Last Week in Southern Labor: 8/18 – 8/25

Here’s what Southern US workers were up to from August 18 – 25:

1,722 PHD students providing instructional and research services at the private Emory University in Atlanta, GA filed for a union election with Workers United. They are holding a rally on Monday, 8/28 from 10-11am on the Quad outside the administration building.

In what appears to be a raid of a unit of employees currently represented by the Office of Professional Employees International Union, 45 workers at Transdev in Lorton, VA filed for a union election with the Independent Supervisors Union

9 workers at Allegiance Crane and Equipment in Beaumont, TX filed for a union election with the International Union of Operating Engineers.

10 workers at Crescent Hotels and Resorts in Washington, DC filed for a union election with UNITE HERE Local 25.

5 workers at Trident military services doing work on flight simulation projects at Lackland AFB, TX filed for a union election with the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers

33 security guards at Allied Universal Security Services in Washington, DC filed for a union election with the Fraternity of American Protective Officers

7 workers at Mid America Conversion Services LLC in Kevil, KY filed to be included in the existing United Steel Workers bargaining unit

95 workers at Sysco in Louisville, KY filed for a union election with the General Drivers, Warehousemen, and Helpers Local Union No. 89 (an affiliate of the Teamsters)

13 workers at PSA doing clerk work in Norfolk, VA filed for a union election with the Teamsters Local 822

50 workers for Ocean Point Terminal in Christiansted in the Virgin Islands filed for a union election with the United Steel Workers Local 8526

300 workers at Coca Cola Southwest Beverages in Fort Worth, TX filed for a union election with the Teamsters Local 997

7 Workers at t47 International in Abilene, TX filed for a union election with the Laborers International Union of North America Local 154

Election withdrawals:

Blue Krewe in New Orleans, LA

NOVO Health Services in Atlanta, GA

Bourbon Dog Inc. in Burlington, NC

Root 66 in St. Louis, MO

Trident Military Systems in San Antonio, TX

Hospital Damas in Ponce, PR

Hand and Stone Massage in Gainesville, FL

23 workers at a Starbucks in Washington DC voted in favor of unionization 13 to 9 with Starbucks Workers United

83 workers at Pepsico in Houston, TX voted in favor of unionization with the Teamsters Local 988 52 to 25. 

20 workers at Championship Enterprises in Fort Hood, TX voted against unionization with the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers 8 to 12

13 workers at Gladius in San Juan, PR voted UNANIMOUSLY in favor of unionization with the International Alliance of Theatrical and Stage Employees Local 839

8 workers at Brass Tacks Coffee in Jacksonville, FL voted in favor of unionization with the Teamsters Local 947 6 to 2

17 workers at Swissport Fueling in Fort Myers, FL voted in favor of unionization with the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers 16 to 1

A committee of the State Employee Insurance Board (SEIB) Tuesday proposed a combination of increases in state employees’ premiums and a decrease in benefits to address a deficit

UAW members at the Big 3 auto makers have authorized a strike by a whopping 97%. The contracts expire on 14 September.

Teamsters at UPS overwhelmingly ratified their tentative agreement with UPS. More people voted in the referendum than ever voted in a UPS contract referendum, and the percentage in favor was higher than ever. Teamsters at UPS will immediately get a raise of at least $2.75/hour, a minimum wage of $21/hour, and full time package car drivers will see their wage rise to $49/hour by 2028. 

The collective bargaining agreement between members of the Communications Workers of America in West Virginia and Ashburn, Va., and their employer, Frontier Communications, expired last night at 11:59 p.m. on August 19. Members have agreed to continue to report to work and maintain the status quo as they continue negotiations on a new agreement. Workers have authorized the bargaining committee to call a strike if necessary.

Long time listeners of the show will remember our discussions about the resurrection of the Joy Silk doctrine – and last week we saw something quite close to it. In a decision on the Cemex case, the NLRB put forward a new standard for certification of union representation. Going forward, the NLRB has stated that if an employer commits any ULP over the course of a union election, and workers had already shown that a majority of employees support a union through union authorization cards, then the NLRB will automatically certify the union and order the employer to bargain

The new Cemex standard is not the only change to union election procedures that the NLRB made last week – a new rule was issued aimed at expediting union election to decrease the time available to employers to interfere with their workers right to organization. Changes include:

Allowing pre-election hearings to begin more quickly;

Ensuring that important election information is disseminated to employees more quickly;

Making pre- and post-election hearings more efficient; and

Ensuring that elections are held more quickly. 

The American Federation of Government Employees has endorsed Biden’s nominee to head up the Social Security Administration – Martin O Malley. Last week’s guest – Rich Couture, president of AFGE’s Council 215 said in a statement: SSA deserves a leader with full authority to implement a positive vision that will simultaneously improve public service and employee working conditions. Gov. O’Malley is that leader.

From the American Prospect: Over the past two years, Georgia has been the beneficiary of 22 clean-energy projects and almost 17,000 cleantech jobs, the second-highest for both totals of any state. Gov. Kemp’s administration secured economic development deals with these companies that award lucrative contracts for building out the factories to non-union construction firms. The selected companies are also donors to Republicans in the state, including the governor—the former owner of a non-union construction company himself. No union contractor has benefitted from any of these federally subsidized projects, despite Biden’s assurances that these subsidies would fund good paying union jobs.

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