by repost (Doug Cunningham)
Wednesday, Aug. 24, 2011 at 9:14 AM
1200 small business owners have joined up with a labor union. Normally, unions are associated with factories and other large employers, but the Allstate agents are dispersed across many small offices, and each is self-employed. Despite this structural difference, they have opted to join a labor union affiliated with the AFL-CIO.
By Doug Cunningham
The Office and Professional Employees International Union just signed up 1200 new members at Allstate insurance. In a vote administered by the American Arbitration Association, members of the National Association of Professional Allstate Agents voted by a margin of more than 94 percent to join the AFL-CIO-affiliated OPEIU. The Allstate Agents will be a guild affiliate of OPEIU and won’t have a collective bargaining agreement. But the union can assist the agents in a variety of ways. Right now Allstate agents say they are subjected to unachievable quotas, the threat of reduced compensation and the ever-present threat of contract termination. OPEIU President Michael Goodwin says it’s a matter of defending the interests of these ill-treated small business owners and OPEIU can help them achieve the benefits and protections they deserve.
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