March 12, 2006.

We all got a raise after years of negotiations by UPTE. I got $75 a month more this month, but I have to pay UPTE $35 a month for the raise. The way I see it is that UPTE has taken almost half the raise in my salary. I did get back pay for four months from October to January amounting to $481 net and I will get about $214 net bonus signing pay. No raise for last year. Over that period, I've paid UPTE $560. I add this up and for the past year and four months, I've netted $135 thanks to UPTE. That's less than $10 a month. When I add it all up, I don't think I'm as well off as the staff professionals who received a comparable raise, without having to pay a union for the privilege of getting a raise.

Most of you who wrote an objection letter last year received two checks from UPTE. If you paid the monthly maximum ($35), you received a check for $5.25 and another check for $35. Recently, UPTE sent a letter claiming that you have been overpaid. Not as of now. UPTE said in their annual notice that they would pay you 15% of what you pay for the period July 1, 2005 to June 30, 2006 or $66, if you pay the monthly maximum. They have only paid you up until part of February. They owe you more for the remainder of February through the end of June. They may actually use the calculated figure of 11.82%, not their bogus rounded figure of 15%. In either case, the amount that you received will not be the full amount for the period. If more payments are not forthcoming from UPTE, you can always file an Unfair Practice charge to get the remainder of what is owed you.

On the legal front, there are a number of developments. First and foremost, we have garnered the assistance of the National Right to Work Legal Foundation. I have done my best to aid, assist and represent many of you but my legal knowledge is lacking the expertise that this nonprofit organization can give you. I encourage all of you that have filed Unfair Practice Charges to take advantage of the offer of free legal representation that this fine organization has offered. I have e-mailed those of you that I have addresses for. I will try and contact the few remaining ones of you that I could not contact. If you do not hear from me, I urge you to contact me if you have a case pending before PERB. These cases may end up in Federal court, this is a venue that I, as a non lawyer am not allowed to represent you in.

There are four arbitration cases now in play. The arbitration concerning the 2002/2003 challenge involves only about a dozen or so challengers. This is the arbitration case where UPTE lawyers and witnesses did not show up. I never thought I would see the day that a party with the burden of proof does not show up. But, UPTE may pull the legal rabbit out of the hat and win without proof; slick legal maneuvering may win the day. UPTE did refund the full amount of agency fees to California challengers but none of the challengers from New York, Pennsylvania or Ohio was paid to my knowledge. A final decision in this case is due by March 30, 2006.

The arbitration concerning the 2003/2004 challenge is in a state of limbo. The arbitrator, Mr. Harkless, in this case seems to be keeping a very low profile. My last letter of November 2, 2005 has not yet been answered. I don't think that UPTE and its lawyers will show up for this case either. I suspect that the hearing will be delayed, my pleadings to the Arbitrator and the American Arbitration Association (AAA) will remain unanswered and perhaps another clever legal maneuver by UPTE will finally bury this case so that the truth cannot be brought to light.

Arbitration of the 2004/2005 challenge has turned out to be a very interesting challenge. Many people were first denied their right to challenge but when a number of people provided proof of the legitimacy of their challenge, UPTE admitted that some challengers might have been inadvertently excluded. The arbitrator ordered UPTE to provide a list of all challengers be provided along with a sworn statement that the list is, to the best of UPTEs knowledge, true and correct.

Later in this case, when Arbitrator Kagel found out that UPTE and CWA documents were not provided to the challengers, he issued an Arbitratorial order. With this seemingly sweeping order, he issued his command. CWA must provide all challengers with a copy of documents submitted to AAA in this case. Mr. Carmardella of the AAA, apparently without the approval of the Arbitrator and in violation of AAA rules has decided to issue orders of his own. He requires challengers to write to CWA and request of CWA their documentation. It's a pathetic attempt at providing this documentation, he does not even give you an address where you can send a letter to CWA. His bailout position is to provide you with a web site where you can view this information. But in legal circles, providing a web site to view in lieu of sending you the documents will not fly in court.

Why won't this pig fly? Many of you have access to a computer only at your work site. Your employer would take a dim view of you should you spend your work time viewing a hundred page document or printing out the document. What would I do if I were in your position? I would send an e-mail to the lawyer for CWA, Jerry Cooney (jcooney@weissmanmintz.com) with a cc to Mr. Carmardella (carmardellac@adr.org ) requesting a hard copy of the CWA affidavits and exhibits that, by the arbitrators order, should have been sent by December 23, 2005 pursuant to the arbitrators order of November 22, 2005. The rules of the arbitration require that AAA provide you with all documents submitted in this case. The arbitrator has issued his order, let us see if he will enforce it. My feeling is that people will comply with the rules only if they see that you are serious. You might want to show them you're serious, it's up to you.

Arbitration of the 2005/2006 challenge has not even started. No arbitrator has been appointed and no one that I know of has received notice of an arbitration hearing concerning this time period.

Sometime soon, I will ask you all to send me your objection letters for the 2006/2007 time period so I can forward them and have them legally served on UPTE. For those of you who have not done so in the past, this will get you a refund of part of the dues that you pay to the union. Hundreds of people have received tens of thousands of dollars back, get ready to join them.