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

Latest News from SEIU's Attempted Trusteeship of Local 50 in California

Here’s the latest news from SEIU’s attempt to impose a trusteeship on Local 50, which represents 5,400 food service workers at Disneyland in California.

In a repeat performance, SEIU parachuted purple staffers from the East Coast to try to seize control of the union after Local 50 formally disaffiliated from SEIU. Check out this video of staffers from SEIU’s “Workers United,” who've been assigned to carry out 24/7 surveillance of Local 50's office from a parked car.

But wait... not so fast! 

Here’s what happened when Local 50 called the cops on SEIU's stalkers!

Busted!

Meanwhile, Local 50’s lawsuit against SEIU is moving forward in the courts. SEIU has assigned the same union-busting lawyer -- Glenn Rothner from Rothner, Segall and Greenstone -- who was assigned to the Purple Palace's trusteeship of SEIU-UHW in 2009. Rothner has apparently decided to build a career out of waging legal wars against worker-led unions... in exchange for a fat paycheck from the Purple Palace.

In fact, during SEIU's trusteeship of California's healthcare workers, SEIU lawyer Edgar James even tried to forcibly break down the doors of one union office… which was famously captured in this video by members of SEIU-UHW.

SEIU's Edgar Romney -- a D.C. official who claims to be the “Trustee” of Local 50  -- continues to pal around with the business-suited executives over at Disneyland. Recently, Disneyland's H.R. Department decided to allow SEIU to put three purple staffers inside Disneyland's gated walls to carry out SEIU’s usual campaign of lies and threats against the union's rank-and-file members. Tasty smells a Regan-styled backroom deal.

Here’s a pic of three of SEIU's staffers, who are wearing ID badges handed out by management, as they await orders from the Purple Palace and keep a watchful eye out for Mickey and Goofy.

SEIU Tries to Impose Trusteeship on Disneyland Workers

SEIU's Mary Kay Henry is attempting to trustee Local 50.

SEIU is up to its same old dirty tricks.

Last week, the Purple Palace tried to impose a trusteeship on Local 50, which represents 5,400 food service workers at Disneyland.

Why?

According to an article dated May 30 in the Orange County Weekly:

The [Local 50] Executive Board says that it has voted to disaffiliate from Workers United and SEIU, and that a majority of members have signed a petition to do the same.

Local 50’s website discusses its fight for democracy and worker-run unionism.

Last week, SEIU parachuted Edgar Romney (a Vice President of SEIU and the Secretary-Treasurer of Workers United, an affiliate of SEIU) into Anaheim, CA where he tried to seize control of Local 50 and its bank account.

When Romney, a locksmith and a crew of SEIU staffers attempted to break into Local 50’s union hall, they were met by Local 50’s Executive Board, who promptly called the cops. The cops sent the purple perps away empty-handed.

Romney then reportedly raced over to Disneyland, where he told Labor Relations officials that he now represents Local 50's workers. Tasty bets dollar to donuts that Romney promised the Disney execs that he'll accept cuts to workers' benefits in exchange for Disney’s support of SEIU, as his buddy Dave Regan has done at SEIU-UHW.

Check out this YouTube video of Romney, Local 50’s President Sandi Ecklund, and the Anaheim PD in front of Local 50’s offices. B/t/w, Ecklund earned $70,477 last year, while Romney pocketed $222,306, according to the U.S. Department of Labor.

Here's what a Local 50 supporter wrote about the episode:

This is the second time an official of Workers United/SEIU has ever been to Local 50 and he and his goons brought a locksmith to break in. Sandi called the Anaheim PD and they were stopped. The first time an official from Workers Unite/SEIU came to Local 50 was to persuade Local 50 to merge with a failing Local of SEIU, 1877. Local 50 has operated independently since it's formation in 2004.

SEIU’s quest for money and power form the backdrop for this story. As Tasty earlier reported, SEIU is losing membership nationally. And SEIU’s “Workers United” is bleeding its members even faster. Since 2009, Workers United has lost 35% of its members, plunging from 128,319 members in 2009 to 83,796 in 2012, according to the U.S. Department of Labor.

Meanwhile, Workers United owes more than $20 million to SEIU, according to its financial reports.

How is SEIU attempting to explain its attempted takeover of Local 50?

It looks like SEIU officials are using the same worn pages from the Purple Palace's trusteeship how-to manual. Here’s what SEIU posted on a special website it set up for its latest trusteeship attempt.

The former officers of WU Local 50 have denied democratic rights to members, misspent your dues money and violated the Workers United constitution and WU Local 50 bylaws. In response, the Workers United Conference has placed WU Local 50 into trusteeship. In the coming days, the Trustees will be reaching out to each of you to listen to any concerns you may have…

Sound familiar? 

Here’s Local 50’s website, b/t/w.

What’s next? Local 50 has filed a lawsuit against SEIU to stop their power grab. More news to follow.