“Card ,Check”, Used, Unionize ,

Now we know why unionists were fighting so hard for a federal “card check” law. Organizers can unionize private and public employees, forcing them to pay hundreds in union dues, before they even know anything about it. That's the situation at the Cape Cod Lighthouse Charter School in Orleans, Massachusetts. Last week news broke that the reputable charter school was the second in Massachusetts to be organized by the American Federation of Teachers. (Snip) Several teachers complained that they were never informed about the process and were never asked to vote on the issue.

Elle,

I saw your post this morning, after I had met with my council yesterday. I am meeting with them again on Tuesday morning, after the card signing they are having Monday.

I will ask him about your advice, and toss that into the stew as well. I appreciate any and all input.

I wish I had seen your post before leaving yesterday, I would have inquired about it then.

It is going to be a long weekend. One of those weekends where I am glad I quit drinking years ago.

Thanks again :)

it's really very simple and the concept has legitimate uses beyond this ancillary one

.... and with a stroke of the pen you have no employees so you don't have to let the "organizers" on your property or even speak with the union rep

Incorporating is a paper game and you can cookie cutter several leasing firms and open and close them as you drive them crazy ...

You can simply explain to the shop that as of Monday you're going to enter into a labor leasing agreement

You don't have to explain at all but you can just tell people in the office (who love to spread gossip) that you are making the move for better group insurance rates and to eliminate the hassle and paperwork associated with payroll

In essence the labor leasing company becomes an arms length hiring hall and you can pick and choose your employees

let them start making application to the labor leasing companies as you hire one company or another to provide labor for each different job or for time periods if the job is a big one

you can cover any cost by reducing the wage and when the union bug is out of them you can hire the grateful back whom you choose

In these times one round should have them see the light

You might want to allow the fact to leak out this weekend that you intend to lease your labor as of the beginning of next month

It's a great attitude adjuster

We were advised at this point to say nothing that can be construed as “hostile or intimidating” to a union vote. Our lawyers said that means “just shut up, and don’t let your emotions get the best of you”.

We were advised not to take it personal (which is hard to do), and to look at it strictly from a business sense, column A to column B, etc.

It takes a special person to be a lawyer, I think there must be a fine line between lawyer and serial killer. Very hard to not bring emotion and feelings into things like this.

So, we are just shutting up for now, meeting with our accounting team next week as well, and taking their advice, we will make our decisions based on economics. Which in a way is comforting, because I can justify shutting us down, with no hard feelings.

If our guys are voting union, and saying “it’s not personal” then we can be justified in closing the doors and saying “it’s not personal”.

For some reason, there is merit to my lawyers argument.

I will have more updates next week I reckon.

I was informed from one of my guys that the “card signing” passed. I have not been legally informed as of yet, my lawyer said I will be served with those papers either in person or via registered mail in a couple of days.

My wife is on a plane to Washington St, so I haven’t even told her yet, but we already knew the outcome.

Next step I guess is the vote.

We talked to one of our tenants who last year expressed interest in expanding his operations (he’s a landscaper who rents 2 of our buildings adjacent to our sheet metal shop). We wanted to put up another pole-barn for him, but the city refused. Well, anyways, talked to him yesterday, and told him what we would want to rent the building we occupy. He didn’t blink, he said that would be just fine.

So, it is almost a certainty at this point, that we will sell off, and lease out our current building to one of our tenants.

The emotions of it, have mostly passed (mostly), and once we started looking at the numbers, it just made sense to close up and move on.

Tonights card signing and the upcoming vote are nothing more than final nails in the coffin.

Anyways, I was talkin to my oldest buddy (from boot camp nonetheless), and he said something that struck home: “God provides good people with what they need, sometimes against their own will.”

Now, this took some explaining, as I didn’t understand, and he said “All of us around you have seen you lose sleep, and wrangle and fight to keep this company. We’ve all watched you suffer, your family suffer, and we’ve watched you and your wife sacrifice. We’ve all told you for years to either sell it or move on. Your doctor has told you to retire. So, now God has given you what you need, but you still don’t see it.”

His next bit of advice was to buy a Harley and come join him and his wife for a year. lol, now, I’m not sure about all that, but it may be just what the doctor ordered.

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