Nevada SEIU asks parent union to take control of operations

The Nevada chapter of Service Employees International Union has requested its parent union take control of local operations following the ouster of its two highest-ranking elected officials.

SEIU Local 1107’s executive board voted Wednesday night to request an emergency trusteeship be imposed, SEIU International spokeswoman Janet Veum said. A source with direct knowledge of the vote said it was 17-to-7, with five executive board members abstaining.

Under a trusteeship a local union suspends its autonomy and gives authority to its parent union.

Typically, the international union would conduct a hearing and have a vote of its international executive board before imposing trusteeship, Veum said. But because SEIU 1107 made an emergency request, international president Mary Kay Henry could expedite the process by imposing the trusteeship before the hearing is held.

“SEIU (International) will move forward with that request in a timely manner,” Veum wrote in a statement.

As of Thursday, the remaining members of SEIU 1107’s exeuctive board had control of the union, Veum said. Two international union staff members have been sent to Las Vegas to assist them.

SEIU Local 1107 represents about 18,000 workers in Nevada. About half are government employees and half are private sector health care workers.

Henry removed local president Cherie Mancini and executive vice president Sharon Kisling from office Wednesday. The two officers had faced internal charges of misconduct that were investigated during a two-day hearing SEIU International held in October.

“In addition, some of our members raised serious concerns in recent years about the ability of the local to protect the interests of SEIU Nevada members so they can succeed at the bargaining table and maintain the strongest possible position in the fight back against the rigged economic and political systems that harm our state’s working families,” according to a statement on SEIU 1107’s website.

Following the suggestions of a hearing officer, Henry found that Mancini and Kisling violated their constitutional duties to the union. Both are barred from holding office for one year and are suspended from union membership for six months.

Contact Michael Scott Davidson at sdavidson@reviewjournal.com or 702-477-3861. Follow @davidsonlvrj on Twitter.