Posts tagged secret-ballot election
KENTUCKY: BlueOval SK battery workers receive OK to hold union election
July 28, 2025 // We are disappointed by the dishonest tactic of the UAW in stalling a timely and fair election at BlueOval SK’s Kentucky 1 plant. The union proclaimed for months that it wants a vote because it said a “majority” of team members support the UAW. Now, the union has filed a blocking charge with the NLRB to stop this secret ballot election. This union legal maneuver is designed to thwart the election process. A secret ballot election, supervised by the federal government, will prove whether a majority of our team members want to keep their direct relationship with their leadership team or turn over their voice to the UAW.
Michael Watson: Big ESG’s Big Partner: Big Labor
April 20, 2025 // Unions’ principal interest in the ESG activism movement is on the “S” or “social” prong of the acronym. Both unions themselves, like the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, and critics of unions, like the Institute for the American Worker, will argue that Big Labor views ESG as a category for advancing union organizing and other core union priorities. Proxy Preview shows unions and union-aligned groups (like city and state pension funds and the largely union-owned and union-controlled Amalgamated Bank) pushing shareholder resolutions demanding that companies “adopt a noninterference policy respecting freedom of association” or “respect for freedom of association and collective bargaining”—euphemisms for neutrality in union organizing. Under a neutrality agreement, the employer agrees not to present its views on the potential consequences of union organizing to employees, and it may agree not to confirm union majority support by a government-supervised secret-ballot election, instead using public union-card signatures (known as “card check”).
Commentary: Is bill a state-led worker’s board, or a gift to SEIU?
April 7, 2025 // A secret ballot election for unionization requires a certain percentage of the bargaining unit to sign so-called “showing of interest” cards. When an organization allegedly has resorted to forgery is tasked with gathering and submitting these cards, it calls the integrity of the process into question. SB 1138 and HB 3838 present themselves as measures to improve workforce standards for care providers, but they have but one purpose — growing SEIU 503’s membership and influence. By embedding the union into training programs, handing it access to personal contact information and placing itself in workforce oversight, SEIU is positioned to grow its ranks at the expense of worker autonomy.
Aquarium workers to vote on potential unionization after voluntary recognition is rejected.
February 27, 2025 // Executive Director Julie Packard, who recently announced her retirement, sent a message to Aquarium employees stating: “We want to be sure we honor each of your voices… That’s why holding a secret ballot election is the best path forward.” There are two main ways workers can form a union with a private company, says Shane Anderson, organizing director with the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, one of the largest labor unions in the country which is representing MBAWU. The first is through voluntary recognition if a majority of workers show support, and the second is through a formal union election filed with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB).
Beshear calls it the world’s largest EV battery plant, now they want to unionize
February 13, 2025 // The unionization rate in Kentucky has grown the past two years, and with Ford having two organized assembly plants in nearby Louisville, the next UAW victory seems logical in Glendale. “I’m not surprised to see this union organizing drive, and my guess is, the union will be successful when it comes up for a vote, especially if there’s already, shall we say, some misunderstandings about raises and safety,” stated economist Allen. “That’s going to make Ford’s job that much more difficult.” A date will be set by the for a secret-ballot election, and if a majority of workers vote in favor of the union, the next step is negotiating a contract for what will become the 10th largest manufacturing site in the world.
Commentary: In New Record Low, Unionization Rate Falls to Single Digits in 2024
February 3, 2025 // By focusing on individual workers’ desires and on helping workers achieve long-term wage gains through increased productivity (which require allowing technology and automation that enhance productivity), unions could begin to reverse their decline. And policymakers can help prioritize workers’ rights and voices by allowing voluntary labor organizations and reducing government-imposed barriers to work.
Florida teachers union loses 20,000 members after government stops collecting dues
December 4, 2024 // In its annual Form LM-2 filed in November with the U.S. Department of Labor (USDOL), the FEA disclosed having 111,133 employed, dues-paying members as of August 31, 2024, down from the 131,510 “active members” the union reported a year earlier. The precipitous decline far exceeds typical annual fluctuations in the union’s membership numbers and comes in the wake of Florida policymakers’ adoption of a package of government union reforms in 2023 championed by Gov. Ron DeSantis with the support of the Freedom Foundation and other conservative groups.
Georgia’s Secret Ballots and Union Hypocrisy
March 14, 2024 // Unions are fine with conditions on taxpayer funding if it gives them an unfair advantage. They can’t credibly claim it’s wrong when states go the other direction and level the playing field for workers. Instead of believing the union fearmongering, more states should do what Georgia has done, and put workers’ rights ahead of union demands.
Tennessee AT&T Workers Force Unwanted CWA Union Bosses Out of Workplace Following Union ‘Card Check’
March 6, 2024 // Last month, an NLRB Regional Director rejected union officials’ objections to the petition and ruled that a decertification election should go forward. However, before the vote could occur, CWA union officials filed paperwork disclaiming interest in continuing their control over the workers – likely to avoid an embarrassing rejection by employees at the ballot box. Had Hodzic and his coworkers’ effort not succeeded, NLRB documents indicate that they would have been integrated into a nationwide bargaining unit comprised of thousands of employees, which would have made decertifying the union virtually impossible.
WASHINGTON DEMOCRATS ADVANCE BILL TO PERMIT ELECTRONIC UNION ORGANIZING
February 26, 2024 // The real problem with SB 6060 is that it doesn’t go far enough. The state agency administering Washington’s collective bargaining laws for public employees — the Public Employment Relations Commission (PERC) — processes three kinds of representation petitions: (1) petitions filed by unions seeking to represent groups of non-union employees; (2) petitions filed by unions seeking to supplant an incumbent union; and, (3) petitions filed by employees seeking to decertify the union currently representing them. To proceed, state law requires that each of these three petition types be supported by signatures from at least 30 percent of the affected employees. Under SB 6060, unions could use electronic signatures in their efforts to unionize new groups of employees while those seeking to change unions or remove an unwanted union would still have to gather John Hancocks the old-fashioned way. But if the goal is to “empower” public employees to choose whatever union representation they wish, shouldn’t electronic signatures be permitted across the board?