I was reviewing a Contract sent to me by an International Association of Field Service Technicians (IAFST) member the other day which was appalling. The pricing came from a Prime Vendor and set the baseline of initial grass cuts at $25 per acre. That is not a typo. Moreover, though, while the caveat was that negotiations were possible, those submitted were replied to with, “Well, we have people who will do it cheaper than that.” Think about that. The audacity of a Prime Vendor, wide open to losing Labor rapidly, would demand that you pay for One Million Dollars in insurance, commercial license plates and commercial auto insurance, specialized software, smart phones and computers, fuel, maintenance, and a slew of specialized equipment and your reward is less money than you made as a kid cutting grass. The bigger kicker here is that bids, which are the life blood of the Industry, are only issued out to less than 25% of those surveyed — both within and without the IAFST. Coupling this with $20 per cubic yard pay, the reality is that there are only two sets of demographics who survive this pay: 1) Employees; and 2) Illegal aliens.
The United Auto Workers (UAW) achieved a significant victory on April 19, 2024, when workers at the Volkswagen plant in Chattanooga, Tennessee, voted overwhelmingly to join the union. This marks a turning point for organized labor in the South, a region with traditionally low unionization rates.
The fact of the matter is that the elites in the National Association of Mortgage Field Services (NAMFS) simply do not get it. And as seen in their latest IRS tax returns, obtained exclusively by Foreclosurepedia, the salary of NAMFS Executive Director Eric Miller, now exceeds nearly 200% of all NAMFS member dues. Miller is paid $110,000 per year with member dues less than $60,000. NAMFS latest FY tax return showed a loss of over $62,000 simply to pay Miller. The sobering fact is that now, with the latest purchasing round by Mortgage Contracting Services (MCS) parent, Littlejohn & Co., of GIS Field Services and Five Brothers, last and this FY will be far more troubling. With that, the slush fund that NAMFS worked so hard to build up for the price increases, has been completely depleted.
Sticking with GIS Field Services, what Labor needs to understand is that the $6 per inspection in the Chicago metro and $7 and some change elsewhere, it is impossible to justify this pay against the heavily touted NAMFS raises and across the board paid by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and HUD of $30 per exterior and $45 per interior inspection. It is not surprising that the CEO Jonothan Dedman Dietz, of GIS Field Services, was ousted from the NAMFS Board of Directors. What is surprising is the use of logos by Jonothan Dedman Dietz from firms whom seem to allegedly be adamantly opposed to low ball pay, like the Society of Field Inspectors (SOFI).
The image above is from the About Us page on GIS Field Services website. And it paints a very specific picture of precisely whom are giving support to this pricing. It is where the rubber meets the road and Labor is paying attention. Are the logos improperly placed on the GIS Field Services website? I have no idea. I protect my brand with a vengeance and I would presume others do as well.
The financial pandemic which is impacting Labor — not just in the pocketbook, but in output of services — is resulting in negative returns and firms simply leaving the Industry at an unprecedented rate. The latest reporting by NAMFS is a seventy percent rate of attrition. That equals over seventy thousand people who left due to pricing as NAMFS reported here. Since publication and with the latest round of purchasing of firms, you may add yet another eight to ten percent to that total.
When it comes to unionization, my opinions are well known. In fact, it is why I am working so hard towards the establishment of an official NAICS for this Industry. It is why I worked so hard building the IAFST University. And it is also the bar set to observe what firms are adamantly opposed to both price increases and education and thus which firms Labor should avoid like the plague.
