U.S. District Judge William Alsup Removes Rosselli and Four Other Defendants from $20 Million Union Education Fund
SAN FRANCISCO – A federal judge has booted Sal Rosselli, ousted president of the Service Employees International Union – United Healthcare Workers West (SEIU-UHW), and four of his top assistants off a $20 million union education fund that they illegally tried to maintain control of even after they were removed from office. The order by U.S. District Court Judge William Alsup described the transaction through which Rosselli and his allies sought to maintain control of the fund as “drenched in self-dealing.”
SAN FRANCISCO – A federal judge has booted Sal Rosselli, ousted president of the Service Employees International Union – United Healthcare Workers West (SEIU-UHW), and four of his top assistants off a $20 million union education fund that they illegally tried to maintain control of even after they were removed from office. The order by U.S. District Court Judge William Alsup described the transaction through which Rosselli and his allies sought to maintain control of the fund as “drenched in self-dealing.”
The ruling means the fund will now once again be controlled by SEIU-UHW members, who negotiate employer contributions to finance job training and education.
“Finally we can control our own education fund, not these disgraced former officials with a history of playing fast and loose with our dues money,” said Earlene Person, a licensed vocational nurse at Kaiser Oakland and an SEIU-UHW member. “Once again they’ve been caught trying to steal our democratic rights.”
It’s the second major loss in federal court for Rosselli and the National Union of Healthcare Workers (NUHW), which Rosselli started after he was removed from office in SEIU-UHW for misusing millions in members’ dues money and violating members’ democratic rights. On April 9 a federal jury found that NUHW, Rosselli, and 15 other defendants liable for $1.5 million in damages, after evidence showed that they had sabotaged, undermined and lied to union members, and used members’ property to start NUHW, a violation of both state and federal law. Judge Alsup presided over the trial.
Rosselli, his top lieutenant John Borsos, and three others served as the management trustees of the SEIU UHW-West & Joint Employer Education Fund, which provides career advancement opportunities for healthcare employees throughout California and in parts of Colorado, Oregon, Nevada and Washington. The fund is run jointly by trustees appointed by the union and employers, with five trustees for each group.
Anticipating that they might be removed from union office, Rosselli and the others rewrote the fund’s bylaws in March 2008 to place themselves in permanent control, giving themselves lifetime appointments and sole power to appoint their successors, taking the power to control the fund away from SEIU-UHW members. They admitted that they neither sought the permission nor informed the members of SEIU-UHW, and were unable to give Judge Alsup any logical rationale for why an SEIU-UHW education and training fund would be controlled by people who have no connection to the union.
For Immediate Release: Monday, May 10, 2010
“Finally we can control our own education fund, not these disgraced former officials with a history of playing fast and loose with our dues money,” said Earlene Person, a licensed vocational nurse at Kaiser Oakland and an SEIU-UHW member. “Once again they’ve been caught trying to steal our democratic rights.”
It’s the second major loss in federal court for Rosselli and the National Union of Healthcare Workers (NUHW), which Rosselli started after he was removed from office in SEIU-UHW for misusing millions in members’ dues money and violating members’ democratic rights. On April 9 a federal jury found that NUHW, Rosselli, and 15 other defendants liable for $1.5 million in damages, after evidence showed that they had sabotaged, undermined and lied to union members, and used members’ property to start NUHW, a violation of both state and federal law. Judge Alsup presided over the trial.
Rosselli, his top lieutenant John Borsos, and three others served as the management trustees of the SEIU UHW-West & Joint Employer Education Fund, which provides career advancement opportunities for healthcare employees throughout California and in parts of Colorado, Oregon, Nevada and Washington. The fund is run jointly by trustees appointed by the union and employers, with five trustees for each group.
Anticipating that they might be removed from union office, Rosselli and the others rewrote the fund’s bylaws in March 2008 to place themselves in permanent control, giving themselves lifetime appointments and sole power to appoint their successors, taking the power to control the fund away from SEIU-UHW members. They admitted that they neither sought the permission nor informed the members of SEIU-UHW, and were unable to give Judge Alsup any logical rationale for why an SEIU-UHW education and training fund would be controlled by people who have no connection to the union.
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For Immediate Release: Monday, May 10, 2010
Contact: Adriana Surfas, 510-869-2246
SEIU United Healthcare Workers-West (SEIU-UHW) is the largest hospital and healthcare union in the western United States with more than 150,000 members. We unite every type of healthcare worker with a mission to achieve high-quality healthcare for all. SEIU-UHW is part of the 2.2 million-member Service Employees International Union (SEIU), the nation's fastest-growing union. Learn more at www.seiu-uhw.org