bigger’s sake,” said SEIU spokeswoman Michelle Ringuette. “It’s to make our members’ voices stronger.”
Dozens of locals have already merged to create larger groups. All three of the unions subject to the current merger vote — Oakland-based UHW, San Jose-based SEIU 521 and Los Angeles-based SEIU 6434 — had already grown due to prior mergers.
As for the internal trusteeship hearing, SEIU officials say it’s a separate matter.
Officials of the international union accused UHW of lying about the purpose of its $3-million United Health Care Workers and Patients Education Fund. They claim the money was meant to fight efforts to dissolve the muscular 150,000-member local.
UHW insists that the fund was meant for a political campaign dealing with healthcare, but acknowledges that the local spent $100,000 to publicize UHW’s internal vote, where its members strongly opposed being swallowed by another union.
A hearing officer’s report is expected in January.
The international’s merger vote ends Dec. 11. It asks members whether they would prefer a 300,000-member local representing all SEIU-affiliated California healthcare workers, or a slightly smaller 220,000-member local representing long-term healthcare workers. The status quo is not an option.
The results of the vote will not be binding — the international’s board will decide whether and how to restructure California’s healthcare unions, and SEIU officials would appoint the leadership. An SEIU report released earlier this year recommended the larger consolidation.
“Either option as they’re proposing it would eliminate UHW as we know it,” said John Borsos, a UHW executive.
SEIU 6434, an already giant 160,000-member local representing home health aides, would dissolve into the new local under either plan. John Ronches, who was appointed trustee of that local this year after The Times exposed financial improprieties by its former leader, said his members are looking forward to the merger.
“Every time there’s an issue, there’s three different operations that have to be put into gear. It just makes more sense if it’s centralized,” he said. “Our members get that. They want to be in the same union.”
The third union, SEIU 521, represents about 40,000 public employees and another 13,000 home care workers in and around the Silicon Valley. It also would be peeled off under either scenario.
Some SEIU 521 members spoke out against a merger at a 2006 hearing, wearing purple T-shirts with the slogan “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”
Kristy Sermershiem, president of SEIU 521, said that, given the current choices, aides in her union — who make $11.50 and $12.25 an hour — prefer the smaller merger.
“You win some, you lose some. Right now we’re being asked which of the choices do we want,” she said. “We’re very disappointed that UHW has decided to make such a big deal about it when the real issue is how do you organize workers so they have a voice.”
Larrubia is a Times staff writer.
evelyn.larrubia@latimes.com
November 27th, 2008 at 8:30 pm11
SEIU BANS FORMER CALIFORNIA LOCAL PRESIDENT FOR LIFE
The Service Employees International Union also orders Tyrone Freeman to repay more than $1 million that it says he misappropriated from the labor organization.
By Paul Pringle
November 27, 2008
The Service Employees International Union has imposed a lifetime ban on the former president of its largest California local and ordered him to repay more than $1 million that it says he misappropriated from the labor organization.
SEIU President Andy Stern announced the actions Wednesday after reviewing the findings of an internal probe of Tyrone Freeman’s spending practices as head of the 160,000-member United Long-Term Care Workers and a 30,000-member affiliated chapter that represent low-wage caregivers.
“It is tragic and unconscionable that a young leader with such great potential would violate not only the constitution of the international union, but the trust of his members,” Stern said in a statement.
An attorney for Freeman, 39, issued a statement that said his client was “disappointed by Andy Stern’s decision.” Freeman had been a protege of Stern, who originally appointed him to the local position.
“Tyrone Freeman’s career has been about helping workers and finding innovative ways to lift them out of poverty,” said the statement from attorney Kelly Kramer. “His goal has always been to improve their lives.”
The Times reported in August that the Los Angeles-based local and a related worker-training charity paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to home-based video and day-care services owned by Freeman’s wife and mother-in-law, respectively. The local spent similar sums on a Four Seasons Resorts golf tournament, expensive restaurants, a Beverly Hills cigar lounge and a Hollywood talent agency.
Freeman is now the target of a federal criminal investigation.
The SEIU’s inquiry included hearings conducted by former California Supreme Court Justice Joseph Grodin. His report to Stern said Freeman had engaged in a pattern of financial malpractice and self-dealing, according to the SEIU.
In its statement, the union did not specify which payments it has ordered Freeman to return. But the internal investigation, overseen by former California Atty. Gen. John Van de Kamp, alleged that the spending that benefited Freeman’s relatives could not be justified.
Freeman’s local paid the video company owned by his wife more than $650,000, according to federal records and the SEIU. The worker-training charity paid his mother-in-law’s day-care service more than $90,000 annually for several years, records show.
The SEIU examination also found that Freeman improperly directed the affiliated California United Homecare Workers and a housing nonprofit to pay him about $2,500 a month each.
The Long Term Care Housing Corp., which Freeman helped launch, gave him an additional lump sum of $14,500, the union says.
The SEIU has further accused Freeman of misappropriating about $13,000 that he spent at the Grand Havana Room, a Beverly Hills cigar club. The union says Freeman reimbursed the local for $9,800 of the expenses after The Times inquired about them.
The local also paid more than $200,000 to a second video service run by a man who sources say was a member of Freeman’s wedding party. In addition, the SEIU has accused Freeman of billing the union for $8,100 in hotel, restaurant, bar, rental car and massage charges incurred during his Hawaiian nuptials.
Most of the local’s members make about $9 an hour caring for the elderly and infirm in private homes.
“Today’s decision sends a clear message across our union,” Stern said in his statement. “Our members do some of the toughest jobs anywhere, and we will not tolerate any actions violating their trust or putting their interests at risk.”
The SEIU’s statement said Freeman could appeal the ban and restitution order if he is exonerated in the criminal investigation, which is being conducted by the U.S. Labor Department, the FBI and the U.S. attorney’s office.
The House Labor Committee has opened a separate inquiry into the scandal.
Freeman went on leave shortly after the Times articles were published, and the SEIU subsequently removed him from office.
The scandal has also led to the firings of several Freeman associates and the ouster of the president of the SEIU’s biggest Michigan local, Rickman Jackson, Freeman’s former chief of staff.
The Times reported that the housing nonprofit was using Jackson’s Bell Gardens home as an address. The SEIU has since accused Jackson of receiving $33,500 in improper lease payments, and said he agreed to repay the money.
A third SEIU official, Annelle Grajeda, an executive vice president of the national organization, has been on leave since August while the union investigates complaints that she may have been involved in improper payments to her ex-boyfriend.
Grajeda, who is also president of the SEIU’s state council and another L.A. local, has denied any wrongdoing.
Pringle is a Times staff writer.
paul.pringle@latimes.com
November 28th, 2008 at 8:30 am11
Anybody have news on renegotiation meetings with the City?
November 28th, 2008 at 8:30 pm11
No concrete news disseminated to the rank and file as of yet, but the question will be posed to Bob Schoonover on December 4, when we all, as members of 721, can attend a meeting with him. The meeting is still on for 12-04-2008, 6:00 P.M. at the Local 721 hall at 500 S. Virgil Ave.
In fact, if there are any questions posted here on this website, that are not of a personal nature, that pertain to legacy local 347’s status with the City of Los Angeles or status and future of 721, I will be glad to ask Mr. Schoonover and post his response on this website after the meeting on 12-04-2008.
November 28th, 2008 at 8:30 pm11
NYC SEIU LEADER GETS JOB IN OBAMA WHITE HOUSE
Patrick Gaspard, Who Helped Organize Union Volunteers for President-elect Barack Obama in Swing States, Will Become the White House Political Director.
Gale Scott
A top union leader in New York City who helped deliver the vote for President-elect Barack Obama will become the White House political director.
Patrick Gaspard, currently the personnel director of Mr. Obama’s transition team, has informed union officials he’ll be taking the job, according to two sources involved.
“Patrick’s a consensus builder who has shown he can bring people together in a common cause,” one source said.
Currently on leave from his job as executive vice president of the powerful health care workers’ union Local 1199-SEIU, Mr. Gaspard has long been a political strategist in New York. During the Obama campaign he was its national political director. In that role he was in charge of the union’s “weekend warrior” program, a successful national effort to get out the vote in swing states.
Working with the local’s parent organization, the Service Employees International Union, the union bused thousands of volunteers to nearby swing states, like Pennsylvania and Ohio. It also flew paid staffers to states like Florida and Nevada, where the vote was expected to be close. There, they staffed phone banks, knocked on doors, and cheered at rallies.
That effort has widely been credited with turning the tide in favor of the Obama/Biden team in those battleground states.
Mr. Gaspard first connected with the union when he worked on Jesse Jackson’s presidential campaign.
Though the job he’s taking in the Obama administration is the one once held by President George Bush’s controversial political advisor Karl Rove, “we’d be very surprised to see Patrick use the job in any way like Rove has,” a union source said.
November 28th, 2008 at 8:30 pm11
WHEN EMPLOYEES OF UNIONS ORGANIZE
By L.M. SIXEL HOUSTON CHRONICLE
Nov. 22, 2008, 1:27AM
Hamilton Gramajo says he was working seven days a week, often from 9 a.m. to well past midnight, trying to organize the 5,300 janitors for the Service Employees International Union.
It was a grueling schedule — he couldn’t even get a couple of hours off on Sunday to go to church — but when he and others complained to his union bosses, Gramajo said they were ignored.
Gramajo said the stress to “keep up with his numbers” in worker sign-ups resulted in chest pains and a warning from his doctor to rest. His ironic plight — a union worker claiming work rule violations by the union itself — led to a National Labor Relations Board complaint that is still pending.
“There’s no way I can go to the janitors and tell them to fight for their rights if I’m being treated the same way,” he said, referring to the Justice for Janitors campaign in 2006 that led to a three-year contract between five Houston janitorial companies and the SEIU.
Gramajo and his co-workers did what he recommended for the janitors: They joined a union. The SEIU’s own workers reached out to the Federation of Agents and International Representatives, or FAIR, and laid out demands for job protections, limits on working hours and actual food breaks so they didn’t have to eat in their cars between appointments.
But Gramajo said SEIU officials were none too pleased to hear about the other organizing drive going on internally at the office. He said some union organizers received tougher work assignments, others were sent to different locations while some, including Gramajo, were terminated.
The employees, through FAIR, responded with unfair labor practices complaints, alleging that the SEIU refused to communicate, failed to follow seniority rules for layoffs and recalls, and terminated Gramajo for his union-within-a-union work.
The complaint also contends the SEIU reduced its employees’ pay and refused requests to use sick leave and vacation leave.
The charges are pending before a grievance arbitrator, said Norm Yen, the SEIU’s state director for Texas. He added that the SEIU, which has about 40 Texas workers, voluntarily recognized FAIR as the employees’ bargaining agent in 2006, and both sides negotiated an agreement.
But Yen said FAIR refuses to use the grievance process in the agreement. Instead, FAIR has been filing unfair labor practice charges with the labor board.
“This is a ridiculous situation. We can’t seem to reason with this guy,” Yen said, referring to a FAIR official.
In arbitration
In the meantime, the labor board has deferred processing of the charges to permit the grievance arbitration procedure to work, said Martha Kinard, the agency’s regional director in Fort Worth. Yen said the charges refer to complaints from union employees who work for Local 5, which is in San Antonio.
However, Gramajo said many of the disputes, including his own, stem from the SEIU’s Houston office. He added that SEIU officials refuse to respond to certified letters, e-mails and calls requesting that the two sides get together.
This isn’t the first time that the SEIU has run into trouble with its own employees.
HOPE — the Houston Organization of Public Employees, which was formed when SEIU and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees combined to represent about 13,000 eligible city employees — was forced to post a notice reminding its own employees they couldn’t be interrogated about their union sympathies, nor could they be fired for joining another labor union.
The National Labor Relations Board required HOPE to post the sign for 60 days after it allegedly fired six employees for their internal union organizing activities. HOPE also agreed to pay them nearly $36,000 in back wages after they tried to join the FAIR union, according to a settlement agreement approved last year.
By signing the agreement, HOPE did not admit violating federal labor law, according to the 2007 accord.
Yen, who is also president of HOPE Local 5-H in Houston, said the union agreed to settle the charges to avoid the cost of going to court.
“We’re a union,” he said. “We like unions.”
He said that while HOPE has recognized FAIR as the bargaining group for its 17 or so employees, they don’t have a contract in place. For more than a year now, both sides haven’t found a time to meet, Yen said.
Unions as employers
“It happens more often than you think when a union as the employer is found to violate the laws,” said Mike Muskat, an employment lawyer with Muskat, Martinez & Mahony in Houston.
When he used to work for a law firm in Washington, D.C., representing labor unions, Muskat said a “fair amount” of the work involved defending his clients against employment claims brought by their employees, including unfair labor practice charges.
“It’s incredible how sympathetic” union management is to the employer’s viewpoint, Muskat recalled.
Houston employment lawyer A. Kevin Troutman says unfair labor practice charges are a hassle, embarrassing and expensive to defend for companies he represents.
“The union may be exactly right and is being unfairly hassled,” said Troutman, who is not involved in the SEIU matter. Or, he said, it could be in the middle of a power struggle.
“I’d say, ‘Welcome to my world,’ ” he said.
lm.sixel@chron.com
November 28th, 2008 at 8:30 pm11
HISTORY LESSON–
From the September-October 2005 issue of Union Democracy Review #158
SEIU Pulls Plug on “Future of Labor” Discussion
“Unite to Win” is dead, of course, and so is its website http://www.unitetowin.org. Launched by SEIU, the website included a blog with uncensored commentary - something previously unheard of at that level of the union leadership. But the time for innovation appears to be over. According to SEIU president Andy Stern, “UniteToWin.org …was set up to help stimulate discussion during a period of intense debate within the AFL-CIO… That debate is now over.” Visitors are now instructed to go to the website of the Change to Win Coalition.
Change to Win’s website has no blog and offers no space for commentary or discussion nor are there counter proposals or links to dissenting views, as there were on Unite to Win. From the classically-titled proposal “Restoring the American Dream,” to the self-congratulatory press releases, Change to Win is very much in the tradition of the old-style official union website: top-down, one-way, promotional material.
SEIU’s retreat from the brave new world of online discussion may go even further. Andy Stern’s “Blog for the Future” - which preceded Unite to Win - has also disappeared from the SEIU website. There is still a “blog” link in the navigation bar, but it just leads back to the home page. (Technical note: some of the material from Stern’s Blog for the Future is still available via the Wayback Machine, but UnitetoWin’s owners blocked the Wayback Machine from archiving the site’s contents. Not only has it been discontinued, its contents are no longer available.)
The AFL-CIO website still hosts “Strengthening Our Union Movement for the Future” a cumbersome arrangement of proposals and documents that includes comments from unionists, but it is buried in the site. A look at the (undated) posts from union members suggests that the “Voices from our Movement” have been silent since before the AFL-CIO convention. The “AFL-CIO 2005 Convention” page makes no mention of the comments page and mirrors Change to Win’s seamless self-promotion.
Discussion of the future of labor may have stalled in the Federation and the Coalition, but it is very much alive on rank-and-file and independent websites. Former National Writers Union president Jonathan Tasini’s website is one example. Working Life centers on a Daily Blog where Tasini’s frequent posts draw lively and articulate commentary from posters like Kate Bronfenbrenner, Bill Pearson, and Jane Slaughter. Hot topics like the AMFA Northwest strike are debated with passion but little “flaming”. (See too the recent exchange on union democracy.)
November 28th, 2008 at 8:30 pm11
ANOTHER HISTORY LESSON-From the November-December 2005 issue of Union Democracy Review #159
Union Democracy Online Survives Two Lawsuits
By Matt Noyes
Now that the internet has become a main venue for free speech in unions, the fight for union democracy has to be fought anew. Bureaucracy springs eternal. Authoritarian union officers turn to new tools to suppress dissent in this new arena.
The right of union members to criticize their union officials is well established in the U.S. thanks to the LMRDA and the landmark Salzhandler v Caputo decision. In one respect, unionists’ rights to free speech in their unions are stronger than in society at large. Intemperate speech that might, outside the union, justify charges of slander is explicitly protected inside the union. Anyone who seeks recourse against slander in the union can still sue for protection in state court. But they simply cannot utilize the union’s disciplinary procedures against their critics.
However, the LMRDA was written before the internet was more than a dream. What are the rights of union members online? The outcome of two test cases in court is mixed, but generally bodes well for union democracy.
Cullen et al v. Ybarrolaza
TeamsterNet is one of the largest forums for discussion of Teamster union affairs. Independent and free from control by Teamster officials, it allows for debate of Teamster union politics and personalities, often in colorful, even vulgar, language.
Billy Cullen and six other officers of Nashville Teamster Local 480 brought suit in Tennessee federal court against TeamsterNET, its owner, Phil Yabarrolaza, and ten “John Does.” The object of the officials’ ire?: disparaging comments posted by some anonymous authors on the TeamsterNet discussion board.
Cullen and the other union officials claimed that Ybarrolaza, as publisher of the website, was liable for the comments posted by those anonymous John Does. They sought compensation of $74,999 each plus punitive damages and an injunction forcing Ybarrolaza to remove the offending material and to divulge the identities of the John Does.
Ybarrolaza’s attorney, Charles Lee Mudd, Jr., argued that the Tennessee court had no jurisdiction —Ybarrolaza lives in California— and that the Communications Decency Act protects providers of an online forum from liability for comments made by users of their services. In April, the Tennessee Circuit Court dismissed the suit against Ybarrolaza. In a limited finding, it held that Tennessee lacked personal jurisdiction over Yabarrolaza, leaving TeamsterNet and its participants free to continue debating.
“I feel very good about the win,” wrote Ybarrolaza on his site, certainly for myself and my family as we were placed in jeopardy by its financial implications and burden. I also feel great about it for TeamsterNet and our community of posters… We did good, real good, for free speech rights for all of us that use the internet as a communication medium”
UFCW v. Sigurdurs and the Members for Democracy
In early 2002, The United Food and Commercial Workers international office filed suit in Canadian court against the Sigurdurs and “John and Jane Doe” owners of a website called “UFCW Local 1518 Members for Democracy.” The suit arose out of a dispute over the website’s address (or “url”): http://www.ufcw.net.
For over three years, the UFCW did little to pursue the suit other than adding David Watts, a Canadian UFCW representative, as a fellow plaintiff on behalf of all Canadian UFCW members. In the years after the suit was filed, ufcw.net, the Members for Democracy site expanded to include reform efforts not just in the UFCW but in other unions, in both Canada and the United States. It grew into a popular rank-and-file website, with about 6,000 visitors a month and steady participation in its forums. (Members for Democracy won Honorable Mention in AUD’s 2004 Best Rank-and-File Website contest.)
In October 2005 the UFCW activated the suit and its attorneys faced off against the Sigurdurs, who, to avoid attorney fees, represented themselves, before B.C. Supreme Court Judge Beames. Its attorneys based their complaint on three claims:
1. Members for Democracy [MFD] used the union’s name and acronym in their website address without the union’s permission.
2. Some of its postings were “defamatory of the UFCW.”
3. By using the UFCW name and acronym, the MFD website was “passing itself off as an au theorized UFCW website and benefiting from the confusion.
The UFCW attorneys sought a permanent injunction against MFD restraining it from using the URL, http://www.ufcw.net and from using the name and acronym anywhere on their site. They asked for “general punitive and exemplary damages.”
The Sigurdurs replied that anyone looking at its website could hardly confuse it with an official union website and so there was no misrepresentation. The name was chosen simply to reach out to the community with which MFD wished to engage.
In the end, the union achieved a formal, even trivial, court victory which actually left the MFD website free and unscathed. The judge ordered the MFD to stop using the address http://www.ufcw.net and directed MFD to pay the union a token fine of $100. However, in her ruling, the judge agreed with many of the Sigurdurs’ arguments. She drew conclusions that may be helpful to other internet activists: A reform-oriented website like MFD, she indicated, can continue to use the union’s name and acronym as part of its URL as long as it adds other words which distinguish it from the official site. The Sigurdurs and their supporters seem happy with the result, feeling that if the UFCW won an indecisive skirmish, they are winning the war. (To find the MFD site under its new url, see AUD’s Rank-and-File links page or list of RSS feeds.)
Wanda Pasz, a writer and workplace issues specialist who helped the Sigurdurs with legal research, believes that “if this case was tried in the United States… our chances of winning” a total victory would have been better. U.S. law provides more protection for protest websites and for union members involved in internal union politics, and the practice of using the union name, acronym, and number in the URL and in the name of the reform website is widespread. (See the list of rank-and-file links on AUD’s website.) Moreover, in the U.S. the LMRDA offers further protections for free speech in unions. There is no LMRDA in Canada.
The UFCW, one of the Change to Win unions, has not been shy about using lawsuits to punish dissent. As one of the MFD editors noted, “During the period 2001-2003 the UFCW was busy suing a lot of… Canadians who sued the internet to express their views about its practices and achievements. Many of the other defendants settled or otherwise backed off.” (UDR No. 41 wrote about William Gammert, a grocery store worker who incurred the UFCW’s wrath by posting a copy of the union’s constitution on his website. The MFD recently reported on the case of Hugh Finnamore, a former UFCW officer sued by the UFCW for criticizing union officers.)
Note to website activists: If you receive a demand letter or other threat from union officials or attorneys, it is important that you get legal advice. Please contact AUD.
December 1st, 2008 at 8:30 am12
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-labudget22-2008nov22,0,6968660.story
Villaraigosa calls for ‘emergency overhaul’ of L.A.’s budget
The mayor wants most city departments to cut 3% of their costs through the end of the fiscal year because of a $110-million shortfall.
By David Zahniser
November 22, 2008
Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa on Friday called for an “emergency overhaul” of the city’s budget, saying most departments must cut 3% of their costs through the end of the fiscal year.
One day after the city’s top financial expert proposed reductions to libraries, tree trimming and other services, Villaraigosa said dramatic and immediate action is now needed.
The mayor asked department heads to prepare new budgets for the first six months of 2009 by Dec. 1.
Villaraigosa, who plans to submit a revised citywide budget to the council within 10 days of that deadline, wants a vote on the matter no later than Dec. 31, said mayoral spokesman Matt Szabo.
“It is no longer sufficient to delay purchases, cut travel and sweep savings from accounts,” Villaraigosa wrote Friday in a letter to the city’s department heads.
Public safety agencies, including the police and fire departments, would see cuts of only 1% under the mayor’s proposal.
No reductions would be imposed on agencies that are considered separate businesses, such as the airport, harbor and Department of Water and Power.
The city needs to close a $110-million gap in this year’s budget and also faces an estimated $296-million shortfall for the fiscal year that starts July 1.
Villaraigosa said he fears that the budget shortfalls could grow significantly if Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger proposes new cuts to cities and counties.
Further complicating the city’s finances are efforts to settle scores of lawsuits that were filed over the Los Angeles Police Department’s treatment of protesters and journalists at a May 1, 2007, immigrant rights rally. One group of settlements, reviewed by the council this week, is expected to cost nearly $13 million
Then there is the ongoing debate over a $42-million elephant exhibit at the Los Angeles Zoo. Animal-rights advocates have urged the council to halt work on the exhibit, even though $12 million has already been spent on the facility.
If the council agrees to do so, the city’s general fund — which is responsible for basic services such as police, fire, libraries and parks — might need to pay back as much as $10 million in grant money, according to Interim City Administrative Officer Raymond P. Ciranna.
(Although Villaraigosa said that reimbursement would not necessarily have to occur this year, Ciranna said the timing would depend in part on the wishes of the county officials who provided partial funding.)
The mayor said he considers layoffs to be a last resort.
In an effort to prepare for the 2009-10 fiscal year, department heads have already been instructed to prepare a trio of budget-cutting scenarios, including one that assumes cuts of up to 9% starting July 1.
“That would just decimate the department,” said Jon Kirk Mukri, general manager of the Department of Recreation and Parks, who said his agency would eliminate paddle boats at MacArthur Park and various festivals if such cuts were needed.
Councilwoman Wendy Greuel, who serves on the city’s Budget and Finance Committee, said the mayor and council members are trying to communicate the seriousness of the city’s financial plight.
“The message we’re sending is that we’re serious about this budget deficit, that this is unlike any budget year we’ve had in my recent memory,” she said.
Still, Greuel voiced her own doubts about one budget-cutting plan: eliminating $1 million for school crossing guards.
“It should not be the first thing that we put on the chopping block,” she said.
Zahniser is a Times staff writer
david.zahniser@latimes.com
= = = = =
Time for COCU/SEIU to get back to the table? What will they ask for next?
December 2nd, 2008 at 8:30 am12
TONE OF CARD-CHECK SUPPORT SHIFTS
Key Adviser Won’t Commit to Obama’s Signing Bill Despite Campaign Promises
By Michael Mishak
Sun, Nov 30, 2008 (2 a.m.)
When Barack Obama stumped in Las Vegas union halls throughout the presidential campaign, he mentioned, almost without fail, his support for an obscure piece of legislation that would make it easier for workers to unionize.
The Illinois senator pledged to sign the bill, dubbed the Employee Free Choice Act, and Big Labor pledged to elect him.
But now, after spending a collective $450 million on election efforts and playing a key role in a number of battleground states, labor leaders may have to wait for their No. 1 priority — the card-check bill. Lawmakers and the incoming Obama administration have signaled that other matters, chiefly the economy and universal health care, will dominate the president-elect’s first 100 days.
Although Obama pledged to sign the bill into law during the campaign, his chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel, in a meeting of chief executives and business leaders this month, declined to say whether the White House would support the legislation.
The reason is clear: The new law could be the most consequential social and economic policy shift since President Reagan reshaped the country by slashing taxes and regulation and crushing unions.
The law would allow workers to form a union by signing cards instead of voting in a secret-ballot election, stiffen penalties for employers who commit unfair labor practices during organizing drives and impose binding arbitration in bargaining cases in which the sides cannot agree. Unions argue that those changes will level a playing field that has tilted toward business at the expense of labor for decades.
The debate would be divisive at a time when Obama has gone to great lengths to bridge the partisan rift in Washington that has grown deeper over the past eight years.
Regardless, pressure is being brought to bear, by both labor and business.
The Service Employees International Union, the country’s largest labor organization, has pledged a
$10 million accountability campaign to urge Obama and Congress to enact the card-check bill in the 100 days after Inauguration Day, Jan. 20.
Anna Burger, the union’s international secretary-treasurer, delivered the message at the SEIU’s convention in June.
“We demand results, and we only get results when we hold politicians’ feet to the fire and remind them that they work for us,” she said. “When it slips their minds, we’re going to run ads against their anti-worker votes. Support the young and long shots over the old guard and the big shots.”
Josh Goldstein, a spokesman for the pro-labor group American Rights at Work, said, “The first opportunity this bill has to be passed, it should be passed.”
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce has its own $10 million campaign to make sure that doesn’t happen.
The chamber deployed a network of operatives in a number of key Senate races this year and campaigned aggressively — on the air and on the ground — against the card-check legislation. It will be maintaining those operations, hoping to win over some senators and peel back others, in addition to running TV ads. Last week it released the first in a series of reports refuting what it calls union rhetoric.
“We are doing our best to point out to the administration that this will be a firestorm on Capitol Hill, bordering on Armageddon,” said Randel Johnson, the chamber’s vice president of labor, at a news conference last week announcing the report.
Johnson said he expects Congress to consider the bill by spring.
Card check’s future could rise or fall in the Senate, where Democrats need 60 votes to overcome a Republican filibuster, which killed the measure when it came before the chamber last year. Democrats will have at least 58 seats come January. (Two races remain undecided.) Chamber officials hope to bring pressure on enough senators to block the bill again, perhaps forcing a compromise.
Indeed, Johnson said the organization would be amenable to smaller, less dramatic changes to existing labor law.
Labor advocates, however, scoffed at that notion.
“We have to solve the problems of sliding wages and increased inequality, and you can’t compromise on solving those problems,” SEIU President Andy Stern told The New York Times this month.
December 2nd, 2008 at 8:30 am12
Andy Stern on the New Moment
posted by Katrina vanden Heuvel on 11/25/2008 @ 5:56pm
Like any reformer, SEIU President Andy Stern has his admirers and his critics. I understand the critics’ arguments. But I also think Stern is a visionary labor figure. When in history were heretics well liked? Yet their ideas are worth hearing.
Yesterday, Stern came to The Nation offices along with Change to Win Chair and SEIU International Secretary-Treasure, Anna Burger, to discuss this new moment in the country’s history and what kind of strategic thinking will be needed moving forward. Their mood was optimistic–as well it should be, since labor spent some $450 million in the 2008 races, contributed mightily to massive voter outreach and mobilization and saw their candidates win.
“It’s a different world – the free market ideology has been discredited,” Stern said. This was “a clear election not on small things.” And he argues, “We’ve redefined the center. Universal health care is now centrist.”
Stern and Burger were less focused on the people just appointed to President-elect Obama’s cabinet than on the policies and proposals – especially the massive stimulus program – now being discussed. Stern said, “We’re not used to thinking in these ways, we need to think differently, and look at the outputs, not just the inputs,” meaning who the advisors are. (I have to admit that I’m more worried than Stern about the number of Robert Rubin proteges in the cabinet. It’s as if the guys who brought us this mess, via deregulation of Wall Street, are falling upwards.)
Both Stern and Burger were very pleased with the “real progressive appointments” of Melody Barnes and Patrick Gaspard. Barnes, the former chief counsel to Senator Edward Kennedy on the Senate Judiciary Committee, will serve as director of the White House Domestic Policy Council. Gaspard – who will be the White House political director – was the lead political operative for SEIU 1199, representing health care workers in New York prior to serving as the Obama campaign’s national political director.
Like everyone else, Burger’s and Stern’s top priority is rebuilding the economy. “The American economy hasn’t been working for working people for a long time. We need to make the economy work for people,” Burger said.
Stern views the economic stimulus as a needed reinvestment in our country, creating necessary jobs and rebuilding our infrastructure. Both Burger and Stern talked about the importance of creating not just any jobs, but “good jobs” – meaning secure jobs, middle-class jobs – which means workers have a voice (which means Employee Free Choice Act – read on). He joked about how during the Clinton era there was talk of 20 million jobs created and that many SEIU members had three of them – working three jobs to pay the bills.
These good jobs – and launching universal health care and energy efficiency – will be key to Obama’s success. Stern understands that the Obama Administration will be judged by whether it tangibly improves people’s lives. He paraphrased economist Robert Kuttner: “For the first time we are looking at a transformational, not transactional, presidency.”
Stern doesn’t think Obama is beholden to Wall Street in the ways previous Presidents or even today’s Senators are. He said Obama has “his own accountability system,” and he believes that in this “transformational moment” progressives need to ask [when it comes to domestic priorities], “How do we make sure what the President wants to get done, gets done?”
Along those lines, Stern discussed the kind of strategic thinking which would mean seeing a “difference between independence and interdependence.” We can’t approach this moment only with our own issues – we need to see a range of issues and work together. “Progressives need to work together as a strategic, smart, focused coalition,” he said. We don’t need to agree on everything in order to work together in a smart, strategic way.
Stern laid out what he saw as the important “phases” of the Obama administration. We’re now in a pre-inauguration phase – in which every group is working to get its issues on the agenda, including SEIU. On Inaugural Day, a huge set of initiatives will be announced – including signing a stimulus bill. Stern sees a second phase running from the day after inuaguration to August, and “if we go in different directions, we’re in trouble” – coming back to this idea of a progressive coalition working together strategically while not necessarily agreeing on everything. He believes we have to make sure progressives are on the same page – “push not pull from inaugural day to August to get some big things done.” Stern’s dream would be to achieve a massive stimulus, universal healthcare, and begin the work to create green jobs —and he thinks it can be done if we build strong coalitions and stick together.
A key part of SEIU’s work will also be through electoral accountability. The union is putting massive numbers of people in the field – half of the international staff and 30 percent of the locals – pushing for the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA) and health care, reminding people of what this election was about. Stern argues that progressives have learned how to do elections – and some of that learning curve involves the importance of staying in the field, holding people accountable, not de-mobilizing.
The Accountability Now coalition – which SEIU is a part of – will work to hold elected officials accountable at the polls by recruiting and supporting tough primary opponents to run against incumbents who have forgotten their constituents. Stern joked that it’s almost like what management does to employees – although they’re not going to harass or intimidate Senators and Representatives, they will let them know that progressives won’t just sit back and blindly support any incumbent Democrat.
In terms of EFCA – which would require employers to recognize a union after a majority of workers sign cards authorizing representation – SEIU is sending out videos showing all the times Obama voiced support for the legislation. They are not naïve, they are clear-eyed, they are tough about the fight ahead. They feel that they need to do a better job educating people about the history of EFCA and the need for it. For example, the card check system (which would be implemented by EFCA) existed in this country for 32 years – from 1936-67 – it built a middle-class. Nine states have some version of EFCA, and former Governor Pataki passed a form of it in New York. Burger said, “You don’t need to rewrite EFCA or compromise – get it through the House, into the Senate, stay in the field and get is passed.” There may be a few GOP members who will vote for it – like Susan Collins, who can be reminded of her moderate roots, and there will be pressure brought to bear in Maine.
If EFCA passes, Stern wants to build a movement around labor – and build it to inspire people, and bring hope to people, and not just engage in class conflicts, or anti-management. He knows we’re not there yet. He also talked about the need for labor to think globally, at a time of global financial crisis. We need global re-regulation but we also need global labor unions and coalitions to engage at this level and at scale.
Stern is also interested in the new social networking platforms, and thinks that if MyBarackObama.com has an independent voice – and he argues it will – progressives need to figure out how to interact with this enormously powerful force.
Stern believes “we’re going to pass universal healthcare – Max Baucus’ plan is close to what Kennedy has proposed.” Tom Daschle as point-man is “an incredibly good sign.” Stern said that the difference between now and the Clinton period is people understand today that you need to solve the healthcare problem in order to solve the fiscal problem, and so the business community is not as mobilized against it.
On the auto-bailout Stern asked, “Who’s telling the Citigroup and AIG workers to take cuts?” He thinks there needs to be a more visionary labor perspective on this bailout. One idea – the federal government should replace its aging fleet of vehicles, pre-purchasing from the Big Three. It’s almost like buying preferred stock through these vehicles rather than giving a loan. Stern said the UAW is in a difficult position in terms of carving out an independent stance, and that the problem is a structural one that goes back a number of years: UAW has company unions, as opposed to sectoral/industrial unions whereas, in contrast, SEIU 32BJ in New York has every janitor in New York City under the same contract.
On trade Stern thinks that all the important trade pacts have been done – perhaps Korea is important ahead. But there needs to be new thinking on trade. Burger said, “Don’t tinker, think bigger. In this next period we need to rethink the way do trade.”
“We’re living through uncharted waters,” Stern said. “The sad thing is we keep being right.” He referenced various reports SEIU has issued over the years about the state of over-leveraging and the private equity markets. “We’re all getting to understand our free market ideology isn’t going to work.”
Stern concluded by saying, “America needs a plan,” referencing the fact that we need some tough thinking about a long-term economic plan, a new social compact. “You can’t keep lurching from moment to moment – we need a plan.”
As for Stern himself, on the rumor that he’s the next Labor Secretary, he joked, “This is on the record. I would be the only labor leader nominated for Labor Secretary who labor would oppose.”
December 4th, 2008 at 8:30 am12
Butcher Headed to Norway, No, It Isn’t Permanently
http://mayorsam.blogspot.com/search/label/seiu%20721
SEIU 721 head and public employee union big cheese Julie Butcher is headed off to an international conference in Oslo, Norway focused on ” fighting the privatization of municipal services by improving quality.”
When you consider it takes the City sometimes as much as two weeks (or more) to clean-up trash dumped on the street (UNLESS it happens while the Mayor is out of the country) it looks like LA’s municipal services could really use some quality improvement.
With the current economic mess, rising City budget deficit and the lack of quality services, outsourcing a lot of non-public safety related functions to private industry (which could be contractually obligated to provide quality service and rewarded for doing so) would save a ton of money and likely improve services.
It will never happen in LA. Our Mayor, City Attorney, City Controller and all fifteen City Council members are paid for lock, stock and barrell by the public employee unions. Not only would they not outsource but they continue to offer these workers increases in wages that they would not receive in the private sector. That’s what’s breaking the bank.
At a labor contract meeting over the weekend, Butcher had the following epiphany “Every city worker faces the same issues: dwindling resources against real increasing need; demand for services smack up against real pride in the delivery of good, reliable, fair municipal services, at best coupled with a unique connection to the public we serve.”
Maybe while she’s there Julie can organize the Vikings [and they will keep her because they love the USA and sunny Southern California].
= = = = =
Is there any chance she’ll be back for the meeting this week or is she intentionally staying away to claim she had nothing to do with the By-Laws or to appear like it wasn’t HER keeping the members from getting any real voice in the union.
Way to go Julie! You ARE good! Let Charley and the other 5 committee member take the fall!
December 5th, 2008 at 8:30 pm12
Southern California union is probing top official’s role in ex-boyfriend’s deal
SEIU is investigating whether Local 721 chief Annelle Grajeda helped Alejandro Stephens, who had headed a local that merged with hers, stay on the L.A. County payroll. She denies wrongdoing.
By Paul Pringle
December 5, 2008
Early last year, Alejandro Stephens’ long tenure as president of one of California’s biggest union locals came to an end after the labor organization he headed merged into a larger local.
The Service Employees International Union sweetened Stephens’ exit with severance payments and other compensation that totaled nearly $180,000, said union spokeswoman Michelle Ringuette. A condition was that Stephens give up the salary he was receiving from Los Angeles County, Ringuette said. Under an agreement between the union and the county, taxpayers covered the salary of the head of the union local.
*
The separation deal has since become the focus of an internal SEIU investigation into whether Stephens’ former girlfriend, Annelle Grajeda, a top officer in the union’s national organization, inappropriately used her position to help him remain on the county payroll in 2007. She has denied wrongdoing and is currently on union leave.
The SEIU inquiry remains unresolved. Now, however, records and interviews show that Grajeda arranged to keep Stephens on the county payroll for the first eight months of this year. The arrangement she worked out called for the union to reimburse the county for Stephens’ pay.
The work status Grajeda secured for Stephens was a leave designed for employees who are needed for union business that also benefits the county, such as training sessions for shop stewards, county administrators say. Stephens, however, used the time to work for a union-affiliated nonprofit that he heads. The group stages an annual 5- and 10-kilometer race that is supposed to raise money for an emergency relief fund for union members, and for cancer patients, premature babies and other charitable purposes.
For the last several years, the nonprofit’s tax returns indicate that it has done poorly at that task. In 2007, for example, the nonprofit spent $22,782 on its charitable programs, just 11% of its outlays. Seventy-eight percent of its expenditures went to fundraising costs, and it ended the year with a deficit of $34,429, Internal Revenue Service records state.
The charity netted $6,882 in fundraising returns, spending more than 90 cents for each dollar it brought in. It reported $227,742 in long-term assets and fund balances. Elizabeth Brennan, a spokeswoman for the local, said that money is available for emergency relief and “benefits our members.”
Charity Navigator, an online monitoring service, and other watchdogs say well-performing nonprofits devote a minimum of 70% of their total expenditures to charitable programs and have fundraising costs of 10 to 20 cents per dollar.
“It’s really quite bad — very poor,” Charity Navigator President Ken Berger said of the spending record of Stephens’ nonprofit. “They’re an outlier.”
The union chapter involved, SEIU Local 721, represents about 80,000 social workers, nurses, sanitation drivers and other public sector employees across Southern California. It was formed last year from the merger that swallowed up the chapter that Stephens had headed, Local 660. Grajeda had been the general manager of Local 660 under Stephens, then became the president of Local 721after the merger. She also serves as an SEIU executive vice president and president of its state council.
Jim Adams, who approves union leaves as the county’s labor relations chief, said his office had no idea that Stephens was being paid to work for the nonprofit. “That was never part of any request,” he said. If his office had been aware, “I’m not sure what I would have thought about that.”
Adams said that a negotiated agreement allows the union to arrange for a limited number of employees to go on county-paid leave for union duties, provided the money for salaries and benefits is reimbursed. He said the county relies on the union to ensure that the leave is properly used. “What we’re interested in is whether they’ll pay us back,” he said.
In hindsight, Adams said his office should have been more vigilant about Stephens. “We certainly have to build in some due diligence,” he added.
Attempts to reach Stephens and Grajeda for comment were unsuccessful.
After Stephens lost his presidency last year, he continued to collect his roughly $47,500 in county salary, plus benefits, officials say.
The county tried unsuccessfully to get him to return to work in the Department of Health Services, where he was employed as a marketing representative, Adams said. He later went on vacation until January 2008, when the leave and union reimbursements arranged by Grajeda started, Adams said.
The SEIU has demanded that Stephens return most of the money it paid him in 2007, saying he violated the terms of his separation agreement by not forgoing the county salary. And the county is billing the local for Stephens’ government payments last year, citing the requirement that the union refund the salary and benefits of non-officers on leave.
Grajeda made the leave request in a Nov. 27, 2007, letter to the county’s chief executive office. The letter does not mention the nonprofit. In a brief interview shortly after she stepped aside from her union jobs, Grajeda said her lengthy personal relationship with Stephens ended in July 2007.
SEIU spokeswoman Ringuette said the union did not know about the letter. Ringuette declined to comment further, saying, “We are in the middle of an intensive investigation.”
Brennan, the Local 721 spokeswoman, said Stephens’ placement on county leave last year had been proper because the merger of the union locals involved an extended transition. “He continued to serve in a leadership role,” she said. “This is a unique situation.”
She said that Stephens worked full time for the nonprofit from January through August of this year. In previous years, he reported working part time for the charity as a board member, sometimes for as little as an hour or less per week, although the number jumped to more than 25 hours in 2007, according to IRS filings.
Three SEIU locals are involved in scandals, and nonprofit groups have played a role more than once. Last week, the union imposed a lifetime ban on the former president of its largest California local, Tyrone Freeman, and demanded that he return more than $1 million it says he misappropriated from the union and at least one affiliated nonprofit.
The Times had reported that Freeman’s local and a second nonprofit paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to small companies owned by his relatives and friends and spent a similar sum on golf tournaments, expensive restaurants, a Beverly Hills cigar lounge and a Hollywood talent agency.
The SEIU had removed Freeman’s former chief of staff from the presidency of the union’s biggest Michigan local, after determining he received $33,500 in improper payments from a housing nonprofit. Freeman and others with ties to the SEIU are the subjects of a federal criminal investigation.
Pringle is a Times staff writer
paul.pringle@latimes.com
December 6th, 2008 at 8:30 am12
See SEIU info posted at http://groups.google.com/group/misc.activism.progressive/browse_thread/thread/42eba64080875ff6/bce1104a919cfa88?hl=en&lnk=gst&q=SEIU+721#bce1104a919cfa88
[…]
What are UHW’s “crimes” that would justify a trusteeship? *** Blowing the whistle on backroom deals and substandard contracts conducted in the name of labor-management partnership; opposing the SEIU International’s support of California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s so-called health care reform, *** which is based on individual mandates; and sending a delegation to the International Convention to propose constitutional changes, motions and resolutions designed to give rank-and-file leaders a voice at all levels of the union.
[…]
Sounds like what Local 347 (aka Julie B) did with the City! The backroom deals & substandard contracts that is. OH, AND the healthcare give-backs the return of $18.25 MILLION Wellness Fund return AND increasing our co-pay by 100% AND offering furloughs to reduce our COLA!
December 6th, 2008 at 8:30 pm12
So true about UHW! I attended the rally in San Jose earlier this year and the second day of trusteeships in hearings in San Mateo, California. I heard a lot of details about what is going on and the more I talk to members and staff of UHW West, the more it sounds like retaliation. I also got to hear some of the witnesses that SEIU International put on and I found little substance, if any, in what they had to say. A two-hour open mike session followed and the members really gave the hearing officer, Ray Marshall, and the SEIU legal team, an earful. It was an amazing experience!
As for the City give-backs….that doesn’t smell right. The Local 347 members knew that this forced merger was going to weaken them, and it appears that their fears have materialized. Julie could have done more to help them stay out of this mud, but didn’t. They now have to contend with being part of 721’s troubles and investigations. The road out of this will be long and hard-fought.
December 7th, 2008 at 8:30 am12
I don’t think Julie could have done much against Andy to stop the merger seeing as Rosselli is still out. So far, Andy gets what he wants. (Is he still keeping Annelle, Rickman & Alejandro around on salaries paid from members’ dues?)
Anon, 12/6/08 is right. The SEIU give-backs are/were supported and pushed through by the Coalition of City Unions. Julie says the same thing above on 8/11/08; supposedly eliminating mandatory furloughs but having everyone else take voluntary furloughs & reduce their COLA.
See http://www.lacitycoalition.com/furlough-agreement.html
Coalition Reaches Agreement with Mayor That Terminates Mandatory Furlough Plan
August 9, 2008
On August 7, 2008, the Coalition of City Unions reached agreement with Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa on a plan to avoid mandatory furloughs, saving the City of Los Angeles $23 million while preserving critical City services.
The City’s 2008-09 budget adopted in May required civilian employees to save $23 million through mandatory “short-term layoffs” – better known as furloughs. The mandatory furloughs would have negatively impacted City service delivery. The Mayor’s Office, Coalition, and City officials used the mutual gains bargaining process to negotiate an alternative agreement that returns $18.25 million from the Employee Benefits Trust Fund to the City’s General Fund – savings that will not require service reduction.
“We are proud to have worked closely with the Mayor to achieve budget savings without causing harm to City workers and without cutting critical City services,” said Cheryl Parisi, Chair of the Coalition, which represents 22,000 City workers. “This is proof that the mutual gains bargaining process works for union members and works for the City of Los Angeles.”
Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa issued the following statement to media on August 7: “Today, the City and its workers have stepped up and shown that we all are committed to keeping our City running in the black and at full-speed.”
City workers will pay slightly higher co-payments for prescription drugs, resulting in $1.62 million in savings to the City – a major reduction from the $23 million initially put on the backs of City workers. Thanks to everyone’s hard work we have reached an agreement which doesn’t punish City workers and allows the City to maintain the quality of service residents expect.
The City and the Coalition have agreed to close the remaining $3 million gap for this fiscal year together through a voluntary furlough campaign, the details of which will be forthcoming.
Si Se Puede!!!
How Did Agreement Happen?
August 9, 2008
When the City revealed a $400 million shortfall earlier this year, City employees affiliated with Coalition member unions stepped up to the plate to help. Union members from the front lines submitted hundreds of ideas of how the City could generate new revenue and operate more efficiently. Some of these ideas have been implemented through the “Mutual Gains” process while others are still in the research & development stage.
The final City budget included mandatory furloughs – unpaid days off (really, a cut in pay) – that were projected to save the City $23 million. These furloughs not only would have hit members hard but they also would have resulted in serious cuts in critical City services.
The Coalition stepped up to the plate and – through the Mutual Gains Process established during bargaining – engaged the Mayor and his staff in an effort to find ways to save the City money while avoiding furloughs and service reductions.
Our collective efforts, backed up by the strong support of Coalition union members, led to this historic agreement!
=============
This “historic agreement” is the hook, line & sinker Julie fed the COCU.
More may be on its way so open wide. See my post on 12/1/08 about the LAT http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-labudget22-2008nov22,0,6968660.story by David Zahniser and verified by http://www.lacity.org/mayor/stellent/groups/electedofficials/@myr_ch_contributor/documents/contributor_web_content/lacity_004990.pdf
December 7th, 2008 at 8:30 pm12
Mr E, during our certification hearings at the ERB in August of 2007, the Hearing officer asked a very poignant question; Did the 347 Executive Board issue a statement or resolution against the merger? The truth was; no, they didn’t. It was at that point that the realization of weak leadership sunk in. UHW issued such a resolution regarding their attempted trusteeship, although the “jury” is still out on that one. The point is, our 347 leadership could have made the difference in our certification fight. We could have gained a valuable bargaining chip to preserve our “exclusive jurisdiction”, which the interim Constitution allows. The ERB challenge to the certification, wasn’t even attempted by the 347 leadership; that had to come from the Stewards of 347.
When it came time for the ERB to decide (April 2007) whether or not to hold hearings on the challenge to 721’s request for certification, Bob Hunt and Julie Butcher stood in support of the merger, and against us. Paid for with our dues money, of course.
Annelle is on “paid vacation”, Rickman Jackson is still working for SEIU at an “undisclosed” rate of pay, although may have to pay back thousand$, and Alejandro is still not out of the woods, see 12-05-2008 post. SEIU is still waiting for a final outcome on Alejandro before passing judgment on Annelle.
December 7th, 2008 at 8:30 pm12
December 4th meeting with interim President of Local 721
On December 4th members of 721 met with Mr. Bob Schoonover regarding various subjects regarding by-laws issues. As some of 721 members may be aware there is an appointed 5-6 member Governance Committee that is working on the by-laws.
Mr. Schoonover addressed some of the issues regarding this process.
1.Term limits for Elected Officers at Large: President, Vice President, Secretary and Treasurer.
Mr. Schoonover supports the inclusion of term limits and stated that the law limits a term of a sitting local president to three years, not counting re-election.
2. The financial disclosure of all income and expenses of elected officers.
Mr. Schoonover supports this. However there was debate among the members present over whether this disclosure should be on a quarterly basis, on demand and whether the information should be available on the 721 website.
3. Termination of a staff member.
Mr. Schoonover opined that this should be up to a chief of staff. The discussion centered over the theory of checks and balances and accountability to the membership. Some were of the opinion that the Executive Board should be the ones who have the ultimate ratification as to the hiring and firing of staff so as to ensure accountability to the membership.
4. Steward Language.
Mr. Schoonover opined that a combination of language from the legacy’s previous Constitution and By-laws should be used. The discussion there was around using the strongest language possible to support stewards, recruit and train stewards, and recognition that stewards are the backbone of the union. There was also discussion about compensating stewards through mileage allowances and/or reimbursements on their phone bills.
5. Recall procedure for all officers.
Mr. Schoonover opined that he is not opposed to a recall procedure for officers and board members. The discussion there centered around what procedures would be in place so as to maintain the checks and balances necessary for complete accountability to the membership. Should a showing of 30% of the affected bargaining unit members be required for a recall election? Should 30% of the General membership be required for a recall election? Should a simple majority (50% +1) or a super majority (2/3 or 66%) be sufficient to oust a sitting officer or board member?
(721 members: What is your opinion on this?)
6. Election By-Laws.
Mr. Schoonover supports the inclusion of election by-laws. These are obviously necessary, in that they would maintain guidelines and procedures to conduct a fair, open and honest election process as well as procedural guidelines in which to challenge election results and/or improprieties.
7. Monthly financial statements of SEIU Local 721 to include all salaries, expenses and payments, debts and status of all liquid funds.
Mr. Schoonover supported the idea of financial disclosure. The discussion there is that the names of staff would not have to be included, only the position, salary and disbursements could be listed. Debts, status and funds should never be hidden from the members, upon request. There was debate over whether this information should be available on 721’s website.
8. Equal dues by paid by ALL members of SEIU Local 721. Presently, some members pay less than others.
On this subject there was considerable debate because there were bargaining units that are only paying a flat rate while the majority of the 721 members were paying a percentage of up to 1.5% of their salaries.
Mr. Schoonover opined that he supported a gradual increase that would eventually bring all members dues to an equal percentage. The discussion there centered around an interpretation of the International’s Constitution and By-laws that propagated an equal percentage of dues among the local’s members. Legacy local 660 members were concerned that they contribute approximately 72% of Local 721’s dues revenue and are footing the bill for the bargaining units that are flat rated, but are being shortchanged with respect to representation in the field.
9. Executive board meetings to be held during the evening and Saturdays so that members who typically work day shifts can attend the meetings.monitor and give input to the board.
Mr. Schoonover supports the idea of Executive Board meetings on weekday evenings to facilitate attendance by general membership, but is not too crazy about weekends. The discussion there is over the board meetings going beyond 9:00 PM on weekdays and making fatigued decisions. More multiple board meetings were discussed as an option.
10. Definition of a “Majority”.
Mr. Schoonover supports the idea of Roberts’ Rules of Order to define how the Executive Board would vote on specific issues. Whether by simple majority or by super majority.
It should be noted that the aforementioned issues are not currently and/or specifically addressed in the current draft of the 721 By-laws.
On November 10, 2008 the Executive Board of 721 convened a hastily scheduled meeting which was attended by members of an ad hoc Sub-Committee on the Constitution and By-laws and demanded that the president open up or expand the Governance Committee to members from the General Membership who are interested in participating in this committee as equal voting members of the Governance Committee. Hundreds of signatures by general membership were submitted demanding this action and the members of the Sub-committee demanded an answer by the close of that business day.
Mr. Schoonover committed himself to an answer on that issue by November 6, 2008, the day that the Governance Committee would meet on a weekend to facilitate attendance by the general membership.
At the meeting on December 4, 2008 Mr. Schoonover, again stated that he needed until December 6, 2008 to issue his decision. At the December 4th meeting, Mr. Schoonover recognized that under the current interim constitution and by-laws he does, in fact, have the authority and opportunity to make that decision and again pledged to make that decision by December 6.
On December 6, 2008 the Governance Committee met at the union hall at 9:00 AM. The interested general membership had given up their time to attend and find out if Mr. Schoonover would grant or deny their demands regarding the opening up or expanding of the Governance Committee.
Mr. Schoonover was not present and had not communicated any decision to any member of the currently sitting Governance Committee and was not responding to telephonic requests regarding his awaited decision.
Members were disgusted over this stalling tactic and show of disdain and disrespect towards the members. This was an act of irresponsibility and a snubbing of the members efforts to fairly and democratically implement the most important document of this new local.
THIS CALLS MR. SCHOONOVER’S ABILITY TO LEAD INTO SERIOUS QUESTION. THIS ALSO UNDERSCORES THE NEED FOR MORE OVERSIGHT OF THE LOCAL’S OPERATION AND WHETHER OR NOT THIS IS TRULY INTENDED TO BE A “MEMBER-DRIVEN UNION”.
December 10th, 2008 at 8:30 am12
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28139155/?GT1=43001
ILLINOIS GOVERNOR ARRESTED FOR CORRUPTION
POSITION FOR WIFE SOUGHT WITH “CHANGE TO WIN”, FUNDED BY SEIU
CHICAGO - Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich embarked on a “corruption crime spree” and tried to benefit from his ability to appoint President-elect Barack Obama’s replacement in the U.S. Senate, federal officials said Tuesday.
At a news conference in Chicago on Tuesday, U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald called it a sad day for the citizens of Illinois and alleged that the governor tried to “auction off” the Senate seat “to the highest bidder.”
The complaint alleges that the governor stated, “I want to make money,” adding later that he is interested in making $250,000 to $300,000 a year.
The affidavit contends Blagojevich discussed getting a substantial salary for himself at a non-profit foundation or an organization affiliated with labor unions. It also says Blagojevich talked about getting his wife placed on corporate boards where she might get $150,000 a year in director’s fees.
The affidavit outlined a Nov. 10 call among Blagojevich, his wife, Harris and a group of advisers in which Harris allegedly suggested working out an agreement with the Service Employees International Union.
Under the plan, Blagojevich would appoint a new senator who would be helpful to the president-elect and in turn get a job as head of Change to Win, a group formed by the union. The union would get an unspecified favor from Obama later.
NBC News’ Pete Williams, The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.
Note: All in the family. Where do you suppose she got the idea of involving SEIU for access to this kind of money? Is the International developing a reputation among this kind of political circle? Hmmmmm.
December 10th, 2008 at 8:30 am12
Another interesting article on where our $MILLION$ are going.
http://www.nrtw.org/en/blog/seiu-blagovichs-back-pocket-years-12092108
SEIU Bosses Gave Gov. Blagojevich More Than $1.7 Million Already, Not Including Possible Payout for Senate Seat.
Tue, 12/09/2008 - 17:04 — Nick Cote
Earlier today, we reported on the developing pay-for-play scandal involving humiliated Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich which allegedly involved offer the SEIU the power to name Barack Obama’s replacement as Senator in return for a cushy job with the SEIU’s Change to Win coalition or a new SEIU-funded lobby group.
A credible news source has revealed the SEIU official mentioned in the indictment was none other than SEIU president Andrew Stern.
Our research today indicates that Andy Stern’s SEIU has been Blagojevich’s biggest financial backer for years. According go the Illinois Sunshine Database, the SEIU Illinois Council PAC was the governor’s top contributor in his re-election effort, giving $908,382 in the 2005-2006 cycle. That same cycle, PACs for the Laborers and Teamsters unions, also Change to Win partners, were also among Blagojevich’s top 15 contributors.
The relationship between Blagojevich and the SEIU’s political fundraising arms go back years. In his first gubernatorial election in 2002, the SEIU PEA International gave his campaign $821,294, making the PAC his second largest contributor that cycle (the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee had contributed $900,000 to the then-Congressman).
All told, union PACs poured more than $8 million into Blagojevich’s two gubernatorial campaign coffers.
You get what you pay for. But do SEIU members know where their money is going?
December 10th, 2008 at 8:30 am12
Sounds like the lid is ready to come off of the SEIU Administration. Just how far down does this rabbit hole go?
December 10th, 2008 at 8:30 pm12
http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/1208/Source_SEIU_official_was_Stern.html#comments
Source: ‘SEIU official’ was Stern
A Democratic source confirms that SEIU President Andy Stern is the “SEIU official” referred to in the federal complaint against Rod Blagojevich.
There’s no allegation that the SEIU official did anything wrong, and what appears to be a wiretap transcript has the official reacting non-commitally to Blagojevich’s offer of a quid pro quo. Another Democratic source tells me that Stern was been in Chicago November 3 meeting with Blagojevich, a discussion thought to have included talk about the Senate seat — though that meeting isn’t mentioned in the complaint.
An SEIU spokesman didn’t respond to a call or email seeking comment.
Here’s the relevant portion of the complaint:
On November 12, 2008, ROD BLAGOJEVICH spoke with SEIU Official, who was in Washington, D.C. Prior intercepted phone conversations indicate that approximately a week before this call, ROD BLAGOJEVICH met with SEIU Official to discuss the vacant Senate seat, and ROD BLAGOJEVICH understood that SEIU Official was an emissary to discuss Senate Candidate 1’s interest in the Senate seat. During the conversation with SEIU Official on November 12, 2008, ROD BLAGOJEVICH informed SEIU Official that he had heard the President-elect wanted persons other than Senate Candidate 1 to be considered for the Senate seat. SEIU Official stated that he would find out if Senate Candidate 1 wanted SEIU Official to keep pushing her for Senator with ROD BLAGOJEVICH. ROD BLAGOJEVICH said that “one thing I’d be interested in” is a 501(c)(4) organization. ROD BLAGOJEVICH explained the 501(c)(4) idea to SEIU Official and said that the 501(c)(4)70 could help “our new Senator [Senate Candidate 1].” SEIU Official agreed to “put that flag up and see where it goes.”
By Ben Smith 02:02 PM
December 13th, 2008 at 8:30 pm12
For those willing, there will be a meeting of our unauthorized Bylaws Sub-Committee after the Regional Steward Council meeting this Saturday, 12-13-08, at approximately 12:00 noon, at the Local.
As you all know, at the last minute re-scheduled Board of Director’s meeting, on 11-10-08, that some of us were able to attend, Dan Mariscal demanded, on our behalf, that Bob Schnoover make a decision, before the close of the meeting, that day, to open the Governance Committee to all interested members, with an equal voice for all participants, or to announce, to all, that he would not be opening up the committee to us. Bob ended up responding that he would make that decision, after consulting with the appointed Board of Directors, via telephone conference call, before the next Governance Committee meeting scheduled for 12-06-08. At a prearranged informal meeting on 12-04-08, that some of us attended, with Bob S., to inquire of him his opinion on various questions we had regarding the current operation of the Local, we asked if he had already made up his mind regarding the opening up of the Governance Committee. He replied that he had contacted members from the original committee list and thought that the committee would be expanded but that he still needed a couple of more days to decide on opening up the committee to all others. At the actual Governance Committee meeting on 12-06-08, we asked Charley Mims, chairperson of the Governance Committee, if Bob S. had spoken to him regarding the opening up of the committee, and he replied that he had not. We asked John Tanner, staff person to the committee, if Bob S. had spoken to him regarding the same issue and he also replied that he had not.
If it wasn’t obvious to any of us before now, we have since come in contact with information that suggests the decision to open up the Governance Committee to any and all other members, with an equal voice for all, has finally been made. He will probably claim that after consulting with …… ‘IT DOESN’T MATTER! He has the arrognance to believe that his bylaws, with limited input from members like us, will be voted on and approved by the limited participation of members that are not in touch with what’s really going on. THE FIGHT IS ON. WE MUST ORGANIZE MEMBERS TO VOTE NO ON THESE BYLAWS. THEY WILL NOT BE IN MOST MEMBERS BEST INTERESTS. WE MUST PREACH ‘NO TAXATION WITHOUT REPRESENTATION!’
We will discuss this and other topics, this Saturday.
Hope to see you then.
Your brother in arms,
Arturo Diaz
December 15th, 2008 at 8:30 am12
Union-founded Nonprofit Spent Zero on its Charitable Purpose in Two Years
Lawrence K. Ho / Los Angeles Times
PROBE: Tyrone Freeman, then head of the SEIU’s largest California local, helped start the Long Term Care Housing Corp. in 2004. He is under investigation by the federal government.
The charity was founded by a scandal-ridden Los Angeles chapter of the Service Employees International Union. Its stated aim was to provide housing to low-income workers.
By Paul Pringle
December 13, 2008
A nonprofit organization founded by California’s largest union local reported spending nothing on its charitable purpose — to develop housing for low-income workers — during at least two of the four years it has been operating, federal records show.
The charity, launched by a scandal-ridden Los Angeles chapter of the Service Employees International Union, had total expenses of about $165,000 for 2005 and 2006, and all of the money went to consulting fees, insurance costs and other overhead, according to its Internal Revenue Service filings.
Records show no recent aid to two charities from union golf event
Charity watchdogs say that nonprofits should never have zero program expenses in two successive years and that well-performing charities direct at least 70% of their annual spending to their charitable purpose.
“Of the 5,000-plus charities we’ve looked at, I don’t think we’ve ever seen one that didn’t spend anything on its charitable programs,” said Sandra Miniutti, vice president of Charity Navigator, an online rating service.
Last year, the nonprofit reported spending $513,000 in connection with a Compton housing development, and $59,200 in consulting fees for its charitable programs, which together accounted for about 88% of its total outlays.
The primary mission of the charity — the Long Term Care Housing Corp. — is to provide affordable homes for the local’s members, most of whom earn about $9 an hour caring for the elderly and infirm. But SEIU officials declined to discuss the charity, saying it is a separate legal entity from the union, even though its board is dominated by officials from the local. The charity is located at the local’s headquarters.
Tyrone Freeman, then president of the 160,000-member United Long-Term Care Workers, helped start the charity in 2004. Freeman and the local are the subjects of a federal criminal probe and a congressional inquiry because of his spending practices. After an internal investigation, the SEIU accused Freeman and another former union officer of receiving improper payments from the nonprofit.
Freeman, who stepped aside in August, less than two weeks after The Times first reported on his financial dealings, has been banned for life from SEIU membership or employment. The SEIU has ordered him to pay the union more than $1 million in restitution. Attorneys for Freeman and others involved in the charity declined to comment.
The nonprofit is also caught up in the federal and internal investigations. The Times reported that the charity had listed the home of a union official as its administrative address, had failed to obtain a federal tax exemption and had lost the right to do business in California.
The charity had also claimed to have a relationship with the prominent California Community Foundation, which said it had never heard of the organization.
Exemption granted
Despite the legal troubles, the IRS has since granted the group an exemption retroactive to 2004, and its right to do business has been restored, according to the California secretary of state’s office. IRS of