Key Facts About FirstService and the SEIU

FirstService Corporation and its operating divisions are proud of our outstanding reputation and the positive relationships the company has with its employees and customers. FirstService is committed to providing an open and fair work environment and fully supports the democratic right of free choice for all of its employees.

FirstService and Labor

The Facts

• FirstService believes in and supports the democratic right of employees to choose to be, or not to be, represented by a union.
  
• FirstService delivers services through thousands of employees worldwide and in the process generates over one billion dollars in annual revenue -- all in a competitive and free enterprise work environment.
  
• FirstService fosters an entrepreneurial culture and promotes employee involvement that strives to deliver solid results for our clients. We encourage performance based management and provide employee training, career advancement and workplace safety programs for all employees.

Disinformation campaign launched by SEIU Union

The Facts

• Since 2004, FirstService has been a target of an ongoing disinformation campaign by the SEIU stemming from an unsuccessful attempt to organize employees at one of FirstService's property management companies, The Continental Group, in 2003.
  
• Unable to make a persuasive case to employees of Continental, the SEIU has shifted its focus to attack FirstService and all of its affiliated companies through the communication of false and misleading press releases and letters to customers -- all aimed at denigrating FirstService its operating companies and its employees.
  
• As another pressure tactic, the SEIU also created a misleading financial analyst-style newsletter called "The FirstService Monitor" for use as a propaganda platform to critique our company.
  
• The SEIU alleges that FirstService wants to cross-sell services to all of its businesses to reduce choice and quality for customers. While cross-selling is favored by many customers to focus responsibilities in fewer vendors and provide for more efficient service delivery, our business units always disclose any related business that participates in the competitive bidding process. Ultimately, our customers make the decisions on the types of services they require based on quality, competitive prices, single-source accountability and exceptional on-time performance - traits shared by many of FirstService industry-leading business units.
  
• The SEIU's objective is to distract and discredit management at FirstService and its affiliated companies in an attempt to pressure them into taking away employees' fundamental and democratic rights to choose to be, or not to be, represented by a union.
  
• Corporate disinformation campaigns are a regrettable but growing trend employed by the SEIU and other unions who try to bypass traditional union organizing efforts by spreading false and misleading statements about their targets in an effort to damage corporate reputation and force companies to turn over their employees to the union against their will.
  
• These campaigns and tactics are a desperate attempt to reverse the decline in the number of workers represented by unions and the amount of dues collected by unions from its shrinking membership base.
  

The Facts About the SEIU Campaign and the Continental Group

For a full account of the facts in this union organizing campaign,
please visit http://www.thecontinentalgroupinc.com/facts.asp