Rebuttal to Chip Munn’s
“Searching for the Truth from USAPA” Dated March 5, 2010
1. With regard to the pre-hearing document exchange, Capt. Munn states that USAPA did not
comply with this requirement and that this gave USAPA a “rebuttal advantage.” This is untrue.
Before the hearing, USAPA provided Capt. Munn with all of the exhibits that USAPA submitted
at the hearing, except for confidential work product belonging to USAPA’s auditors, which
USAPA agreed to provide if Capt. Munn signed a confidentiality agreement. However, Capt.
Munn refused to sign a confidentiality agreement. Contrary to Capt. Munn’s claims, the
arbitrator did not rule that USAPA violated the pre-hearing document exchange provision of its
Agency Fee Policy or that USAPA had created a “rebuttal advantage.” In fact, the arbitrator
denied Capt. Munn’s motion to preclude the submission of USAPA’s exhibits or the testimony of
USAPA’s witnesses. Capt. Munn fully participated in the hearing, including submitting evidence
and cross-examining all of USAPA’s witnesses. His suggestion that USAPA had any kind of
advantage in the hearing is completely without merit.
2. With regard to the Pension Investigation assessment, Capt. Munn states that USAPA
attempted to include this as a germane expense at the February 10th hearing. This is untrue.
The Pension Investigation assessment was not an issue at the February 10th hearing, which
only concerned USAPA’s expenses for the Association’s first fiscal year from April 18, 2008
through March 31, 2009. As USAPA’s Treasurer testified, USAPA incurred no expenses for the
pension investigation during the period under review from April 18, 2008 through March 31,
2009. Thus, USAPA did not argue that the pension investigation assessment should be
considered a germane expense for this period of time. This point was made clear to Capt.
Munn both before and at the hearing, and his post-hearing arguments to the contrary should
therefore be viewed as deliberately misleading.
Case 3:11-cv-00371-RJC -DCK Document 12-1 Filed 07/29/11 Page 74 of 148 3 / 29
What's Up On The Line?
3. With regard to the Pension Investigation assessment, Captain Munn also states that there will
be a dues increase if it is determined that the assessment is a germane expense. This is
untrue.
Capt. Munn incorrectly equates USAPA’s counsel’s pre-hearing position that “any expenses
arising from the pension investigation are germane” with a dues increase. As noted above in
Point 2, USAPA incurred no expenses for the pension investigation during the period under
review from April 18, 2008 through March 31, 2009. In any event, whether any expenses are
determined to be germane or non-germane only affects the calculation of the agency fee that is
charged to dues objectors (i.e. those non-members who object to paying for expenses of the
Association that are not germane to its collective bargaining functions). The agency fee
charged to dues objectors is adjusted each year based on a review and audit of the past year’s
expenses in order to determine the percentage of expenses that were germane. The
adjustment can be either up or down. However, this annual adjustment to the fee paid by dues
objectors, which is required by federal law, is not a dues increase (or decrease), as it does not
affect the rate of dues paid by members of USAPA or non-members who do not file as
objectors. Capt. Munn fundamentally misunderstands the nature and purpose of the agency fee
arbitration, and misrepresents the record of the hearing, by inventing a dues increase that does
not exist.
In summary, Chip Munn’s comments on the recent agency fee arbitration are untrue and
misleading and do not accurately reflect the record of the hearing or the law that governs such
proceedings. His comments are neither “unbiased” nor factual – that is the job of the arbitrator
who will rule on this case.
