The final votes from members of the National Association of Professional Allstate Agents (NAPAA) to decide whether to affiliate and form a guild with the Office and Professional Employees International Union (OPIEIU) are now being sent to New York to be counted.
Votes are being sent via secret mail ballot, administered by the American Arbitration Assoc. A spokeswoman with OPEIU says the last mail pick-up with be at 9 a.m. tomorrow and votes will be counted starting at 10 a.m.
NAPAA, citing a decline in morale among Allstate agents and a need to defend its interests as small business owners, decided to poll its membership after Michael Goodwin, president of OPEIU, pitched NAPAA on the advantages of affiliation at the association's latest national meeting.
NAPAA alleges Allstate has taken advantage of agents. Though they are independent contractors, NAPAA says Allstate treats them as employees, but without benefits or protections. An affiliation with OPEIU could give NAPAA better aces to legislative assistance and legal expertise and it may lead to more agents joining NAPAA.
OPEIU represents 125,000 employees and guild members and is also affiliated with the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO).
NAPAA represents 12 percent of the Northbrook, Ill.-based insurer's agent workforce.
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