AUGUST 17,2008 -Members of SEIU Local 721 have filed formal charges against their leadership, who was appointed by their International, located on the east coast. The letter these members sent is copied below. Source:cityoflosangelesseiumembers.com/blog

August 14, 2008
Attn: Andy Stern, President, SEIU
Anna Burger, Secretary-Treasurer, SEIU
1800 Massachusetts Ave, NW
Washington DC, 20036

Re: Formal Charges Against SEIU Local 721 Appointed Leaders

On behalf of other concerned members of SEIU Local 721, we, the undersigned, file the following charges against Annelle (aka Cecilia) Grajeda for violating the following provisions of the International’s Constitution and Bylaws:

Article XVII, Section 1, (1), (2), (3), (5), (6) and (9).

We charge that Annelle Grajeda is employing her life partner, Alejandro Stephens, as a “lost-timer” for the local, which allows him to continue to receive the full benefits of county employment, including receiving a county paycheck appropriate to his payroll classification, while he is, simultaneously, also, on the payroll of the California State Council of Service Employees/Service Employees International Union. What work, specifically, is he doing for either entity?

Furthermore, Local 660/721 established and continues to provide support to the so-called “Local 660 Emergency Relief Fund, Inc”, a 501 (c) (3) non-profit organization which purports to provide emergency financial relief to Local 660/721 members in need. We want to determine, by name, who are the Board of Directors of this organization and if any of these directors is now receiving or has ever received a stipend or consulting fee, from this fund. Who, in fact, are the recipients of this relief and under what circumstances is this relief granted. Also, we are most alarmed that in 2006, the “Fund” paid out only $14,615.00 in contributions to members, while total expenditures of the “Fund”, in the same year, exceeded $157,000.00, including $81,251.00 for “professional fundraising fees”. Were these fees paid in a fashion that benefitted any staff or officers of Local 660/721, financially or otherwise?

Our serious concerns about these charges have been greatly elevated by the recently published article appearing in the Los Angeles Times, on August 9, regarding the alleged serious corruption and gross misuse of members’ dues monies by the President of Local 6434. We have grave concerns that this type of malfeasance may be possibly happening in our local union.

Therefore, in addition to the charges filed above, we, also, formally call on President Stern to immediately do a complete audit of Local 721’s finances to determine what, if any, union resources may have financially supported this alleged wrong-doing.

According to the statement made by SEIU representative Steve Trossman in the Los Angeles Times August 9 article, “if the International Union receives allegations about a local that warrants further action, we have internal union procedures for handling them”. We will take SEIU at its word and expect that immediate action will be taken regarding our concerns.

Respectfully,
Arturo Diaz
Shop Steward
Ron Tanner
Local 721 Retiree