AGENCY SHOP UPDATE August 24th 2005:

Briefs were submitted to the state arbitrator. LASPA is confident that the so called audit did not satisfy the Hudson Audit requirement.

We should expect a ruling with in 30 days. We will keep you posted.

AGENCY SHOP UPDATE July 12th 2005:

The agency shop arbitration hearing has concluded. Closing briefs are due on August 31th 2005.

Highlights: Ms. Villa, ALADS CPA, once again failed to recall important information despite having detailed notes in her possession that could be used to refresh her memory. Any person that has ever testified knows that when you are called to testify you should review all pertinent information before stepping on the witness stand. It was very convenient for the CPA of ALADS not to recall very much information. How can an audit be proper when the auditor can not recall information as to the allocation of chargeable hours?

Importantly, the person who determines what is chargeable and what is non-chargeable is required to testify. In this case, it was ALADS attorney Dick Shinee who made that determination. He failed to testify concerning his role in making that determination and in directing Ms. Villa on how to conduct the audit.

ALADS, in our opinion, has failed to establish the burden of proof that they conducted a proper audit of their finances for the year 2003.

The arbitrator will make his ruling 30 days after the briefs are submitted. LASPA will notify all members once the decision is in. Should you have any questions please feel free to call LASPA.

AGENCY SHOP UPDATE July 7th 2005:

Up coming Agency Shop hearing dates: July 7th and 8th. The hearings will begin at 1000 hours.

AGENCY SHOP UPDATE Feb 20th 2005:

The arbitration hearing went as well as expected. The first day of the hearing there was some confusion as to what was said by ALADS Office Manager Paul Mc Quinn. ALADS attorneys wanted the arbitrator to change his notes to clarify that Paul's testimony was taken out of context since it appeared to hurt ALADS when he changed his testimony after lunch. We then finished up with some other matters and finally got Rita Villa on the stand.

We asked how much Roy Burns made per year and she quickly said " I do not recall", without any thought. When asked if she was told by someone not to answer questions about directors money, she hesitated and finally said under oath "no" that no one told her not to answer questions about directors pay, but it appeared obvious to us that there was more to it. She could not give even give a ball park figure! Come on. She is the CPA and can not even give a ball park figure? Please! Rita did state that she did not know Roy Burns worked overtime on a regular basis. This would obviously impact his total salary figure since it was not dealing with agency shop.

According to some of Rita's testimony she has had the opportunity to look at W-3 and other documents. However in preparation for her testimony she claimed she never reviewed her notes or other documents for our hearing.

However, It was remarkable that she remembered very specifics language and coverage in regards to the legal charges, since it was the second highest Dollar amount next to salaries.

It appeared Rita's selective memory avoided some potential damaging information up to this point. Her testimony will continue as we reconvene in the first week of March.

LASPA feels it should be an easy question to answer, How much money do the board members make? The only time we have heard more "I do not recall" was Oliver North's infamous testimony on the contra hearings.

We will post the next date and invite all to attend and listen for themselves.

AGENCY SHOP UPDATE Jan 21st 2005:

January 11, 2005 hearing: The hearing went very well. We wish everyone could have seen the turmoil a simple question generated; How much money do you make? The objections and hot tempered remarks was worthy of pay per view.

Alads wanted a quick hearing date since we did not finish with the cross examination of their first witness. For the first time since we have engaged in this process ALADS wanted to reconvene the next morning.

They suffered some serious blows to the accounting methods used to determine the agency shop fee. One witness changed his testimony 180 degrees after lunch. Of course he said he had more time to reflect on the question despite having his answer repeated 5-7 times in the morning session.

The funny thing was that there was no stenographer recording the testimony. This is common practice for such hearings but Alads did not provide one; How convenient!

We are set to cross examine ALADS CPA, Rita Villa, on FEB 10th and 11th at 1000 hours. The CPA, according to Dick Shinee, has the "knowledge of all the finances in question" and "we can ask the questions we want." We will see.

We are excited about this opportunity since no one to our knowledge has been able to look at any financial records of any kind to determine the accuracy and integrity of union dues. Millions are collected for negotiations but yet less than 50,000 is spent directly on it. WHY?

We are encouraging all deputies to attend this hearing to hear for themselves what Alads has been hiding and is afraid to reveal!

Next Hearing Date: February 10 and 11 TIME: 1000 Hours

Location:
Hall of Administration
ERCOM ,Third Floor (CCH is located directly behind the building)
500 West Temple Street
Los Angeles, CA

AGENCY SHOP UPDATE Jan 10th 2005:

The hearing officers recommendation does not make any sense and we obviously disagree with his interpretation of ERCOM rules. The actual written decision has been mailed to your unit reps to be posted at your unit of assignment.

Now we stand before the ERCOM Commissioners to request that they over rule the recommendation of the hearing officer and order a new election, which will stop agency shop deductions. If ERCOM does not change the recommendation of our unfair labor practice complaint then we can re-open our superior court law suit that was put on hold pending the resolution of the ERCOM hearing. This will begin immediately after the final decision.

We now focus on the arbitration hearing on Tuesday, January 11th. This hearing is designed to challenge the amount ALADS charges. PPOA members pay $7 a month compared to $42 that LASPA members pay. We have already subpoenaed key executives and other relevant witnesses for this hearing.

Additional Info: Some members have asked how long agency shop is in affect. The answer is three years and it ends automatically. Agency shop will end in 2006 and ALADS will have to put it to a vote again.

AGENCY SHOP UPDATE Dec 29th 2004:

AGENCY SHOP LETTER: LASPA members have been receiving notices regarding an arbitration hearing. The notice indicates the date, time and the location of the hearing. If your notice has a different date than 1-11-2005 at 1000 hours, then please notify LASPA as soon as possible.

We will provide further direction in the very near future. This arbitration will allow you to subpoena witnesses and ask questions in regards to the agency shop fee amount. This process should allow you to look at financial records that pertain to the Hudson Audit ALADS allegedly performed and question the CPA that completed the audit that determined the fee amount.

ERCOM: The Agency shop decision is expected anytime before the end of the week. We will post that decision as soon it is made available

AGENCY SHOP UPDATE Dec 3rd 2004:

As you know, the matter of Warren v. Alads, also known as the “agency shop” hearings, recently concluded before hearing officer Walter Daugherty. The briefs, which were initially due on the 8th of November, were finally filed with ERCOM for consideration on November 29, 2004. According to ERCOM rules and assurances by Mr. Daugherty, his decision will be issued on or before December 31, 2004. Mr. Daugherty expressly stated that the holiday season will NOT affect his ability to publish his decision within thirty days. Once his decision is published, the full commission will consider the recommendation and will likely issue a notice of hearing to give the parties an opportunity to present their respective positions before the full commission. If the Daugherty finds in our favor and recommends a full refund, we can and should expect ALADS to either seek a settlement with us or appeal until the end. However, a favorable decision from Daugherty will, in effect, place ALADS on short-term life support.

We received ALADS’ closing brief from ERCOM. In our opinion, it is not remotely persuasive and completely fails to address the issues presented in the Warren's challenge. There are some very stunning statements made that demonstrates how completely clueless ALADS is about the issues presented. Please note the following statement made by Dicky on page 12 of the closing brief:

Respondents (ALADS) readily concede that if Charging Party could prove that Respondent, ALADS, was charging different agency fees to different non-member employee in Bargaining Unit 611, it might well be an unfair labor practice”

The concession made by Dicky is astounding because it is the entire case. In our opinion, this concession makes it virtually impossible for Daugherty to find any grounds upon which to deny the charge.

AGENCY SHOP UPDATE Oct 6th 2004:

We had the last day of hearing before Hearing Officer Walter Daugherty on October 4th. It was not necessary for us to present any additional witnesses because PPOA Executive Director, Paul Roller, provided the hearing officer with a declaration admitting that PPOA had a secret agreement with ALADS which provided for ALADS to reimburse PPOA for the $42.00 that was taken from each PPOA 611 member. The hearing officer accepted the declaration and commented that the declaration clearly explained the agreement between PPOA and ALADS. Daugherty made it very clear that the declaration established the facts of the matter and it was now a question of law. The question being: Is it legal for ALADS to impose agency shop on a portion of the bargaining unit (611) and not on the other? Clearly, ALADS may not selectively apply agency shop. ALADS violated ERCOM rules when it unfairly applied agency shop to LASPA members and not to PPOA members. We argued, the only appropriate remedy is to reverse agency shop and, if desired, hold a new election.

Daugherty ordered hearing briefs filed by November 3, 2004. He then has 30 days upon which to file his decision with the commission. We will receive a copy of his decision and forward it to all members. Should you have any questions please do not hesitate to call.

AGENCY SHOP UPDATE Sept 27th 2004:

Next hearing date is Monday October 4, 2004. LASPA has subpoenaed Alads board of directors again to testify on that day. We will also officially submit the sworn declaration PPOA provided that proves PPOA members do not pay the same agency shop fees as LASPA members.

A decision should be rendered within 15 days thereafter.

AGENCY SHOP UPDATE Aug 11th 2004:

We have submitted the declaration we received from PPOA to the hearing officer and are awaiting for an acknowledgment of receipt. Once we receive this acknowledgment we will submit our case and wait up to 15 days for the hearing officer to submit his recommendation. It is our belief that this declaration by itself proves our claim of unfair labor practice and should begin the process of collecting refunds and stopping any further deductions.

It appears that ALADS pass agency shop by fraud and that a new election should be held if ALADS wishes to keep agency shop in place. It has been a long time strenuous fight but the end is near. LASPA is moving forward!

Should you have any questions please feel free to call.

AGENCY SHOP UPDATE July 23rd 2004:

ERCOM Hearings were set for July 20, and if needed, the 24th. LASPA subpoenaed PPOA Directors to testify at the hearing. ALADS attorney of record called in "sick" and the hearing was canceled.

Nevertheless, in lieu of PPOA Directors testifying, PPOA's executive director agreed to provide a sworn declaration acknowledging the secret agreement between PPOA and ALADS concerning the reimbursement of dues to PPOA from ALADS resulting from the collection of agency maintenance fees from Unit 611 members who belong to PPOA. His declaration clearly establish the only true goal of agency shop, not make "free loaders pay" but to eliminate competition.

In light of this sworn declaration, the subpoena's issued for PPOA Directors were withdrawn. As we anticipated introducing the declaration into evidence on July 24th to expose ALADS secret deal with PPOA and prove our unfair labor practice case, Mr. Shinee surprisingly called in sick again. We hope he recovers from his illness soon.

We will be rescheduling the hearing as soon as possible. If you should have any questions please feel free to call LASPA at (323) 981-2850

AGENCY SHOP UPDATE July 1st 2004:

The hearing on July 14 went very well for all LASPA members. Key testimony established a portion of our complaint. We have subpoenaed some of the PPOA directors and look forward to their testimony. So far things are gong well for us and are confident LASPA will prevail.

More key witnesses will be called to testify when we reconvene on Tuesday, July 20 at 10 am. Those able to are more than welcome to attend and show their support.

We will continue to keep the website updated with the most recent information. Please feel free to call our office of you have additional questions or concerns.

AGENCY SHOP UPDATE July 1st 2004:

On June 28, 2004, LASPA introduced documents to the hearing officer that revealed the agency shop election did not affect all members of unit 611 equally as claimed in the official ERCOM election packets. Additionally, we submitted evidence showing a clear disparity between LASPA and PPOA members’ agency shop fee amounts. This evidence established that PPOA members do not pay the same exorbitant fees that LASPA members are paying. In fact, it revealed they do not pay any fees at all. This was a major blow to ALADS.

We will reconvene on July 14th with additional evidence and witness testimonies. This should be the last hearing date needed to resolve this issue.

AGENCY SHOP UPDATE May 26th 2004:

ERCOM HEARING UPDATE: LASPA was not allowed to present pertinent information regarding ALADS financial records and testimony of their auditor, Rita Miller, during the scheduled hearing on May 24th.

This determination by the hearing officer, Waltor Daugherty, was made after Dick Shinee and Tony Butka, executive director for ERCOM, met behind closed doors that delayed the start of our hearing by an hour. It should be noted we were unable to locate the hearing officer during this time. After they concluded their meeting, our attorney began his opening statements.

As the opening arguments got underway, the hearing officer said he was only going to listen to a narrow scope of our complaint dealing with the secret agreement with PPOA only. The hearing officer told our attorney that he believed that he did not have the jurisdiction to listen to the unfair labor practice claim dealing specially with the amount ALADS deducts from our members.

By his questionable ruling, it prevented Rita Miller from testifying on the finances of ALADS. We were directed by Tony Butka to petition the ERCOM Commissioners to clarify the scope of jurisdiction to be heard.

We will submit an expedited hearing with the Commissioners regarding this point
to determine if the hearing officer can listen to the second portion of our unfair labor practice complaint or not. It is ironic that the ERCOM Commissioners originally scheduled our complaint knowing exactly what the scope of our complaint entailed.

Nevertheless, we are scheduled to return on June 28, 30 and July 14, 20 and 22 if necessary. The expedited meeting with the Commissioners will be prior to the June 28th meeting.

If the scope is not broadened, then we go to Judge Dunn in superior court to argue the financial portion of our complaint and continue with the ERCOM hearing on the PPOA agreement issue only.

We will continue to update the website as more information is made available.

AGENCY SHOP UPDATE Apr 19th 2004:

ALADS has mailed all non-alads members the renewal of fair share fees. Please submit via certified mail, the objection notice to the fair share fees which is set for $40.00.

In addition to the reduction of the fair share fee, all deputies must submit a separate letter stating you wish to challenge ALADS determination of the fair share fee.

Indicate in your letter that you want the bank name and account number plus the name of the arbitrator sent to you as soon as possible. Please keep a copy of the letter for your records and return the original via certified mail to:

ALADS
828 WEST WASHINGTON BLVD.
LOS ANGELES, CA 90015

See sample letter below: Remember to keep a copy!

Date: April 19, 2004

Your full name
Your mailing address (not home address)
Phone number

Re: Challenge of Fair Share Fee Determination

To Whom It May Concern:

This letter will serve as notice that I wish to challenge your so called fair share fee determination. Please provide the bank institution name and interest bearing account number where my money will be deposited into.

In addition, please forward the date and time of my arbitration hearing with the independent arbitrator as soon as possible.

_________________________ # ________________
Sign your full name and employee number

AGENCY SHOP UPDATE Apr 6th 2004:

Alads board of directors actions are cowardly for not showing up to the hearing to defend their fair share fee and the accounting of ALADS dues money. They should be eager to dispel rumors about criminal conduct related to ALADS accounting. They received notice a month ago. Why not show up and defend your handling of ALADS money? Why hide? They spent so much time telling everyone how "just" and "fair" it was to charge LASPA members. Is it not "just" and "fair" to show up to explain how they are spending that money? Why the secrecy? Why run and hide? Real men don't run and hide. Honest men don't avoid appearing to explain their actions. As LASPA members we are disgusted that our dues money is being used to support a weak and cowardly ALADS leadership. Its time to come out of the bunkers.

LASPA attorneys served Bud Treece, Roy Burns, Steve Remige and Myrtle Williams in the proper and traditional manner. This is evidenced by two signed statements from those that effected service. Nonetheless, the hearing officer is allowing them one more chance to show up before resorting to Rule 6.07(f) of the ERCOM rules that allow for the hearing officer to discredit the position of those that fail to appear pursuant to a valid subpoena. The scared ALADS leadership had their one chance to run and hide, but they will have to show up on May 24th or they face losing the case.

The bottom line is that we are getting closer to a resolution in this case and are pleased that ALADS has run out of options. ALADS, it is time to reveal your actions. Everyone will get to see how you are spending members money. We will get to see how much you spend on yourselves. We get to see how much they take from hardworking deputies to provide their perks. We will get to see how much of your hard-earned money was spent on a failed campaign.

As we move forward to obtain retroactive reimbursements for all affected members, the agency shop renewal for fair share fee is coming up. Everyone must sign the objection notice and contest the fair share amount and send it certified mail to ALADS and maintain copies of said documents for themselves forwarding a copy to LASPA just in case. Some may not know but Agency shop is only good for three years and then their must be another vote of unit 611 to continue to have agency shop. Nevertheless, LASPA is doing all it can to ensure it stops on May 24th. Hopefully, the cowardly leadership will show up instead of losing by default.

AGENCY SHOP UPDATE Feb 3rd 2004:

Employee Commission Office has granted a hearing date of April 5th, 2004 at 10:00 am in hearing room "A".

Notice Page 1
Notice Page 2

Legal Notice Page 1
Legal Notice Page 2

AGENCY SHOP UPDATE Jan 12th 2004:

As you know, the Employee Commissions Office has granted us a hearing date on January 13, 2004 over 4 months ago. ALADS have managed to delay the hearing at least 2 days with the apparent assistance of Tony Butka, the executive director of Employee Commissions Office (ERCOM).

Mr. Butka is claiming that he “forgot” to provide written notification to ALADS of the hearing. ERCOM regulations require that the defending party, ALADS, be notified of the charges 10 days prior to the commencement of the hearing. This notification is almost automatic and requires a simple statement of the charges and the scheduled hearing date. Tony Butka claims it was a just an oversight on his part. Because of this “oversight”, we cannot begin the hearing on the 13th. We believe Tony Butka intentionally failed to send the required notification as a favor to ALADS and this is not only unacceptable but it is actionable.

We could begin the hearing on January 15, 2004. The only catch is that Tony Butka will get to choose the hearing officer. LASPA directors and attorneys agree that it would not be in the best interest of LASPA and its members to proceed under this condition. The new date with the original hearing officer has been rescheduled to Monday, March 8th. It is obvious that ALADS is going to great lengths to avoid losing this issue and begin refunding your hard earned money with interest.

AGENCY SHOP UPDATE Nov 24th 2003:

Agency shop update: It appears that ALADS has begun refunding members money in lieu of going to arbitration. Some deputies have received checks from ALADS for approx. $228. Alads is claiming that it would be cheaper for them to refund money versus going to arbitration for only a few objectors. A thousand objectors is not a few. Nevertheless, we are moving forward with the hearing in order to get everyone money back but more importantly to stop future deductions.

AGENCY SHOP UPDATE Sept 8th 2003:

Tony Butka, executive director for ERCOM, has indicated that he will assign a hearing officer by Wednesday so we can get this hearing under way and get back the money that Alads illegally took from our members.

Why is LASPA so confident that it will prevail at the ERCOM Hearing?

1. Alads own internal document clearly breaks down how their dues are broken up. Only 12% goes to negotiations; the ONLY chargeable amount!

2. Alads official request for agency shop dues was for only 13% of their dues. This equal to $6.78 at the time, but since then they a raised their dues by $5 disguised under their Political action fund. Nevertheless, we cannot be charged for their so called PAC fund increase. So the actual number is $6.78 a month at the most.

3. Election fraud- ALADS and PPOA engaged into an agreement that would not affect PPOA deputies. Since the election was held under the pretense that ALL MEMBERS from bargaining unit 611 would have to pay agency shop fee. This condition of election was false and should at the very least cause another election.

4. Hudson Audit per supreme court ruling. ALADS has yet to provide an audit of their finances, according to an independent CPA, who review of their so called audit, Alads does NOT meet any of the General Accepted Accounting Practices. Remember the ENRON Scandal, well this could be worse?

5. Agency shop requires all funds taken by ALADS to be in held in an interest bearing escrow account and that account number should be disclosed to all affected deputies. In addition, they MUST provide and arbitrator to challenge the so called "fair share fee". They have done neither per the government code.

6. The fact that ALADS possibly committed embezzlement by initially deducting dues without any benefits what so ever unless you joined them. You have probably received a letter from Roy recently saying you are covered for legal issues so why pay for both unions. Well if ALADS would cover their own members LASPA would not they would not have to hire our attorneys to help them. (Look at Testimonials on homepage)

By the way, we have gained over 70 new members since Alads has begun taking dues from us. Our attorneys have done a great job considering ALADS has straight out lied in court on at least two different occasions which has caused a 60 day delay in resolving this issue. Otherwise, the deduction would have been lowered dramatically or eliminated by now. We will advise you shortly of the hearing date!

Should you have any questions please contact LASPA.

AGENCY SHOP UPDATE Aug 7th 2003:

Petition to Recall Agency Shop......

Dear LASPA Members, Former Members & Non-Affiliated Union Members:

LASPA is currently circulating petitions to all deputies throughout the county. The purpose of this petition is to gather enough signatures to force another election and overturn agency shop. This would end agency shop and stop the collection of forced ALADS dues.

Why should ALADS & Non Members sign the petition?
Reasons: #1 Legal Representation- Look at the testimonials on LASPA's web site. If LASPA was not here, all those deputies would not have jobs. Ask the Alads deputies that were refused representation or were given poor advise that led to their termination if they would vote for agency shop again?

#2 Keep ALADS from providing substandard service- You will always have another choice in representation. Without LASPA you will have no choice nor have anywhere else to go if ALADS refuses to cover you like so many documented cases! With only one choice to make, it basically leaves you with no choice. When you have a large attorney panel to choose from it gives you more options to make sure your career and livelihood is taken care of.

#3 ALADS excuses for agency shop were false- If we are united, we achieve more in negotiations and no free loaders!-. Agency shop does no such thing; it has divided people as expected. Since agency shop was passed in October 2002, we have no contract and will most likely hold on to what we have and if we are lucky, not lose pay.

The claim of being free loader is funny since ALADS Board of Directors are free loading off their members hard earned money with 3 full time release deputies at over $6,000 each a month, plus 5 1/2% overtime stipend, $750 car allowance, cell phone, free gas and unlimited credit card usage "for business related expenses”. Why not just do away with their perks and save over an estimated $300,000 a year! Negotiations are the only thing ALADS offers that LASPA does not, which may change. So let’s look at some facts!

Nonprofessional negotiators: ALADS dues are broken up so that 13% of their dues are spent for negotiations efforts. That is roughly $7 per member per month. Over a three year period, ALADS collects 1.2 MILLION. Negotiations are done by fellow deputies with no formal training or certification. These county employed deputies draw a normal salary and are on duty when they meet at the negotiating table. By definition they are not professionals.

FACTS: In 1997-2000 we gained 12% at the cost of all new deputies joining the department who took an 11% pay decrease, NET RAISE 1%! In 2000-2003 we took 9% while most in the county obtained at least 15% or greater in total benefits, NET LOSS 4%.
2003? NO pay raise, NO 3% at 50! We will be lucky not to lose pay or benefits!

LAPD got 9% pay raises, 3 extra vacation days, increase uniform allowance and all education paid for. I believe LAPD is in California so the budget can't be the excuse! In addition, San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department got a 22% pay raise and 3% at 50 this year! It is not unity, it’s the negotiators!

According to ALADS, they only spent $41,000 in negotiations despite collecting $1.2 million every three years for this purpose. Where is the remaining money if they only spent $41,000? The fact that ALADS members cannot get detailed financial records should at the very least concern you.

LASPA has offered their professional negotiators to assist ALADS at the negotiating table, but they refused to use them! We are not free loading by offering $300 an hour attorneys who specialize in contract negotiations. Why should LASPA pay money for nonprofessionals? They collect more than enough money so the so called “fair share fees” cannot be the reason that Alads wanted agency shop.

#4 Example of Services: There was an officer involved shooting in Compton last month involving several deputies. Our member had an attorney on scene within 40 minutes. The only reason ALADS showed up was because they were told that LASPA was already on scene. Two off duty deputies involved in an incident led to their arrest for a possible felony. One LASPA and one ALADS member were involved. Our member called and had an attorney on site within an hour! The ALADS deputy called but they were not going to respond since it was off duty. Our attorney represented the ALADS member for free because ALADS would not roll out and LASPA does not leave their brothers hanging. This incident could have cost him his career, if LASPA wasn't there.

LASPA is not forcing members to join or dictating how to spend their money! Members join on their own because of the services and legal representation we offer. We have yet to hear about any LASPA member using ALADS attorneys to defend them, not a single one. Yet there are several dozens ALADS deputies that have called LASPA for assistance because ALADS could not do the job.

We could call this legal assistance “free loading”, but LASPA views it as helping a fellow brother in need. If we can save a persons job so they can make their mortgage and pay their bills we are not concerned with the color of their shirt, the patch on their sleeve or the title in front of their name. That is why ALADS started agency shop so they would not have to compete against better service and legal representation.

Regardless of which union you prefer for legal representation, the fact is that you have a choice. If you are not satisfied with your union, you can do something about it! With agency shop in place even if you get no service and no legal representation from ALADS, you STILL HAVE TO PAY THEM MONTHLY DUES OF $57.16 or more.

IMPORTANT: LASPA will not stop fighting agency shop until the dues are lowered in compliance with applicable laws or agency shop is defeated. This petition is just another way to stop deductions. The only reason this legal issue has gone as long as it has is because ALADS has deceived and misstated facts in evidence to delay our day in court. LASPA is confident, that based on the laws we will prevail and the most ALADS will be able to deduct, if anything, is between $5-7 a month.

In addition, it is important to understand the only reason agency shop was started by ALADS was simply to eliminate competition. LASPA forces ALADS to do more, as in customer service, return phone calls, legal representation, roll outs in the middle of the night for shootings and critical incidents etc., to keep members. Even with competition their own members are using LASPA for legal services. Can you imagine if we had no choice at all? It was not started to unify members for a stronger voice as claimed. If ALADS were sensitive to their members needs, then there would be no need for LASPA.

Regardless of what union you decide to belong to, everyone should have a choice of how they want to spend their hard earned money. Please sign the petition and circulate it at your unit of assignment or just sign the petition and return it in the self address stamped envelope.

If you have already signed the petition, we thank you. If possible please circulate it at your unit of assignment. Should you have any questions please feel free to contact LASPA at your earliest convenience. If you would like us to field some questions from coworkers, please set up a date and time with us to attend.

AGENCY SHOP UPDATE May 10th 2003:

Alads sent letters to all LASPA members claiming to seek 75% of their current dues of $57.16 or $42.87 for agency shop.

This is very interesting since we have documentation from Bud Treece, Executive Director for ALads, to Tony Butka from ERCOM officially requesting only 13% for agency shop or $6.70. Please look at the document for yourself. Click here to see half sheet memo.**

Why the discrepancy? ALADS being ALADS. They will say anything to save their dwindling membership.

Alads also alleged that we somehow lied to our members regarding the lawsuit we dismissed. All members will receive a copy of the document that we sent to Dick Shinee, Alads lead attorney, indicating we were dismissing the lawsuit without prejudice until Alads decided to pursued agency shop fee collection. It has been over 6 months since agency shop was narrowly passed in 2002 and LASPA did not want to waste our members hard earn money on something Alads was in no hurry to implement.

If you hear any other lies, please disregard and call LASPA for the facts.

(** info will open in new browser window)

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