Are You a
Union Member?
Follow These Tips:

1. Your Union contract contains important information about your rights on the job. Read it! If you have questions, ask your Union Representative.

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2. If you have a workplace concern or problem, discuss it with your Union Representative. Remember – your Union can’t help you when you choose to suffer in silence.

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3. You are entitled to have a Union Representative with you in any meeting with your employer which you believe may lead to discipline against you. Tell your employer you wish to have a Union Representative present.

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4. Your Union’s strength in bargaining with your employer depends on you and your co-workers. Get involved. Stay informed. Don’t rely on rumors and don’t leave it to someone else to make important decisions about the quality of your wages and working conditions. Attend Union meetings. Read Union hand-outs. Vote when given the opportunity!

 

   

Since its founding in 1983, our firm has been dedicated to the cause of working people --representing them individually in wrongful termination and employment discrimination cases, representing them when they are injured, and representing their Unions in the fight for better wages, benefits and working conditions.

When you have the benefit of Union representation on the job, you have a valuable workplace advocate -- and an affordable one at that! Your Union negotiates with your employer to achieve a “collective bargaining agreement” which will define your wages, benefits, working conditions and your “rights” on the job for a certain period of time.

When your rights under this agreement are threatened or violated, a grievance procedure is available to challenge the violation. In the private sector, such a grievance procedure typically ends with a binding decision by a neutral outside arbitrator after a full and fair hearing. Your Union representative can intervene on your behalf, when appropriate, to address workplace problems before they escalate and threaten your job security.

Our firm’s attorneys who specialize in labor law provide a variety of professional services to our Union clients in order to help them effectively represent you, including:

  1. assistance with the negotiation of collective bargaining agreements and with other negotiations over proposed changes to wages, hours or working conditions;
  2. representation in arbitrations conducted under the collective bargaining agreement, whether to defend an employee against discipline or discharge, or to enforce a provision of the agreement applicable to one or more employees;
  3. offering legal advice and analysis about grievances and other issues related to employees’ rights;
  4. assistance in prosecuting unfair practice charges before the appropriate government regulatory agency when an employer violates certain laws; and,
  5. offering legal advice and representation during organizing campaigns.

Our firm currently provides professional legal services to the following Union clients who represent employees in the public sector:

Our firm currently provides professional legal services to the following Union clients who represent employees in the private sector:

Legal Team


Thomas L. Tosdal
Position: Partner
Admitted to Bar: 1975, California; U.S. District Court, Southern and Central Districts of California; U.S. Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit and U.S. Supreme Court.
Education: University of California at Santa Barbara (B.A., high honors, 1971); Harvard University (J.D., cum laude, 1975).
Of Note: Listed in The Best Lawyers in America (Labor Specialty). Law Clerk, Honorable Edward J. Schwartz, Chief Judge, U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California, 1975-1976. Staff Counsel, Agricultural Labor Relations Board, State of California, 1976-1978. Private Practice, 1978 --.
Member: Association of Trial Lawyers, Consumer Attorneys of California, Consumer Attorneys of San Diego, American Inns of Court, San Diego County Bar Association, and State Bar of California.

Ann M. Smith
Position: Partner
Admitted to Bar: 1985, California and U.S. District Court, Southern District of California; U.S. Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit.
Education: Simmons College; Monterey College of Law (J.D., cum laude, 1985).
Of Note: 1993 Recipient, Outstanding Trial Lawyer Award, San Diego Trial Lawyers Association. Labor Negotiator for United Farm Workers of America 1976-1981 and for San Diego Municipal Employees Association 1986--.
Member: Consumer Attorneys of California, Consumer Attorneys of San Diego, San Diego County Bar Association, and State Bar of California.
Languages: Spanish.
Reported Cases: Salgado v. Atlantic Richfield Co. (9th Cir. 1987) 823F 2nd 1322. Branch v. Homefed Bank (1992) 6 CA. 4th 793.

Fern M. Steiner
Position: Partner
Admitted to Bar: 1977, Illinois; 1978, U.S. District Court, Northern District of Illinois and U.S. Court of Appeals, Seventh Circuit; 1985, California, U.S. District Court, Southern District of California and U.S. Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit; 1987, U.S. District Court, Northern and Central Districts of California.
Education: Northwestern University (B.A., 1971); John Marshall Law School (J.D., cum laude, 1977).
Of Note: Listed in The Best Lawyers in America (Labor Specialty).
Author: "Interference with Rights of Employees," Labor Law for the General Practitioner, Chapter 4, 1984.
Member: American Bar Association, Industrial Relations Research Association, AFL-CIO Lawyers Coordinating Committee, National Lawyers Guild and its Labor & Employment Committee, San Diego Bar Association, and State Bar of California.

Jon Y. Vanderpool
Position: Partner
Admitted to Bar: 1992, California; 1995, Massachusetts; and U.S. District Court, Southern, Central, and Northern Districts of California.
Education: Rice University (B.A., 1986); Pepperdine University (J.D., 1992).
Member: American Inns of Court, San Diego County Bar Association, and State Bar of California.

Georgiana D'Alessandro
Position: Associate
Admitted to Bar: 2008, California and U.S. District Court, Southern and Central
Education: University of Vermont, Burlington (B.A. 2004); California Western School of Law (J.D., magna cum laude, 2008)
Member: San Diego County Bar Association, Lawyers Club, and State Bar of California
Languages: Spanish

Note: Nothing on this page should be construed as a legal opinion regarding any claim you may have. For a legal opinion, please speak with an attorney.
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