The Service Employees Int’l Union has filed a $3.7 million June 6 lawsuit against 23 former officers and employees for alleged misappropriation of money, property, and resources, SEIU Canadian vice-president Sharleen Stewart said June 13. The suit filed in the Ontario Superior Court alleges that the misappropriation allegedly took place as part of the Canadian Auto Workers’s attempt to raid SEIU’s 30,000 members in Ont.
“The union movement isn’t about hatching secret deals and removing members’ hard-earned dues money without authority,” Stewart said. “You can’t hide sleazy manipulation forever behind the maple leaf and bad faith negotiations.”
The suit alleges the signing of a secret merger agreement between then-SEIU Canadian vice- president Ken Brown and CAW president Buzz Hargrove; removal of files, computer equipment, telephones and furniture from SEIU local offices; erasure of computer files; and diversion of telephone lines and mail. Brown now hold staff positions with CAW. It also alleges that $ 475,700 in funds was removed from SEIU Local 220 in London, Ont., nearly $87,100 from Local 528 in Mississauga, Ont., and more than $67,000 from Local 268 in Thunder Bay, Ont.. [BNA 6/14/00]