Tyrone Freeman steps aside as head of SEIU chapter
California?s largest union local, SEIU 434B was placed under a temporary trustee yesterday, amid investigations into spending habits, elections. The trustee will take control of the union?s finances and appoint an interim president. President Tyrone Freeman announced a leave of absence, saying he would remain away for the duration of the investigation, in order to ensure impartiality. Freeman departs as several stories of intimidation and retaliation against employees who did not wish to sign a petition supporting him, emerge. Multiple workers, who wished to remain unnamed for fear of retaliation, told of employees being transferred far away, or of having their union cell service revoked. One worker spoke of the union atmosphere as ?very tense,? with a ?lot of intimidation.? No close relatives, friends, or business associates of Freeman were available for comment.
See "Tyrone Freeman steps aside as head of SEIU chapter", Paul Pringle, Los Angeles Times, August 20, 2008