Are unions alienating themselves from the workplace or do workers see no value in them?

 If there ever was an opportune time to organize a union, now is the perfect time.  More and more companies are hiring temporary workers to avoid having to pay employee benefits.  They work them for short periods of time and then lay them off and hire a new round of temps to replace them. Numerous wage and safety violations occur every day in practically every industry because there are no employee advocates to protect them. The problem is most unions in the public and private sectors are complacent and are only concerned about holding onto their current membership.  Union membership in the private sector declined from 35.7% in 1935 to 6.6% in 2012. Part of the reason is that they have done very little to increase their presence within the work place where they have collective bargaining agreements.   In addition, where public employee unions are concerned, they make very little effort to instill political awareness within its membership rank and file.  In addition, they fail to create effective community awareness on issues that concern them most; job security and contracting out of public services.

While it’s true unions spend billions of dollars on political campaigns supporting candidates, they have done very little to align themselves with other community groups, such as churches, seniors, minority groups, and civic organizations.  During the heyday of union activity in the 1930s-1970s unions were effective in winning many bread and butter issues like limiting the work day to eight hours, overtime pay, sick leave, vacation, holidays, workplace safety, and other important causes. The point is, they didn’t do it alone. They had the community behind them.

Hubert Humphrey once said, “The history of the labor movement needs to be taught in every school in this land . . . America is a living testimonial to what free men and women, organized in free democratic trade unions can do to make a better life . . We ought to be proud of it!”

Recently, the City of Fresno’s blue collar unit represented by the Operating Engineers, Local 39 fought the city and won. This was a classic case of a Mayor and a city council majority who supported the idea of privatizing the city’s solid waste division to help balance its deficit ridden budget. In order to do this, they targeted areas where there was least resistance. Had it not been for an effective political campaign by Local 39 and its ally employee associations representing the city’s white collar workers and the police force, over 170 solid waste employees would have eventually become unemployed.  However, this whole dilemma could have been avoided if the union had a strong presence in the workplace. This wasn’t the first time the contracting out of city services had been proposed in Fresno, and it won’t be the last. Without a strong union presence in the workplace, decisions to contract out union services are inevitable.

Over 200 Arrested

Fresno Municipal Strike 1974

In 1974, the City of Fresno had a strong city manager form of government.  There existed a great animosity between the union and management. At that time, the city’s same blue collar workers were represented by the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), Local 2051. The relationship between the union and then City Manager Ralph Handley was immature to say the least. It took a municipal strike of over 500 city blue-collar employees from the city’s solid waste division, sanitation, street, parks, mechanic shops, and other departments to come to terms in contract negotiations over wages, hours, and working conditions.  Over 207 city workers, friends, and family members were arrested on the 3^rd day of the strike and hauled away to jail in municipal buses. There weren’t enough paddy wagons to transport them all. Community support from members of La Raza Unida, the United Farm Workers, and other groups supported the union during the strike. The strike lasted seven days and arrests were made every day. Although the city did recognize the union as the representative of its blue collar workers, it did not take

them seriously until the after the strike. In the end, the union won wage increases, job security, and most of all respect. The relationship between the City of Fresno and the union matured in the years following the strike. In July of 1979, the same union went on a week-long strike in the City of Clovis and won wage increases, increased contributions toward employee health premiums, and job security. The city had proposed contracting out its solid waste division as well.

Organized labor should stop taking the easy approach to organizing new workers and go back to the basics. They seem to forget that workers must actually want to be represented by a union, not be drafted into one. That means they must take the necessary steps to approach these workers on a one-on-one basis or have meetings with them to assess their priorities.  In addition, they should help them develop an effective shop steward system at their places of employment. Such an approach only enhances the relationship between the union and its members.  Union members must take ownership of their union and participate in solving its own problems. Taking legal action or boycotting companies that are not already unionized only has a tendency to alienate workers like a new stepfather does to children in a broken marriage.

 It’s not true that workers simply do not want to join a union if they had the choice.  Workers have plenty of reasons to join a union in today’s economic environment.  Companies are placing more emphasis on profits and the gap between the rich and the poor has practically eliminated the middle class.

As more states are adopting right to work legislation that allow workers to opt out of mandatory unionization, its time organized labor re-create itself into the type of organization that workers were once able to control.  They've given up huge concessions to management both in wages and benefits only to see the political tides falling against them.  Have they forgotten that there’s strength in numbers?

Is Now the Right Time for Home Buyers or Sellers?

Now is not the time to straddle the fence if you are thinking about buying a home or investment property in Fresno. Why? Because home prices are starting to increase and home buyers are bidding on desirable homes in nice neighborhoods. Listing agents are receiving 3 – 6 offers per property due to the demand for nice homes. The longer you wait, the more expensive it will be later. Also, interest rates are still low, but they too will begin to rise as the market gets into full swing. 

If you are waiting for home prices to bottom out, well you’re too late. Home prices bottomed out over a year ago and are not expected to be as low for anytime in the foreseeable future. If you don’t know the condition of your credit, you better get on the ball and start taking a close look at what corrections you need to make to increase your credit score so you can qualify for a home loan. I used to originate loans for home buyers and I know what needs to be done to increase credit scores. I do this for free as a courtesy for my clients before they begin making offers. I just want to make sure there are no surprises during the close of escrow.

We are definitely in a Seller’s Market as there are fewer and fewer homes for sale and home prices are on the rise. If you are thinking about selling your home, now is the BEST TIME to list it. Don’t waste your time trying to sell it yourself. There are too many potential problems you may run into. Due to recent changes in the law, sellers can be sued for any variety of problems where disclosures were required, but buyers were not provided the correct disclosure forms identifying issues involving the property they just purchased. Doing it yourself is ok for small fix-ups but selling your home is for a professional, a Realtor, who knows what he/she is doing. It’s not worth the risk. Realtors are professionals at buying and selling homes. If you want more information, visit my website:  www.ListingsFresno.com 

Understanding Divorce and Protecting Your Interests

Filing for divorce is never easy to go through, but it is possible to end a marriage peacefully with very little difficulty. However, this is not always the case in many divorce proceedings.

The divorce lawyers are usually the only ones that truly win big in the long run. A long drawn out divorce proceeding can be extremely overwhelming for both the parties, emotionally and financially. The longer it takes to settle a divorce, the longer the conflict continues. This can create huge legal fees for both sides. However, it doesn’t have to be this way if you obtain the assistance of a qualified legal document assistant or paralegal.

Most often, both parties will agree on the settlement and other pertinent matters without an attorney and the final dissolution can take place fairly quickly. It is possible this can all happen before the mandated waiting period is up and both parties can agree on what is fair.

There can be many questions about the divorce procedure and they need to be addressed. The procedure usually starts with a divorce petition that is initiated by one spouse (the Petitioner) and served on the other (the Respondent). The petition, which includes detailed information about the marriage, is also filed with the clerk of court in the county where you live. The petition includes many facts about your marriage including the names of the husband and wife, the date and place of marriage, names of any children resulting from your marriage, separate or community property held by you or your spouse, child custody, child support, spousal support, and any other issued that needs to be addressed before dissolution of the marriage is finalized. A properly filed divorce requires that the respondent spouse be given reasonable notice that the divorce petition has been filed, either in person or by a process server. The respondent then has a given amount of time to answer or file a counter-claim if one is necessary. If both parties agree on the terms of a settlement, a court hearing is not required and the divorce will be final.