S F BAY AREA JOURNAL FOR THE EXHIBIT BUILDER AND TRADE SHOW INSTALLER
WRITTEN AND PRODUCED BY YOUR FRIENDLY LOCAL HISTORIAN AND TRADE HUMANIST
SEPTEMBER 1992   the next issue   VOLUME II   NUMBER 2
EDITORIAL   CONTRACT   HEALTH   BUDGET   MEETINGS
  EVENTS .   HISTORY   CALCULATIONS   PHILOSOPHY
DIGITALISED AND REPOSTED DECEMBER 1996
EDITORIAL
After the last issue of the WATCHDoG I received several inquiries about my health. Both arms and legs are still attached . But you should check again after this issue hits the fans.
The last issue sold out immediately. One installer complained bitterly because he had to pay full cover price for a used copy. lnstallers continue to inquire about the next issue. I tell them of the need to catch up with the rest of my life and they all sagely nod and silently express intimate acquaintance with the problem. I silently accept their condolences. It has been satisfying to discover the number of rank & file members who are interested in reading the WATCHDoG and disquieting to learn some of their reasons.
Since the last issue lots of water passed over the damn & through the turbines. Some of it drained onto my disks. So with my floppies in hand I shall continue musing upon the state of the union and serve up another mixed grill.
This reporter is still having trouble finding adequate images to express his opinion of the latest episode of the soap opera of collective bargaining. It most closely resembled a epic safari movie with expensive great white hunter and native beaters leading the rank and file through the bargain basement of democracy.
While expressing those sentiments at work one installer spun and hammered down on me. "Not only is it a good contract," he said, "It was a great contract. And out leaders did a great job. We should stop critisizing everything they do and give them the support they need to do an even better job." I did not have the opportunity to ask his politically correct highness if he felt the same about the president or governor but it was his sentiments that inspired this issue.
I also owe installers an apology. Because of my indescressions management came to the bargaining table with the identical agenda that one of the members brought to proposal committe meetings. Unlimited call by name dispatching. A member of the negotiating team told me they had the hardest time convincing management that "they were so many holes already in the union's dispatching system that management did control all the workers they needed " or wanted. Now that is a victory which ups my digit for our resident dingbats. I wonder if those 'holes in the dispatching system' were like the 'gaps in the official record' which the appointed wingnit found.
This Next Issue will continue to sprinkle bits and pieces of local history on your morning sweatbreads. With typical disregard for inhibiton the editor will reveal what is not being hidden and irresponsibly print what he believes to be true and is able to document.
Another $1 issue. ($1.50 by mail.) Another bargain.
Which brings me to the quote of the issue.
"Luck is when preparedness meets opportunity."
Benjamin Franklin Caucasian Immigrant

COLLECTIVE BARGAINING
The 'installer proposal committee' created excitement as it repelled its way down the derriere of leadership & presented to an assembled multitude of expectant installers 'proposed changes for contract negotiations'. In accord with past practice they gave installers 15 minutes before calling for a vote. Ample opportunity to fondle the document. One new installer complained that this procedure (of allocatlng limited time to reading. comprehending and discussing significant issues) was absurd (among other things) but several older members told him to 'shut the fuck up'. So we were all duly chastised and the members promptly elevated everyone who was anyone to the negotiating team.
I can honestly say I saw that coming and tried to prevent it. Though loosing my struggle to get the proposal committee to examine real issues I did succeed in removing the secrecy that the officers had imposed. A motion was passed requiring the proposal committee to inform installers of its deliberations & agenda. In obvious contempt for the democratic process no installer was ever informed of anything until the very night that voting was scheduled. A politically expedient procedure that throttles participation and substantially reduces the value of each and every vote. I consider it an insult to any installer with the slighterst intelligence. Even those with pretensions of intelligence.
Keeping members informed of proposal committee deliberations was my idea so obviously it was my responsibility. That is how union meetings are run. When a member expresses a concern he or she is automatically appointed chairperson of a committee. Our current president will long be remembered [I guarantee it] for originating and implementing that executive policy which relieves the hired help of their appointed rounds & intimidates every member who attends a meeting from expressing a concern.
Next the 'contract negotiating committee' after a record number of meetlngs, filed strategic bankruptsy. It came down to the wire [to the final hour at the Apostle of the Sea] & there was nothing left on the bargaining table but 'take aways' [& a 'drug policy' carefully implanted and set to explode]. And the same attitude towards rank & file members. Plenty of time to inform voters of the 'new provisions' but no information distributed until the hour before voting.
They keep on doing it because most members are anxious about the wisdom of their own judgment & abandon responsibility to the nearest authority figure. That is ritual behaviour. It produces symbolic solutions. A trade union is a fragile environment. It will not survive the abuse of concentrated power. Historically, from the laborer's point of view, benevolent authority has a terrible track record.
In the rug dump one day I aggressivelyl asked another installer, "What do you think Union is?" There was silence & then from the back of the listening workers a voice said. "I know what Union is. Its Family. And we all know what family is." I can not state it any any better.

CURRENT EVENTS
Concentration on collective bargaining, health and welfare and local finances should not lead the reader to assume that all the bad news is played out on center stage. Some of it thrives behind the drapes and can grow unnoticed indefinitely.
At the end of one Moscone show a group of installers found written on their cards 'call the employer next week for work'. Only one worker called the office to report this incident and he was informed by the 'officer available' that this was in accord with the contract which gives employers 48 hours to roll a worker to another job and this 48 hours includes notification of the time and place to report to work.
That is a complete reversal of the union's previous position. If an installer was not notified of the time and place to report back to work (before leaving the job site) then that worker was considered laid-off. In fact it used to say that in the contract until it just disappeared. No officer has ever explained how and no member can remember voting to eliminate it. This twist of policy actually directs members to solicit employment directly from employers and undermines the Union's Hiring Hall and dispatching proceedure.
At another Moscone show (early in the morning of the first day of the set-up) there were three strange faces working hard with no 510 installer. This was before any of the I&Ds arrived in the building. Upon descretely asking I was informed that they were 'Greyhound men'. They indeed wore GES stickers but they were not 510 installers and they were not the GES upholsterers or carpenters specified in the contract]. They were from LA and had cleared in through one of our monkeys. A GES LA exec brought them up to service his accounts and they punched and signed in on the GES clock.
That was who they were but how did they get on the job? They could not have been dispatched by seniority because all A's were not out. [Far from it.] So they must have been called by name and replaced 3 of the dog's regulars. But which ones? This question lead to endless speculation [and no agreement] upon the names of the GES 25. [I have never figured out how to find out.]
One brother accurately concluded that it was a new Hiring Hall procedure called Deal of the Day.

SIGNUPS
I can safely say that all the news isn't bad because some of it may be terrlble. At the February meeting the IBA expressed his intention to hold another installer sign-up in order to provide adequate numbers union workers for upcoming Semicon. Many members objected. At the March meeting one installer expressed similar concerns and even received assurances that if the subject came up for discussion and a vote all installers would be notified in advance.
The WATCHDoG would have loved to predict (based on past practice] that our leaders would postpone consideration of the problem until it was too late to develop [or implement] an intelligent alternative. Then they could hold another sign-up. But that already happened! So I have completely reversed my attitude towards sign-ups & now I just can't wait for the next one because there are lots of people I want to see screwed out of $50.
Union officers have a fatal attraction for increasing union membership & limited concern for the welfare of current members. For years [& years] I have tried to get them to keep records of employment growth patterns and to balance union membership to the industry's ability to support installers. I also predicted that a peak in employment is inevitable and suggest that unlimited growth is suicidal.
This year's Semicon confirms my thinking. Not only was it 'just another trade show in Moscone', it was also much smaller than it used to be because individual exhibitors accepted reduced spaces in order to fit the show into the facility. All expectations based on past data were high. The current record [for the number of instal1ers employed on one day) probably occurred the year Semicon was at the fairgrounds & Gourmet in Moscone.
Local 510 just passed another peak in the growth curve. Similar changes will occur in the future. I hope everyone keeps this example in mind.

HEALTH AND WELFARE
If you think I was unhappy with collective bargaining then tighten your seat belt for a little turbulence. There have been Wingnuts concerned with the lack of air quality in Moscone since the hall opened and the first crew went to work. The situation which did not improve when North Hall opened. Thanks to creative 'presidential policies' there have also been many Union 'air quality' committees. But each time the installers who volunteer for these committees are defeated by the complexity of the problem and the inertia of union officers.
I do not understand why it should be necessary for working rank and file members to devote time and energy to the persuit of health and safety on their jobsite. The business agents are mandated to enforce both the terms of the contract as well as all applicable health and safety standards.
It is not on their agenda because they don't have to breath the air in Mosone and there is nothing wrong with the air at the Union office. So whenever working members stop pushing officer activity dries up and the same problem awaits the appointment of another committee.
Finally one committee chairperson made it all the way through the muck and mire. He sidestepped the executive committee and brought to one monthly membership meeting a carefully researched proposal to have the air at Moscone tested for a host of toxic agents at a cost of $3,500. This study would provide the documentation necessary to persue correctative measures. Installers were overjoyed and heartily concurred. But Mike Hardeman was determined to 'save the Union money' and promised the membership he would get the testing done for nothing.
Money to buy cellular pohones with unlisted numbers. Money to fly to Washington with Agnos and St Louis with Jordan. Money for plenty of prime perks and expensive souveniers. But when it comes down to air qualtiy on the jobsite then it is time to save money. You figure it. I'm lost.
And so the city tested itself. After notifying itself and preparing itself. All three officers were present in appropriate costumes for the picture taking ceremony. One officer proudly stated that this testing was proof postive of Mike Hardeman's political clout in the city of San Francisco. No one dared even ask why it took so long.
The official record clearly states there is nothing wrong with the air in Moscone. It meets all required health standards. In order to make progress installers must now provide independant documentation that incontrovertibly contradicts the official record. No mean task. It also means we still have to spend money. And our position is much weaker.
Tell me who is he working for. I know who pays his bills.

EARLY HISTORY
In the beginning Local 510 had only one Business Agent, Fritz Dreislin. He organized the trade show workers at Stewart & Sauter (now GESco) through the sign shop. Union upholsterers handled fabric and union carpenters handled construction. During that period of time, in order to fill the office of Financial Secretary, the members voted the secretary Alice Kane 'honorary Union membership' and continually elected her to the office of Financial Secretary. But they still paid her a sercretary's wages. Alice was the workhorse with which this local was built. She handled all the accounting and office managment and correspondance and made most of the judgement calls.
There were perhaps sixty installers at that time. I don't know how many total member in the local, maybe 300. Definitely many more skilled sign painters and show card writers.
Then the local was approached by a failing Stockton Area Local Union of workers in the outdoor and neon sign industry with maybe (I'm guessing now) 30 to 40 members. They wanted to merge in order to prevent going under. The executive board embraced the merger over the objections of many of the members.
After the merger the geographic area of the local's jurisdiction expanded and suddenly the Union needed another Business Agent to police the territory. Who could possibly be a better choice than the BA of the failing local who just happened to lived in the area. From that moment on Local 510 has had 2 BA's. As a measure of their effectiveness, today there are 25 members in the Stockton Area and two Union Employers. Today stagehands have jurisdiction over the installation of exhibits and trade show in the Stockton/Sacramento Area.
BA Fritz Dreislen retired midterm for health reasons. The Executive Board appointed Mike Hardeman to fill out the term. When election time rolled around Installer Roger Ferris ran against Mike for the position. Roger went to the Union Office and asked for a list of the members names and addresses in order to mail out campaign literature. He was told that this information was kept secret for the preservation of members privacy and he could not have access to it. Then he asked for a list of employers signatory to Local 510 contracts so that he might contact members at lunch. He was informed that this was also confidential.
Meanwhile Mike Hardeman visited each and every shop. Doing his official duty he contended. Introducing himself, smiling, shaking voters hands. He won that election and has occupied the throne unopposed ever since. His vision of the job of representing workers and the Union is indistinguishable from a political lobbyist and his agenda requires his attendance at every local social event. It has never included a strong Union presense on Installer jobsites and never will.
When Art Paulo retired (honored with Local Bylaws sec. 32) Bob Owen was appointed to take his place. He quickly discovered that there was nothing to it. Literally. All that the previous tenant did on a regular basis was pickup and deposit his paycheck. So to 'make a job' the officers combined part of Hardeman's job of visiting and representing the sign and display building shops with part of Toback's job of policing Installer jurisdiction in the South Bay. This unadvertised event created new meaning for the old expression 'Union Featherbedding' and the arrangement allowed Mike to double the amount of time he devoted to his personal political agenda.
Moscone, the original and the expanded, is the result of local government and investment capital combining to stabalize a failing local economy by substituting tourist attractions and services for an evaporating maritime and industrial base. Installer are just a small part of San Francisco's Convention and Trade Show Industry.
Riding minimum accountability and armed with both his expense account and the general fund Mike sallied forth against the Windmillls of the high rent district and sidestepped into City Hall. He is the smiling White Knight of the Downtown Association and the Favorite Son of the Building Trades Council.
For many members those are important qualification for Union Leadership. They also believe 'who you know is more important than what you know'. For workers that philosophy translates into bigger paychecks and easier job assignments.
Just make the best deal you can.

DOLLARS AND SENSE
At a monthly Union meeting may years ago Mike H requested funds to support a media campaign which supported increasing the compensation for San Francisco's City Supervisors. I don't remember if that was before or after he himself ran for public office. Yes, while he was a salaried full time officer of the local. Anyway, he argued, "in order to get the best people with the highest qualifications" you had to pay a lot of money because "you get what you pay for". Obviously we are not paying our officers nearly enough because lookat what we got for our money.
In debate I argued that public service was a sacrifice which individuals made because they had the ability and the desire to serve. Then I added, "large amounts of easy money attract the wrong people to entrust with public responsibility". That was undeniably the funniest line that I have ever delivered. Everyone laughed hysterically.
At the March meeting Mike H informed members that he had been sworn in as Public Utilities Commissioner for the City & County of San Francisco. A political patronage appointee of the newly elected Mayor Jordan. He said it was only a 'part time' job and there was 'no conflict of interest' because there was not much to do. And anyway, he would use his own time, evenings and weekends. The appointment fits in nicely with his other part times jobs; Lobbyist for the Building Trades Council, and Ball Park advocates and Battleship proponents and assorted Candidates for office public office. As well as sign painter for the Democratic party. The list of the meetings he already attends would fill an issue.
I have never been able to distinguish between what Mike does for himself on his own time and what he does as the elected representative and paid employee of the Local. I am not the only one who has that difficulty. He acts as though divine inspiration was the source of each political posture upon which he expends time and funds. Union members hold divergent political beliefs, many of which are far more socially sensitive and rational than the powers that be and his activities often neutralizes the political activites of working members, compromising their principles.
At the same March meeting the Officers requested funds for overnight lodging in Sacramento in conjunction with a meeting they were attending. Several members suggested that they drive home but they thought it inconvenient, perhaps even undignified. They also requested and received funds for a table at a Labor/Management diner where 'imporant people in the Labor Movement' eat with prominant Business Leaders and the Politically Entrenched while 'discussing their problems'.
To my mind the only problem they have in common is the maintenance of their positions. Their solution is to keep eveybody uninformed and ineffective. It seems that one basic tenet of leadership is 'paper moves mountains'. Leaders, of course, move paper. But please note whose back is sore and whose check is in the mail.
I don't know how many installers have followed the per capita tax soap opera which debuted in the first issue of the WATCHDoG. The international (IBPAT) modified the constitution (effective January 1, 1990) to include a monthly percapitax on 510's B & C list installers. I called it to the attention of the members. Mike responded he knew all about it, even before it happened. He said that it just did not apply to us. I suggested he get that in writing. He said it was not necessary. I took it to a vote and the members agreed with me. The motion passed.
So for many meeting thereafter I continued to inquire about his progress while compiling an interesting list of glitches in the cogs of executive performance. Then in the February issue of the OPI Wingnut (Official Plastic Immitation Wingnut) I read that the members at the November meeting had approved a compriomise wherein the Local agreed to pay the IBPAT $3.25 for every month a B or C list Installer worked more than eight hours.
I believe Mike Informed the international that the members had seriously considered stopping the collection of check-off dues from B & C list workers in order to prevent IBPAT from taxing people on the poverty level. Some members suggested it was an insult to the dignity of the Trade Union Movement.
So they worked out a deal. The local would abandon its presuit of just and equitiable taxation in exchange for a greatly reduced assessment. In addition they would pave a new avenue of revenue for the IBPAT, 'Dispatch Tax'. Mike sold it and the members bought it. Probably just a coincidence that I was absent from the meeting in question.

BUDGET
When the position of Business Manager/Financial Secretry was created responsibility for producing a yearly budget was carefully and purposely written into the job description because the Officer's policy was (and still is) to spend money as fast as it comes in and the local often had little or no money left in the General Fund. On several occasions Union Officers have used this condition to justify their requests for increases in dues and assessments.
Since then (and at least once a year) I have asked the Financial Secretary when he will present the next budget to the members for their approval. Every time he responds with an excuse which he immediately follows with a promise of compliance. Obviously a budget would limit what he could spend on his personal agenda. The number of annual budgets he has presented for membership approval since he has been in office tallies a big zilch. That proves that effective participation by working members operating within the rules and regulations is an impossible task. It appears that the only game plan that actually produces is the underground press and alternative rag. (GO WATCHDoG!)
In 1991 other members took up persuit of the 'mysterious missing budget' motivated by the outrageous disparity between working minimal hours and paying full time dues. Suddenly a 'budget' appeared. Mike did not present it to the membership for approval as clearly instructed in the bylaws but rather to the Executive Board and then announced his success to the members on a salmon colored card dated 9/27/91.
When I asked a member of the Executive Board how the board could vote to accept Mike's document as 'the Union's working budget for the upcoming year', he responded, "The board did not vote to approve Mike's budget." I then asked what the hell Mike meant when he notified all the members in writing that the Executive Board 'accepted as presented' his budget and he said, "Probably Mike meant that he presented a paper with his budget on it and we excepted it in order to read it. No vote was taken. Some e-board members had problems understanding the document and there were many unanswered questions. Mike insisted that in accord with past practice a vote of approval need not be taken because it had never been taken before."
And I thought my people invented chutzpuh. I do not attend executive board meetings and the board never reports to the members, but if that is the actual scenario then both ears and the tail belongs to the torero for his handling of the bull. The bylaws read (#9 under his job description) "Recommends an annual budget for approval by the members."
There is clearly a moment in the term of every elected official when the promise to serve reverts to the need to master. Mike has retained (unchallenged) his position for so long that he has not only acquired royal attitudes towards members but ancestors amongst the local gods. And that is exactly what representative government with democratic proceedures were designed to prevent.
(Note added December 1994
The Union never advertises the qualifications for Union Office. If you ask el honcho he tells you 'its in the Constitution'. The compulsion for secrecy is as formidable as capitalists competing for profit. Which is not far from the truth. Anyway it is now chiseled in granite. One month before nominations the Union president announces that at the next monthly meeting there will be nominations for Union Officers. At which point it is impossible for some members to qualify. So here, well in advance, I provided everyone with the relevant sections of the Constitution.)

CALCULATIONS
I sincerely hope Installers were suitibly impressed with the quality of their brass monkeys because in June each one of you will have the opportunity to re-elect them and enjoy three more years of imaginative, innovative and informative leadership. A bargain at any price.
At one meeting in response to a comment on the subject under discussion Mike said he was not hiding anything. That was true. He just wasn't revealing anything. That proves that truth may exist in dilutions so great as to be undetectable.
Under elections in the IBPAT Consititution . . pages 86-87. .
Sec. 148(a) To be elegible to run for office, delegate to district council, or delegate to any central body, a member must meet the following requirements:
(1) he has been in continuous good standing in his local Union for two years immediately prior to the date of nomination,
(2) he had attended at least one meeting, and attended , or excused, his absence from, at least twenty five percent (25%) of the meetings held by the Local Union during the twelve months immediately prior to the date of nomination: a member may excuse his absence on the grounds of a work conflict, illness, or personal emergency, so long as he submits the excuse in writing to the Local Union no later than five calendar days after the missed meeting*; and
(3) he was employed, actively seeking employment, or unable to be employed or to seek employment due to disability, within our trade during the major portion of the 12 months prior to the date of nomination.
(*The 'note from the doctor' routine is the Borgstedt opening.)
And you also have to be a citizen as one member found out after accepting a nomination.
Now, having carefully examined the merchandise and warranties, its a good time to take a look at the bill. Over the many years that I have been a member of this Local Union I was always curious about the amount of the IBPAT Pension that each of the officers automatically enjoys as part of their compensation. But each time I enquired I was stonewalled. In fact, in 1990 when I was chairman of the Bylaws Committee, I carefully and specificaly asked each of our monkeys that very question and recorded these answers. "I'm not sure." "I don't know." "I won't answer."
So when compiling statistical information on the Local's operating costs I estimated the IBPAT pension as equal to the Builders's Pension which they also get and that amont is specified in the contract. How they got two pensions is another story.
Then when reviewing the changes in the IBPAT Constitution I discoverd the section governing officer pensions. (Sec.282.b page 152) It is 10% of their gross monthly compensation. Their Shop pension is about 6%. Combined that is a lot of pension. That is why officers are in no way going to disclose it and why they are quick to warn members about 'rumor mongers' (that's me folks) whenever actual figures are mentioned.. Ignorance is indeed bliss. Our ignorance is their bliss.
The only way to find out the truth is to figure it out.

(Note added December 1996
The amount of compensation is determined by the Local Bylaws and the Collective Bargaining Agreement. At the time this was written the relevant sections were #23, #24, #25 which define salary as 40hrs per week at between 110% and 116% of the highest journeyman's rate plus 20% for expenses.
Each positon also recieives all the benefits of the contract including vacation, holiday, sick leave, medical coverage and two pensions. In the printed issue the actual amounts and the calculations were performed in accord with the integrity of the WATCHDoG.
Now those figures are out of date. Both the wages and the percentages are higher and the benefits are greater. So if you want the truth, get the Bylaws and read the applicable sections. Get a contract and find out the current rates. Then do the math..
It will astound you. I guarantee it.

THE BEAT GOES ON
At the August meeting Mike asked for and received $3,000 from the General Fund to contribute to "Save The Giants". The vote was 8 to 6. He proposed that expenditure after members voted (against his better judgement!) to send two delegates to to the Sign and Display Convention in Orlando, Florida.
The Giants had suddenly loomed big on his agenda. Just that aftenoon while he was at City Hall the idea was born to fly off with the Mayor and there just was not enough in the general fund to cover all the necessary expenditures. So when someone suggested paying the expenses of one delegate with the Installer Check-off Dues, Mike Hardeman wanted to appropriate it immediately..
But Installer Check-off dues is specifically collected to provided for 'Installer Stewarding and Dispatching' and spending it otherwise requires proper member notification and a vote. Mike Hardeman openly drools at the prospect of dipping into checkoff dues.
The day after the meeting Mike Hardeman told Mike Tsongas (the other elected delegate) that if Installer Checkoff Dues did not pay his expenses then Tsongas would have to pay his own expenses. This local has never voted to send a delegate anywhere without paying their expenses! Hardeman's behaviour constitutes an attempt to prevent duly elected rank and file members from participating in Union representation.
And the editor of the OPI Wingnut, who was standing right there, couldn't even report events accurately. He accepted and printed our holy father's assertion that 'unwanted' delegates are responsible for their own expenses..
.
NUTS AND BOLTS
I was going to end this issue on a light note by drawing a little box and stating 'none of the unsigned articles were written by John Carter'. In stead I shall predict that the publication of the OPI Wingnut will be extended forever and the compensation doubled due to the degree of difficulty. In his last issue (Sept l992) John boldly commits his focus on 'upcoming issues' and invites members to stop by in October and give him their vote of confidence and renew his stippend.
My difficulties with the resident OPI editor began with an article I submitted to his publication. He proceeded to completely rewrite it (without a word to me) and negated hours of creative spelling and punctuation. Then he took his copy to the foreman of a prime deco (again without permission) and asked that person to write a response. Upon reading it said foreman became irate and wrote a scathing reply for publication which defended finks and cast himself in the role of Darth Vader. I could not believe my luck..
The article in question ('Out To Lunch') was critical of Union Officers for allowing members to sabotage the Union from within. At first I thought that the editor simply could not read. It took time for me to realise that his actions were manipulative and self-serving in the extreme and carefully designed to deflect criticism from his friend Joe, his mentor Bob, and his idol Mike.
Then he asked me to delete from my article a reference I made to him. I asked why. He said, "because I lied to you". He had bragged about his annual earnings and had brought his tax return to prove it. So I kindly removed the reference. But to this very moment I can not stop wondering to whom else he told those lies. And what other lies he told me.
My letter which he printed in the OPI Wingnut V2 #6 was neither written nor addressed to the editor and permission to publish it was never given or implied. That letter was carefuly addressed to the Vice President of the Local Union and its intent was to give the Vice President an opportunity to substanciate or retract his explicit statement that 'members voted to keep Installer Seniority Numbers secret' before I posted a glowing resume of his jounalistic integrity to the National Inquirer. I sincerely do not feel bad about not remembering what other people have imagined. And I was also unaware that there were "huge gaps in the 1981 minutes". What seems to be the problems guys.
The Editor/Vice President's strategy of filling in those "gaps in the official record" with hallucinations he has collected caught me by surprise. I stilll operate under the delusion that evidence is require for proof. Nonetheless count me as one installer who appreciates the generosity of granting me the opportunity to earn back what has been taken without due proces or just cause..
And JC, if you do "figure out a way to find out for sure that the vote didn't happen" do not hesitate to publish your results. There are many who would welcome a change from the Aristotelian model which has ruled western thought for two millenium..
Secresy is the cement that binds accumulated power to its accustomed seat. One Installer described the incumbent attitude perfectly. "The Business Agents know everything and if they want to they tell you." 'Scientia est potentia'

MEDICAL PHILOSOPHY
Health Insurance used to be a benefit the Union negotiated in its Collective Bargaining Agreement and Employers were considered responsible for providing it. At that time Medical Insurance was a small and stable cost factor similar to the Installer's IRA. Then with sudden acceleration the cost of Medical Insurance went through the roof and took off for the moon. Employers would not and could not cover these escalating costs. One might therefore have hoped that Employers would see the benefit of actively supporting a National Health Insurance Plan even though it infringes upon the free, the private and the profitable.
So the Union assumed responsibility for Medical Insurance by accepting a monetary value (read dollar amount) as 'Health Insurance' and since that time has executed itst responsibility by attaching earnings (most often increases achieved in contract negotiations) to maintaining health benefits. All of the data presented about Health Insurance portrays it as a cost to individual workers based on their hours worked. This leads many installers to believe that health insurance is a private affair and each Installer is paying for it out of their personal earnings.
In reality Health Insurance is a Union Benefit supported by a pool of money generated by taxing the manhours worked in the industry, Evey hour worked by anyone under the Installer Collective Bargaining Agreement adds $3.25 to that fund. Even the hours B's and C's work. I estimate B & C list contribuitons as 10% of the total yearly manhours and therefore 10% of the Annual Healthy Plan Iincome. Installers, through elected trustees, control the qualifications for coverage as well as the kind and the amount of coverage. Currently it is 75 hours of employment per month after an initial qualification of two consecutive 100 hour months.
The statement that "290 ourt of 350 Installers were covered in an average month" was made by Bob Owen and unsupported by any data or documents. Obviously that is all that working Installers have to know. How many are covered for 12 months, or 10 or 4 months, remains a mystery as well as how many remain unqualified and for how long. Rank and file trustees are discouraged in favor of 'our professionals who know what they are doing'.
Some Installers express concerns over the administration of the Health and Welfare fund. Allied Administrators is an agency which the Union has hired to collect and distribute money according to the terms specified by contract or membership vote. And they are supervised by elected trusteees. The trustees consult with the agency to purchase the best and most coverage for members and to keep the fund solvent. The complaints have been about the costs of administration and the poor quality of administative service. Some members have wondered if the whole ball of wax could not be done better and cheaper inhouse. I have no information to offer. In the back of my memory is the figure $90,000 to Allied in a year when the total funds collected may have been $900,000. Approximate a 10% cost of administration. That is not a fact until documented..

This edition of the UNION WATCHDOG like the previous one
was written and produced and distributed by installer sam lefkowitz
COMPLAINT DEPT