Fellow Handlers:
I am hoping this finds you and your family well. We would like to let you know that your Employer, MSA, believes that the Union no longer has membership support. It is unclear where they got this information, but the facts remain that they continue to come between the Union and the membership.
They have filed a petition, on your behalf, with the NLRB, to decertify and unrecognize the United Federation of K9 Handlers. We have been negotiating a Collective Bargaining Agreement, tirelessly, that would give you and your EDC partner regular raises, more vacation time, uniform allowance, and the Stipend pay that we have alleged that they unilaterally took away from you without bargaining with the Union.
We are trying our hardest to get you all the best economic terms possible. To date, we have continued to protect the members through the NLRB and we have settled several charges on behalf of members.
We are currently very close to a favorable agreement, so MSAs timing could not be any worse. The Union will continue to fight for its members day in and day out.
So please let MSA know you want raises every year (not one every 33 years) , you want more vacation time, and a host of other benefits you and your partners deserve.
This is a baseless attempt to try and pull the membership away from the Union and we will not tolerate it. The Union, and our attorneys, will continue to keep your, and your Canines, best interests in mind. We have made significant progress to favor the employees, but the Employer wants to oust the Union to benefit themselves.
Besides negotiating, we have succeeded on several battles in front of the NLRB and have open matters currently pending resolution of a contract. This will include the Stipend that was taken away from you by MSA over 9 months ago.
We appreciate the continued support. Please feel free to reach out to us at anytime for any questions or concerns.
Sincerely,
Bill Beaury
Thank you for the update. I got the company email. Honestly, it's just sad that they can't suck it up and deal... They need to recognize the union, the labor board does. The company needs to do the right thing by employees who are doing their part. Other handlers, ask yourself this question "what is my incentive to stay?" Obviously, you bond with your partner, but what (aside from a dog) is the reason you should be loyal to these greedy individuals who line their pockets with the profits from your posts? We are compensated decently, but there is no reason we couldn't get a steady increase in our pay. I told the CEO, when he and Glenn came around to union bust, "what could you do to get me to put my faith in the company? how about regular raises? 50 cents per hour, per year raise. The company would make out ahead of the two dollar raise after three years. You'd only be paying 1.50 per hour more. It may not seem like a lot, but per hour worked for each handler, it adds up." That is only one of many examples in the laundry list of things wrong here. Once the direct leadership made it into the Ivory Tower on Murray St., they forgot what it was like to be handlers. Frets withstanding, they did their time out here, but you can't tell me they'd want to be a handler under these conditions... If they said anything otherwise, I'd call them a liar. Thank you for continuing the fight for us, our coworkers, and our four-legged partners.
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