More shady dealings in SEIU

Published

The LA Times continues its investigation this week of Tyrone Freeman, Andy Stern's henchman in the SEIU international's war against United Healthcare Workers West and other internal critics fighting for union democracy. Freeman is the head of SEIU United Long Term Care Workers. The new story reports on allegations of election rigging by Freeman being examined by the Labor Department.

The LA Times also reports allegations of a cover-up by the SEIU communications department of Freeman's financial indiscretions. Supporters of a progressive democratic nurses union movement should be concerned about these scandals hurting labor. Hopefully SEIU will clean itself up, with help from the reform movement.

See this diary

http://www.openleft.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=7427

for an earlier story.

New story below-

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

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.

read rest at

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/politics/cal/la-me-union17-2008aug17,0,6560591.story

more details about the debate inside SEIU at the reform movement web site

http://www.reformseiu.org

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Specializes in ICU/CCU/TRAUMA/ECMO/BURN/PACU/.
The LA Times continues its investigation this week of Tyrone Freeman, Andy Stern's henchman in the SEIU international's war against United Healthcare Workers West and other internal critics fighting for union democracy. Freeman is the head of SEIU United Long Term Care Workers. The new story reports on allegations of election rigging by Freeman being examined by the Labor Department.

The LA Times also reports allegations of a cover-up by the SEIU communications department of Freeman's financial indiscretions. Supporters of a progressive democratic nurses union movement should be concerned about these scandals hurting labor. Hopefully SEIU will clean itself up, with help from the reform movement.

more details about the debate inside SEIU at the reform movement web site

http://www.reformseiu.org

Workers deserve honest, democratic, transparent unions committed to their best interests and to social justice...not ones corrupted by anti-democratic tendencies, too-cozy relationships with employers, or personal corruption. Especially nurses, who have unique professional duties and rights to advocate in the exclusive interests of patients!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C5KgdP-OmIU&feature=related

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Update - Tyrone Freeman has stepped down as head of ULTCW SEIU in the wake of the scandal.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/21/us/21union.html?ref=us

http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/front/la-me-union21-2008aug21,0,2162824.story

Brian Leubitz at Calitics blog says SEIU pres. Andy Stern will

probably find Freeman another job in SEIU to defuse the scandal.

http://calitics.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=6721

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Specializes in ICU/CCU/TRAUMA/ECMO/BURN/PACU/.
Update - Tyrone Freeman has stepped down as head of ULTCW SEIU in the wake of the scandal.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/21/us/21union.html?ref=us

http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/front/la-me-union21-2008aug21,0,2162824.story

Brian Leubitz at Calitics blog says SEIU pres. Andy Stern will

probably find Freeman another job in SEIU to defuse the scandal.

http://calitics.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=6721

Autocracy, Cronyism, and Paternalism: Serving Employers Instead of Us, THE company union.

Thanks for the links to these important stories, Jimmy.

And, good luck to the hardworking union members at http://www.reformseiu.org

It's important to note that direct care RNs have unique legal, ethical, and moral accountability in the provision of care in the exclusive interests of patients that is not well-served by the service workers union. Learn more about it here:

http://www.calnurses.org/nnoc/about-nnoc.html

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Commentary from SMART

(SEIU Member Activists for Reform Today)

Tyrone Freeman Steps Down

http://www.reformseiu.org/2008/08/tyrone-freeman-steps-down.html

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Another SEIU leader has been implicated in the widening SEIU scandal.

Plus SEIU dictator Andy Stern is escalating his attacks on the democratic opposition.

See

http://www.workinglife.org/blogs/view_post.php?content_id=9196

also

Students protest SEIU betrayal of campus workers

http://www.workinglife.org/blogs/view_post.php?content_id=9138

Time for Andy Stern to step down.

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LA Times story today...

Steve Lopez:

Nurse assistant works hard to pay her SEIU dues

Spending by local's president hits hard when you are schlepping bedpans for $10 an hour.

August 27, 2008

Alba had a smile on her face last week when I arrived at the Los Angeles nursing home where she hustles through long, hard shifts night after night. Hard to believe she'd be in high spirits after changing the diaper of an elderly woman, but she had one thing going for her:

She hadn't yet heard about the financial shenanigans of her union president.

read rest at

http://tinyurl.com/6ng7us

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Specializes in ER,ICU,L+D,OR.

SEIU= Serve Employers Instead of Us

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Friday, August 29, 2008

Stern Allegedly Consistently Ignored Sexual Harassment and Theft at Locals

read open letter at

http://democracy4seiu.blogspot.com/

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The truly unfortunate part here is that this sort of thing will be used to smear good unions along with the bad. Management and the union busters love to tell these stories as evidence that unions are bad, which is why we need to work extra hard to root out this kind of behavior.

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Specializes in ICU/CCU/TRAUMA/ECMO/BURN/PACU/.
Friday, August 29, 2008

Stern Allegedly Consistently Ignored Sexual Harassment and Theft at Locals

read open letter at

http://democracy4seiu.blogspot.com/

This is just more evidence that SEIU/International is the WRONG:down: union for RNs who are organizing to advance a more professional and powerful social advocacy agenda. Such paternalism, harrassment, and theft of collective resources is shameful and offensive.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fv42iwWvmbA

There is one powerful choice RNs all across the nation are making to protect and defend their right and duty to advocate in the exclusive interests of patients.

http://www.calnurses.org/seiu-watch/alternative/

:up:

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the scandal has spread to yet another seiu local. see today's la times story.

[color=#006599]http://tinyurl.com/66mr8p

also, see this commentary by herman benson, the head of the association for union democracy about seiu's authoritarian centralization under pres. andy stern

[color=#006599]http://tinyurl.com/5t3jqc

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