The Devil at My Doorstep

by David Bego

  To harass customers, a building manager’s telephone number was given out, tying up phone lines and voice mail for hours on end as pressure built on a daily basis. I tried to keep calm, to assess the enemy’s strategies and see whether their tactics were working. Thus far, our customers had been loyal to us, but I knew some were at the breaking point. How easy it would have been for them to ask to be released from the EMS contract. We would have done so without question but with a heavy heart as our working relationships with businesses and buildings across the country were precious to us. Even worse, we knew that when a business caved in, workers were going to be less protected, not more, as SEIU’s hypocritical attitude of saying one thing and doing another meant lower wages and more costly benefits in the long run. Despite all of the flyers, handbills, demonstrations, and media attention, thus far only a handful of EMS employees out of more than 400 in Indianapolis had defected, but I could still expect a stampede to the door if the SEIU attacks on EMS employees became too intense.

  Ever ready to speak with anyone on the opposition team (I was still waiting for a call from Stern), Father Tom Fox agreed to meet me for a one-on-one chat about the EMS–SEIU stalemate. But when he began the conversation by informing me that if his father and two brothers, all businessmen including one brother, a General Motors executive, had not been able to persuade him to change his pro-union attitude, I “certainly was not going to.” I knew we were headed for an uphill battle. I explained that I wasn’t trying to sway him from his pro-union stance but wanted him to know all of the facts involved. He replied with suggestions that elections took too long under the present secret ballot system and I countered by explaining that nearly a year had passed since I offered to have an election. Within that time, we could have had eight or nine elections! Then he said we “brainwashed, intimidated, and harassed” workers. I told him that was not our way and he was welcome to talk to some of our employees if he wished to do so. He brought up the names of two men who had complained, and I told him to talk to the 34 on that crew who had not. When the meeting ended, we agreed to disagree and that was that, with my hope that our meeting might cool down the escalating war.

  But it didn’t. On September 25, I received a fax with the following message:

  • • • • • • • • • • •

  Dear David Bego,

  We are writing to inform you that EMS employees at 10 W. Market St. and SkyBank, as of September 25, 2007 are participating in an unfair labor practice strike until further notice. They are protesting charges of unfair labor practices including those described in NLRB cases: (case numbers followed)

  Sincerely,

  Rebecca Maran

  • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

  Scattered to the right and above her name (she was the SEIU Local 3 representative) were the written names of seven employees. Yes, it was true—for the first time in its nearly 20-year history—EMS employees were striking. What a sad day this was, one I would never forget.

  Of immediate concern was someone to clean the buildings affected by the strikers. To my sincere appreciation, management, clerical employees, and employees from other buildings rose to the occasion and volunteered to work until we had the workers replaced. Then we set about finding new employees who would be willing to work even though the union was picketing every night in front of the building. Kelly worked hard to select the proper people, including one EMS employee who asked to come back to work right after the strike actually began, saying she did not agree with the union. One of our human resources people who substituted found out what union pressure was all about when he was approached by an organizer who told him, “We’ll pay you your normal wages if you stay out here on strike with us.” When the EMS employee said he wasn’t interested, the organizer promised him higher wages and better benefits with the union, noting that EMS’s current pay package was F*ck*ng B*ll Sh*t! If the strike caused me to lose my breath, then a second incident quickly reminded me once again of the potential for violence, my worst nightmare. This occurred when a “short blond [SEIU] organizer” grabbed an EMS supervisor named Lucy while she was trying to enter Market Tower. She said, “Don’t go in there. Take that shirt off and put this one on [purple SEIU shirt]. We will pay you for today. They can’t fire you.” Fortunately Lucy did not retaliate and entered the building, but I feared more of these incidents could occur and at some point tempers would boil to the point of no return.

  If fighting the Christian brothers and sisters supporting SEIU was not hard enough, two days before the end of September, the CEO of an Indianapolis-based company, received a threatening letter from the Islamic Society of North America. Signed by Secretary General Muneer Fareed, the letter expressed reservations about an industry “plagued with low wages, discrimination, and health and safety concerns.” Specifically, Fareed stated “As Muslims of faith we find the current treatment of these workers to be reprehensible,” before alerting the CEO that “we are aware that your company is in the process of opening a Shariah-compliant fund on the London and Dubai stock exchange. Should the situation at the buildings in Indianapolis not come to a swift and just resolution, we will continue with our campaign to inform your investors and the worldwide Muslim community of this urgent and unacceptable state of affairs.”

  In an effort to apply even more pressure, the SEIU sent one of the disgruntled EMS employees to London so she could picket at an Islamic Economic Conference. The aim: to embarrass the owners of Market Tower and disrupt the proceedings. We discovered this when London’s Guardian newspaper called me for an interview. News accounts also appeared in the Irish Times triggering global coverage of our union battle.

  For those unfamiliar with union tactics, a threatening letter from an organization like the Islamic Society seems unreal. But this sort of behavior is commonplace when a win-at-all-cost attitude prevails like it does at SEIU. Certainly Stern and his cohorts believed the ends justified the means even if the means meant spreading untruths when the truth was known. Or bringing into the fight the Islamic Society, despite their leaders having little or no idea of the background causing the strife between EMS and SEIU. Regardless, now the war had stretched across the Atlantic where a valued customer was being assaulted for its association with EMS. Were there no lengths to which SEIU would go to win? Were there no depths to which Stern and the union would stoop to get their way? Poor Gerald, I thought. I can’t even imagine what his reaction must have been to receiving this letter. I’m sorry, I thought. I really am.

  Interestingly enough I later learned that a scholar from the Middle East fund visited the Islamic Society in Indiana and discussed the situation with them and they realized they were being manipulated to use religious sympathies based on groundless facts.

  While I tried to be active at every turn as new developments occurred almost hourly, an October 1-fax from Rebecca Maran reported that unnamed EMS employees at two other buildings had joined the strikers. The next day, a fax signed by 14 EMS Indianapolis employees was sent to EMS customers in Cincinnati explaining their decision to strike in Indianapolis. The text above the signatures stated, “While the janitorial industry moves forward, EMS chooses to move backwards . . . We desire to have pride in our jobs and do the best work possible for our tenants . . . But how can that happen while we work in a volatile and hostile workplace lacking benefits and earning wages that leave our families in poverty?”

  As I read these words, I wondered if I had been too stubborn, too set in my ways. Had I really listened well enough to employee concerns over the years? Was I truly backward with my thinking? Was the SEIU the saving grace these workers believed it to be? Was I standing in the way of worker progress? Should I pick up the telephone and call Stern, and say, “Okay, I have seen the light. I’ll sign the Neutrality Agreement?” No, I couldn’t do that as it wasn’t a matter of winning or losing, or perhaps even who was right and who was wrong, but my strong belief that the SEIU was hoodwinking workers into believing they co
uld better their plight in life through unionization, if only they would give up their right to secret-ballot elections. I couldn’t let that happen. Even though I had asked several times for the union to show me how this was possible, they never once had done so. With new resolve, I decided to stay the course, absorb the abuse, put up with the strikers, and perhaps decide to take some bolder action toward an offensive of some sort designed to counterattack SEIU like they had never been counterattacked before. How I might do that was unclear, but my mind was swirling around some thoughts about a potential course of action.

  At this point I knew the union was getting desperate and the strike was proof positive; it was really the last gasp effort of its failing Corporate Campaign against EMS. Above all, it was important to remember that the union is a business and it has a business plan when it enters a metropolitan area to organize. Experiences in Cincinnati and Houston told us that the union wanted to wrap things up in a two-year time period and it was fast approaching two years since GSF became the first signatory to a Neutrality Agreement in Indianapolis in December of 2005. We figured if we could last until the end of December, the pressure would subside. We also were encouraged by the fact that so few EMS employees had joined the strike meaning the workers were not buying what the union was selling. I salute our savvy employees for the wisdom to see through the baloney being fed them. What we needed now was to stick a sword in the SEIU heart to kill the beast threatening us at every turn.

  We had filed several charges in early May with the NLRB against the SEIU for employee harassment but those charges were later dismissed because the employees who had complained were reluctant to come forward for fear of retaliation by the SEIU. While the SEIU swears the board favors businesses, this could not be further from the truth as facts indicate that time and time again, the NLRB prosecutes more charges against employers than it does against unions. This will be even more apparent now that President Obama has nominated a former SEIU attorney to the board. How objective do you think he will be if confirmed?

  In any event, we decided it was time to put both the SEIU and the NLRB on the spot for the union’s continued employee harassment and intimidation, as well as violations of the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA). The plan we had in mind was militaristic in nature, one where we would strike with overwhelming firepower.

  As we plotted our strategy, another employee meeting was held at Market Tower. When I rose to speak and looked into the faces of employees who had worked for us for years with no hint of discontent, I could not help but become emotional. Big guys like me aren’t supposed to show such feelings, but I truly did love these people and wanted the best for them. Unlike me, they had never been able to enjoy some of the sweeter parts of life, especially education, the strong foundation for job advancement. Without it, there is less chance of growth, and fewer alternatives available other than hourly wage jobs. But none of these people I knew were gripers; nobody was blaming anyone else for their inability to earn more. All I could do was be fair to these hardworking men and women and look out for their best interests. Some, like the SEIU, wanted to paint me as the evil one, but I cared and nothing was going to change that attitude.

  I began my speech by telling the workers the purpose of the meeting was to discuss recent and past events concerning this battle between EMS and the union. I made it clear that any decision to organize was their decision, one guaranteed to them under federal law. Realizing they wondered if any of the allegations against me were true, I emphasized that neither I nor any of the managers had or were going to harass, intimidate, or take action against any of them if they were pro-union. We would operate, I explained, within the law and if any instance of foul play by our management team occurred, they should immediately contact human resources. Then I laid out 11 different “true facts” for them to consider touching on subjects ranging from whom SEIU was, to their organizational intentions in the “Tri-city campaign,” to the Neutrality Agreement and its potential impact, to the union being a business and mostly interested in union dues, and finally to the fact that Interfaith Worker Justice had been supported by SEIU to the tune of one hundred thousand dollars in donations for the two previous years. Hopefully, this provided our employees with both sides of the story, my only intention.

  When the striking employees requested their paychecks, we gave them out without so much as a whimper. Yet, the union filed a charge with the NLRB alleging that we paid them one day late, an untruth. It was yet another opportunity for the union to defame EMS in a flyer. A few days later, while speaking to an International Facility Management Association (IFMA) group in Indianapolis on the subject of illegal immigration, a woman named Sarah (a striking EMS employee) interrupted by raising her hand to ask a question. Instead of directing it to the message being conveyed, she criticized EMS for low wages and no health care. I explained this was not true; IMFA officials then intervened and escorted the woman from the room. If her goal was to embarrass me, she did not do so, but I knew SEIU was shadowing every move I made, morning to night. They also had several picketers appear outside the building where I spoke, but they left before I did.

  Later, we discovered the woman who had spoken out was not really one named Sarah but another, Sharon, whom the SEIU asked to impersonate Sarah when Sarah could not appear. This was the same woman the SEIU had sent to London to embarrass the owners of Market Tower. Even more interesting was that she indicated the strike was due to economic reasons and not unfair labor practices as the union claimed. We also soon realized the union had purposely set traps for our managers by having button days and other special days to trip our supervisors and managers into making mistakes so they could claim harassment and file unfair labor charges to justify the strike and tell the employees that because it was an unfair labor practice strike, they could always get their jobs back. Our supervisors and managers really did a good job of remembering their training and performed admirably! Interestingly enough, one of the SEIU organizers told one of the strikers they did not really have a good enough case for the strike, but they were desperate and running out of time and needed to move ahead!

  On October 10, a noisy rally outside Market Tower by several strikers occurred. They were armed with signs stating, “EMS Workers on Strike.” This occurred while supporters, dressed in purple T-shirts, handed out flyers at the Children’s Museum and the Guaranty Building where they visited several businesses including The South Bend Chocolate Company and Au Bon Pain as well as the fifth-floor Arts Council. A week later, organizers at Market Tower accosted an EMS employee named Audrey. They told her to “stop being a rat and taking other people’s jobs.” On her report, she noted, “I felt very intimidated.”

  On October 22, 2007, I met with Senator Bayh’s Chief of Staff at Market Tower to address his uninformed support of the SEIU. Upon my arrival, I saw a mock up of a jail cell outside of the main doors with a person inside wearing an EMS-type uniform. Picketers handed out flyers, one imprinted with the catchy words “EMS Poverty Prison.” Other strikers used bullhorns to express their frustrations. On October 25, another march took place with streets closed for nearly five hours. All the while, EMS employees were stopped while walking to and from work by union organizers, many of whom made threatening gestures. One flyer used by the strikers and other protesters stated, “Tour Indianapolis Houses of Horrors” alleging “EMS Janitor who works with blood and dangerous chemicals at the pharmaceutical labs reports never having mandatory HPV vaccines [and] protective clothing. . . .”

  The allegations at the pharmaceutical company for unsafe handling of chemicals really rubbed me the wrong way. I was suspicious of the source of the charges and some investigation threw a new light on what had occurred. We discovered the name of the EMS employee who submitted the claim was spelled incorrectly on the form, and that the signature did not match the one written when the employee applied for a job with us. This disclosure led us to believe the name had been forged, but we let it pass as the charges were later dismissed
without question.

  October 31, Halloween, certainly was an evening of ghosts and goblins for the neighbors who lived near one of my good customers Gerald Donaldson, and me. But even more for Gerald’s wife. When I arrived home around 6:30 p.m. to take care of neighborhood “trick or treaters,” I received a call from her. To my amazement, she told me two young children had just appeared at her door in costume asking for candy while also handing her a flyer defaming Gerald’s company and EMS. My face reddened at the audacity of the union, but I tried to be calm and decide what the best course of action was.

  When I stepped into our driveway, standing in front of me were the two cute little kids she had described—a boy and a girl. After giving them candy, I noticed the girl had flyers in her hand. I asked her if she was supposed to give them to me, and she said “yes,” and handed me one. You could tell she was uncomfortable, poor thing.

  When I looked up, there was the SEIU organizer John and a woman who looked like Becky Maran standing across the street watching the proceedings. I thanked the kids and sent them on their way. At that moment, the local police arrived and had the interlopers leave the neighborhood. The incident certainly showed how far the SEIU would go to win. It is a dangerous union, one that used innocent young children as pawns in their plan just as they used disgruntled and easily intimidated workers as part of their unscrupulous scheme. “Win at all cost” – that should be the SEIU motto.

  Just a week or so later, on November 8, an e-mail from Gerald was an eye-opener. Through the months, he had been a staunch ally, one as loyal as a brother to me. But from the gist of his words, I could tell Gerald had just about reached his limit with SEIU tactics. In mid-October, he had agreed to meet with clergy backing the union, but that meeting did not prevent demonstrations at his home—meaning the SEIU was not only writing letters to customers, confronting them at their places of business, but was now invading their privacy by locating and demonstrating outside their homes.