Chaos within SEIU Local 1000 falls directly on California union president’s shoulders

SEIU Local 1000 president Richard Louis Brown has only himself to blame. The controversial first-year head of California’s largest state employee union has been foolhardy and antagonistic as the top official in an organization built on solidarity. Brown’s own actions forced the board that governs the union to take unprecedented measures to strip him of his power.

The 52-year-old State Treasurer’s Office analyst was elected president of Service Employees International Union Local 1000 in May, upsetting longtime president Yvonne Walker in a low-turnout election in which only 8% of the local’s 100,000 represented employees voted. His victory was heralded by union-busting outfits like the Freedom Foundation, which celebrates SEIU’s waning enrollment and inner turmoil.

Regrettably, assuming the presidency has done little to modulate Brown’s behavior. In his addresses and Facebook live streams, Brown has claimed “I’m under divine inspiration from God,” repeatedly called himself “crazy” and asked the public to submit applications to be his wife, which he later denied despite video evidence to the contrary. He has fired and replaced ranking employees in the union’s Sacramento headquarters and locked out his own cabinet members for meeting with members of SEIU’s Board of Directors.

Union stewards have publicly called out the president’s bullying tactics. Brown and his chief of staff are now facing a harassment and wrongful termination lawsuit by a former senior SEIU employee who was fired after a July meeting with the president, according to court filings.

At every turn, Brown has undermined his own agenda and weakened the California chapter of an international labor organization credited with helping to raise minimum wages, expand health care access and bring dignity to fast food workers nationwide.

The most attention-grabbing pillar of Brown’s campaign platform was putting an end to the union’s political spending. If adopted, it would have major ramifications for legislation and ballot measures furthering — or hurting — workers’ interests. Billionaire Tim Draper’s pursuit of a ballot initiative that would end collective bargaining is the sort of campaign in which SEIU’s clout could be needed to protect California’s workers.

There is some merit to seeking to rein in political spending by powerful labor organizations. In California, unions have been some of the biggest obstacles to climate policies that threaten industry, police reforms that address officer misconduct and public education policies that affect teachers. Many political fights, such as reopening schools during the pandemic, directly pit the public against organized labor, and it’s the public that often loses out.

Cutting back political contributions not related to core union business is an intriguing notion that may benefit California’s overall interests. Unfortunately, Brown’s disruptive tactics have only inflamed political tensions within his organization. Instead of inspiring an interesting debate about the nature of unions and political contributions, we are left with a public pileup showcasing the worst aspects of unions.

In fact, Brown’s agenda was derailed barely one month after he took office. The SEIU board has denied him a quorum to conduct meetings and, in an emergency meeting last month, voted to shift his powers to a board chair, potentially minimizing Brown to the status of just one of many board members.

SEIU 1000 now finds itself in a precarious position, led by a man with few allies who appears more inclined to burn every bridge he can find — inside and outside the union. With his back against the wall, who knows what Brown will do next?

The first-term president clearly relishes being an agitator. The 100,000 employees the union represents, its leadership and its allies, however, are not benefiting from the chaos.