By Josh Nathan-Kazis May 11, 2011

The last in a line of historic garment unions has selected a new president, following the resignation of longtime union leader Bruce Raynor, amid charges of financial impropriety.

Workers United, which is a 100,000-member affiliate of the massive Service Employees International Union, elected Noel Beasley as its president on May 9. Beasley is director of the union’s Chicago and Midwest Regional Joint Board.

“We must move from defense to offense,” Beasley said in a press statement. “We must reclaim North America for working families and stop the attempts to roll back virtually every hard-fought victory of the 20th century.”

Forwarding the News

Thoughtful, balanced reporting from the Forward and around the web, bringing you updated news and analysis of the crisis each day.

Terms(Required)

I agree to the Forward's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy

Email(Required)

Raynor’s resignation, which took effect on May 7, came a year after a struggle in SEIU that followed the departure of President Andy Stern. Raynor backed the losing side in that fight, and some speculated that the internal union charges filed against him for misreporting $2,313 in meal expenses were politically motivated. But an SEIU spokesman said such speculation was false.

“[The investigation] started because our international union’s legal department received from multiple sources allegations that there were improprieties with financial resources,” the SEIU’s Marcus Mrowka said. “So as with any employee or office, an investigation was conducted which led to the filing of internal union charges of misconduct against Bruce Raynor.”

Contact Joshua Nathan-Kazis at [email protected]

A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda

At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse..

Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.

$36 $500

$120 $180 Other amount