The week in US unions, April 8-15
NEW ORGANIZING
Recent election filings at the NLRB:
Healthcare: 135 workers at 17 Lifelong Medical Care community health centers in the East Bay are organizing with the Union of American Physicians and Dentists, AFSCME Local 206. 100 psychiatric care specialists at Havenwyck Hospital in Auburn Hills, MI are organizing with SEIU Healthcare Michigan. 75 medical techs, therapists, and others at Taylor Hospital in Ridley Park, PA are organizing with PASNAP. 30 dietitians, social workers, and therapists are organizing with PASNAP at Delaware County Memorial Hospital in Drexel Hill, PA. 20 support staff at Glendale Center, a Genesis nursing home in Naugatuck, CT are organizing with 1199 New England. 10 anesthesia nurses in Ponce, PR are organizing with either Unidad Laboral de Enfermeras(os) y Empleados de la Salud or Union General de Trabajadores.
Transit: 360 drivers, matrons, and mechanics for Consolidated Bus Transit in East New York, Brooklyn are organizing with ATU Local 854, with Teamsters Local 553 intervening. 55 bus drivers at First Transit in Glen Burnie, MD are organizing with ATU Local 1764.
Others: 186 workers at sanitation company GI Industries in Simi Valley, CA are organizing with Teamsters Local 186. 185 staff and faculty at the Latin School in Chicago are organizing with the Illinois Federation of Teachers. 72 security guards at the Ginna Nuclear Power Plant in Ontario, NY might decertify their union, SPFPA Local 1212. 56 heavy equipment workers at Imperial Crane in Bridgeview, IL are joining Operating Engineers Local 150. 25 deckhands at Leo Marine Services in Long Beach, CA are organizing with the Inlandboatmen’s Union, ILWU, but both the Seafarers and Masters, Mates & Pilots are intervening; same goes for 27 more deckhands in Alameda, CA. 43 freight dockworkers at FSI in Elizabeth, NJ are organizing with Teamsters Local 863. 40 dispensary workers at Beyond Hello in East St. Louis, IL are organizing with UFCW Local 881. 32 workers at All Creatures Animal Hospital in Bremerton, WA are organizing with the ILWU. 31 dispensary workers at Tweed Leaf in Denver, CO are organizing with UFCW Local 7. 24 call center workers for Energy Choice California in Baldwin Park, CA are organizing with IBEW Local 47. 19 workers at the Worcester Natural History Society EcoTarium are organizing with AFSCME Council 93. 11 building services workers at condo building 111 W. 57th Street are joining 32BJ. 10 security guards in Dayton, NJ are joining the “International Brotherhood of Trade Unions Local 710” (which includes the ILA and AFL-CIO in its name, but I just have a lot of questions).
Tiny shops: 9 mechanics at David Bruce Toyota dealership in Bourbonnais, IL are organizing with Machinists District Lodge 8. 9 mechanics at construction equipment supplier Komatsu in Pine Bush, NY are joining Operating Engineers Local 825. Five clerical workers at Caesar’s casino and hotel in Elizabeth, IN are joining Teamsters Local 89, or UNITE HERE Local 23, or Operating Engineers Local 399. Five technicians at Kirkland Air Force Base in Albuquerque, NM are joining Machinists Lodge 794. Two workers at Chinese train manufacturer CRRC Times Electric in City of Industry, CA are joining IBEW Local 11. The two “creative” employees at political agency Title Fight in Des Moines, IA are joining GCC-IBT Local 727-S.
410 card dealers with Laborers Local 711 at Twin River Casino in Lincoln, RI, are facing a decertification vote.
NLRB wins…: 175 workers at egg product supplier Newburg Egg Corp. in Woodridge, NY voted 56-36 to join UFCW Local 342. 29 paramedics, EMTs, and drivers for Mille Lacs Health System in Onamia and Isle, MN voted 14-5 to join the International Association of EMTs and Paramedics, NAGE-SEIU. 22 RNs, dosimetrists, and radiation therapists at three locations association with Providence Centralia Hospital in Centralia, Aberdeen, and Lacey, WA voted 11-9 to join UFCW Local 21. 300 miles east, also in UFCW 21, 20 pharmacy techs at Kaiser in Spokane voted to stick with the union against a decertification vote, 12-7. 13 security guards for the Jamestown-Scotland Ferry in Williamsburg, VA voted 10-0 to join SPFPA. 10 train dispatchers for Herzog Transit in Irving, TX voted unanimously, 10-0, to join the American Train Dispatchers Association, which is like a half percentage point increase for that small union. Nine drivers and warehouse workers at wire products company Mazel & Co. in Chicago voted to join Teamsters Local 777 in a 5-1 vote. Four bus safety trainers at First Transit in Anaheim, CA voted 3-0 to join Teamsters Local 952. Four electronic and acoustic warfare analysts (I have no idea) at the Naval Air Station in Oak Harbor, WA voted unanimously to join Machinists Lodge 130.
...and losses: 5,867 warehouse workers at Amazon in Bessemer, AL voted 738-1798 not to join the RWDSU, in the first major NLRB election at the nation’s second-largest private employer. 47 drivers and dockworkers at Emerald Textiles in San Diego, which provides linens for hospitals, voted to decertify their union, Teamsters Local 683, in an 11-17 vote. 41 security guards at NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans decertified their union, SPFPA Local 129, in a 3-23 vote. 21 workers who make hydrochloric acid for Detrex Corp in Ashtabula, OH, voted 8-9 not to join the Steelworkers. Eight vehicle service techs for American Medical Response Ambulance Service in Tukwila, WA voted 0-3 on joining Teamsters Local 763; one would think the union would have at least one strong yes vote in the mix if they decided not to pull the election petition, but I guess not.
Outside the NLRB: 650 tech workers at the New York Times are organizing for voluntary recognition with the New York NewsGuild. The Nonprofit Professional Employees Union, IFPTE Local 70, is organizing for voluntary recognition among staff at the Brookings Institution and the Urban Institute. Since 2017, non-tenure-track faculty at Santa Clara University have been pushing for a union vote through SEIU Local 1021, despite NLRB rulings against private adjunct unionization, and are now renewing their demand to get a fair and free vote in 2021. Staff at Headway Emotional Health in the Twin Cities area are pushing for voluntary recognition with OPEIU Local 12. The staff of AVP won voluntary recognition with OPEIU Local 153.
The RWDSU Amazon drive in Alabama failed, and there are plenty of steaming hot takes for you to sample as you peruse the takes buffet, and who am I to recommend one over another. The important thing is that Amazon remains the second-largest private employer in the country, and if there’s no credible plan to organize those workers, our horizons are limited indeed.
The Tate’s Bake Shop union drive on Long Island just keeps getting crazier, as that vote nears a close, complete with death threats.
STRIKES & BARGAINING
The ATI Steelworkers remain on strike, as do the St. Vincent nurses in Worcester. Sarah Hughes at Labor Notes has a great rundown of the state of things at the Worcester strike, and the larger context of staffing ratios. Of particular note on the Steelworkers was this bargaining memo the union released, noting that members are eligible for free healthcare coverage under the COBRA extension provisions of the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (the stimulus bill). Which means the usually hefty amount of leverage an employer has over striking workers in cutting their benefits (or benefits becoming impossibly expensive during a strike) doesn’t apply to these workers. Just another way in which an even temporarily expanded welfare state has knock-on effects that improve workers’ bargaining positions to take further action in their own interest.
Also still on strike are the UMWA miners at Warrior Met Coal in Brookwood, AL. Last Friday, miners rejected a tentative agreement, so the strike is now not only the largest miners strike since 1993, but has surpassed the ‘93 strike in days off the job.
UAW Local 3000 struck Kirchhoff Automotive in Tecumseh, MI for just under 12 hours, quickly reaching a tentative agreement.
Yet another New York NewsGuild unit has organized a walkout, with the Ziff Davis Creators Guild, which represents workers at AskMen, Geek, Mashable, and PCMag, stopping work in protest of two years without a first contract, despite voluntary recognition.
Port truck drivers -- one of the most egregiously misclassified groups of workers, who have been organizing with the Teamsters for several years -- in Southern California struck in protest of illegal firings at several companies. They got a boost from ILWU Local 63 at the Port of Los Angeles, though it’s unclear how much of the ports’ operations were affected versus more of a public airing of grievances.
AAUP members at Rider University in New Jersey are rejecting a one year contract extension with a sub-inflation 1% raise, and beginning to talk about a strike.
The Connecticut nursing home industry is scared that 1199 New England is going to strike over 50 nursing homes at once, according to higher-ups. I haven’t seen a strike vote or anything like that, and of course, giants like Genesis HealthCare have their own PR agenda, but something to watch.
220 members of Teamsters Local 174, who transport aircraft engines and fuselages, authorized a strike against Boeing for cutting worker pay while increasing management bonuses. The contract expires on Saturday.
Workers at a Goodwill in Festus, MO (about 30 miles south of St. Louis) have authorized a strike and rejected a contract offer. The workers organized with UFCW Local 655 in 2019.
1900 support staffers in Sacramento public schools with SEIU Local 1021 rejected an unsafe reopening plan, possibly setting up a strike authorization vote. The Chicago Teachers Union organized a job action on Wednesday and Thursday, in which high school teachers refused to return to mandated in-person work, in protest of an unsafe reopening agreement. Thursday, they reached a tentative agreement to go back Monday.
1300 IBEW Local 824 members in the Tampa area are in the midst of a mail-in strike authorization vote against telecom provider Frontier.
UFCW 21 members are picketing PCC Community Markets in the Seattle area, as the co-op grocery chain board allegedly campaigns against the two employee members who are among the five people running for three open seats on the board. Obviously a bit unique to the grocery co-op model, but it’s interesting to see a union picket about employee representation on a governing board.
The Washington State Nurses Association is raising the alarm about a contract for 1100 nurses at PeaceHealth Southwest Medical Center in Vancouver, WA, where low pay and benefits are creating retention problems.
AFT Local 6300, the Graduate Employees Organization at University of Illinois, is fighting for the reinstatement of a member who was suspended and evicted from university housing for failing to take a COVID-19 test.
IUPAT picketed the town of North Salem, NY, in Westchester County, for refusing to use union workers on a public works project.
Los Angeles Fire Fighters agreed to defer wages to keep firehouses open.
Joining the reopening fight is the NFL Players Association, which is essentially running a campaign to organize teams to refuse to attend in-person off-season training out of pandemic concerns. It’s not all the teams, but it includes the Super Bowl champion Buccaneers, and seems to be spreading...
POLITICS & LEGISLATION
The California legislature has passed a bill mandating certain hospitality employers to rehire former employees as business picks back up. The bill now goes to Gov. Newsom, who vetoed a similar bill in 2020. It’s obviously a huge priority for UNITE HERE and other unions who represent these workers, and a push against any attempt to use this disaster capitalism moment to weaken union rights.
The PRO Act fight rages on, and Ryan Grim at the Intercept has reporting on who the holdouts are, and what the prospects are. Punchline seems to be: keep pushing.
UNION LEADERSHIP
Not sure which section this goes in, but union members convened on the St. Paul Labor Center last night to demand the National Guard be booted from their staging location as they prepared to suppress any protests related to the police murder of Daunte Wright this Sunday. To some members’ surprise, it worked, and the Guard vacated the premises. ATU Local 1005, which represents Twin Cities bus drivers, reiterated its commitment to refuse service to the mass transfer of arrestees.
Speaking of the murder of Daunte Wright, the cop who killed Wright turned out to have been the former president of the local police union, and is now out on bail. Elsewhere in police union president news, the former president of the Boston police union was revealed to have been a known child molestor, and allowed to continue abusing children for years. Whatever else you think about police unions, it’s quite damning that these are the types the ranks consistently elect to represent them. Kind of undercuts the bad apple argument.
Finally, UAW members are organizing for the upcoming referendum this fall on whether the UAW will switch to direct elections of top officers. The government put forward Neil Barofsky, former Inspector General of the TARP bailout (which of course included tens of billions of dollars to automakers), to be the court-appointed monitor of the union, whose appointment, if confirmed by the judge, will trigger a 6 month window within which the UAW must hold the one-member one-vote referendum. Contribute to the cause if you can.