Last week
was a busy one for the Purple Palace.
On
Wednesday, SEIU President Mary Kay Henry
removed
the top two officials at 9,000-member SEIU
Nevada.
On Thursday,
in Detroit, SEIU officials conducted a daylong trusteeship hearing to put SEIU Healthcare Michigan under a permanent trusteeship. In February, Henry
removed the local union’s president, Marge
Faville Robinson.
And on
Friday, Henry imposed
a trusteeship on SEIU Nevada.
Thursday’s
hearing in Detroit was conducted by LaPhonza
Butler, who served as the “Hearing Officer.” Butler is
the President of California’s SEIU Local
2015, a longtime ally of Henry, and a nemesis of SEIU-UHW President Dave Regan.
According to
a memo issued by SEIU Secretary-Treasurer Gerry
Hudson on April 13, 2017 (see copy below), SEIU officials have now
“substantiated” the “allegations of serious financial malpractice” at SEIU
Healthcare Michigan.
Hudson’s memo
reports:
Specifically, a review of the Local Union’s books and records uncovered evidence that Healthcare Michigan’s loan and paid time off/earned vacation payout policies had been abused, placing Healthcare Michigan members’ rights, benefits and interests at risk.
What actually
happened?
SEIU officials
are mum on the details. One possibility: local union officials artificially
boosted their vacation balances, and then cashed them out. The removal of Marge
Faville Robinson is an obvious clue.
Henry’s
multiple trusteeships appear to be leaving her a bit shorthanded at the Palace.
In February, Henry appointed
Inga Skippings (her “Chief of
Staff”) as a trustee in Michigan, and more recently sent Deedee Fitzpatrick (her “Deputy Chief of Staff”) to Nevada to deal
with SEIU’s imploding local union in Sin City.
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| Kirk Adams |
Of course, Purple
Palace officials -- including Tom DeBruin,
Kirk Adams, Stephen Lerner and Bill
Ragen -- know tons about “imploding”
local unions.
Henry has
not yet posted a job opening for a new “aide de camp” or Chief of Staff. But
SEIU has posted one for “Director of Organizational Leadership.” The job
description includes “work[ing] with officers, senior staff and local union
leaders to develop innovative and impactful organizational leadership
strategies…”
Hmmmm. Innovative? Impactful? How
about just trying to develop a “functional” leadership strategy?
That would be
a big improvement.
