Posts tagged intimidation
San Jose recycling drivers allege union busting
May 10, 2023 // With a staff of less than 100 people, the family-owned business has subcontracted with local governments and prolific developers to help bring major Bay Area developments to life, from Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara to Santana Row and San Jose Mineta International Airport’s Terminal B. Castillo is one of up to 20 drivers for the company who haul construction materials from major development sites. The drivers voted to join the Teamsters Local 853 last year after allegations of payroll issues and unsafe working conditions were not addressed. In July, the drivers will have to vote again to keep their union.
Following Teachers’ Petition, Gompers Prep Charter School Employees Set to Vote on Removing Union from School
May 2, 2023 // Gompers made an impressive transition to being a union-free charter school in 2005 after years of being plagued by unresponsive union bureaucracies, violence, and poor academic achievement. However, the union was imposed again in January 2019 via “card check,” an abuse-prone process that bypasses the traditional secret-ballot vote system. Many teachers and parents have long viewed the reinstallation of union power at the school with suspicion. Many accused SDEA agents of actively sowing division at the school, including by supporting anti-charter school legislation and needlessly disparaging the school’s leadership.
GLIDE, the Tenderloin-based social justice institution, is being accused of union busting
April 11, 2023 // GLIDE, one of San Francisco’s most prestigious social justice institutions dedicated to helping the homeless and low-income, is being accused of using union busting tactics by multiple former and current employees ahead of union contract negotiations that happened earlier today.
Why the secret union ballot is the new battle for worker freedom in Tennessee | Opinion
April 3, 2023 // Now, state leaders like me are standing up for workers’ freedom, once again, through Senate Bill 650. The issue at hand threatening Tennesseans’ right to work is union elections. When a workplace decides to vote on whether or not to organize under a labor union, the vote is unlike the private voting experience of citizens during a political election. Unfortunately, many workers must cast their votes in an open election, with their choice made public to union organizers. Due to the lack of privacy of the vote, many workers are subjected to a public pressure campaign by union officials bent on collecting enough signatures to unionize the workplace. The process is called card check.
Public Funds Shouldn’t Bankroll Union Coercion
March 29, 2023 // These tactics can be overwhelming. One employee testified, “It wasn’t enough that employees were being harassed at work, but now they are receiving phone calls at home. The union’s organizers refuse to take ‘no’ for an answer. The only way, it seems, to stop the badgering and pressure is to sign the card.” In another instance, an employee was told to sign the card or risk the union coming to “get her children” and “slash her car tires.” Even more galling, taxpayer dollars can be used to perpetuate these tactics. Card check occurs in some Tennessee workplaces that receive taxpayer-funded state economic incentives. Last year, Tennesseans voted overwhelmingly to support a right-to-work constitutional amendment, ensuring that workers can’t be fired for not joining or paying a union.
Tennessee legislators moving bill to block incentives for companies that allow unions via ‘card check’
March 8, 2023 // Both companies that are going into the West Tennessee Site, Ford and SK Innovation, have agreed to the majority card check method, which the National Labor Relations Board allows. In that approach, a majority of workers sign a document or "card" agreeing they want the union to represent them. It's favored by unions, including the United Auto Workers. Union organizers can get workers' names, addresses, email and cellphone numbers to contact and seek their signature on a card, including go to a worker's home to discuss that. The legislation's aim is to prevent that.
PRO Act puts union leadership ahead of workers
March 6, 2023 // Despite its name, the PRO Act fails to “protect the right to organize” — a right that exists under current law and is respected by people on both sides of the aisle. Rather, the legislation would undo existing reforms adopted under the Taft-Hartley Act of 1947, which helped to curb union violence, coercion, and other criminal activity that plagued labor unions at that time. Unfortunately, the PRO Act would empower union leadership to engage in the same reckless, short-sighted, and dangerous tactics that have disrupted our economy, making it more difficult and costly to invest in our workforce. Research from the American Action Forum has even found that if the PRO Act becomes law, employers could face more than $47 billion in new annual costs, further jeopardizing the economic recovery following the disruptions of the COVID-19 pandemic. The pandemic has exposed weaknesses in our supply chain, and the PRO Act would only further weaken resiliency and could result in more shortages and bare shelves. The special interest bill would also undermine the fundamental rights of workers. Rather than empowering workers, the bill would force them into one-size-fits-all union contracts and subject both workers and job creators to union harassment, infringing on workers’ individual rights. First, the bill allows union leadership to access private information from employees without their consent, giving them free rein to contact, harass, and coerce their workers. It also limits the rights to a secret ballot — a core tenet of American democracy — which will further endanger workers who may have reservations about joining a union. Privacy, secret ballots, and flexibility should all be expected and guaranteed in the 21st-century workplace. Additionally, the bill would abolish right-to-work laws in 27 states,
Tennessee workers deserve a private vote on union representation
March 6, 2023 // But even with right-to-work protections in place, employees still face union intimidation when it comes to how workers decide whether they want to unionize. Union organizing campaigns can be stressful on a worker. House Bill 1342, Senate Bill 650
Trader Joe’s challenges union vote at Louisville store
February 8, 2023 // Trader Joe’s is challenging last month’s vote by workers at its Louisville store to form a union, alleging that pro-union workers “created an atmosphere of fear and coercion and interfered with the laboratory conditions necessary to conduct a free and fair election.” The privately owned grocery store chain filed its objections Wednesday with the National Labor Relations Board, according to a copy of the filing shared by the Trader Joe’s United, the union seeking to organize the Louisville store. Trader Joe’s’ Louisville workers voted 48-36 in favor of the union during the Jan. 26 election, according to Trader Joe’s United. If the tally holds up, it will become the third Trader Joe’s in the nation to unionize.
Right-to-work under threat in Michigan
January 20, 2023 // The bill, known as Senate Bill 0005, would reverse many, if not all, worker protections enshrined by the current Right-to-Work law. The bill removes text stating that Michigan workers cannot be forced, intimidated, or compelled to join a labor union, which may lead to union-backed intimidation or coercion. Instead of paying dues, the bill proposal called for Michigan workers to pay a “service fee that may be equivalent to the amount of dues” for a labor union. The bill’s sponsor, State Senator Darrin Camilleri, tweeted, “My first bill of the term is to repeal the anti-union, so-called Right to Work bill. It’s time to restore power to working people.” Camilleri added several claims, such as Michiganders dealing “with the effects of this unjust law” and repealing Right-to-Work law will “finally grant workers greater freedom to join a union.”