NU Online News Service, July 19, 1:47 p.m.EDT

An Allstate agents' group is asking members to vote on aligningitself with a union and forming a guild in its fight against whatit says are unfair business practices toward agents by thecompany.

The National Association of Professional Allstate Agents Inc.(NAPAA) says it is asking members to vote on a proposal for theassociation to affiliate with the Office and Professional EmployeesInternational Union (OPEIU) as a guild.

“Agentmorale at Allstate has hit rock bottom, which cannot be goodfor the company, the agents, or the shareholders,” says Jim Fish,NAPAA executive director, in a statement. “This is not a matter ofpolitical philosophy; it's a matter of defending the interests ofill-treated small-business owners.”

The decision, NAPAA says, was made after “an enthusiasticresponse” from those attending a recent association meeting of theboard.

Fish says ballots are to be mailed out soon and will beadministered by the American Arbitration Association. The resultswill be announced soon after they are counted on Aug. 17.

Fifty-one percent of the membership must vote in favor of theproposal, Fish tells NU Online News Service. He says NAPAArepresents 12 percent of the Northbrook, Ill.-based carrier's agentworkforce.

The OPEIU represents 125,000 employees and guild members and isaffiliated with the AFL-CIO. If affiliated, NAPAA will be grantedmembership in the OPEIU, the national AFL-CIO and all StateFederations of Labor, “giving the agent group better access tolegislative assistance and legal expertise.”

Fish says the affiliation will not give the groupcollective-bargaining rights, but he says NAPAA feels it is thebest way to protect agents. With the backing of more than 11million AFL-CIO members, he indicates that the collective cloutcould have some impact on company policy in the future.

“The corporation is taking advantage of agents, and you justhave to defend yourself,” says Fish. “The company has been firingagents for little or no reason,” focusing on older agents—and thatis causing stress within the agency ranks, he adds.

“With more clout with the company, more members may join NAPPA;and with more members, the more the company will listen,” saysFish.

Allstate agents were once employees of the company, but in thelate 1990s they were fired and re-hired as independent contractors.Since then, there has been an ongoing feud between certain agentsand the company over the relationship, with NAPAA contending thatagents are treated like employees despite the fact they areindependent contractors, a point the company has disputed.

The latest round of acrimony began when Allstate revealed plans to consolidate smaller agencies' books intolarger ones for the sake of efficiency. It also plans to cut agencycommissions on new and renewal business, but increase variablecompensation for obtaining certain business goals.

This also marks the second time an attempt was made at unionization of Allstate agents. In 2002, a terminated agentand NAPAA board member sought to unionize agents, but the plan wentnowhere.

A request for comment from Allstate was not immediatelyreturned.