[CAUT] Position Announcement, SIU, Carbondale, IL (Fred Sturm)

[Israel Stein]

At 11:00 AM 8/17/2008, Fred Sturm wrote,

>Yes, I think there is a distinction between the independent "piano
>technician as business" and the "piano technician as employee.

Yes, Fred. You got it right. Employees have a right under US law to 
organize and to bargain collectively with employers for matters 
involving compensation and conditions of employment. The "restraint 
of trade" legislation (under several Federal anti-trust laws) does 
not applied to employees receiving wages, who are governed by labor 
law - not business law. It does apply to business people who charge 
per service. Just because we piano technicians act as business people 
when servicing private clients on a fee-per-service basis does not 
prevent us from engaging in collective bargaining tactics when 
dealing with prospective employers who wish to hire us as employees. 
Applying for - or refusing to apply for - jobs is a not business 
activity - it is labor activity. US labor law deals with 
employee-employer relations, not business law. Now, if the university 
were looking for independent contractors - that would be a different 
story... Here all that price-fixing and restraint of trade 
legislation applies.

Israel Stein



>" While
>the Sherman antitrust act (which is as contrary to the fundamental
>principles of American democracy as anything I can imagine, but it is
>the law of the land, upheld by supreme court decisions) does prohibit
>us from "conspiring to set prices" as independents, I believe labor
>laws exempt people in an employee relationship from those strictures
>(unions are not defined as "trusts" or are, at any rate, defined as a
>specific exception). Not that I am an expert in this area of law, but
>that is certainly my impression.
>         In which case, it _would_ be possible for piano technicians 
> to form a
>union in relationship to employers (ie, full and part time employers,
>not per service). Not practical, but possible. And it is certainly
>legal to the best of my understanding to converse in any way we want
>about salaries. About tuning fees and other pricing structures for
>independents, that's where we can get into trouble.
>         Again, I'm no expert, but I do try to pay attention <G>.
>
>Regards,
>Fred Sturm
>University of New Mexico
>fssturm at unm.edu