SEIU President Stern's House Of Cards Comes Tumbling Down As Corruption Scandal Spreads

SEIU President Stern's House Of Cards Comes Tumbling Down As Corruption Scandal Spreads-Stern Announces Plan To Trustee UHW

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-union26-2008aug26,0,5532516.story

SEIU spending scandal spreads to Michigan
Rickman Jackson, former official in Los Angeles chapter, takes leave of absence from Michigan local. Action comes after Times reports of payments to firms owned by L.A. leader's family
By Paul Pringle, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
August 26, 2008
A spending scandal at California's largest union local spread to a second state Monday as the head of the union's leading Michigan group stepped aside because of a widening financial inquiry.

The Service Employees International Union said that Rickman Jackson, who served as chief of staff at the Los Angeles organization, has taken a leave of absence from its biggest Michigan local less than a week after the president of the Los Angeles chapter relinquished his post.



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Both departures followed reports in The Times that the local and a related charity paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to firms owned by the wife and mother-in-law of its president, Tyrone Freeman, and spent similar sums on a Four Seasons Resorts golf tournament, restaurants such as Morton's steakhouse, a Beverly Hills cigar lounge and a Hollywood talent agency.

The Times also disclosed that a housing corporation Freeman helped launch used the address of a Bell Gardens home that property records show is owned by Jackson. Freeman, the housing corporation and Jackson have declined to say whether he was paid for any use of his residence.

SEIU spokeswoman Michelle Ringuette would not say Monday whether the union's inquiry into Jackson's activities is focused on his home and the housing corporation. The corporation did not receive the tax-exempt status it sought and lost its right to do business in California for a time.

Freeman and Jackson were appointed by SEIU President Andy Stern, one of the country's most influential labor leaders. In a statement Monday, Stern said, "We will not tolerate any action by any leader that harms the interests of our membership."

Jackson could not be reached for comment Monday. In an earlier e-mail, he said he would have no comment on the union investigation. Freeman has denied any wrongdoing.

SEIU's statement Monday also announced that Stern's administration would seek trusteeship of an Oakland local that has resisted the SEIU's efforts to shift 65,000 of its 150,000 workers to the chapter that Freeman headed. The Los Angeles local was placed in trusteeship last week, and all of its officers were removed.

paul.pringle [at] latimes.com