You know Vernon..

I think you might have a point here. The IAEP reps went around the counties, handed out literature, talked to members, made phone calles (although some of those were unwanted and seen as an invasion of privacy)... and consistantely throughout this attempt to educate, they readily explained the process and how the service agreement came about, and how it would be enforced, the benifits and drawbacks (although I believe there are few to none in that catagory..but that's my opinion...).... and what this election was all about.

They should have made more of an attempt to contact the members!.... but then.. you also have a responibitlity to take the initiative and educate yourself as well. If you had questions about what the heck was going on, you should have made every effort to clear that up before the vote. If you say that you  had no idea that a vote for SEIU was a vote for IAEP.... I'm sorry, but that leads me to believe that you've made you home under a rock. It was on the lips of many a coworker, and even if not eveyone knew all the details.. they at least knew something was going on. Those that were really interested made sure to get all the information and even made an effort to pass along the information, god bless 'em. Getting people to get involved... especially those of us who just want to come to work, keep our head down, and make a paycheck..... is a difficult task.. kind of like trying to get a t 3 year old to eat greenback.. that's an analogy for those who take every word literally....

But from what I've seen and heard, this was the biggest event to happen in a long time up in NorCal, and for proof, look at the vote turn out. The average historically, I believe, is 20% of the employees would come and vote on.. whatever was being voted on... in this election somewhere around 50% of the workforce came out and voted.. that's a huge number... which means a lot of people were involved.

And that leads me full circle to, the information was there, you had to have had some idea of the situation, and if you didn't like even a little of what you heard, you should have investigated it.. before the vote.. Now it's over, and just because you didn't make the attempt to get all the facts, you think that this whole thing should be made "illegitmate".... Well, I'm sorry Vernon if you didn't do your homework. That's not your coworkers fault... and they should not have to do this "all over again" because you feel jilted in some way. Why don't you get involved with your union and see what there is to find out... late though it is in the game.. and start being productive and proactive, instead of trying to tear down the walls around your coworkers ears..... I'm sure they'd rather have you working with them then working against them. There's a lot of wounds that need to heal, and picking at them like this won't help them along.

Hey Vern,

My "quotes" were an attempt at cynical humor. I do see your points. However, I don't see the IAEP as illegitimate. I do think most people understood all the affiliation and division stuff and were o.k. with it.

That's me, and others, and we've laid out the reasoning for this position. You disagree and will die on this hill, no matter the costs to this labor group.

Who knows what the NLRB will say, or what the vote count will be, or how long all this will take to determine. More voting opportunities will come. The question is, what is the right thing to do in the meantime?