We've Come A Long Way...

 

CONGRATULATIONS & THANK YOU!

With your support, we won the right to a secret ballot election.

IMPORTANT EXCERPTS (we've tried to be reasonable in 13 unanswered letters).

April 1, 2013 To ISS: we first asked ISS for equal treatment of all Florida bridge tenders. “Our position is that all employees performing the same job, for the same company, in the same state, under the same (ICA) state contract, should receive the same wages and benefits, at the same time…” “We urge you to restore trust, avert the polarization that tends to accompany collective bargaining… “ Our organizing remains in the nascent stage and with your cooperation will not need to proceed…”

April 13^th ISS Response: Because it contains a threatening legal statement we are prevented from quoting it directly, but Mr. Jim Howard’s response was courteous and requested disclosure of the individuals identity responsible for the letter. Fear of reprisal prevents us identifying individuals.

April 24^th To ISS: After meeting the committee members chose not to disclose our identity. “the organizing committee respectfully declines identifying any individual bridge tender at this time…” “We shouldn’t need standing as an employee to point out disparity or encourage you to avoid polarization by embracing fair play…” “Consider these first letters as a courtesy and the decision is in your hands. You may choose to avert collective action or encourage it. If encouraged we will set our plan in motion then a union or ourselves will present credentials at the appropriate time.”

June 5^th To ISS: Wishing to be open and above board, we sent notice and a sample petition package to Mr. Jim Howard. “We are disappointed you have not voluntarily responded to our demands. The current ISS wage and benefit policy remains unfair and unsustainable. You have forced us to organize (see enclosed) and you may be assured of increasing pressure until you do the right thing.” “Morale has suffered and building anger in the workforce shows that your selectively taking more than a fair share is not sustainable. This is your next opportunity to arrest the decline and stop the backlash before it worsens. Let’s work together to make the FDOT Agreement with ICA a model of fair outsourcing and good labor relations. It’s the right thing to do.”

June 5^th To ICA: An appeal to Mr. Ritchie Rhodes to intervene. “Please note the enclosed appeals, the basis of our arguments and our demand for fair and equal treatment…“ “We appreciate the sense of fair play you demonstrated with your outspoken support of a pay increase at our last annual training. On review of the enclosed you will see we share your desire for a positive working relationship: “Let’s work together to make the FDOT Agreement with ICA a model of fair outsourcing and good labor relations.” You’ll see we’re simply asking ISS to do the right thing.”

The Confiscated Petition: “PETITON FOR EQUAL PAY & BENEFITS FOR ALL BRIDGE TENDERS SUBCONTRACTED UNDER THE FDOT AGREEMENT WITH ICA. We the West Coast Bridge Tenders with our signatures below submit this petition to ISS Management to change your capricious, disparate and unfair treatment of bridge tenders performing subcontracted services under the blanket Agreement between ICA and FDOT. We demand an immediate increase of wages and benefits to equal those you provide to South Florida Bridge Tenders, or the higher of the prevailing benefit package to the highest paid worker of comparable seniority performing the same job description under the same Agreement or future Agreements, with the back pay differential to the date of your contract with the International Union of Operating Engineers Local 487, plus accrued interest from that date at 3.25%. We further authorize the Organizing Committee to collectively bargain with ISS, inform ICA, FDOT, other interested parties, and to approach appropriate union local(s) on our behalf, until such time as nominations can be made and elections can be held appointing a Worker’s Committee to whom the Organizing Committee will surrender this authority.

June 10^th: Our petition was unlawfully confiscated from every bridge. Charges were filed with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) against ISS for unfair labor practices. We saw we were in for a fight and approached the IBEW to help us organize.

June 24 To ISS: In response to confiscation. “You violated our rights including the right to protected concerted activity. “ “Your confiscating our literature is viewed as a needlessly aggressive delaying tactic. ” “We have been forthright and transparent in sharing our plans and abhor interference in return.” “You raised the stakes, we raise our demands… the current mean pay scale reported by the US Department of Labor Statistics for our job description in Florida.” “Again in an attempt to be reasonable you can stop our action by increasing pay & benefits now, to equal South Florida with back pay and interest but only if you agree to encourage ICA/FDOT to include Federal minimum pay protection in any future blanket Agreement.  This is your next opportunity to do the right thing and time is of the essence.”

June 24^th ICA: A second plea to Ritchie Rhodes. “Please join us in our effort to defuse this troubling situation. Please note we offered to temporarily settle for less than the pay to which we are entitled in return for prompt reconciliation. If accepted, this is a limited and temporary concession. For ISS to qualify, ICA must agree that under future FDOT blanket agreements with ICA the minimum pay to bridge tenders will be defined as equal to or greater than the currently published mean pay for our job description in Florida according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics and this protection will be regardless of future subcontractor chosen by ICA.”

August 14^th ISS: A 25¢ Raise to $8.25 per hour. Really!

August 24^th FDOT: An appeal to the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) to intervene. “When choosing to outsource bridge operators we doubt your department envisioned the rampant profiteering and exploitation that ensues under ICA and their subcontractor ISS. We, the bridge tenders of Districts 1 & 7 suffer under their abhorrent and capricious employment policies. The following disparities, bully tactics and conflicts of interest threaten the safe and reliable operation of your bridges. We ask for your kind intervention.”

“In summary, we respectfully ask you to:

1.              Audit ICA and ISS to uncover and stop profiteering.

2.              Insist operators are employed under a “for cause” relationship.

3.              Protect operators with indemnification against errors and omissions.

4.              Require no less than prevailing local wages and benefits be paid to operators.

5.              Disclose the basis on which you calculate and pay for operator remuneration.”

September 6^th FDOT: Mr. Sprayberry washes his hands of all responsibility:

“. The Department evaluates the services provide by these contractors according to the performance measures established in their contract, but does not retain the authority to direct employment or sub-contractor employment policies.”

September 9^th IBEW: The International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) agrees to help us organize, commits their resources under the direction of Kathy Smith, International Lead Organizer. First picketing outside an ISS Certification Meeting.

Thank you IBEW.

September 19^th: A second appeal to FDOT. “May we also ask that, “while assigning all operation and management responsibilities and not retaining authority to direct employment or sub-contractor employment policies”, your department does not overlook blatant exploitation nor ignore profiteering when brought to your attention.  We remain confident that equity is a fundamental principle embraced by our government, one that cannot be dismissed by the adroit crafting of contractual clauses and will remain the touchstone prevailing throughout our discussions and your negotiations.” “Your audit will prove the need for adding these protections to your next Agreement. They are in your power and best interest to give. They are demanded by fair play. We thank you for your consideration and look forward to your positive response.” To date we received no further response.

October – November… We focused on organizing FDOT District One first, visiting ISS bridge tenders in the district and winning a strong majority who signed cards authorizing the IBEW to represent us in negotiations with ISS.

December 4^th NLRB: Petitions for our secret ballot elections were filed with the NLRB who will mail ballots to all bridge tenders in early January. Please VOTE YES!

December 6^th NLRB: A charge was filed against ISS for unfair labor practices.

December 19^th ISS: Mr. Milton Hartmann III restricted the distribution literature before the ISS Certification Meeting in Sarasota was called to order and during break times in violation of our “Protected Concerted Rights”.

ISS & ICA... STOP the wage and benefit theft.

WAGE & BENEFIT THEFT UPDATE

The petitions for our secret ballot elections were filed by the IBEW and the elections held by the Federal Government should be held in January. The quiet period during our card drive has ended and now we want you to know exactly what ISS and ICA take from you.

WAGE THEFT (FDOT District One)

Entitled:                 $19.04¹   per hour

Received:                   -8.25² per hour

Wage Theft            $10.79   per hour

24 hours X $10.79                        = $258.96 per bridge / per day

365 days X $258.96                     = $94,520.40 per bridge / per year

12 bridges³ X $94,520.40            = $1,134,244.80 minimum Annual Wage Theft

^1. U.S. Department of Labor, Division of Labor Statistics, 2012 Mean Pay, Florida Bridge Tenders.

^2. $8.00 was the prevailing wage for more than 1/2 the year, so the wage theft is actually more.

^3. Adding the 2 District One bridges manned only two shifts a day is another $126,027.20. You get the idea.

ISS & ICA pocketed more than a million dollars of our pay each year in District One.

BENEFIT THEFT

Don’t forget our lost Holiday Pay (State employees get 7 PAID holidays). Oh yeah, ISS/ICA pocketed your Vacation Pay too. Then there’s the provision for Sick Days they grabbed. Shall we discuss Health Care? They’re all benefits State employees receive. The State factors them into the staffing money ICA receives under their operating contract.  Why should we receive less than a State worker? Why should we receive less than the prevailing wage in our locality? Why didn’t ICA or FDOT help our appeal to ISS before we were forced to organize under a union? Why put up with this any longer?

TIME TO PAY UP

Even if you’re willing to forgive all the benefit theft… you’re still out $345.28 per pay check in wage theft. ISS & ICA are pocketing more than $8,977.28 of your wages this year alone! It’s time they pay us the wages to which the Federal government says we’re entitled and provide the same benefits as others performing jobs for the State. ISS & ICA owe us.

WE HAVE A MAJORITY (thank you for signing the authorization cards)

Only you can stop further exploitation, profiteering and wage theft by ISS and ICA, but only if enough of us (50%+1) join together and VOTE YES for the union to negotiate for us. It’s a secret ballot. It’s not a vote to join the union it only gives the IBEW authorization to negotiate. If we don’t like the contract we can reject it. If you don’t want to join the union you don’t have to. Let’s see what the union negotiators can do.

STOP EXPLOITATION.   STOP PROFITEERING.   STOP WAGE & BENEFIT THEFT.

Vote: YES!

What Will Be Negotiated?

SOME SUGGESTED NEGOTIATION POINTS TO CONSIDER

(Your suggestions are welcomed and encouraged)

• PAY indexed to current published Department of Labor Statistics mean pay for Florida

Bridge & Lock Tenders (currently $19.04/hr) and never less than the highest paid

Florida bridge tender of equal seniority & job description.

Additional pay when training new hires.

Automatic raises (higher of COLA or as per FDOT Agreement).

• BENEFITS equal to the highest granted for the same job description across Florida.

            Paid Holidays: 7 as defined by the State of Florida.

            Paid Vacations (1 week after 1 year & 2 weeks after 2 yrs.)

            Sick days that accrue @ one per mo.

• Change Employment from current “at-will” status to “for cause”.

• Automatic pay raise at one year (timely, without having to fight for it).

• Maintain “Full Time” min. hrs. defined as 4 days on 4 days off (32 hr min work week).

• Back pay differential from the time ISS raised the East Coast tenders pay plus interest.

• Choice of payment method: direct deposit, pre-paid debit card or hard copy check

• Indemnification against personal legal liability from job related issues, errors, omissions.

• Meaningful group health plan with a meaningful contribution by our employer.

• Union bulletin board in each bridge house.

• Easily recognizable uniform article (“Bridgetender” shirts/hat).

• We place the highest priority on safety so please be sure to share your needs in detail.

WHAT ELSE CAN WE NEGOTIATE?

Anything you choose. Give us your priorities (this list is in no specific order). Tell us your questions, comments, criticism, suggestions but most importantly your priorities.

Email us: exploitingtenders@gmail.com  or

Call Kathy Smith the IBEW Organizer: 727-542-0212.

Visit: www.bestbridge.blogspot.com

Thanks!

The Organizing Committee

INTRODUCTION & SUMMARY - Start Here

Here we chronicle the plight of Florida's Bridge Tenders in our struggle to stop exploitation and profiteering at the hands of the ISS & ICA middlemen. We demand wages and benefits consistent with the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, improved safety and legal protection.

 

Welcome ISS, ICA, FDOT, NLRB welcome all! This blog provides historical information to ISS (our direct employer), ICA (holds the bridge staffing contact with the FDOT and subcontracts our services from ISS), the FDOT (owns the bridges), the U.S. Coast Guard USCG (regulates bridge operation), Federal, State and Local Officials (the buck stops here?), the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), the press, the public and our fellow bridge tenders about our battle to stop wage theft. 

 

BACKGROUND: ISS currently pays bridge tenders just pennies above minimum wage to start, after a year (and a struggle to get the only promised raise) we're now paid $8.25/hr. south of Tampa Bay, $8.75/hr. north of Tampa Bay, $10.00hr in Jacksonville and $10.50 in Delray Beach. The benefits are as capricious as the wages, some get 5 paid holidays others 0 (State employees get 7, Federal 9), some get paid vacations, some get sick leave, others nothing at all. But we all work for the same company, perform the same job under similar Agreements in the same State. It seems we're paid depending on how much local pressure ISS receives. In Jacksonville and Delray Beach it took union pressure to win their raises and benefits. The majority of Florida bridge tenders are seniors held captive at the poverty level. Our wages are an outrage and an insult. We are organizing under the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) to stop wage theft by ISS and ICA.

 

Initial Demands. In April we demanded equal pay for equal work, the same rate throughout all of Florida, that was all. After being stonewalled we were forced to circulate a petition to West Coast tenders in an attempt to organize. A sample literature package was sent as a courtesy to ISS with notice of our intent. We wished to be transparent and above board. The ISS response was their illegal confiscation of our literature. It polarized our relationship, forced us into secrecy. In response to their delaying tactics we increased our demands to include the back pay differential plus interest.

 

National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). The National Labor Relations Act gives us the right to join together to improve wages and working conditions including the right to form a union where none currently exists. Examples of our rights include:

• Forming, or attempting to form, a union in your workplace;
• Joining a union whether the union is recognized by your employer or not;
• Assisting a union in organizing your fellow employees;
• Refusing to do any or all of these things.
• To be fairly represented by a union

ISS violated our rights with their heavy handed confiscation of our literature forcing us to file charges against ISS to prevent future interference with our rights (see NLRB).

 

Department of Labor - Bureau of Labor Statistics. We then discovered the mean wage rate for our job description is reported by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics here. The Federal government reports the hourly mean wage at $19.04/hr for bridge and lock tenders in Florida. The Service Contract Act (SCA) demands that "no less than the wage rates and fringe benefits found prevailing in the locality". We deserve no less.

 

David vs. Goliath. ISS World according to their website is a multinational corporation with over 530,000 employees in facility management, cleaning, support, property, catering and security services, headquartered in Copenhagen, Denmark. They are a giant among outsourcing facility service companies. This isn't the first time Florida bridge tenders were exploited.  See the Sun Sentinel article here. Either ISS, ICA or both are taking more than their fair share of our pay and we asked FDOT to audit their contractors (a right they claim in their contracts).

 

We are not facility cleaners! The following is quoted from the FDOT manual. "The State of Florida has entrusted to your care thousands of lives and a valuable piece of machinery, the proper operation and care of which is of primary importance to the people using the highways and waterways of Florida. “ ISS should refrain from higher level outsourcing if they don't recognize the need to provide adequate protection, fair wages and benefits to more responsible positions. FDOT should protect their bridge operators from profiteering and exploitation at the hands of their contractors.

 

See for Yourself. All our correspondence is posted here. Start at #1 (in April) you'll see we begged for a fair and easy resolution. It didn't have to go any further. Click on the numbered correspondence links to get the full picture. You'll see we offered concessions in an effort to reach an early resolution and repair the damage. After more than 5 months of stonewalling those concessions are now off the table and we organizing under the IBEW (International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers).

Delay is a polarizing tactic. Stonewalling made things worse by building and strengthening the adversarial relationship. It also uncovered a growing number of weaknesses. During the delay an unfortunate incident disclosed a lack of clear indemnification from personal legal liability while on the job. Under their Agreement, ICA indemnifies the FDOT but who indemnifies us? It turns out we are performing our job at personal financial risk and deserve personal indemnification.

 

There's a conflict of interest Operators working for ISS are discouraged from writing reports critical of ICA. It's a case where the subcontractor is protecting the prime contractor. Many bridges suffer the ravages of deferred maintenance and obsolescence but bridge tenders are discouraged from volunteering deficiencies to inspectors and risks remain unchecked. The FDOT suffers from two filters between themselves and their bridge operators.

 

ICA Responsibilities. ICA is on record. They have a fundamental responsibility to prevent exploitation by their subcontractor and can no longer feign ignorance nor look the other way. Could this be a case where ICA and ISS are in complicity - both engaged in wage theft? It needs an audit to uncover the facts but FDOT is hiding behind the verbiage in their contract.

 

FDOT. We ask you again to find out who's taking more than their fair share of our pay. You have the right to audit and discover the differential between what you pay ICA and the wage and benefits we receive. Please allow us to influence any new Agreement that outsources bridge tenders to insure that we are unshackled from being employed "at will" so you receive candid direct reporting from your operators. Safeguard the wages of hundreds of seniors being exploited by the profiteering of ICA and ISS by including "no less than the wage and benefits found prevailing in the locality" in your next outsourcing Agreements.

 

Progress. Their days of wage theft are coming to an end. The IBEW has filed a petition with the NLRB who will mail secret ballots to every bridge tender in early January. ISS temporarily forced us into a period of silence while we organized. Now, we can again openly voice our opinion. When you get your secret ballot be sure to vote YES. Follow the instructions on completing and mailing back your ballot carefully. Thank you for your support. 

The Organizing Committee

 

FDOT Response

"You may choose to look the other way

But you can never again say you did not know"

All we ask... Just Do What's Right

September 19, 2013

Mr. Michael E. Sprayberry, P.E.

State Administrator for Maintenance Contracting

Florida Department of Transportation

Dear Mr. Sprayberry,

Thank you for your response to our email of August 26^th. We trust you are the individual responsible for negotiating, letting and managing the movable bridge Contractual Services Agreements with ICA and ISS in Districts 1&7 and again please ask you for copies of the completed Agreements in force between yourselves and the above parties in the above districts. We would also appreciate an update on the current stage of negotiations, the expected date for signing the new Agreements and the vendors under consideration.

May we also ask that, while assigning all operation and management responsibilities and not retaining authority to direct employment or sub-contractor employment policies, your department does not overlook blatant exploitation nor ignore profiteering when brought to your attention.  We remain confident that equity is a fundamental principle embraced by our government, one that cannot be dismissed by the adroit crafting of contractual clauses and will remain the touchstone prevailing throughout our discussions and your negotiations.

Thank you for your concern and voicing your opinion on the McNamara-O’Hara Service Contract Act (SCA). We are bridge tenders not lawyers and are certainly not qualified to argue the appropriateness of the SCA in this instance. We do have reasonable confidence in the verbal opinion received from the Employment Standards Administration’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD). This obviously bears further scrutiny.

Your Contractual Service Agreement contains your right to audit (3H) and we ask you to use that right to uncover the details of the wage theft we suffer under our employment by ISS. Please discover and disclose the poisonous pie chart of misappropriation that has us living on the edge, while enriching middlemen empowered and emboldened by a lack of accountability.  This is the untenable situation we ask you to prevent in the future, both your department and we operators will benefit from the next Agreement specifying:

1). All contract employees to be retained under a “for cause” (not the current silence-instilling “at will”) relationship. This simple protection solves the previously disclosed conflict of interest. It opens the floodgates of direct reporting to your inspectors yielding a clearer picture of bridge condition with suggestions for safer, more efficient operations.

2). Operators to be indemnified against personal liability stemming from actions, errors or omissions incurred while performing our job. ICA indemnifies you, why not us?

3). Operators to be paid “no less than prevailing local wages and benefits” stopping the temptation for contractors and their sub-contractors to exploit us. While not formally enforceable, it’s the spirit of the Davis-Bacon Act we ask you to respect.

Your audit will prove the need for adding these protections to your next Agreement. They are in your power and best interest to give. They are demanded by fair play. We thank you for your consideration and look forward to your positive response.

The Organizing Committee

exploitingtenders@gmail.com

www.bestbridge.blogspot.com

Union Organizing Starts Today! Thank You IBEW.

Fellow Bridge Tender,

It’s clear we’re not being treated fairly and over the last 5 months we tried reasoning with ISS and ICA in an effort to convince them to be fair (www.bestbridge.blogspot.com). They resist and we won't be stonewalled any longer. It’s clear the only way to change their policy is to force them into collective bargaining. If enough of us agree to be represented by a union we can improve our wages, benefits and working conditions. The greater the percentage represented - the greater our bargaining leverage. Please consider the following and then we’ll ask you to sign a card.

It's WAGE THEFT! Your organizing committee was formed after discovering ISS Bridge Tender wages ($8.05-$10.75/hr) and benefits (0 – 5 paid holidays, 0 - 2 weeks vacation, etc.) varied widely across Florida. Further research showed the highest wages and benefits were paid only after union bargaining. We found Jacksonville (Electrical Workers) and Delray Beach (Operating Engineers) received wages and benefits far better than ours. We also found that the Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics reports our job description should pay $19.04/hr in Florida. Clearly, ISS and ICA are pocketing more than their fair share of our pay.

A Union Response. After our committee tried to appeal to reason for five months we learned that a union’s knowledge, experience and legal resources can make the difference between success and failure. Management must negotiate in good faith with an authorized union representative or be forced into mandatory arbitration, it’s the law. So, we interviewed the Electrical Workers, Operating Engineers and Steel Workers, five locals in all. We chose the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) as our best fit. Your committee members already signed cards appointing the IBEW as our personal representatives. Both IBEW negotiators and some of your fellow bridge tenders will be part of the negotiating team. We urge you to sign the card that forces ISS to bargain with us in good faith.

Sign Up. Signing an authorization card is NOT a vote to join the union. The cards only appoint the IBEW as our representative, to bargain on our behalf (yep, even before we’re members). The cards are secret and ISS will never see who signed. A strong showing will force ISS to negotiate a fair contract - one you’ll vote on before it’s approved. If a contract doesn’t increase your take home pay and improve your benefits you won’t approve it and if you want to revoke your card at any time you can. We don’t have anything to lose but the IBEW does and we must be fair to them.

It's Guaranteed. IBEW won’t ask us to join their union or pay dues until after a contract is approved by us, one that puts more money in our pockets, gives us paid holidays, vacation and sick time. Then… join we must, because we’re only as strong as the percentage represented. Fair play also demands we join to repay the IBEW for providing all our organizing, negotiating and legal resources (see: "Not One Red Cent"). Don’t cheat yourself, don’t cheat your fellow bridge tenders, don’t cheat the IBEW and don’t sign a card if you don’t plan to pay dues (far far less than what you’ll gain). If you want a higher standard of living – sign a card! It's the surest way to improve our quality of life, the more who sign the more sure it becomes.

Please print and pass this to fellow tenders who don't have web access. The sooner a majority sign - the sooner the negotiating process can start. But, be prepared for this to take time as there are about 120 of us and we want to talk to you all. Be patient, remain committed to improving our pay, benefits, safety and working conditions. ISS is wrong and refuses to do the right thing voluntarily. It's our responsibility to respond to their wage theft. History shows they must be forced into respecting us. With your patience and unbending support we can't be stopped. Spread the word.

Your Organizing Committee

exploitingtenders@gmail.com

www.bestbridge.blogspot.com

Collective Bargaining - We won't be stopped.

Neither ISS nor ICA responded favorably to our five month long appeal to reason. It's clear that only collective bargaining will change our circumstances. Individual employees have appealed in the past and ISS has either ignored them or responded with a token response. Only under union pressure has there ever been significant change. The higher % represented – the greater that change. Your support is very important and we want to count you in the % represented.

ISS recently responded with a characteristic token response. In their lowest paid District One they raised pay 25¢ (see letter below). We’ll take it as a demonstration of good faith and encourage management to continue in that direction while reminding them that $19.04/hr is the mean hourly pay for our job description in Florida as reported by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

In FDOT District Four the union negotiated a contract giving ISS bridge tenders four (4) paid holidays. In FDOT District Two a different union negotiated a contract giving ISS bridge tenders five (5) paid holidays. In compaarison State workers receive seven (7) and Federal workers get nine (9). But, in FDOT Districts One and Seven we get zero (0) paid holidays and are paid at a subsistence level. Only organizing and negotiating can stop wage and benefit theft at the hands of ISS & ICA.

But it’s far more than pay and benefits. We wish to improve bridge safety, enhance operational efficiency and insure we're protected while on the job. We need indemnification from lawsuits that could be filed against us personally due to job related issues. We want to be free to report risks without fear of reprisal. We need to be free from ISS pressure not to rock the ICA boat (a conflict of interest that FDOT needs to fix). Management must respect our right to organize, collectively bargain under the law and STOP interfering with our rights. It's more than doing the right thing, it's the law.

Bridge Tenders: Stand up for your rights. Don't surrender literature to supervisors, don't tell them about it. Pass it from hand to hand, don't leave it on the bridge. If asked to surrender anything refuse. It's your property and it's your protected right to organize. We're now in communication with Districts One, Two, Four and Seven and thank our fellow bridge tenders for their solidarity. Please share this web address with ALL bridge tenders — help us spread the word.

ISS: Stop your exploitation! Stop your profiteering! Stop your wage theft! We object to your capricious policies. Your attempts to isolate and compartmentalize are no longer effective, dependence on ignorance is lost to the web. Stop alienating us. Face facts and do the right thing.

ICA: Stop protecting ISS (it's them, right?). You know right from wrong. You can't hide, get your head out of the sand. Intervene or accept the guilt by association that outrages and polarizes your workforce. We want to work together and you need to earn our cooperation with your support.

FDOT: We have alerted you to the travesties occurring under your blanket Agreements with ICA/ISS/C&S. We ask you audit the payment path to your operators and then stop the unjustifiable disparity between today's wage and the clearly published wages prevailing in our locality. It's more than following the letter of the law, it's about fair play. Give us the protection we deserve in your next round of Agreements. You deserve a closer relationship with us, we want to work closer together.

11. First Request for FDOT Intervention

 

Bridge Operators Organizing Committee

FDOT Districts 1 & 7

www.exploitingtenders@gmail.com

August 26, 2013

Florida Department of Transportation

Office of Maintenance

ATTN. Mr. Tim Latner, Director

605 Suwannee Street

Tallahassee, FL 32399

Dear Sir,

When choosing to outsource bridge operators we doubt your department envisioned the rampant profiteering and exploitation that ensues under ICA and their subcontractor ISS. We, the bridge tenders of Districts 1 & 7 suffer under their abhorrent and capricious employment policies. The following disparities, bully tactics and conflicts of interest threaten the safe and reliable operation of your bridges. We ask for your kind intervention.

Wages and benefits cause us great personal pain. Please refer to the latest Department of Labor (DOL) Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) report to see the mean wage for bridge and lock tenders in Florida reported at $19.04/hr. Our gross pay in District One is $8.25/hr and in Seven it’s $8.75/hr. In at least two other previously unionized Districts ISS pays up to $10.75/hr with benefits that vary according to the union contract.  In Districts 1 & 7 we receive no holidays, sick days or personal days - virtually no benefits at all.

History shows only when bridge tenders collectively bargain with ISS is there meaningful change. Our attempt to gain standing and collectively bargain was met with the unlawful confiscation of our petition when ISS demonstrated a blatant lack of respect for our rights under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA). Our offers of concessions and appeals to reason are stonewalled. We non-union-represented operators are employed “at will”, a relationship that creates fear of dismissal and demands our anonymity. ICA was notified and shows no concern.  It’s documented since 04/01/13 at: www.bestbridge.blogspot.com .

We are filing charges with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) for unfair labor action. After asking the Employment Standards Administration’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD) for an opinion, we believe FDOT-ICA-ISS are in violation of the McNamara-O’Hara Service Contract Act (SCA). We believe the spirit of the Davis Bacon Act (DBA) should prevail Statewide “subcontractors must pay no less than locally prevailing wages and fringe benefits in the area” and ask this protection against exploitation and profiteering at the hands of contractors and subcontractors is included in your next Agreement.

You too suffer from these middlemen with their inherent conflict of interest. Because ISS is dependent upon ICA for the contracting of and payment for their services they are obliged to maintain a cordial (preferential) relationship with their contractor. That obligation impedes our open reporting by ISS employees to FDOT inspectors. We are encouraged not to volunteer anything to FDOT inspectors and Drawbridge Malfunction Reports are completed only with supervisor approval. Please require that operators are employed under the “for cause” (currently “at will”) relationship necessary to speak freely and openly, making us full partners in the safe and reliable operation of your bridges.

We ask you to disclose the wage and benefit sum factored into your District 1 & 7 Blanket Services Agreements for operator services and if it includes a 3% annual increase. If not an explicit sum please give the parameters you use to measure, define and evaluate those costs.  While questioning the fundamental social morality of the State outsourcing our job, we recognize middlemen are entitled to costs plus fair profit. We are also entitled to what is fair including “indemnification from operator errors or omissions” in the next Agreement.

In summary, we respectfully ask you to:

1.              Audit ICA and ISS to uncover and stop profiteering.

2.              Insist operators are employed under a “for cause” relationship.

3.              Protect operators with indemnification against errors and omissions.

4.              Require no less than prevailing local wages and benefits be paid to operators.

5.              Disclose the basis on which you calculate and pay for operator remuneration.

It’s your right and your duty to stop this exploitation and end relationships that engender silence. Help us earn a modest living wage with benefits and protect your operators so we may better protect the safety of the public and the reliable operation of your bridges.

Sincerely,

The Organizing Committee

www.exploitingtenders@gmail.com

P.S. We regret the temporary need for anonymity, to be lifted once our charges are filed with the NLRB after which we may speak more openly and directly. Meanwhile please respond to our committee via email.

A 25¢ raise. Really? - A letter from a bridge tender.

Dear Jake,

I cannot seriously believe that they (ISS and/or "the Powers That Be") think that this move will keep us pacified. What an insult! A $.25/hour SURPRISE RAISE (since most of the tenders in our district have NO idea *what* has transpired since Mr. Hartman demanded that the initial 8-page document from our group be removed from all bridges)? Is this what they feel will make up for the disparity between what the South Florida bridge tenders have been earning ($10.50) since December, 2012?

I believe that the majority of our fellow workers would be GREATLY excited to hear that the most recent information from the Department of Labor Statistics informs us that  this group is now RIGHTFULLY asking for $19.04 per hour. And yet ISS thinks that $.25/hour will keep us quiet? I think not; our raise to $8.25 doesn't even come close! To me, this only further fans the flames of my anger. Especially since ISS once again showed thoughtlessness in their decisions.

When they gave us "all" $.25 more per hour, they omitted that "equal pay raise" for the employees of Blackburn Point Road Bridge. Blackburn Point Bridge has always been a "special" bridge, which is listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places. It is a one-lane swing bridge located on Blackburn Point Road in Sarasota County. This bridge requires that tenders go outside, in all kinds of weather, to operate the bridge from the center of the span. For that extra hazardous duty, the tenders on that bridge (used to) get $1.00 more per hour than the rest of the tenders working for our company in our area. But, for some reason, when EVERYONE ELSE (who has worked for the company for more than one year) got $.25/hour more, these folks on Blackburn Point Bridge did not get anything.

So now I am not only angry for myself, as an employee of the state-wide Florida bridge tenders' system run by ISS, but more humanely, as a fellow member of this district of which most of us got a measly raise and a select few did not. WHAT IS UP WITH THAT? You talk about disparity ... wow.

A Sunshine State Bridge Tender

(who does not feel very sunny...)

10. A Call to Reason

 The Organizing Committee

To Stop Exploitation

exploitingtenders@gmail.com

 

June 24, 2013

Mr. Jim Howard, General Manager, ISS Facility Services

1805 SE Hawthorne Rd.

Gainesville, FL. 32641

Dear Mr. Howard,

You violated our rights including the right to protected concerted activity. Words fail to describe how appalled we are with your interference or the distain felt by your employees at your heavy handedness. Your confiscating our literature is viewed as a needlessly aggressive delaying tactic. We again encourage you to be responsive and reasonable.

Our first demand was simply equal pay for equal work across Florida. In April all you had to do was give us the same raise the union forced you to pay South Florida. Instead, you chose to ignore us and in response to your stonewalling we began organizing and increased our demands to include back pay with interest. Your confiscation response in an attempt to crush our resolve senselessly escalated, polarized and emboldened us.

We have been forthright and transparent in sharing our plans and abhor interference in return. Your misconduct forced us to the National Labor Relations Board where we will be filing charges against you, organizing our representation according to DOL process and holding a secret ballot supervised by the NLRB. You will not be able to ignore us.

You are forcing us to engage in a more demanding and sophisticated response. You raised the stakes, we raise our demands. Since you’re making this a long and arduous process we demand all what is rightfully ours right now - the current mean pay scale reported by the US Department of Labor Statistics for our job description in Florida.

When your supervisors confiscated our literature they claimed the tender house as your turf. We plan to approach the FDOT for their opinion of your claim and we will ask them to disclose the amount provided under the ICA blanket agreement for bridge tender pay and for an audit to uncover suspected unethical profiteering.

We currently have committee members from all four of your west coast supervisory districts. Since you force us to become officially recognized, we will reach out to all your Florida districts to better amortize the greater effort you’ve imposed on us.

Again in an attempt to be reasonable you can stop our action by increasing pay & benefits now, to equal South Florida with back pay and interest but only if you agree to encourage ICA/FDOT to include Federal minimum pay protection in any future blanket Agreement.  This is your next opportunity to do the right thing and time is of the essence.

Sincerely,

The Organizing Committee

c.c. Mr. Richie Rhodes, ICA            ENCL. Copy of our 6/24/13 letter to Mr. Richie Rhodes

9. Second ICA Appeal

 

The Organizing Committee

To Stop Exploitation

exploitingtenders@gmail.com

June 24, 2013

Mr. Richie Rhodes

ICA Systems Operations Manager

1719 Apex Rd, Unit B, Sarasota, FL 34240

Dear Mr Rhodes,

We previously asked for your kind intervention and thank you for any efforts you may have made on our behalf. Enclosed please find a copy of our letter of June 24^th to Mr. Howard that responds to his confiscation of our literature package during the week of June 6^th. Please join us in our effort to defuse this troubling situation.

Please note we offered to temporarily settle for less than the pay to which we are entitled in return for prompt reconciliation. If accepted, this is a limited and temporary concession. For ISS to qualify, ICA must agree that under future FDOT blanket agreements with ICA the minimum pay to bridge tenders will be defined as equal to or greater than the currently published mean pay for our job description in Florida according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics and this protection will be regardless of future subcontractor chosen by ICA.

Unfortunately we must now go on record for bringing the disparity, suspected profiteering and opportunist activity of your subcontractor to the formal attention of ICA. We ask ICA to take appropriate action to investigate and correct the problems with ISS and to be proactive in preventing any such future abuse.

We noticed in your blanket Agreement with the FDOT that ICA indemnifies them. Please clearly confirm and define our individual indemnification against personal civil liability stemming from bridge-related events caused by us or occurring while we are on the job.

You know that at each step along the way we have disclosed our next and will continue to do so in an effort to avoid avoidable action. A summary and letters to the bridge tenders are published at www.bestbridge.blogspot.com and we invite you to visit.  Please help us avoid further escalation and polarization. We look forward to your response.

Sincerely ,

The Organizing Committee

cc. Mr. Jim Howard, ISS Facility Services

ENCLS. Copy of 6/23/13 letter to Mr. Howard

8. Response to Confiscating Our Literature

Our response to the ISS confiscation of our literature is to prepare for a long, ugly battle. We are filing charges against ISS with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) for unfair labor practices. What an unfortunate demonstration of their adversarial perspective.

We’ve learned more about labor law than we ever wished to know and now plan to hold a by-the-book secret ballot monitored by the NLRB. We’ve contacted the government, lawyers, law schools and law professors for guidance. Since it’s taking a lot more time and work and we don’t want to do it twice, we’ve raised our demand to the full amount to which we are entitled.

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics currently quotes $19.04 median pay per hour for our job description in Florida. Why should we settle for less, especially from an adversary? Why should anyone perform a job for the State government for less than half of what the Federal government says we’re due? We didn’t make this up it’s a published fact.

We’ll post our latest letters in response to the confiscation after Mr. Howard and Rhodes have received them. In an effort to be reasonable we included an offer to compromise on pay in the near term in return for the assurance our pay will be fair and protected in the long run. We offer this as a gesture of good faith. Volunteering a loss of pay is a strong demonstration of how motivated we are to solve this problem early.

But, there’s something that can’t be compromised. Maybe we’re already protected and it’s not an issue and if you have a document please share it. We need to discover what happens if we make a mistake or someone claims we made a mistake at work and we’re sued personally. Are we indemnified against civil action and who comes to our legal defense? We must be certain we are personally indemnified (by FDOT, ICA or ISS) against any personal legal action stemming from our employment.

We’re taking great care not to rush into anything that results in avoidable difficulty or embarrassment to ISS, ICA or the FDOT. We are proceeding slowly but logically while telegraphing our intent. We sincerely hope they’ll learn early that we will not relent and that illogical response costs them compounding consequence. Most of us love our jobs and we know that tough love is the hardest, but they must do the right thing.

Not everyone has email so print all this stuff and share with every shift and especially between bridges (please make the effort to copy and pass it around). Please don’t leave it on FDOT property or read it on company time. Just pass it from hand to hand and be careful it’s not confiscated again. We know, it’s silly to have to hide our actions. They're just posturing and exercising bravado. We have the right, they're in the wrong, see for yourself...

The National Labor Relations Board protects the rights of employees to engage in “concerted activity”, which is when two or more employees take action for their mutual aid or protection regarding terms and conditions of employment. A single employee may also engage in protected concerted activity if he or she is acting on the authority of other employees, bringing group complaints to the employer’s attention, trying to induce group action, or seeking to prepare for group action. A few examples of protected concerted activities are: Two or more employees addressing their employer about improving their pay, discussing work-related issues beyond pay, such as safety concerns, with each other, speaking to an employer on behalf of one or more co-workers about improving workplace conditions.

We want to hear from you. We could use some photos (one juicy one from every bridge would be great) to make our blog more visually interesting.  Send photos and/or emails to: exploitingtenders@gmail.com. Volunteer!

Thanks for your support,

Jake (aka The Organizing Committee)

A Bridge Tender Chimes In

Dear "Organizing Committee:"
I was recently provided with a copy of your eight-page document, which was ordered to be removed from the bridges by Milton Hartman before I got a chance to see it. I am very glad I was able to obtain a copy. Very well done, by all parties involved!

I have been a bridge tender in my district for fifteen years now. The last time we received a raise (of $.25, which put us at $8.00/hr.), It was mainly due to letters and "noise" created by bridge tenders in my district. At each annual meeting, our district always brings up the #1 dreaded discussion - "when are we going to be compensated commensurate with our duties?"

We all have put our hearts and souls into this career - for many of us, the last we will have. Our district has been pronounced as the "safest" in the Florida system for many years. We ace our annual DOT tests every year, and we take pride in our service to the boaters, the community, the State, and the federal government.

Please add me to your list of supporters, and keep me "in the loop" with any updates.
Thank you for everything you are doing to assist us in this matter.

Looking forward to hearing from you,

A disgruntled ISS bridge tender.

Attention: Bridge Tenders - Call for Photos, Volunteers

Dear Bridge Tender,

We could use a hand and invite you to volunteer.

PHOTOS PLEASE: We have enough text to gag a maggot and need some visual interest to keep the attention of the reader. We'd like to post a photo with each page and ask you to send us yours. It can be anything of interest, your bridge, your bridge house, your dog, anything that will capture the imagination and especially if it's related to safety. We'll add all the photos, to all the posts, all at once and when we have enough interesting shots. Video? Sure!



RESEARCH 1: We need someone to become an expert in:

McNamara-O'Hara Service Contract Act (SCA)
(41 USC §351 et seq.; 29 CFR Parts 4, 6, and 8)

The SCA requires contractors and subcontractors performing services on prime contracts in excess of $2,500 to pay service employees in various classes no less than the wage rates and fringe benefits found prevailing in the locality, or the rates (including prospective increases) contained in a predecessor contractor's collective bargaining agreement as provided in wage determinations issued by the Department of Labor. These determinations are incorporated into the contract.
For contracts equal to or less than $2,500, contractors are required to pay the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour effective July 24, 2009. Contractors must also, under the provisions of the Contract Work Hours and Safety Standards Act and the Fair Labor Standards Act, pay employees at least one and one-half times their regular rate of pay for all hours worked over 40 in a workweek.




RESEARCH 2: We need someone to become our expert in DOL compliance:

http://www.dol.gov/compliance/topics/unions.htm

The Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act of 1959 (LMRDA) was enacted to ensure basic standards of democracy and fiscal responsibility in private sector labor organizations. Unions representing U.S. Postal Service employees are also subject to the LMRDA. Federal employee unions are subject to similar standards under the Civil Service Reform Act of 1978 (CSRA) and the Foreign Service Act of 1980 (FSA). The U.S. Department of Labor's Office of Labor-Management Standards (OLMS) administers and enforces many provisions of the LMRDA. In addition to provisions regarding union elections and ensuring fiscal responsibility, Section 104 of the LMRDA establishes the right to receive or examine collective bargaining agreements and applies not only to union members but also to all nonunion employees whose rights are directly affected by a collective bargaining agreement. Other parts of LMRDA set recordkeeping and reporting requirements.



RESEARCH 3: We need someone to become our expert in the NLRA & the NLRB

http://www.nlrb.gov/rights-we-protect/employee-rights

Employees covered by the National Labor Relations Act are afforded certain rights to join together to improve their wages and working conditions, with or without a union. Employees have the right to attempt to form a union where none currently exists, or to decertify a union that has lost the support of employees. Examples of employee rights include:

• Forming, or attempting to form, a union in your workplace;
• Joining a union whether the union is recognized by your employer or not;
• Assisting a union in organizing your fellow employees;
• Refusing to do any or all of these things.
• To be fairly represented by a union

RECORD KEEPING: We need someone to keep our files and records required by the DOL. Bookkeeping experience would be a plus.


INTERNET GURU: We need someone to create and monitor a password protected PRIVATE FORUM for bridge tenders only to allow us to confidentially share information among ourselves.


EVANGELIST: We need a Johnny (and Juanita) Appleseeds in all ISS districts to research, call, distribute literature and inform other Florida bridge tenders employed of our actions, get feedback and establish communication and cooperation with them.

Thanks for your help,
Jake