In January 2009, Andy Stern and the SEIU placed United Healthcare Workers – West (UHW) into trusteeship. The SEIU hired the OSO Group, a private intelligence firm, to assist in the process. The OSO Group was asked to assist in putting the UHW into trusteeship, provide security for union officials, and conduct surveillance on the UHW (in other words, to spy on fellow union members).¹ And in the weeks after hiring the firm, SEIU ran up a $2.2 million bill.²

The SEIU then unjustifiably failed to pay nearly $1 million for services that were considered to be difficult, inherently dangerous and highly specialized.³ As a result of the SEIU’s refusal to pay, on May 1, 2009, the OSO Group filed suit in the U.S. District Court of California against the SEIU for Fraud, Breach of Contract and Negligent Misrepresentation.⁴ The suit claimed the SEIU never intended to fulfill their agreement to pay the OSO Group for its services.⁵

Perhaps the SEIU’s reticence to pay their bills has something to do with their deteriorating finances. After spending $85 million in the 2008 election and taking a $25 million loan to cover its costs, the SEIU claimed they needed to “safeguard their resources.”⁶

The SEIU claims to protect the best interests of workers.  But after hiring a firm to spy on their own members, the SEIU refused to pay the hard working, retired law enforcement officers who did the union’s dirty work.⁷