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!

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.