The following was posted in response to concerns from a fellow handler. We thought it appropriate to share with all. Thank you for the feedback Chris. Enjoy the holiday and have a safe weekend.
Hey Chris,
I'm sorry if this does seem clandestine. We're all a lot more well known in New York. We're mailing out letters to everyone with our backgrounds and what we hope to accomplish.
Our names are Bill Beaury, Joe Nacarlo, John Hansen, Joe Tallini, and Tom Brown.
We chose to respond to Glen's letter because we believe it's a vain attempt to tell you that everything's all right at MSA. It's not. We included Glen’s background because we feel you should be aware of his past actions. We hope Glen will make his employment agreement public. If it contains a bonus based on the companies valuation at sale, then he stands to make a significantly larger sum if the company remains non-union.
In addition, we have a scheduling director that has been caught blackmailing handlers into lying to clients to take the fall for his failures. We get the lowest legal amount of paid time off. Our wages are well below that of MSAs competitors, as is our stipend. We are all owed tens of thousands of dollars in unpaid wages for maintaining our dogs at home. If you've signed up with the lawsuit we've started, you'll be receiving those back wages soon. MSA will tell you they were unaware they were required to pay us for this time yet several of their executives sued their police departments for the exact same thing in the 90s. The problems at MSA are numerous, yet all we receive is a letter telling us to be thankful and a bereavement day.
We understand the rest of the country is a lot different than NYC but whatever we negotiate for you is exactly what we receive. If we can get you a raise, we get a raise. If we get you more vacation time, we get it as well. We're not a group of outsiders looking to make a buck. We're handlers just like you. In addition, our bylaws explicitly state we're not allowed to receive compensation for our duties.
We also offer you legal representation in the event you’re unjustly disciplined or fired. Every dog handler at MSA knows someone who had their dog taken away for little to no reason. We want to put a stop to that.
Thank you for the comment Chris. If you have any other questions, let us know day or night.
Saturday, March 31, 2018
Friday, March 30, 2018
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Thank You
Good Morning,
We'd like to thank everyone for all the questions and comments you've sent. Many of you have asked to have your experiences with MSA published on this site. If you'd like your story shared with the world, send us an email at info@nopaymsa.com and we'll redact any personal information that could identify you.
We'd also like to thank all the handlers that informed us of Mike O'Neil's grand circle tour of midtown yesterday. I'm sure a lot of promises were made. To those handlers that met him for the first time and would like to give him a chance, take our advice. He's made promises for years and look where we've ended up. MSA will never voluntarily implement changes that are fair to the handlers. They've had their chance, now it's our turn.
We'd like to thank everyone for all the questions and comments you've sent. Many of you have asked to have your experiences with MSA published on this site. If you'd like your story shared with the world, send us an email at info@nopaymsa.com and we'll redact any personal information that could identify you.
We'd also like to thank all the handlers that informed us of Mike O'Neil's grand circle tour of midtown yesterday. I'm sure a lot of promises were made. To those handlers that met him for the first time and would like to give him a chance, take our advice. He's made promises for years and look where we've ended up. MSA will never voluntarily implement changes that are fair to the handlers. They've had their chance, now it's our turn.
Wednesday, March 28, 2018
A Letter From Glen
To My Fellow K9 Handlers,
Glen claims that MSA has hired additional handlers to ensure overtime is no longer "mandatory." Now a majority of us have had our hours reduced to part time and have been forced to get second jobs. This tactic is normal when a company is going to court for unpaid overtime wages. MSA knows it's legally required to pay us for home maintenance of our EDCs and they want to save as much money as possible when the judgment happens. They would rather cut our hours and pay us at our normal rates than keep our hours the same and pay us overtime for training every week. The Department of Labor has released an opinion letter on take home care of K9s and the amount does not have to be your regular rate or your overtime rate. It can be any rate that is above minimum wage or time and a half of minimum wage for overtime. However, this rate must be agreed to by both the individual handler and MSA either verbally or in writing. A union is the easiest way to ensure everyone is paid for training at their full pay rate for the proper amount of time per week. Link to the Department of Labor Letter.
Glen goes on to mention that MSA pays wages at nearly 100% their competitors rates. These rates would be $13, $14, and $15 an hour for our competitors. I highly doubt there is a single K9 company in this country that pays EDC handlers those rates. In addition, $13 and $14 an hour is below minimum wage in New York City thus making it impossible to be true. I've spoken to handlers at both large corporate security companies such as Allied Universals K9 Unit and smaller private enterprises like Task Force VIPER. They all pay well above the average rate of MSA and have benefits far beyond that of MSA.
Glen then has MSA take credit for granting everyone PTO even though it only began because a law was passed that required us to receive one hour of PTO for every thirty hours worked. Before the law, vacations and sick time were unpaid and MSA had no interest in voluntarily implementing paid time off. As you know, we still currently receive the minimum amount of sick time as required by law and no vacation time.
I'm unsure why Glen insists a Union would interfere with our work schedule. The only interference I can predict is that the threatening and blackmailing of handlers to cover for the scheduling disasters perpetrated by Holland Laplant will no longer be allowed to continue.
I certainly hope Glen follows through with his promise to speak with all handlers in the coming weeks and listens to what he's told. I also encourage him to make public if his employment agreement contains a bonus based on the amount paid for MSA by a future buyer. If true, this would be a big indicator as to why Glen does not want a union. Any increase in pay or benefits for handlers would bring the overall value of the company down and cut into his potential multi million dollar bonus.
Do you honestly believe that Glen Kucera has your best interest in mind but a group of fellow handlers you've known for years do not? If so, I hear Glen has a bridge in Brooklyn he'd like you to make an offer on.
If you have any questions, don't hesitate to contact me at info@nopaymsa.com
By now, you've read Glen's attempt at convincing you that MSA has your best interest in mind. Before I tackle the alleged accomplishments of MSA, I'd like to give you some background on Glen Kucera. Glen came to us from a company named Paramount Building Solutions. Glens background consists of janitorial and building management with a focus in floor cleaning operations at rental car facilities. The last two companies he has been CEO of have sued him for damages. Paramount Building Solutions fired Glen for being "grossly negligent" and exposing "the company to a substantial risk of harm." Paramount then declared bankruptcy. While at Paramount, Glens employment agreement contained a condition that allowed him to receive a substantial bonus in the event the company was purchased in addition to his $350,000 salary and yearly bonus of $175,000 a year. Most likely, Perella Weinberg have hired Glen to facilitate a quick sale of the company to ensure they are not held liable for the approaching labor violation trials. In summary, Glen is a man with no experience in our field and a history of gross negligence that is now trying to convince us he has our best interest in mind.
 |
| Glen's Termination Letter |
In regards to the letter, Glen claims there were 300 payroll adjustments per pay period that have now been reduced to 30. I would like to know when the increase in payroll errors began and if it coincides with the hiring of Holland Laplant as Director of Scheduling. I do not believe payroll errors have been reduced since ePay has been introduced. If anything, they have increased and we are now forced to have an app on our personal phones that accesses our location.
Glen claims that MSA has hired additional handlers to ensure overtime is no longer "mandatory." Now a majority of us have had our hours reduced to part time and have been forced to get second jobs. This tactic is normal when a company is going to court for unpaid overtime wages. MSA knows it's legally required to pay us for home maintenance of our EDCs and they want to save as much money as possible when the judgment happens. They would rather cut our hours and pay us at our normal rates than keep our hours the same and pay us overtime for training every week. The Department of Labor has released an opinion letter on take home care of K9s and the amount does not have to be your regular rate or your overtime rate. It can be any rate that is above minimum wage or time and a half of minimum wage for overtime. However, this rate must be agreed to by both the individual handler and MSA either verbally or in writing. A union is the easiest way to ensure everyone is paid for training at their full pay rate for the proper amount of time per week. Link to the Department of Labor Letter.
Glen goes on to mention that MSA pays wages at nearly 100% their competitors rates. These rates would be $13, $14, and $15 an hour for our competitors. I highly doubt there is a single K9 company in this country that pays EDC handlers those rates. In addition, $13 and $14 an hour is below minimum wage in New York City thus making it impossible to be true. I've spoken to handlers at both large corporate security companies such as Allied Universals K9 Unit and smaller private enterprises like Task Force VIPER. They all pay well above the average rate of MSA and have benefits far beyond that of MSA.
Glen then has MSA take credit for granting everyone PTO even though it only began because a law was passed that required us to receive one hour of PTO for every thirty hours worked. Before the law, vacations and sick time were unpaid and MSA had no interest in voluntarily implementing paid time off. As you know, we still currently receive the minimum amount of sick time as required by law and no vacation time.
I'm unsure why Glen insists a Union would interfere with our work schedule. The only interference I can predict is that the threatening and blackmailing of handlers to cover for the scheduling disasters perpetrated by Holland Laplant will no longer be allowed to continue.
I certainly hope Glen follows through with his promise to speak with all handlers in the coming weeks and listens to what he's told. I also encourage him to make public if his employment agreement contains a bonus based on the amount paid for MSA by a future buyer. If true, this would be a big indicator as to why Glen does not want a union. Any increase in pay or benefits for handlers would bring the overall value of the company down and cut into his potential multi million dollar bonus.
Do you honestly believe that Glen Kucera has your best interest in mind but a group of fellow handlers you've known for years do not? If so, I hear Glen has a bridge in Brooklyn he'd like you to make an offer on.
If you have any questions, don't hesitate to contact me at info@nopaymsa.com
Saturday, March 17, 2018
MSA Execs Ignore Order From Federal Government
On March 12th, MSA CEO Mike Oneil received an official order from the National Labor Relations Board pertaining to the recent filing of a union organizing petition. The order required him to send an official US Government notice to all employees in the proposed unit making them aware that a petition for election had been filed. He has instead chosen to ignore this order by the Federal Government and remain silent in an attempt to keep his employees in the dark.
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