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