President of SEIU Union in Chicago Appeals Purple Palace’s Trusteeship Decision

Christine Boardman

On Monday, Christine Boardman (President of SEIU Local 73) formally appealed SEIU’s recent decision to continue its trusteeship of the union, which represents 25,000 public-sector workers in Illinois and Northwestern Indiana.

Boardman, in a January 30 letter to SEIU President Mary Kay Henry and Secretary-Treasurer Gerry Hudson, says SEIU’s decision to continue the trusteeship “is fraught with factual and legal errors and is in violation of the SEIU International Constitution as well as the LMRDA,” a reference to the federal Labor Management Reporting and Disclosure Act. Boardman requested a hearing before SEIU’s International Executive Board as part of her appeal. 

A copy of Boardman’s letter is below.

In an e-mail to supporters, Boardman vowed to fight SEIU’s decision, which was first announced on January 27 on Local 73’s website.

Last August, SEIU officials seized control of Local 73 through an “emergency trusteeship.” The action suspended Boardman and Matthew Brandon, Local 73’s Secretary-Treasurer, from their elected positions and also suspended the union’s Executive Board. Henry appointed three of her representatives to run the union as "trustees."

On September 24, 2016, SEIU officials conducted a “trusteeship hearing” headed by a hearing officer, Edgar Romney, to determine whether SEIU’s “emergency trusteeship” was justified and should continue. Romney, who was selected by Mary Kay Henry, is a member of SEIU’s International Executive Board and is the Secretary-Treasurer of SEIU’s “Workers United” division, which happens to owe $16.7 million to SEIU.

SEIU’s trusteeship hearings are typically kangaroo courts in which attorneys from the Purple Palace literally write a pre-ordained decision that's simply signed by the Hearing Officer.

On January 25, 2017, SEIU’s International Executive Board (IEB) approved Romney’s finding that “the trusteeship was imposed properly and should be continued.” 

Surprise, surprise, right? 

The IEB also adopted Romney’s recommendation that Local 73’s Executive Board be disbanded and that Boardman and Brandon be permanently removed from office.

Mary Kay Henry has appointed two trustees to run the local: Dian Palmer (President of SEIU Healthcare Wisconsin) and Denise Poloyac (Director of SEIU’s Property Services Division).

Eliseo Medina, who launched the trusteeship in August, is no longer a trustee at Local 73. At the end of summer, he flew back to California to serve as Henry’s “monitor” of SEIU Local 99 in Los Angeles following alleged misconduct by SEIU officials there.

So what’s the basis of Boardman’s appeal?

She says the trusteeship hearing and the subsequent actions by SEIU’s International Executive Board were “fraught with factual and legal errors” that violated SEIU’s Constitution.

In an e-mail sent to supporters this week, Boardman said the “vast majority” of the witnesses at the trusteeship hearing were from SEIU International. Neither Boardman nor Brandon was allowed to ask questions of SEIU witnesses, whom she describes as “bogus.” Boardman says she was permitted to make a statement during the hearing, but portions of her testimony – including an objection – were never included in the hearing records.

Furthermore, Boardman says SEIU’s justification for the trusteeship is “ridiculous.”

SEIU officials said they seized control of Local 73 because of fighting between Boardman and Brandon. “However,” writes Boardman, “the International used a different standard on [Local 73] than they did on other locals.” She continues:

This includes Local 99 in LA where the President was found to be stealing money and Local 1107 in Las Vegas where the Executive Vice President had an order of protection issued against her because of physical confrontations with the staff.  Six months later the President and Executive Vice President of 1107 filed charges against each other, plus 400 members signed petitions asking that the International trustee Local 1107.  For those locals the International did not have an emergency trusteeship. The International’s position that we [Local number 73] needed an “emergency trusteeship” is ridiculous.

Those familiar with SEIU’s recent history are likely laughing their asses off to see Edgar Romney serving as some sort of judge of moral probity. 

In 2009, Romney and Bruce Raynor joined Andy Stern in SEIU’s attempted hostile takeover of UNITE HERE, the United States’ largest union of hotel, food service, and casino workers. Across the US, labor leaders and observers slammed SEIU, Raynor, and Romney for their underhanded attack on UNITE HERE and its 450,000 members.

  Christine Boardman's Letter Protesting SEIU's Trusteeship of SEIU Local 73 by tastysternburger on Scribd

Union Staffer's Tweet Offers Window into SEIU's Secret Deal with Puerto Rican Governor

Bruce Raynor

From time to time, little fragments of information sneak through the internet to offer us interesting glimpses into the lives of SEIU’s top officials.

Here’s one.

A former staffer from the Change to Win Coalition recently tweeted the following message about his experiences with Bruce Raynor and Aníbal Acevedo Vilá, the former governor of Puerto Rico. Raynor, of course, is the guy who famously teamed up with SEIU President Andy Stern to unsuccessfully raid UNITE HERE.

Translation? 

This unfortunate union staffer was assigned to serve at the beck and call of Raynor and then-Governor Acevedo Vila… including fetching them icecream bars during the 2008 Democratic National Convention at Denver’s Mile High Stadium.

Gov. Anibal Acevedo Vila

At that moment, Acevedo Vila had been indicted on 24 counts of campaign finance violations.

He'd also been doing lots of dirty deeds for SEIU. 

Earlier that year, Acevedo Vila worked hand-in-glove with SEIU’s Dennis Rivera in an effort to take over the largest and most militant union in Puerto Rico: the 42,000-member Puerto Rican Teachers Union (La Federacion de Maestros de Puerto Rico or “FMPR”).

SEIU got the governor to issue a declaration decertifying the FMPR and then suspended the union’s right to collect membership dues. Next, the governor scheduled an election to allow the island’s 42,000 teachers to choose a union... but Gov. Acevedo Vila carefully rigged the election so that SEIU was the only union on the ballot!

So... it's no wonder that SEIU/Change to Win assigned its staffers to race through Mile High Stadium to buy icecream bars for the corrupt governor and SEIU officials!

What happened to Puerto Rico's teachers?

SEIU's Dennis Rivera

Fortunately, the teachers could smell a rat a mile away. When the ballots from the rigged election were counted in October of 2008, the teachers trounced SEIU… and sent Dennis Hickey Rivera and hundreds of purple-shirted staffers scurrying for the first flight back to the U.S. 

Quite a story... whose latest chapter was written by the tweet from the union staffer!

Get your Raynor Gossip Here...

Here.

Here.

And Here!

BYEEEE Bruce.

It's Official: Raynor is out.

According to Ben Smith ( http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/0411/Raynor_out_at_SEIU.html) SEIU will make a formal announcement on Brucie's departure today. The noise you hear is the murmur of pity from working America.

Bruce--

You really got played by Andy, Anna and MK. Thanks for the laughs.

Your pal,

Tasty

Raynor Resigns as Amalgamated Bank's Chairman.

Guess that's what happens when you are accused of financial misdeeds. Story here.

Raynor's Game: Changing the Union's name so many times to keep his members working?

Well, isn't this Raynor stuff fun? To recap: Bruce Raynor merges "his" union UNITE with HERE in 2004, it's a disaster. He drags "his" members to SEIU, who it turns out really only wants him for "his" money. Lawsuits and de-certifications follow. The drama seems to calm down and settlements are made, mostly in the favor of HERE. Then Andy Stern leaves SEIU, Raynor makes an error and supports Anna Berger for President. She loses. Mary Kay Henry wins. Anna leaves. And now Mary Kay is making it her job to get rid of the most significant SEIU leaders who supported Anna. Like Stephen Lerner (note: current Stephen status is that he is still on SEIU payroll, and he is NOT doing any work for them. Good work if you can get it. He is, however, still making waves.) So, now Mary Kay has decided to get rid of Bruce Raynor, who is now an EVP at SEIU and "President" of Workers United (the current name for ILWGU/ACTWU/UNITE). So, how does MK try to get rid of Raynor? Tasty imagines she has a serious talk with him about "his" role. And he told her to shove it, he wasn't going anywhere. So, she decides to take him out the old fashioned way: character assassination. So, boom, the E-board starts investigating Raynor's expenses and rumor has it that MK hires a private investigator. And wouldn't you know it but he expensed some dinners that he should not have! What's a union president to do except issue a press release and mention that he had these dinners with a "female" staff member? (Cuz' see, Raynor said they were with a male colleague, but they weren't. Cuz' he was having an affair with this female colleague. See her pictured, above.) Shit Raynor, you screw over your members, your union colleagues and you cheat on your wife? Barf, dude. You suck. From the NYTs: The charges accuse Mr. Raynor of falsely stating that he had 10 meals, costing $186 to $275, with a male union lawyer instead of the person he had actually dined with: Alex Dagg, a female executive vice president of Workers United and one of its Canadian directors. The charges call for ousting him from his Workers United and S.E.I.U. posts, and state that he had falsified union records and made improper personal expenses. Mr. Raynor said he did not list Ms. Dagg’s name, as he had often done before, because S.E.I.U. officials had told her not to involve him in efforts to negotiate a settlement to the nasty turf war in Canada between Workers United and Unite Here. “By not putting her name down, I was simply protecting her from political retaliation,” he said. But I know what you readers are thinking-- Raynor is only accused of misspending about $2000! Bruce's total compensation last year was $335,044. He could have just paid back the money if they didn't like the expenses, which were worth about $200 each--he just said the dinners were with someone they were not with. "I mean, Tasty," you say, "TYRONE FREEMAN STOLE A MILLION DOLLARS!" And to you readers Tasty says: This is SEIU. It ain't ever about real corruption or real standards for leaders. It's about power and politics. And a number of readers say that this affair was well known, making Raynor pretty vulnerable. Drama! Tasty has the most job security of any blogger in the whole wide world. And today a tipster says: "WORKERS UNITED to vote on this Wednesday to leave SEIU! Raynor has the votes to leave!!!!!!!!"

A Little Birdie Told Me...

That SEIU's Executive Board is working on "some sort of action" against Bruce Raynor for EMBEZZLEMENT.

That's all Tasty knows so far--email tastysternburger@gmail.com if you know more!

UPDATED: SEE NYT's ARTICLE IN THE LINKS SECTION. MORE SCOOP TOMORROW ON THIS.

Bruce Raynor Wants to Take His Bank and Go Home?

Rumor has it that Bruce Raynor ("President" of Workers United--as if that is a real thing) and Mary Kay Henry (President of an actual, if difficult, union) are not getting along, at all. And as usual, Joe Hansen, President of the UFCW, has come in to try to mediate the situation.

Bruce, baby, when people only like you for your money, don't be surprised when they don't respect you in the morning.

Worthwhile Reading on the SEIU--Unite/Here Settlement

Ben Smith at Politico "The agreement was a kind of lesson in negotiations. The UNITE faction of the merged union thought it was strengthening its position by merging into SEIU. Instead, it was the reverse. SEIU had too much to lose, and wound up paying a pretty high ransom for peace after HERE's combative president, John Wilhelm, made it clear he'd wage an all-out war indefinitely."

Randy Shaw at Beyond Chron "It represents an even bigger victory for the rank and file members of UNITE HERE, who rose to the challenge posed by SEIU’s attacks and reaffirmed their ability to struggle “one day longer” than their adversaries."

NYTimes "...Andrew Stern, the service employees’ recently retired president, had unsuccessfully negotiated to settle their intra-union feud."

Juan Gonzales at NY Daily News "Workers United, the faction that left UNITE HERE and joined SEIU, will keep the needle trades and laundries, two declining industries.

$85 million dollars in real estate and $75 million dollars in returned funds! Tasty thinks Tiger's wife should hire Wilhelm to get a divorce settlement for her--that man can negotiate!

SEIU and Unite/Here Settle-Or do they? UPDATED

Check out this Crain's NY article on the settlement. Not a ton of details:

As part of the deal, which still needs to be approved by the executive boards of both unions, the garment workers (Workers United) will also fork over a hefty amount of cash to the hotel workers (Unite Here). The total value of the deal to Unite Here, including the estimated $70 million, 28-story building, could be more than $150 million, according to sources familiar with the agreement. Unite Here will also regain control of some bargaining units that had flipped over to Workers United during the battle.

And this paragraph:

SEIU's new president, Mary Kay Henry, was determined to end the fight and played an influential role in hammering out the tentative deal with Mr. Wilhelm, sources said. Its affiliate is paying a hefty price, but after almost two years of fighting that took time and resources away from organizing workers and a toll on the union's reputation, leaders were anxious for peace, at whatever price.


Well, well. The new Prez settles, but SEIU still loses big. $150 million, plus all the money spent on the fight, plus all the hours spend fighting, plus all the dues lost...and SEIU still has to keep Raynor! Lose, lose!

_______________________________

Update:

Unite Here issued a statement on this article:

To: UNITE HERE Family

From: John W. Wilhelm, President

There is no agreement with SEIU, despite rumors to the contrary. While we
continue to talk, and make some progress, difficult issues remain
unresolved. I will notify members of the GEB promptly in the event a
settlement is achieved. Meanwhile, we continue on our present course to
defend our Union, and I remain grateful for your steadfastness and courage.

Something is up...but they must be close, for Crain's to have enough to write a story...will keep you posted. Sorry for any confusion!

Hey Raynor--That Wasn't YOUR $15 Million!

The New York Daily News is reporting that a court-appointed watchdog has formally urged the Feds to conduct an investigation into SEIU Executive Vice President Bruce Raynor and other SEIU officials to determine "whether Bruce Raynor and the union officials who acted with him violated [federal labor law] by converting [the $15 million dollars] to their own use and the use of the minority of union members who supported them."

Read the full story at the NY Daily News.

Observers speculate that Andy Stern is one of "the union officials who acted with" Raynor...could this be a reason for Andy's surprise resignation?!

It may also explain other news that's circulating among SEIU insiders...Tasty hears that Stern is currently trying to negotiate a special severance package from SEIU's International Executive Board that would require SEIU members to pay for Stern's future legal bills, which could run into the millions of dollars.

Remember... Andy Stern has literally made bank from SEIU members. Last year alone, he took home more than a quarter million dollars in pay. And Stern's SEIU pension will pay him $227,000 a year.

So, Stern now wants SEIU members to pay his personal legal bills for allegedly siphoning millions of dollars from union members?

Tasty bets that SEIU officials are gonna hear an earful from angry members across the country. So who sits on SEIU's International Executive Board? It's made up of about 65 people, including Dave Regan, Eliseo Medina, UHW Deputy Trustee Debbie Schneider, Anna Burger, Mary Kay Henry, Stephen Lerner, and the presidents of many SEIU local unions--most appointed by Stern himself.

ps Andy, it doesn't make you look LESS like a crook to wear a pinky ring.