Newly Obtained Information Shows that Ousted Union Leaders Plotted and Covered Up...

Newly Obtained Information Shows that Ousted Union Leaders Plotted and Covered
Up Wrongdoing
Memos show that attorney hired by former SEIU local leader Sal Rosselli told
top Rosselli lieutenant that diverting $3 million in dues and other activities
were improper but UHW leaders did so anyway

OAKLAND, Calif., July 9 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Ousted union President Sal
Rosselli and his top lieutenant John Borsos were advised by an attorney that
some of their actions while in office were improper and illegal, but they took
these actions anyway and then followed the lawyer's advice on how to cover
them up, according to new information obtained by SEIU UHW. Rosselli is now
the president of a newly formed organization called NUHW, and Borsos remains
his top lieutenant.

The new information was included in a letter delivered today to Congressional
leaders and members of the California Congressional delegation. These actions
show why the National Labor Relations Board should not be pressured into
closing its investigations into unfair labor practice charges against
Rosselli, Borsos, and the other officials while new facts are still coming to
light.

SEIU UHW was placed in trusteeship and Rosselli and the other leaders were
removed from office in January for among other things, improperly diverting $3
million in members' dues money to a bogus non-profit organization, moving
$500,000 of members' money into an outside attorney's account, and violating
democratic union procedures designed to protect members. They have never
challenged the legality of the trusteeship.

"We now know why Rosselli, Borsos, and the other ousted officials have refused
for over a year to turn over documents they were obligated to provide to SEIU,
because they show so clearly that they willfully violated their
responsibilities to SEIU UHW members while in office," said Dave Regan, SEIU
UHW trustee. "We believe this is just a small slice of the information that
Rosselli and his lieutenants have been hiding and that as more information
comes to light, we will learn more about the full scope of their wrong-doing."

In a memo from Feb. 8, 2008 while Rosselli and the others were still officers
in SEIU UHW, the union's attorney, Arthur Fox, advised that using the bogus
non-profit to move money off the SEIU UHW books for their political use was
illegal. But, Fox advised, if they "played dumb" they might well be able to
get away with it, and if the IRS discovered the activity, they could just say,
"Woops, Sorry, We Screwed Up." The former UHW leaders took Fox's advice, and
vehemently denied any wrong-doing when the bogus fund came to light.

Fox wrote in the e-mail to John Borsos:
"Another possible scenario would be for you to 'play dumb' ... put your money
in the (c)(3) where it would be very difficult for SEIU to get its hands on
it, and use it as you see fit and hope the IRS never catches up to you. And,
even when IRS launches an investigation, it takes many months for it to
conclude it. By then, who knows... As long as no contributions to your Fund
were claimed as deductions on tax returns, the IRS should not be terribly
upset. You would just say, 'Woops, Sorry, We Screwed Up. I guess we should
have called ourselves a (c)(4) or (5) in the first instance.' (Ellipses in
original)."

"When I first read these emails and other documents, I was angry. It made me
sick to my stomach to read how our leaders were misleading us as they were
failing to help us," said Laureen Fowler, who works for Kaiser Permanente in
Roseville. "It shows just how we members were kept in the dark about what was
really going on."

Since the trusteeship was imposed it has also been learned that other Rosselli
lieutenants, while still in charge of SEIU UHW, terminated contract extensions
with nursing home employers and deliberately failed to negotiate contract
renewals with those employers, leaving members vulnerable and without the
protection of a contract, so they could come back later and decertify the
units if they were expelled from SEIU. These actions had serious consequences
for SEIU UHW members. Collective bargaining relationships have been
destabilized, and contract rights have been put at risk.

What's more, they removed or destroyed many paper and electronic files
concerning grievances that made it impossible or difficult to pursue those
cases and protect members' rights in the workplace.

Another recently obtained e-mail from Fox shows that both Borsos and Rosselli
were advised in March 2008 on how they could misappropriate SEIU UHW documents
and hide the wrongdoing to create plausible deniability were they to testify
under oath. The former officials took this advice as well.

Fox wrote in the e-mail to Rosselli and Borsos:
"In fact, you may want to download a significant volume of materials in your
data base from your computer servers, including a membership list, etc., into
a 'foreign' computer or server where you will be able to collect the info at
some future point in time. Ideally, this new electronic depository would be
one over which you do not have immediate or absolute control. Or, preferably,
knowledge. Sooner or later SEIU will probably put you and your close
associates under oath and ask questions whose answers you can honestly say you
do not possess. CAVEAT. Use your best judgment on this. Stern might at some
future time accuse you of violating some SEIU privacy/confidentiality duty ...
or even theft of union property, by virtue of your 'stealing' info from UHW."

Still another recently obtained document establishes that Rosselli and Borsos
were advised on how to cynically use members to cover up their activities by
engaging in covert, rather than "overt[]," activities; and by "laundering"
transactions through front groups that would appear to be funded by
rank-and-file members:

Fox wrote in a memo to Rosselli and Borsos:
"As a consequence, it would be wise for UHW and its officers to proceed
cautiously so as not to appear, overtly, to be attempting to subvert the SEIU
IEB's jurisdictional mandates. Rather, to the extent the UHW may wish to
resist implementation of any particular mandate it should probably "lay low"
and simply provide information and advice, and perhaps well-concealed
assistance, to members who are, themselves, anxious to resist those directives
for their own reasons. Ideally, such assistance should be 'laundered' through
an intermediary."

See the letter to the California Congressional Delegation, copies of the
emails and more: http://www.seiu-uhw.org/letterToCongress20090709.pdf

See all the documents related to the SEIU UHW trusteeship decision, including
former Secretary of Labor Ray Marshall's opinion:
http://www.seiu.org/a/ourunion/trusteeship-documents.php

SEIU UHW represents more than 150,000 healthcare workers across California and
our members provide first-rate care to millions of Californians. We are a
proud affiliate of the 2 million-member Service Employees International Union
(SEIU). Learn more at www.seiu-uhw.org.

Contact: Pete Janhunen, 510/502-2457, pjanhunen@seiu-uhw.org

SOURCE SEIU UHW

Pete Janhunen of SEIU UHW, +1-510-502-2457, pjanhunen@seiu-uhw.org