The last holdout, Nicki Tyler, has become the latest casualty. All former J.O.D.D. affiliates are now unemployed.

Here’s Nicki’s story…

Nicki works… Umm, excuse me, worked at the Sheraton Grand in downtown Sacramento in the accounting department. One of the responsibilities of her position was to mail out the union fees collected from all employees each month to the union by the 20th of every month. September was no exception and Nicki sent over the check via FedEx on the 17th. She carefully wrote down the address of 1787 Tribute Road, Suite E and even included her personal mobile phone number on the delivery slip in case there were any questions regarding the delivery. On Day 1, FedEx attempted to deliver the check, but the driver mistook the “8” in 1787 for a “5” and attempted to deliver the package to 1757. Now, this should not have been an insurmountable obstacle as both 1757 and 1787 are in the same building and the union is not exactly a small or obscure tenant (and therefore should have been easy for the driver to locate on the building directory if he/she did not already know about them). Nevertheless, FedEx was unable to embrace the ambiguity of the situation and failed to deliver the check or to call Nicki’s mobile phone (clearly posted on the delivery slip) to clarify the address. Day 2 was a repeat of Day 1 with another delivery failure and no phone call. Day 3 was the same story and so was Day 4. By Day 5, FedEx was finally able to surmount the difficulty that previously had been insurmountable and the check was delivered. However, the check ended up being slightly late (horror of horrors). The union like any good bureaucracy assessed approximately $8000 in penalties for the “late delivery” of the payment. Despite several serious mistakes on the part of the union earlier in the year, they would not relent on the $8000 in penalties. Therefore, due to the gravity of the financial hit that the Sheraton was absorbing, Sheraton management reluctantly decided to sack Nicki. Or “let her go” to use their exact phraseology. Congratulations, Nicki! Welcome to the E.D.D.

If you find yourself unemployed please refer to http://www.edd.ca.gov/ and click on File for Unemployment Insurance.