Sacramento Central Labor Council leader calls for Sean Loloee to resign from City Council
Hours after federal agents raided Councilman Sean Loloee’s grocery stores and homes in a massive operation, the head of the Sacramento Central Labor Council is calling for his resignation.
Homeland Security and Internal Revenue Service officials offered no reason for the Thursday raid. Loloee was the subject of a lawsuit the feds filed against Loloee last year. That lawsuit, filed by the U.S. Department of Labor, revealed a myriad of investigations and alleged labor violations dating all the way back to 2009.
The DOL alleged Loloee threatened to deport employees who cooperated with a federal investigation into his stores. It also claimed Loloee underpaid employees, employed minors in hazardous occupations, and interfered with multiple federal investigations. It named 66 employees, and alleged violations at four stores: Rancho Cordova, Dixon and the two locations in the North Sacramento district Loloee represents — one in Del Paso Heights and one on Norwood Avenue.
Central Labor Council representatives have previously met with a group of Viva workers who provided “shocking details of repeated labor violations,” the organization’s Executive Director Fabrizio Sasso wrote in the letter.
“We believe that, given the gravity of these allegations, your persistent legal troubles, and their potential impact on the residents and workers of Sacramento, especially those in District 2, it is in the best interest of both your constituents and the principles of ethical governance that you immediately resign from your position as councilmember,” Sasso wrote.
The letter also urges Loloee to “cooperate fully with any investigations and legal proceedings.”
In addition to Loloee, Sasso sent the letter to Mayor Darrell Steinberg and all the council members. As of 5:30 p.m. Thursday, he had not yet received a response.
Loloee did not return text messages and phone calls from The Bee Thursday.
The Sacramento Central Labor Council is one of the most influential groups in the city’s political circles. It is made up of more than 90 unions, representing 170,000 members in manufacturing, retail, construction, hospitality, public sector, health care, entertainment and other industries in the six-county region.
If Loloee refuses to resign, the council could take a vote to remove him, but it would be a highly unusual move.
Loloee’s term ends in December 2024. He has not yet publicly announced whether he plans to seek re-election. He was sworn in to the council in December 2020.
This story was originally published October 26, 2023 at 6:01 PM.
