LAS VEGAS - The time to fix the roof is when the sun is shining, and the sun is shining right now, said author, CEO, and keynote speaker, Mark Breslin, at the recent joint UA/MCAA Labor Relations Conference. The union is growing, the market is strong, but there’s a significant hole in the roof that we need to begin patching before the clouds come again.
In order to keep us competitive in the residential service market, we have continually negotiated a lower wage contract for our service technicians. Unfortunately, we have found that, as of late, this lower wage level has made us susceptible to pirating of our people.
Non-union companies usually work to keep an eye out for signs of union organization among their workforces. However, they are generally focusing on unions and union organizers, not nonprofit groups like “worker centers.” Yet some of these worker centers have begun partnering with unions.
Along with underfunded corporate and public pensions, many union pensions are massively in the red. For employers who have union workers who participate in these types of multiemployer pension plans, the growing liability involved with withdrawing from pension funds presents a serious issue.