One of the incorrect points that NEMSA made innumerable times was that SEIU had sold members in my county out. I've made many posts spelling out piece by piece exactly what has transpired here.
I believe that openess and honesty are vital to our unification. Some of you might just not be interested in local politics, but for others that are, please read on and be aware of what is going on around you.
Today was the Bidders Conference. There are ten different potential bidders interested in Contra Costa. This is great news. No longer do we, the members and our union, have to sit and be stonewalled at the negotiating table. We have pitted one provider against another, forcing them to compete for the business. Of the many criteria they are judged on, one of them is employee benefits. In fact, it is one of three criteria with the most points available.
When the potential bidders were made aware that an IAEP representative was there, then end of the meeting couldn't come sooner before interested parties were asking questions. This is a good start for us and our union folks.
If any of you would like more details, please feel free to email me.
Its been a year of fun and games in the world of Monterey County politics. Tuesday the Board of Supervisors approved the RFP to go out to bid. The tale would take an evening of cigars and cognac under the stars to tell, but I will list the critical points.
The bidder awarded the 911 contract will begin operation under the new contract on July 1, 2004. Its an "EOA" (exclusive operating area), of sorts. We should know who the winning bidder is no later than around the first of the year. Interested parties showing up have been West Med, American, Hall, Southwest, Central Coast (BLS transfer in Monterey), Rural Metro. Connections and intrigue abound. What is the link between Southwest and Rural Metro? Did Riggs (where Tim Bonifay's brother is in management) decide not to do a cooperative bid with Central Coast ( who has pending lawsuits in regards to labor violations)? Why do American and Hall support each other? One thing has been clear, there there are many, many interested parties from bidders to agencies who would like to see AMR go away. But, that's part of the tale to tell some day.
AMR is bidding. Our labor group will form a committee to make a formal endorsement once we are able to view the bids.
Our workforce protection language was quite a challange, and took a year of work and watch-dogging. I don't know why Torren thinks this is so easy, and that he could ignore this issue in CoCo until a later time. The hired county leaders were against it at first. Eventually we got strong, excellent language unanimously approved by the EMS Agency, Council and Stakeholders, to be included in the final draft; only to have County Council rape and pillage it two business days before it went before the Board for approval. Needless to say, we've been very busy the last couple days.
The outcome was not everything we wanted, but still a happy ending. Due to preliminary political work, the relationships established last year, and a presence at the Board, the approval for the RFP basically centered around the strength of our workforce protection language that the Board of Supervisors and the director of the Department of Health advocated and supported in the meeting. Interested parties who had worked behind the scenes to get this language banished entirely were very pee-pee faced after the meeting.
This has been a wild ride, many hours of work, and intense strategy. All the while our de-cert election was under way. I am definitely planning a raging party next month.
Well well. Look at what we have done in COCO and Monterey! That is great guys. Now for a little reality check. If a provider other than AMR is chosen they do not have to recognize IAEP, 250, NEMSA, anyone. Sure they will have to absorb the workforce, but the contract does not come with you, And you are no longer part of the core. I know Rod is going to say that he will single handedly, with all his great power and skill, force the new employer to take the contract or they don't get the bid. That is what this committee will force and gosh darn it it will happen because we have IAFF on our side and we are invincible.
Well that may be, but the board of sups will decide and they also want to maintain a friendly business climate in COCO or anywhere else.
Another pitfall is that the bidders just say "nope see you later. AMR you have the contract you have the union you can keep it." And Guess what? AMR now has the power play back.
There is also something else to consider while you are patting yourselves on the back. SEIU knows full well that the new employer does not have to recognize the workforce. That means no dues for the machine. So if southwest or rural metro has an awesome package that kicks AMR's butt and the members want to go that way. Guess what?.. It would mean SEIU allowing an endorsement that would decrease their membership, revenue and power base. But knowing how benevolent SEIU is. They will surely let that happen because they would do it out of the goodness of their hearts.
Look, I am not trying to rain on everybody’s parade here, but there are snakes in the grass that everyone needs to think about before they skip off into the sunset.
The contract between the labor group and the employer doesn't protect the labor group when the employer leaves. We are aware of this, so shed your pearls of wisdom elsewhere. This is why we could look at this vote very objectively because we could very well be without representation in July. Its also why we worked so hard to have strong worforce protection from the county.
-- Edited by Play with My Money at 22:34, 2004-09-22
Once upon a time on the Island of Maui, an RFP went to bid. The long-standing company, Mercy, had been a benevolent employer that had very happy employees who were so content they felt at ease to rest on their laurels. Unbeknownst to the content workforce was the harsh reality of job loss if their employer did not secure the RFP.
A new company from the mainland U.S. which had huge growth in the 1990s had secured the RFP in Maui. This was unfortunate for the owners of Mercy, but the labor group assumed that all would be fine for them. It was unforseen that paramedics were expendible.
The new employer arrived, their loyalty was with the incumbent workers from mainland U.S. No job protections had been in place for the incumbent employees of Maui. All were layed off. The mainland employees were brought in and secured senior bidding for desired units. The employees that had worked in Maui, average seniority was 15 years, were allowed to apply for their jobs and be rehired if qualified. They received no seniority for years of service, nothing was recognized for the incumbent employees of Mercy.
Once again Medic One shows his ignorance on the political realities in the world. Maybe if he took the time to read the RFP he might be enlightened but I highly dought it. He is like a volcano he just spews. While it does not say specifically about recognizeing labor groups any bidder knows that not to recognize the union would just be sucicide. Since 250/IAEP gets to appoint a person to the RFP committee and since COCO is a labor county they know the reality. Since they sure were courting Rod today at the bidders conference they know they have to deal with us to have a chance at winning the bid. There were 9 companies at todays bidders conference we will have a lot to choose from so keep on spewing Medic One because you must be a company plant.
Another observation of medic duh, who exhibits hypocrisy and schizophrenic behavior; the very actions he is dissing on above, are the actions that nemsa said they would do in communities. Including garnering support from fire. Isn't that what Tim said he did in Oak Valley?
Now medic duh talks like all efforts are for not because counties are pro business?! This guy just wants to stand on a rock and curse the world because of his fear of snakes in the grass, instead of walking with a big stick in his hand.
Interesting that Medic Dumb has gone into hiding since they can no longer back up what they are saying. Maybe Medic Dumb is realizing how much they are stabbing their coworkers in the back by not helping them get involved.
NEMSA is still organizing? How can they afford that? Who is funding NEMSA? How much savings could possibly have been set aside to aquire vehicles, banquets, lawyers, overhead costs for these things? Can little San Mateo and tiny Oak Valley be supporting this effort to organize the central coast? Is that the Atlantic, Gulf, or Pacific Coast? The endless funding to continue the efforts is amazing. What is IAEP going to do to organize unrepresented regions? I think that we should contact Andy Stern for guidance being that he is a growth monger according to the article on the other thread. Growth. Maybe dues should be budgeted for growth of IAEP.
What is interesting is that MO comes on here, accuses us about either not knowing or not reading the By-Laws, when the NEMSA founder broke at least three articles right off the top of my head. I guess it is the goodwill of SEIU not to ring him up on charges. It is also the goodwill of SEIU officers not to press criminal charges against the other founder for assault and homicidal threats.
Helping the growth of IAEP is a great goal once we have our bylaws and structure in order. If someday all of california could fall under one union banner think of the power we would have! I know alot of folks at central coast (I used to work for them) and they would love to be organized into a labor union. Dealing with the managment of that company would be less than plesant though, the charges being brought against them for labor law violations are considered standard ops procedure there. If anyone thinks that organizing the "mom and pops" is worthwhile I would be happy to start getting the word out to central coast folks. Lets keep the positive and proactive ideas coming.
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"It's time to awake, get up and fight, fight for mankind, live for a cause" The Pilfers
To speculate on your initial questions, I am left to assume that 250 did alright by Tim and Torren where wages and bene's are concerned.
Organizing starts with us making person to person contact, then when there is a group from the un-unionized employer ready to go for it, we can count on the resources to be there to bring it to a vote. This is another benefit of belonging to a large labor representative.
The most important job security is to organize non-union organizations. Non-union has the favor of business minded people. Non-union can always be cheaper. Non-union is what many people today consider patriotic. Right to work is all around us. The right to subvert and undermine unions is a growing trend. It all starts having non-union workers underbidding and taking over. I remember when it seemed that AMR was the only ambulance around. I see a lot of competitors out there that obviously put a lot of money into glossy ambulances with polished tires and shiny chrome. Kind of reminds me of the Hummer.
We also need to work diligently with AMR to mprove their marketing of the BLS division. It's hard to drum up business when they keep reducing BLS hours. I totally agree that we need to improve vastly on organizing smaller ambulance companies, which is what NEMSA's plans are as well. These mom and pop companies pay their employees less and offer less bene's, thus reducing costs. It is hard for AMR to compete in such a lopsided atmosphere. We need to level the playing field by bringing these people in.
The 250 website alleges that AMR sponsors NEMSA. Is the allegation correct? Would it be legal for AMR to fund a group to decertify the union? I read the memos from management that flowed like damage control and "go back to sleep" messages. NEMSA was highly charged about the allegation. Is it true? Is it legal to leave allegations advertised that do not have substance? There is no further information to prove a connection and it is starting to be a redundant accusation.
NEMSA claimed that 250 still owed them a lot of money.
So, how is NEMSA funded? Private investing firms? Are they trust-fund children out making their mark on the world?
As for the non-organized companies, jawing about it has no value. What is the plan to make everybody union? How does a person access the crews without having the cops called on them?
Who knows if the allegations are true. That post on the 250 website is from early in the de-cert hoopla. I think 250 did what they had to do to stall things until they could figure out what the hay was going on. If AMR was behind it, that would be an unfair labor practice violation under the NLRB. I never believed AMR was behind it for a few reasons, but I do believe AMR will be opportunistic. As the vote went on, we all had similar observations as yours, and some drew conclusions. Certainly, AMR gave nemsa a wide berth. Now, once a de-cert is in effect and a vote will occur, AMR can advocate for no union. They are on the ballot as "neither". They did this in regards to L.A. and their upcoming vote, AMR sent out a letter to the employees urging for a vote of neither.
As far as the allegations from 250, they withdrew their charges from the NLRB and we proceeded towards the vote. All have speculated on this, whether that was due to no facts, or not enough, or that 250 had accomplished what they wanted to.
250 does owe Tim Bonifay pay. I don't know about Torren. We have no idea how their venture was funded, and nemsa advocates are quick to point out it is nobody's business.
Organizing non-union companies takes a lot of work and can get really ugly. One thing Snake pointed out is we need to get the local together. I hope we start discussing by-laws and things pertaining to this end quickly and efficeintly. Perhaps we should all start examing by-laws we can get our hands on and picking out what we like. A copy of NAGE's can be downloaded from their website.
Another interesting piece of all these issues, is we have as yet not heard from the NLRB. Is 250 certified, or did they not get the 50% plus one?
-- Edited by Play with My Money at 09:56, 2004-09-24
-- Edited by Play with My Money at 09:58, 2004-09-24
So if meetings are to take place that will organize IAEP, I do not trust that my local shop will have info on the union board. Will the information on dates and locations be posted on this site?
Also, rumor has it that the alleged relationship between NEMSA and AMR is about as close as family can be.
