Person

Leslie Frane

Residence:

Oregon

Occupation:

Executive Vice President, SEIU

Contact InfluenceWatch with suggested edits or tips for additional profiles.

Leslie Frane is a labor union official who holds office as executive vice president for the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), a major cross-sectoral labor union that represents building services employees, nurses, other healthcare workers, and government workers and is established as an institution in left-of-center politics.

Frane has been active as a union organizer for over 30 years with a background in healthcare workers and nursing home employees’ unions which included SEIU chapters in Connecticut and Oregon. Frane was formerly the leader of SEIU Local 503, the statewide SEIU chapter in Oregon. 1

Background

Frane is a longtime union activist and got her start in union organizing and left-progressive issue campaigns in Connecticut, where she served as the Vice President of the New England Healthcare Employees Union, an SEIU affiliate numbered District 1199NE SEIU. Frane led many campaigns for the union mostly focusing on healthcare and healthcare workers, among them a nursing home workers’ strike in 2001. 2

From 2003 to 2010, Frane served as the executive director of SEIU Local 503 in Oregon, the statewide SEIU chapter that is comprised of twelve sub-unions for employees of specific state government departments as well as retirees. 3 Frane’s accomplishments as executive director of the local union included growing the membership and pushing for various left-leaning legislative policies and ballot measures. 4

In 2010, following the retirement of longtime SEIU International President Andy Stern, Frane backed Mary Kay Henry to become the international union’s new leader. When Henry was elected president of the SEIU over Stern’s preferred successor Anna Burger, Frane was tapped to a leadership post in the international union as vice president of the SEIU department overseeing government worker membership. 5

Federal Election Commission campaign donation records show contributions from Frane to the US Senate campaigns of former U.S. Senator Mark Udall (D-CO), Sen. Jacky Rosen (D-NV), and Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ). 6

Frane earned over $168,000 in compensation from the SEIU in 2015. 7

Controversies

In 2008, while Frane was Executive Director of SEIU Local 503, that local union’s president Joe DiNicola, submitted a claim for $110,000 in back wages and overtime from the union. This led to a lawsuit spanning multiple years in which subpoenaed emails to and from Frane were cited. One email from a former Local 503 President to Frane urged her “to ‘blackmail’ Joe in the hopes that he will resign/withdraw the legal action immediately. The ‘genie’ will not remain in house and the press coverage will be remorseless and soon.” 8

In 2017, in her role as managing executive vice president of the national SEIU, Frane was put in charge of a large internal investigation into sexual harassment claims against union officials. The scandal led to the dismissal of several SEIU and AFL-CIO executives. Frane described the punishments as “swift” although allegations later surfaced that the union had knowledge of complaints against certain executives for at least 20 years. 9

References

  1. “Leslie Frane, Executive Vice President”. SEIU. Accessed October 8, 2019. http://www.seiu.org/leslie-frane
  2. Zeilbauer, Paul. “Nursing Home Workers in Connecticut Conduct a One-Day Walkout”. New York Times. March 21, 2001. Accessed October 8, 2019. https://www.nytimes.com/2001/03/21/nyregion/nursing-home-workers-in-connecticut-conduct-a-one-day-walkout.html
  3. “SEIU Local 503” Ballotpedia. Accessed October 8, 2019. https://ballotpedia.org/SEIU_Local_503_(Oregon)
  4. SEIU Press Release. “SEIU Local 503 Executive Director Tapped to Join Senior Leadership Team of International Union” June 11, 2010. Accessed October 8, 2019. http://media.oregonlive.com/mapesonpolitics/other/Frane%20announcement.pdf
  5. Mapes, Jeff. “Oregon SEIU leader moves on to a top job in union”. The Oregonian. June 11, 2010. Accessed October 8, 2019. https://www.oregonlive.com/mapesonpolitics/2010/06/oregon_seiu_leader_moves_on_to.html
  6. “Leslie Frane”. FEC Individual Contributor Search. Federal Elections Commission. Accessed October 8, 2019. https://www.fec.gov/data/receipts/individual-contributions/?contributor_name=leslie+frane&two_year_transaction_period=2010&two_year_transaction_period=2012&two_year_transaction_period=2014&two_year_transaction_period=2016&two_year_transaction_period=2018&two_year_transaction_period=2020&min_date=01%2F01%2F2009&max_date=12%2F31%2F2020
  7. “Leslie Frane”. Union Facts. Accessed October 8, 2019. https://www.unionfacts.com/employee/Service_Employees/LESLIE/FRANE
  8. Mapes, Jeff. “Oregon SEIU local still roiled by DiNicola case”. The Oregonian. August 8, 2010.  Accessed October 8, 2019. https://www.oregonlive.com/mapesonpolitics/2008/08/oregon_seiu_local_still_roiled.html
  9. Eidelson, Josh. “U.S. Labor Leaders Confront Sexual Harassment in Top Ranks” Bloomberg Businessweek. November 7, 2017. Accessed October 8, 2019. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-11-07/u-s-labor-leaders-confront-sexual-harassment-in-their-top-ranks

Connected Organizations

  1. SEIU Local 503 (Labor Union)
    Former Executive Director
  2. Service Employees International Union (SEIU) (Labor Union)
    Executive Vice President
  See an error? Let us know!