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How Waning Competition Deepens Labor’s Plight

Via the New York Times

By: Eduaro Porter

 An AT&T store window in New York. The proposed AT&T-Time Warner merger and others of that scale are reconfiguring the American economy in ways that seem tilted against workers. Credit George Etheredge for The New York Times

An AT&T store window in New York. The proposed AT&T-Time Warner merger and others of that scale are reconfiguring the American economy in ways that seem tilted against workers. Credit George Etheredge for The New York Times

 

The Communications Workers of America union has learned to appreciate corporate consolidation.

When AT&T tried to purchase the rival wireless company T-Mobile five years ago — a deal that was ultimately blocked as anticompetitive — the union called the proposal “good for American consumers and good for American workers.” Three years later, it argued that AT&T’s acquisition of DirecTV “provides substantial public interest benefits for consumers, workers and the U.S. economy.”

The union offered concrete reasons for its support, not least that the deals could increase the ranks of unionized workers. In 2010, it opposed the merger of the cable giant Comcast and NBC, which was ultimately waved through by antitrust regulators, partly on the grounds of Comcast’s hostility toward unions.

These days, yet another media leviathan is in the making. If it is approved by regulators, the proposed $85 billion combination of AT&T and Time Warner will merge one of the nation’s biggest wireless networks, which also owns a satellite television system, with studios that make some of the most popular movies and television shows.

The Communications Workers’ leadership is now mulling over whether to support the proposition — a spokeswoman said the union was evaluating the merger, but she would not comment further. This time the union might want to change its tune.

The latest deal may pass muster when viewed in isolation. But collectively, mergers at this scale are reconfiguring the American economy in ways that seem to be tilting the scales toward the interests of ever-larger corporations, to the broad detriment of labor.

As Senator John Sherman, the principal author of the nation’s core antimonopoly law, put it more than a century ago, a monopoly “commands the price of labor without fear of strikes, for in its field it allows no competitors.”

Stumped by an economy where wages have gotten stuck for all but the most highly educated, where too many men in their prime working years struggle to stay in the job market, and where women’s long march into the work force has stalled, some economists are turning their attention anew to the role that diminishing competition might have in causing workers’ plight.

“I think it is an underappreciated part of the problem,” said Jason Furman, President Obama’s chief economic adviser.

Competition policy can no longer be understood in the narrow terms of protecting consumers from higher prices.

Three years ago, the Nobel laureate economist Joseph Stiglitz proposed that increasing profits from companies managing to avoid normal competitive forces — what economists refer to as “rents” — appeared to be an important factor in the rising share of the nation’s income flowing toward corporate profits and top executive pay in recent years. He surmised that weak labor unions — which represent barely over 7 percent of workers in the private sector — did not have the clout to protect the workers’ share.

Since then, several other studies have presented various channels through which a lack of competition between employers could keep wages down. In a report published last month, the White House Council of Economic Advisers, led by Mr. Furman, laid out the case.

In a competitive market, companies will vie with their rivals to hire the best workers, lifting wages up to workers’ “marginal product,” the last cent where their employers could still turn a profit. As productivity grows, wages will be bid up further. Prosperity will spread. But when there are few or no rivals in a labor market, employers will pay much less.

This kind of power doesn’t even require employers to hold absolute monopolies. Employers can collude more easily when there are few competitors. They can more easily impose tough contractual restrictions that make it tough for workers to shop for better jobs.

Competition in product markets does not necessarily translate to competition in the labor market — an exporter that sells into global markets but hires domestically may experience a lot of the former yet little of the latter.

Waning competition in employment can muck up the economy in more ways than one. It slows wage growth, of course. Lacking outside options, workers are much less likely to leave a job. But economic output and employment will suffer, too, because fewer workers will be willing to work for the lower wage.

Not everybody agrees that a lack of competition is having a big impact on the job market. “There is evidence of market power,” acknowledged Michael Strain, a moderate conservative at the American Enterprise Institute in Washington. But “pending further research, my current view is that big macroeconomic forces like technological change and globalization are significantly more important.”

The main reason for falling wages and declining employment is simply that demand for less-skilled work is falling.

Still, American markets have been growing more concentrated. Since the late 1990s, the share of revenue accruing to the top 50 firms has been rising in most industries. The average age of firms is rising, as fewer new firms have been entering many markets. In some sectors, like health care, there is clear evidence of monopoly profits.

And there is direct evidence that big employers are interested in limiting their workers’ options. Hospitals in several metropolitan areas have been accused in court of colluding to reduce nurses’ pay. In a better-known case, some of the titans of Silicon Valley were sued by the Justice Department for agreeing not to poach one another’s engineers.

Employers have other tools to limit competition in hiring. The Treasury Department has discovered, for instance, that 18 percent of workers are covered by noncompete agreements. They aren’t all high-end engineers with trade secrets in hand. The list includes fast-food workers.

Policy makers can push back against employers’ market power. Strengthening labor unions, of course, would give workers more leverage against dominant employers. Raising the minimum wage would provide a higher wage floor. But it seems there is an opportunity to rethink the nation’s approach to antitrust law, too. It should not be seen exclusively as a tool to protect consumers from sticker shock.

In a speech in September, Renata Hesse, the Justice Department’s acting assistant attorney general for antitrust, argued forcefully that “the antitrust laws were intended to benefit participants in the American economy broadly — not just in their capacity as consumers of goods and services.”

Antitrust enforcement efforts, Ms. Hesse said, “also benefit workers, whose wages won’t be driven down by dominant employers with the power to dictate terms of employment.”

Christopher Shelton is the president of the Communications Workers of America. Maybe he’s listening this time.

 

Posted in: Labor Unions, News

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Living through it – from Punch Cards to Mobile Applications!

This posting will unfortunately betray the fact that I may have entered that period of life known as the “senior years”. With that comes a degree of reflection and I was thinking of the technical progress that I have seen in my professional life so far (and hopefully more to come!) This was also prompted by a union calling me and asking if anyone in our company could handle a conversion from a system running on a “mainframe” using COBOL- really. More surprisingly, was that yes, we could actually handle that.

A whole lexicon related to systems from the past came to me- punch cards, IBM 360, mini computers, dumb terminals, Apple 11, floppy disk, Novell, Y2K etc. etc. Amongst this barrage of by- gone systems there was one related, recent fact that impressed me at the end of this stream – after decades of dominance as the principal processing tool by business and individuals the reign of the PC is coming to an end. For the first time since its introduction to the market, sales of PC’s are on the decline as the emphasis on mobile applications and the device platforms they use grows dramatically. I thought about the aforementioned union with their “mainframe/COBL” system and the world they would be moved to by changing to leading edge modern software.

The business of unions cries out for the adoption of mobile systems as much, if not more so, as any corporation and yet I am sure that an analysis of their platforms would show that they are lamentably behind in this respect. Unions have geographically diverse related entities (Internationals, Councils, Chapters, and Locals etc.) as well as a need for staff and members to share data in different locations sometimes while “on the road” or “offsite”.

The adoption of web based mobile systems can dramatically change the way unions do business and drive efficiencies that could not have been imagined just a few years ago. By using mobile devices union staff that work “in the field” such as business agents and stewards can access central database information via their mobile devices and provide answers to employers and members in seconds. Processes such as Dispatch and Hiring Hall as well as Grievance Management can be carried out remotely thereby vastly improving communications and the efficiency of these key operations. In addition when coupled with effective member engagement activities through social media, SMS and e-mail blasts (accessed by members on THEIR mobile devices), key activities such as organizing and voter turnout programs, become transformed creating tremendous possibilities for unions on the political and organizing level. Other key uses we are developing relate to processes like an instant status checks of a member’s “standing” and dues payment history as well as the processing of dues – all done via “remote” mobiles devices.

In summary, the possibilities of “field” uses to strengthen member ties to the union and improve operational efficiencies for the Local are no longer limited by technology but are actually improved by it.

The new customer I mentioned earlier with the “mainframe/COBOL -based system will be moving to our new PRIZM® system which is “mobile ready” and provides all of the functionality that I outlined above. It’s going to be an incredible change but that’s what is needed in many union systems that have become obsolete and inefficient. Check out where your union lies between “punch cards and Mobile Applications” and if you want us to help you move towards the most advanced software that there is give me a call personally and I will be happy to arrange a demonstration of what’s possible at YOUR union.

Robert N Stevenson
Director of Business Development
tel: (203) 831 8655 ext. 113

Posted in: Accounting Systems, Dues Software, Labor Unions, Membership Systems

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Workers Memorial Day

Via the AFL-CIO NOW Blog

Safe-Jobs-Save-Lives-Poster_large

On April 28, the unions of the AFL-CIO observe Workers Memorial Day to remember those who have suffered and died on the job and to renew the fight for safe jobs. This year we will come together to call for work in this country that is safe and healthy and pays fair wages. We will celebrate the victories won by working people and commit to fighting until all workers have safe jobs and the freedom to form unions without the threat of retaliation.

The Occupational Safety and Health Act and Mine Safety and Health Act promise workers the right to a safe job. Unions and our allies have fought hard to make that promise a reality—winning protections that have made jobs safer, saved hundreds of thousands of lives and prevented millions of workplace injuries and illnesses.

But our work is not done. Many job hazards are unregulated and uncontrolled. Some employers cut corners and violate the law, putting workers in serious danger and costing lives. Workers who report job hazards or job injuries are fired or disciplined. Employers contract out dangerous work to try to avoid responsibility. As a result, each year thousands of workers are killed and millions more injured or diseased because of their jobs.
Mourn For The Dead Sticker

Business groups have launched an all-out assault on working people, seeking to roll back existing protections and rights, and to block new safeguards. We have fought back, joining with worker centers, local activists and other partners to defend and advance these hard-won gains. We have worked to win a stronger coal dust standard for miners and a new rule to protect workers from deadly silica dust, which soon will be finalized, along with stronger anti-retaliation protections for workers who report job injuries.

Please join us on Workers Memorial Day as we continue the fight for safe jobs.

Read the full blog post here: http://www.aflcio.org/Issues/Job-Safety/WorkersMemorialDay

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Using Technology to Counter the Assault on Unions

The campaign to de-fang unions and thence the power of their workers continues throughout various states and lamentably with undeniable success.  One of the most powerful weapons that the enemies of our unions have at their disposal is the possibility to remove the right of unions to collect their dues by “check off”   from the employers of their members. This is the process whereby the union members’ dues are deducted from their payroll and the money remitted directly to the union in question.   Members’ dues are the financial lifeblood of any union so the ability to disrupt that flow of cash can inflict serious financial damage, crippling the ability of the union to operate.  This tool has been used successfully in several states (for state workers) that have gone “right to work” in recent years thanks to changes in the political leadership at the state level.

Fortunately there are solutions that current technology offers for meeting this challenge.   Huge numbers of people in today’s society (if not the majority) have at one time or another paid for products or services online. Whether it is their utility bill, an item on eBay or a product from Amazon, online payments have become ubiquitous and an accepted “norm”…. so why not your union’s dues?  At JayStar we started tackling this issue some years ago and after a lengthy development process and a partnership with a leading bank we launched an online dues payment system (www.paymyuniondues.com).  This allows any union’s members to pay their dues online by credit card or by ACH. It also provides for payment details to be downloaded and in most instances imported into the union’s member ship and dues system.  The removal of “check-off” then becomes just another irritation that can be overcome.

There is no doubt that this product has attracted much attention and I’m sure we will see more and more customers for it as the anti-union assault gathers steam. That’s encouraging but it’s also fair to say that there is still much “wishful thinking” amongst certain unions that somehow this is an aberration that will go away  and  who don’t even have a “plan B” ready when it may happen to them.

This issue is NOT going away and there is technology available to mitigate the effects of this strategy should it happen to your union. Be pro-active and investigate your options NOW rather than scramble for a solution after it happens.

Contact us to learn more about PayMyUnionDues.

Posted in: Dues Software, Labor Unions, LM-2

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Labor Day Celebrations Not for Retail

As I drove home from work – my choice – this past Labor Day holiday in the U.S., the one thing that struck me was how many stores full of low-paid workers were open, while most corporate offices were closed. Some of those working today did it for the extra money, but for the majority, it was just another scheduled day, on a holiday that celebrates all the labor movement has done for this country. It clearly has a long way to go.

I used to love it when people said to me, “Quit complaining about your minimum wage salary! You should get another job if you don’t like it!” Really? Then I guess those folks thought I worked a physically demanding job behind the counter of a nationally known retail store four years ago because I could get another job, and was just too lazy to find one. Seriously? It was that job or nothing. Before I was hired there, I got turned down by several other large retailers who are not well known for generous pay rates. So many in fact, that I lost count. Forget the better paying and corporate jobs I applied for. 99% of them didn’t even bother to tell me that they weren’t interested. Incidentally, I’m a college graduate and IT professional.

My employer was not a union shop, so they could do wonderful things like never give you two days off in a row, schedule you for a late PM shift one day and an early AM shift the next (no sleep?), schedule you to work holidays, not even tell you your next week’s schedule until a few days before it was supposed to begin (great for planning personal life and doctor’s appointments), and fire you when you got a herniated disk – oh yes, that too.

I was left alone to do two people’s work one morning and had to lift something that was more than a third of my body weight, and snap! There went my back and my job.

I couldn’t even get another minimum wage job. No one was interested in someone with a back problem. Then, by a stroke of luck, I found the job I have now at JayStar. It wasn’t skill, determination, or persistence. It was pure luck, and about as likely as winning the lottery.

I now work for a company where the owners are intelligent enough to realize that their employees are their major asset, and they treat them accordingly.  In fact, as of the date of this posting, no employee has ever voluntary left JayStar since its inception eleven years ago. My co-workers are productive, hard-working, and downright fun, and our company is growing as a result. It’s because we are all being valued both financially and personally.

Sadly, for one person like me with a happy ending, there are hundreds of thousands out there that will never be so lucky.

So, I thought, Happy Labor Day, America. Don’t get too excited about how much you saved in a sale today or how little your meal cost. Think about some of the folks who served you, and understand that they could have higher pay and benefits, and better lives, without impacting the cost of your purchase. Remember that our unions keep fighting for better wages and working conditions for us all. It is, after all, good business sense to appreciate and reward your employees. Just look at JayStar to see the proof of that.

Posted in: General, Labor Unions

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Social Media and Unions, What’s Going On?

In one of our recent blog posts titled In Praise of Diversity, our CEO Bob Stevenson asserts, “Unions by and large do a lousy job of public relations. They let their enemies mold the public perception of unions which are so stereotypical it would be redundant for me to even address it.” If so, I ask how that can be when there are many widely used established and emerging communication channels that are alternatives to the traditional media (TV, radio, press). Of course, I’m referring to the plethora of “social media” outlets – Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, LinkedIn, YouTube, Google+, Tumblr, etc.

Surely, unions are in a perfect position to take advantage of these vehicles. After all, they have compelling messages, an established following (i.e., membership), and no excuses that it costs too much or is controlled by some opposing organization. At first glance, it’s a perfect match – unions and social media! However, an unscientific survey of several unions with over 1 million members reveals that social media may not be delivering much bang for the buck.

                                                          Facebook                            Twitter
AFL-CIO                                                78K Likes                           37K Followers
SEIU                                                    17K Likes                           40K Followers
IBT                                                      120K Likes                         11K Followers
UFW                                                     3K Likes                            4.5K Followers
UFCW                                                   44K Likes                           7.5K Followers

Compare these statistics to a few different social media heavy hitters:

Red Bull Energy Drink                                38 million Likes                    930K Followers
National Public Radio                                 2.7 million Likes                   174K Followers
Rush Limbaugh                                        1.2 million Likes                   369K Followers
Rachel Maddow                                        827K Likes                         2.6 million Followers
US Chamber of Commerce                           328K Likes                         103K Followers

So what’s going on here? Why doesn’t a union with a million plus members have Likes and Followers in numbers of the same magnitude? It could be the quality of the content, though unions have plenty to say that their members should be interested in. Or it could be that members just don’t know the unions are participating in social media, though most of the unions have their social media participation prominently displayed on their websites (and I hope in any direct communications that go to members). Maybe it’s the demographic or technical competency of the average union member, though over 80% of Facebook’s 100 million plus active users are between 18 – 54 years of age and 72% of US households reported accessing the internet in 2011. (Most recently Facebook has provided statistics that the average age of its members is now 41 years old.) So, if the general union member demographics are adequately represented via these social outlets, is it only a matter of time that until we see a jump in the number of Likes and Followers?

There are some bright spots. The AFL-CIO (AFL-CIO.org) has seemingly embraced social media in a big way; not only displaying it prominently on their website, encouraging visitors to share what they read and think, but also hosting online conversations about high interest topics.

JayStar is embarking on its own use of Social Media as a way to keep our customers, prospects, and the general public better informed. We’d love to know about your use of Social Media – what’s working and what’s not and whether Social Media is a key component of your organizing strategy – so please comment on this post! And be sure to follow us on Facebook, LinkedIn, or Twitter for the latest union news and company updates.

Posted in: Labor Unions, News

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Outsource to America?

This week our company was in the news for receiving a grant from the State of Connecticut for “job creation.” Our agreement with the State is that we will match, dollar for dollar, the amount we get from them and use that money to create jobs in our home state. This is something that comes naturally to us as it is what we have been doing since we created our company.  Nobody who works for us lives outside the borders of Connecticut and most of us are less than a 20 minute drive away.  In this age of long distance commuting and “outsourcing” hiring locally might seem somewhat “out of date” especially since we are a Technology company.  We say “NONSENSE!” and would match our staff against any in the world and have currently found all the talent we need right here in our own backyard.

Moreover, as well as making sound business sense, my partner and I have always thought that this was “patriotic”.  For us, providing jobs for people in this country is important and we take issue with the prevailing attitude of “oh well, its globalization and that’s how it goes.”   We’ll go as far as paying more for our supplies if they can be domestically sourced.   I’m not saying that there isn’t a place for outsourcing in certain areas but in the last two decades it seems like there has been a rush to outsource everything that is possible, rather than everything that makes sense.  The values of teamwork, morale, communications, service and people management seems to have been, in many cases thrown out the window. The results overall have been reduced quality of service. (Think “Your call is important to us……”).   When it comes to designing complex software involving tight project deadlines, frequent communication and teamwork are essential. Nobody can convince me that doing so with people half a world away, whom I have never met and who don’t know our customers is anything but false economy at best and a potential disaster at worst.  Sure, the rates might be a fifth of what they are here in the States but that’s only one variable…….and it should NOT be the deciding factor.    (AND, it’ll probably take 5 times as long to get it right.)

So even if your idea of being “patriotic” includes outsourcing, you might want to look beyond the cost factor alone.  If you have ever become frustrated talking to a support person 6,000 miles away who is pretending to be “Mike from Atlanta,” imagine how that would work trying to design, develop, and implement a complex software product.

We can ONLY imagine, since it’s not something you are going to see us do.

To talk with Bob or Dave in Connecticut (yes, really, IN Connecticut) Contact us or Call us at 203-831-8655.

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Small Business Express Program Adds JayStar Group (Video)

We had a great visit to our office yesterday from State Senator Bob Duff and State Representative Larry Cafero. We are excited to join the Small Business Express Program and look forward to new hires as we continue to expand! Click on the picture below to watch the news story from www.itsrelevant.com.

Small-Business-Express-Program-

State Senator Bob Duff and State Representative Larry Cafero with JayStar Group President Dave Roger and CEO Bob Stevenson

 

 

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Is your Organization Vulnerable to Back Office Attacks? – Get EXPERT Help!

It’s no secret that these days unions are under attack at many levels from their political and ideological foes. Some of the more recent tactics are directly aimed at disrupting or crippling a union by using indirect methods, such as attacking their administrative functions. A prime example of this is the threatened removal of “dues check off”; the procedure whereby a union organized employer deducts dues amounts from the union employees’ payroll check and remits the amounts directly to the union in question.  Members’ dues of course are the life blood of unions. Disrupting the dues check off or other collection procedures in such a fashion as to force the union to collect individual dues from every member, can seriously threaten a union’s existence.  As another example, think of how the Bush-era changes in the LM-2 regulations forced you to spend time and money re-working your bookkeeping and accounting. Or, think about how changes in the right-to-work laws are profoundly affecting organized labor.

The potential for these “indirect” attacks should make every union examine their “back office” procedures (accounting, membership administration, benefits administration etc.) and think proactively about how to be prepared.

Here are three pieces of advice that we could give unions in this direction:

  1. Focus on what the prime mission of any union is – organizing and mobilizing your members
  2. Get expert assistance in the areas in which you are not an “expert.” This usually means your “back office.”  Whether you have a full time, paid back office staff, or are a smaller organization with volunteers performing these tasks, make sure you have the best tools in place.
  3. These attacks are not going away.  Plan for the future and avoid short term thinking. Maybe your opponents didn’t win this time around, but they will try again.

To achieve these objectives means investment and thinking about your union for the long term. It cannot be done “on the cheap.” Getting expert assistance does not mean your brother in law who took a week long course on programming or the guy next door who “keeps books”. It means delegating your back office functionality as much as you can to experts in the following areas:

  1. Accounting and Financial Control
  2. Membership and Dues Administration
  3. Benefits Administration
  4. Information Technology

Getting real experts in these areas will pay off hugely in the long term.  This fight is going to be waged in the long term.

If you want expert advice on any of the areas above contact us for a free conversation and evaluation.

Posted in: Accounting Systems, Dues Software, Labor Unions, Membership Systems

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Back Office Systems – “If It Ain’t Broke….Maybe You Should Replace It?”

As specialists in union back office systems we often hear the old saying (upon which I’ve based my title above) “if it ain’t broke don’t fix it.” This is often used when talking about software which could be referred to as “past its sell by date”, “vintage” or well….. Just plain old.

There is some truth to this adage when discussing perhaps a kitchen blender or a staging of a Shakespeare play, but when it comes to software it can be false economy in the extreme. Two areas in which we specialize are membership systems and accounting systems. In each of these areas, the changes that have come along in the last few years are of great significance. In some cases we are not even talking about improved functionality and additional features, but changes which have totally revolutionized the entire functionality of the product in question. Take for instance the impact of the Internet on the present possibilities of union membership and dues software. Here are some extraordinary capabilities which depending upon the size and type of union would have been unthinkable just a few years ago.

a) Maintaining and reporting on your member data from anywhere in the world.
b) Self service areas where members can (within allowed parameters) see data relevant to their own membership and dues history.
c) Pay union dues and other charges online using credit cards and / or ACH charges.
d) Instant communications en masse with membership through e-mails and social media.
e) Internationals’ systems can consolidate and analyze data in real time from hundreds of locals, with everybody viewing the same data at the same time.
f) Employer payroll data (e.g. dues deductions) being sent digitally and processed faster as a result.
g) Filing official forms and reports (Department of Labor LM-2, LM-3 etc.) online.
h) “Cloud” based systems where even small locals can access powerful systems on an “as required basis” and reduce the reliance on internal software, operating systems, networks and costly “IT support”. Cloud systems can even greatly reduce any “up front” capital expenditure.

All of the above examples have come into being relatively recently and are offered by our company. Yet time and again we see unions of all sizes still using systems which were designed and implemented years before any of this was possible.

These changes don’t just represent technical advances; they come with sometimes vast savings in efficiency and cost. The impacts upon system design, operation, and deployment have been dramatic and every union should be considering how they might benefit from adoption of a system based on the latest technology, even if their existing system “ain’t broke”. It’s a bit like sticking with a horse and buggy when you can fly. The horse and buggy “ain’t broke” but it’s time has passed, and so has its efficiency and cost effectiveness. If you have a system which has been developed before words like “eBay”, “blog” , “Google” or even “web” were around you seriously need to look at today’s alternatives. Bear in mind that at the rate modern technology advances it is far easier to make changes incrementally on a planned basis than to try and suddenly overhaul a system whose pedigree goes back to the days when disco was new.

If you would like a no obligation appraisal of your current systems, and want to find out more about how recent developments in technology can help your union, please contact us. We’ll be happy to help.

Posted in: Accounting Systems, Dues Software, Labor Unions, LM-2, Membership Systems

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