Effort to disband Mendocino County union draws fire

A Ukiah businessman has launched an effort to disband the union representing a majority of Mendocino County employees, igniting allegations of attempted union busting.

Ross Liberty owns a successful exhaust systems manufacturing plant that employs about 65 people and belongs to a conservative employers organization. He has created a website and hired an attorney to draft new bylaws and assist disgruntled county employees in navigating the process of decertifying one union and replacing it with a new, less-expensive employee association. The process requires gathering the signatures of 30 percent of about 700 employees. If the petition drive is successful, a vote of the membership would be held.

Liberty obtained a list of the employees’ email addresses from the county and invited the workers to a meeting about the proposal where he handed out petitions. About 50 people attended the meeting.

Critics of the effort say it is wrong for a private employer to meddle with the county employees union.

“It’s completely unethical for him to get involved like this,” said Joe Wildman, who works with an associated union and who helped establish SEIU as the county’s representative in 1993. County employees at that time voted to disband their local, underfunded employee association and join SEIU because times had changed and they needed stronger representation at the bargaining table, Wildman said.

Any move to return to the pre-1993 mode of representation should be initiated by the employees themselves, not Liberty, he said.

Wildman called Liberty “our local Koch brother.” The billionaire Koch brothers have backed groups and politicians seeking to abolish public employee bargaining rights.

“He wants to return to the golden days of his youth when county employees had no voice,” Wildman said.

“It’s like the most blatant form of union busting I’ve ever seen,” longtime county employee Jennifer Sookne said.

But another county employee, Louise Phillips, said she appreciates Liberty’s efforts.

She is among those employees who are unhappy with SEIU’s performance. The union was able to make slight improvements in their contract with the county last year but has been unable to convince the county to restore the 10 percent wage cut they took several years ago, Phillips said.

“The bottom line is, it isn’t happening,” she said.

Phillips said she also doesn’t like being associated with a national union she believes uses strong-arm tactics.

Liberty said he’s not trying to eliminate employees’ bargaining privileges; he just wants them to have a choice of representation. He said he’s been approached by multiple employees complaining about the current union. Others had approached the attorney Liberty hired, Matt Finnegan, a former Teamster representative, he said.

Phillips believes Liberty truly wants to help the employees.

“He’s a good person,” not a union buster, she said.

Employees have reason to complain about their current representation, Liberty said. Union negotiators have created an adversarial relationship between employees and county officials that is beneficial to neither, he said.

“I think that’s the nature of unions. They need to keep their members in a constant state of fear and loathing. That’s how they get the employees to part with their dues,” Liberty said.

Liberty said he believes in treating and paying employees well and that, in return, they will work hard for their employers.

“It’s been an upward spiral for me,” he said of his relationship with his employees, who recently voted down an effort by the Teamsters to unionize Liberty’s business, Factory Pipe.

Liberty said he was taken aback by the reaction his efforts elicited from Wildman, whom he considers a friend.

“All I’m advocating for is that they have a choice,” he said.

But Wildman and county union leaders, like chief steward Leif Farr, are suspicious of Liberty’s motives. He is a member of the conservative Employers’ Council of Mendocino County, which is widely perceived as anti-union. Liberty said the council is not involved in his effort.

The move also is suspect because it comes as the bargaining unit is set to begin negotiating a new contract with the county.

“If you want to weaken that process for the union, what better way than to start a decertification campaign before we walk in the door,” Farr said.

Liberty said a decision to pursue decertification is entirely up to the county employees, who must collect the signatures themselves. He said he’s just helping them maneuver through the process.

“This is not about me,” Liberty said.

You can reach Staff Writer Glenda Anderson at 462-6473 or glenda.anderson@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @MendoReporter.