Professionalism and Unionization-Starting a Program

Recent union contracts negotiated on Southern California substantially increased the income of chainmen and surveyors. This resulted in restructuring the thinking, particularly of associate members, in relation to engineers' income. The Los Angeles Section had played an important part in the professionalism and unionization activities of Southern California engineers since 1946. Senate Bill 1228, signed by Governor in 1969, requires that representatives of public agencies meet and bargain in good faith with employee representatives including professionals. The Los Angeles Section Board, anticipating growing concern, created a Task Committee in 1968 to recommend a plan of action for the Section. The Task Committee set up six alternatives which were evaluated by a special three-man Board Committee. A final plan of action was developed and a ten-man committee created to carry out the development of a program with a June, 1970, deadline. The objective is to develop a program to meet the needs of the civil engineer and still preserve his professional integrity.