UNITE HERE Board Authorizes Suspension of Raynor

The latest from Politico:

The leadership of what's left of the divided union UNITE HERE voted today in Chicago to suspend its general president, Bruce Raynor, who is aligned with the UNITE side which is seeking to leave the union and join the SEIU.

The vote of the general executive board to suspend was 32-0, according to a UNITE HERE official, with the charges being "attempts to divide the union as well as promote SEIU as a competing labor organization within UNITE HERE’s jurisdiction."

John Wilhelm, the former president of HERE -- Raynor had led UNITE -- will take over as president during the 90-day suspension.

Raynor then issued a statement with the associated press, saying:

Contrary to a press release just distributed by John Wilhelm’s press contact, today’s General Executive Board meeting ended with me as Chair of the GEB and as General President of UNITE HERE. To be crystal clear: I have not been suspended. To the contrary, the Board authorized Wilhelm to discuss this issue with me.

The statement goes on to identify additional greivences against Wilhelm and again calls for negotiations to end the UNITE HERE merger.

See the full article, including Raynor's statement, here.