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OAKLAND, Calif., Sept. 18 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Twenty-eight elected rank-and-file members of SEIU United Healthcare Workers-West (UHW) filed a lawsuit against SEIU President Andy Stern and Secretary-Treasurer Anna Burger charging the two national officers violated SEIU members' right to free speech and equal participation in their union, guaranteed by Title I of the U.S. Labor Management Reporting and Disclosure Act.
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The lawsuit filed Wednesday charges that Stern "has engaged in a relentless and pervasive campaign that ... intimidated and chilled dissent and criticism of his policies, decisions and actions." Further, the suit charges that Stern used millions of dollars of SEIU members' dues money to finance this internal war aimed at orchestrating the "implosion" of the 150,000-member healthcare union.
"A union is supposed to be a way for workers to strengthen our own voices by joining together," said Michael Torres, a respiratory therapist at USC University Hospital in Los Angeles and a plaintiff in the suit. "It's unbelievable that Andy Stern and Anna Burger would go to these extremes to weaken our union and silence SEIU members. These attacks are worse than what we've seen from even our worst anti-union employer."
[Read the lawsuit: http://www.seiuvoice.org/downloads/FILED_COMPLAINT.pdf]
The lawsuit cites a private email from national SEIU official Bill Regan to other top SEIU officials including Stephen Lerner, Thomas Debruin, Kirk Adams, Denise Poloyac and counsel Edgar James. The email does not mention concerns about UHW's finances or any other legitimate grounds for trusteeship. Instead, the email reveals that the goal of the effort was to remove UHW's elected leaders for political reasons.
It outlines a secret plan by top SEIU officials to use whatever means necessary to remove UHW's elected leaders, including orchestrating the "implosion" of UHW, dismembering the union by abusing SEIU's power over local union jurisdiction, exploiting "pockets of dissatisfaction" among UHW members, recruiting away key local union staff, filing lawsuits against UHW, initiating regulatory actions against UHW with the U.S. Department of Labor, and taking control of UHW through a trusteeship. SEIU has scheduled a trusteeship hearing for UHW next week.
SEIU members' lawsuit charges that Andy Stern and Anna Burger:
The suit notes that Stern and Burger sought to weaken UHW by forcing 65,000 long-term care members into SEIU Local 6434, whose president, Stern protege Tyrone Freeman, is now under investigation for possible fraud.
UHW's more than 80 rank-and-file executive board members work in hospitals, homecare, and nursing homes across California, and are elected by their co-workers to lead the union. A trusteeship would replace them with one appointed trustee accountable only to Stern and Burger in Washington, D.C.
With more than 150,000 members, SEIU United Healthcare Workers-West is the fastest-growing healthcare union in the United States. We represent healthcare workers in all job classifications and all healthcare settings, including hospitals, homecare, nursing homes and clinics. Our mission is to achieve high-quality healthcare for all.
Contact Sadie Crabtree, 323-365-2083
-- sought a trusteeship of UHW for political purposes and in violation of requirements set out in federal law and in SEIU's Constitution;
