Education and Workforce Committee Chairman Tim Walberg (R-MI) has sent a letter to Olga Miranda, president of Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 87, requesting information about the union’s hiring practices. This action follows reports that SEIU Local 87 employed Noelia Linares, who is a convicted child molester.
SEIU is recognized as the second largest union representing public service employees in the United States, with more than one million members including local and state government workers, public school employees, bus drivers, and child care providers.
The committee’s inquiry comes after SEIU’s national office did not fully address questions raised in a previous letter from June regarding both local and national procedures for hiring registered sex offenders. The response from SEIU deferred responsibility to its local chapters.
In his letter, Chairman Walberg stated: “The [Committee] is investigating the hiring practices of the [SEIU] and those of its locals as they pertain to the hiring of registered sex offenders. The Committee has recently learned that an SEIU local hired a registered sex offender to serve as its business agent. Given the vulnerable populations many SEIU workers serve, the Committee seeks to understand how this occurred and whether reforms to the Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act (LMRDA) are necessary.”
He further wrote: “While SEIU provided a response to the Committee related to the national union’s practices, it did not provide any of the information the Committee requested about SEIU’s locals. Therefore, the Committee is expanding its investigation to locals that have demonstrated a lapse in judgment by hiring a registered sex offender. Because Local 87 hired Ms. Linares and continues to list her as an officer on its website, the Committee seeks information from your organization.”
The letter asks SEIU Local 87 for details about its policies concerning hiring individuals who are registered sex offenders. It concludes: “The hiring practices of unions and their leadership are important to the Committee as such hiring relates to the integrity of a union and sets an example for their dues paying members. Indeed, the LMRDA prohibits individuals convicted of certain crimes, including rape and serious forms of assault, from holding office in labor unions. As such, the Committee is investigating this matter to better determine whether the LMRDA should be amended to include registered sex offenders among those prohibited from holding office in a labor union.”
