The unions won and every tax payer/family in Lake Worth lost. Time to say goodbye to the unions. They can celebrate their"victory" in the unemployment line. I'm sure that the unions will take good care of them no matter what . NOT !!!
Katie: The Unions won because the City breached a contract with them. When you sign a contract it has legal implications that can't go away because one side says it does not like the deal. A good lawyer should know the best way out of a bad deal. But instead of getting good legal advice and following that advice the city manager chose to do it her way. So we got sued and lost. Did anyone ask why we lost, what it cost us to defend the case and how to prevent it from happening again. Probably not. Next case please!
Per our City Manager, "The City uses The firm of Thompson, Sizemore, Gonzalez & Hearing, P.A. It handles our labor issues. The contract provides for mandatory arbitration."
So we use a firm that specializes in unions and labor law. Susan would not hire a law firm and not listen to their advice.
"Susan would not hire a law firm and not listen to their advice." It happens all the time Lynn. If the firm said we should fight these cases than why didn't we win? Remember the firm makes more money going to court. So either we got bad advice and need to change lawyers or we did not take the advice of our attorney. The other alternative was that we knew we would lose but wanted to play hard ball with the unions since we have a deeper pocket. I believe that too much power is with the city manager and there are few checks and balances. We can blame the commission for that.
God, John--you're more cynical than I. Arbitration is not the same as "going to court." I agree with you that "too much power is with the city manager." If we found out that the City did not heed the advice of our paid legal experts, then that is a serious issue.
Arbitration is the same as going to court if your getting paid by the hour. You get to bill the client for all the prep work and the hearing. It is less formal than going to court but the amount of money you make depends on the hours you get to bill. Settling a case means you get none of those billable hours. Representing a city is great business. Representing Lake Worth is like winning the lottery.
The unions won and every tax payer/family in Lake Worth lost. Time to say goodbye to the unions. They can celebrate their"victory" in the unemployment line. I'm sure that the unions will take good care of them no matter what . NOT !!!
ReplyDeleteKatie: The Unions won because the City breached a contract with them. When you sign a contract it has legal implications that can't go away because one side says it does not like the deal. A good lawyer should know the best way out of a bad deal. But instead of getting good legal advice and following that advice the city manager chose to do it her way. So we got sued and lost. Did anyone ask why we lost, what it cost us to defend the case and how to prevent it from happening again. Probably not. Next case please!
ReplyDeletePer our City Manager, "The City uses The firm of Thompson, Sizemore, Gonzalez & Hearing, P.A. It handles our labor issues. The contract provides for mandatory arbitration."
ReplyDeleteSo we use a firm that specializes in unions and labor law. Susan would not hire a law firm and not listen to their advice.
"Susan would not hire a law firm and not listen to their advice." It happens all the time Lynn. If the firm said we should fight these cases than why didn't we win? Remember the firm makes more money going to court. So either we got bad advice and need to change lawyers or we did not take the advice of our attorney. The other alternative was that we knew we would lose but wanted to play hard ball with the unions since we have a deeper pocket. I believe that too much power is with the city manager and there are few checks and balances. We can blame the commission for that.
ReplyDeleteGod, John--you're more cynical than I. Arbitration is not the same as "going to court." I agree with you that "too much power is with the city manager." If we found out that the City did not heed the advice of our paid legal experts, then that is a serious issue.
ReplyDeleteHow did the demonstration go last night with the employees?
ReplyDeleteArbitration is the same as going to court if your getting paid by the hour. You get to bill the client for all the prep work and the hearing. It is less formal than going to court but the amount of money you make depends on the hours you get to bill. Settling a case means you get none of those billable hours. Representing a city is great business. Representing Lake Worth is like winning the lottery.
ReplyDelete