Labor Relations Monitor - Generic: Raynor Resigns UNITE HERE Presidency, Says Splintered Union Is in 'Total Chaos'

Bruce Raynor, general president of UNITE HERE, May 29 announced his resignation from his position with the union he helped to form through a 2004 merger.

Raynor had been suspended from the office of president earlier in May.

Raynor said he decided to resign not out of “my own volition but because I have been forced out of office by the same people that ruined the merger of our two unions.” In the past few months, UNITE HERE has been in the process of a “divorce” of the two unions merged to form it. Raynor pledged to continue a “fight to demonstrate that their actions have been unconstitutional and illegal.”

UNITE HERE May 29 issued a statement applauding Raynor's resignation as “good news” coming just hours ahead of an internal union trial scheduled to address his role in “promoting the breakup of the very union he was sworn to defend.”

On May 14, John Wilhelm, president of UNITE HERE's hospitality division, who had equally shared authority with Raynor in leading UNITE HERE, relieved Raynor of all his duties, responsibilities, and powers (93 DLR A-10, 5/18/09).

Wilhelm's action followed a 32-0 vote by UNITE HERE's General Executive Board April 21 to suspend Raynor. The board cited his “attempts to divide the union as well as promote [Service Employees International Union] as a competing labor organization within UNITE HERE's jurisdiction” (75 DLR A-9, 4/22/09). The board, UNITE HERE's highest governing authority between conventions, in a statement said Raynor's actions in violation of the union constitution included attempts to “remove the International Union from control of the Amalgamated Bank, the Union's pension and benefits funds, and the Union's building in New York City, as well as fostering the illegal secession of joint boards from the Union.”

Union Splintering Led to Suspension.

Events in recent months related to a split from the union by one faction within UNITE HERE led to the actions to suspend Raynor.

UNITE HERE, formed by the 2004 merger of UNITE, the primarily textile and apparel workers' union led by Raynor, and HERE, the hotel, restaurant, and casino workers' union led by Wilhelm, splintered in several moves this year (26 DLR A-9, 2/11/09; 48 DLR A-10, 3/16/09).

On Feb. 6, a group of UNITE HERE officials aligned with the Raynor faction filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York seeking to end the merger of UNITE and HERE (26 DLR A-9, 2/11/09).

A disaffiliation vote took place among union leaders aligned with the UNITE faction of the union who pushed to end the merger and formed another union, Workers United, affiliated with the Service Employees International Union, while the HERE faction, which represents the larger number of members, resisted disaffiliation (54 DLR A-1, 3/24/09).

In April, Wilhelm filed a formal complaint under the constitution of labor federation Change to Win against SEIU, alleging “an across the board assault on [UNITE HERE's] jurisdiction” by SEIU. UNITE HERE has maintained that SEIU interfered in UNITE HERE's affairs and intruded on its industry jurisdiction through overt moves attempting to “raid and destroy” UNITE HERE (64 DLR A-9, 4/7/09).

In a statement on Raynor's resignation, Wilhelm said, “While we recognize the good news of his resignation, we are under no illusion that SEIU and Raynor have given up their quest to steal UNITE HERE's hotel, gaming, and food service jurisdictions.”

'No Longer Serving Effectively.'

“Our union is in total chaos,” Raynor said, adding that the situation has deteriorated to the point where he no longer feels he is serving working people effectively as general president.

“Unfortunately, current events make it clear that we failed to mesh our two cultures in a way that allowed us to manifest the bold vision we set out to achieve,” Raynor said in a May 29 letter to UNITE HERE members.

In a continuation of the accusations raised by both sides of the union, Raynor lamented the distraction the rift in the union is causing. “While UNITE HERE staff are busy attacking Workers United and SEIU, members suffer, contracts don't get bargained, grievances don't get filed, and organizing campaigns are stalled.”

As an example, Raynor said 3,500 UNITE HERE members at the Disney hotels in Los Angeles have been without a contract or the raise that would come with it for more than one and a half years.

He also accused UNITE HERE organizers of raiding Workers United laundry locals in California and Arizona.

Raynor also said UNITE HERE staff had broken into his office at the union's building on 725 Seventh Ave. in New York City May 22 and removed many of his files. When UNITE HERE suspended Raynor, it barred him from visiting any of the union's offices.

Addressing accusations by Workers United that UNITE HERE had “raided” the offices, UNITE HERE spokeswoman Pilar Weiss told BNA May 27 that “UNITE HERE just improved our security precautions at the 7th Ave. headquarters because of increasing evidence that Workers United/SEIU was destroying and removing documents and property. The union HQ belongs to UNITE HERE, not SEIU, so one cannot raid one's own property.” Weiss said the action was taken to maintain the status quo.