Like it or not, AFL-CIO’s Richard Trumka disciplining of a rising star within the AFL-CIO is creating turmoil that has spilled out into the public’s view.
WASHINGTON, DC—There is a “power struggle” going on within the House of Labor that has erupted into public view over what some may consider a rather benign issue—the false submission of a $118 strip-club receipt.
In late April, AFL-CIO president Richard Trumka placed AFL-CIO executive vice president Tefere Gebre on paid administrative leave—the equivalent of suspended pending investigation—charging Gebre with abusing his expense account, according to Splinter News.
“You are not to report for duty until notified and you are not to have any conversations with any of our staff, affiliates or allied partners in your capacity as Executive Vice-President of the AFL-CIO or concerning this investigation while the process is ongoing.”
In November, Gebre was in Florida campaigning for failed Democrat-gubernatorial candidate Andrew Gillum and, apparently, visited the Playmates Club, a well-known strip club that is rated No. 7 on Yelp’s Miami’s Best Full Nude Strip Club top 10 list.
Gebre then submitted his $117.70 receipt on his AFL-CIO expense account.
In his April letter to Gebre, AFL-CIO president Trumka stated, “while I have been informed that, after our staff identified the claim as potentially inappropriate, you stated that the receipt evidencing the expenditures was submitted in error, I believe that it is prudent for the AFL-CIO to investigate the matter further.”
In contesting his suspension, Gebre has lawyered up—sending two letters from his attorneys, one dated April 26 and the other dated April 30.
The April 26 letter to Richard Trumka reportedly states, “your decision to remove [Gebre] from office by placing him on administrative leave is not authorized by the AFL-CIO Constitution, and is in violation of the Constitution itself, as well as without any factual basis.”
The letter from Gebre’s attorney goes on to state:
“Article X, Section 12 requires that there must be allegations of “malfeasance or maladministration” before a National Officer may be subject to internal Union charges. No such accusation has been or could be levied against Vice President Gebre.”
“The April 10, 2019 memo from Paul Lemmon of your office to Vice President Gebre, although acknowledging that the receipt (for $117.70) was submitted in error and then withdrawn once the error was discovered, claims that merely socializing at the nightclub where Vice President Gebre was socializing, Playmates Bar and Grill, somehow constitutes ‘misconduct.’ The basis for that conclusion is unclear.”
The April 30 letter, addressed to AFL-CIO general counsel Craig Becker, noted that four days had passed since the previous letter, and demanded that the “decision to place Vice President Gebre on leave… be immediately and publicly vacated, and that an appropriate apology be issued to him.”
On May 1, Gebre elevated the issue by sending a letter to the entire 55-member AFL-CIO executive council.
His letter states:
Members of the Executive Council, AFL-CIO
Dear Brothers and Sisters:
I am writing to advise you of an unfortunate and very serious situation that has arisen in the past week and to seek your immediate assistance and support.
Last week, on April 23, I received a letter from President Richard Trumka immediately placing me on administrative leave (with pay) and thereby denying me the right to continue to perform the constitutional duties I was elected to perform as Executive Vice President.
The basis for this action is a single receipt for $117.70 that was erroneously submitted to the AFL-CIO (not by me) and then withdrawn, without payment, once the error was discovered.
The AFL-CIO Constitution does not provide the President any legal authority to unilaterally remove me or any other officer from their elected position, even temporarily and with or without pay. It is the Executive Council that has the sole authority to undertake such an investigation under Section 8(b) of the AFL-CIO Constitution.
After I received the April 23 letter, I retained legal counsel (a union attorney), and we then repeatedly advised President Trumka and General Counsel Craig Becker that this action violated the AFL-CIO Constitution, and that the claim that the unpaid $117.70 receipt somehow constituted misconduct had no basis in fact. Copies of that correspondence are enclosed. Nevertheless, President Trumka decided to continue to prevent me from doing my job as Executive Vice President until the “investigation” is completed.
If President Trumka wants to continue to “investigate” the $117.70 receipt, he should refer the matter to you. But, regardless, unilaterally removing me from my elected office before completing any investigation is a violation of basic due process, as well as the AFL-CIO Constitution.
By this letter, I am requesting that you direct President Trumka to return me to office immediately and to refer any further “investigation” to the Executive Council. By copying President Trumka, I am repeating my request that I be reinstated to my elected office immediately.
Please let me know if you have any questions. Your assistance will be greatly appreciated.
In solidarity,,
Tefere A. Gebre
Gebre, who became the AFL-CIO’s Executive Vice President in 2013, is an Ethiopian immigrant who rose through the ranks of Southern California’s Orange County Labor Federation.
To many in the AFL-CIO, Gebre “represents a generational and philosophical change at the federation — one that values new progressive partnerships and non-traditional organizing, and one that its leaders hope will rejuvenate a labor movement that’s been contracting for years,” wrote HuffPost’s Dave Jamison in 2013.
Given that, as Splinter News notes, the “disciplining of such a high-ranking figure over a six-month-old expense report has now become a very public struggle for power atop America’s most influential organized labor group.”
UPDATE:
AFL-CIO’s Own Employees Weigh in On Brewing Leadership Conflict
