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Sunday, March 31, 2019

Lawsuit Update

This week, all parties signed an agreement to settle the lawsuit. Information concerning the individual amounts owed and dates of payment will be mailed to each handler in the near future.

In addition, handlers that were hired from April 6th to November 10th, 2018 will be mailed paperwork informing them of their addition to the New York class, the California class, or how to join the FLSA collective.


We'd also like to thank the several handlers that reached out to us and the city of New York about retaliation for using sick leave. The Department of Consumer Affairs is currently investigating the reports. We will post updates as we receive the information.

We've also recently begun discussions with the NYC Human Rights Council in regards to possible discrimination and harassment committed by MSA management. If you've ever felt harassed, intimidated, or discriminated against by anyone from MSA, please reach out to us ASAP at info@nopaymsa.com. All reports are confidential.

Monday, March 25, 2019

News From the Front

Weingarten Rights



In the landmark case NLRB v. J. Weingarten, Inc. 420 U.S. 251 (1975), the Supreme Court upheld a National Labor Relations Board decision that employees have a right to union representation at investigatory interviews. These rights have become known as the Weingarten Rights.

There are three rules to the Weingarten Rights.
  1. You must make a clear request for union representation before or during the interview. You cannot be punished for making this request.
  2. After the employee makes the request, the employer must choose from among three options:
    1. Grant the request and delay questioning until the union representative arrives and (prior to the interview continuing) the representative has a chance to consult privately with the employee;
    2. Deny the request and end the interview immediately; or
    3. Give the employee a clear choice between having the interview without representation, or ending the interview.
  3. If the employer denies the request for union representation, and continues to ask questions, it commits an unfair labor practice and the employee has a right to refuse to answer. The employer may not discipline the employee for such a refusal.
If any member of MSA's management team approaches you to discuss discipline, suspension, termination, or anything that could affect your personal working conditions, politely respond with the following statement and then contact us immediately:

If this discussion could in any way lead to my being disciplined or terminated, or affect my personal working conditions, I respectfully request that my union representative be present at this meeting. Until my representative arrives, I choose not to participate in this discussion.

If anyone from MSA management attempts to question or discipline you, email us at info@nopaymsa.com or call (888) 864-6601 before you answer any questions.


Lawsuit


The lawsuit is close to settlement. We are currently awaiting signatures from the named plaintiffs and defendants. The signatures are due on March 27th. Judge Gorenstein will then have to approve the settlement. We've also been hearing reports from handlers that members of MSA's management team have allegedly been making remarks that discourage being a party to the lawsuit. If any member of MSA's management attempts to discuss the lawsuit with you, record the conversation if possible, and contact us as soon as you can.

Sick Leave


We've initiated an investigation into MSA's sick leave policy with the City of New York, Department of Consumer Affairs. We have received several reports from handlers that supervisors allegedly required they come to work when they attempted to use sick time, that supervisors allegedly demanded notes from doctors detailing their illnesses, and that supervisors and managers have disciplined and suspended handlers for using or attempting to call in sick. This is all against the law. If you have ever experienced any of these situations or have ever had trouble calling in sick, please email us ASAP at info@nopaymsa.com. We are in current contact with an investigator from the City and can arrange to have them take a statement. All statements given to the investigator will be kept confidential.

Paid Family Leave


If you work in California, New Jersey, Rhode Island, New York, Washington State or Washington D.C., you are eligible for paid family leave benefits. You can use these benefits for a variety of reasons such as to care for a family member who is ill or to bond with a newborn child. Your benefits will vary by state. Feel free to select your state from the list below for detailed explanations. If you've attempted to use these benefits in the past and were denied or retaliated against by MSA, contact us for information.

Friday, March 1, 2019

Update

Lawsuit

On February 21st, MSA's attorneys filed a request for a settlement conference to discuss the following disagreements:

  • Whether individual defendants will bear responsibility for the settlement payments if the $14.5 million settlement is not paid in full.
  • The amount of any default penalty in the event payment is not made and a letter of credit Defendant MSA Security is posting is not honored.
  • Whether settlement funds will revert to the defendants if: (i) certain class or collective members yet to receive notice of the case decline to join the case; or (ii) plaintiffs fail to cash their settlement checks.

The individual defendants are Mike O'Neil, Glen Kucera, and George Harvey. The judge has scheduled conference for March 8th. A settlement agreement will now be due on March 18th.


Union

The first negotiation meeting between the UFK9H and MSA occurred on February 13th. MSA's lawyers were provided with a long list of what handlers all over the country have requested. They will be reviewing the list with their clients and will be in touch soon.

The National Labor Relations Board continues to investigate our charges against MSA which you can find here. They have also decided to dismiss the charges filed against us by MSA which you can find here.

The NLRB has also found merit to our charges that the implementation of the new Canine Home Care Policy and the reduction of the expense stipend were violations of the National Labor Relations Act. The NLRB is currently in the process of preparing an informal settlement agreement. We will continue to fight for the return of the $400 expense stipend, backpay for the months it was reduced, and the ability to negotiate the terms and conditions of the home care policy.

Service Contract Act


Many of you have received the following email from our new "Chief HR Officer" Peter Capizzi.

Dear Handler,

You recently received a notice from the MSA HR Department notifying you of the prevailing wage and fringe benefits associated with posts you work under the McNamara-O’Hara Service Contract Act (SCA). Due primarily to your paystub not previously breaking out your total pay on SCA projects that you worked on, you will be shortly notified by the US Department of Labor that you will be receiving compensation for the breakout omission. Your SCA work is now broken out separately on your paystub.

As a rapidly growing international company, we always strive to meet all legal and regulatory requirements.  Therefore, when we found we had made administrative errors, we corrected them.  More importantly, we introduced longer-term solutions, such as EPAY and UltiPro, to make certain the errors are not made in the future.  Our commitment is to always act with integrity and continue to find ways to enhance our business for our clients and our employees.

Should you have any questions on this matter please feel free to send a note to HR@msasecurity.net.

Sincerely,
Peter Capizzi | Chief HR Officer

This is Mr. Capizzi's first communication with us and it seems like he's been fed some incorrect information. MSA did not correct an administrative error as soon as they had found it. MSA was first informed in July 2017 that there was a possibility they weren't in compliance with the Service Contract Act. They did nothing except respond with hostility. We filed a complaint with the Wage and Hour Division of the Department of Labor which then conducted an investigation of MSA. Now 160 handlers will be compensated nearly $250,000 in unpaid fringe benefits. Here is a link to our original post about the Service Contract Act in April of 2018.

As always, if you have any questions feel free to email us at nopaymsa@gmail.com or leave a comment on this post. Stay strong, stay united.