Here’s what workers in the US South and the colonies were up to from June 27th to July 6th:
New Campaigns
- 7 workers at Hiller LLC in Bowling Green, KY filed a petition to hold a union election with the United Association of Plumbers and Pipefitters (UA) Local 502
- 60 workers at Sibelco North America in Spruce Pine, NC filed a petition to hold a union election with the United Mine Workers of America (UMWA)
- 31 workers at the Sun Sentinel in Deerfield Beach, FL filed a petition to hold a union election with the NewsGuild CWA
- 19 workers at Starbucks in Northfield, KY filed a petition to hold a union election with Starbucks Workers United, as did 16 workers at Starbucks in Alpharetta, GA, and 15 more at a location in Roswell, GA
- 50 workers at Missouri Smelting Technology in Troy, MO filed a petition to hold a union election with the United Auto Workers (UAW)
- 27 workers at Consolidated Waste Service in Trujillo Alto, PR filed a petition to hold a union election with the Central General de Trabajadores, as did 20 more workers at Consolidated waste in Humacao, PR
- 38 workers at AGL Services Company in Atlanta, GA filed a petition to hold a union election with the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 1997
- 2 workers at Prime Communications in Montgomery, AL filed a petition to hold a union election with the Communication Workers of America (CWA)
- Workers at the Sun Sentinel announced they are unionizing with the NewsGuild CWA and are demanding voluntary recognition
Election Results
- A petition to add 1 worker to a Teamsters Local 657 union bargaining unit at UPS in Pharr, TX was withdrawn
- 15 workers at Starbucks in Pinecrest, FL voted in favor of unionization with Starbucks Workers United
- 3 workers at Florida Public Utilities Company in Winter Haven, FL voted in favor of unionization with the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 1625, but 10 workers at another location of the Florida Public Utilities Company in Winter Haven voted against unionization
- 9 workers at BMC St Charles in O Fallon, MO voted 8 to 1 in favor of unionization with Teamsters Local 682
- 2 workers at Prime Communications in Opelika, AL voted in favor of unionization with CWA Local 3908
- 70 security guards at Universal Protection Service in Tampa, FL voted 14 to 9 in favor of unionization with the Security, Police, and Fire Professionals of America (SPFPA)
- 46 workers at Innovative Solutions Unlimited in Aiken, SC voted 24 to 11 in favor of unionization with the Teamsters Local 509
- 23 security guards at Paragon Systems in Washington, DC to switch unions from the Protective Security Officer Members of America to the SPFPA
Settlements, Grievances, & Unfair Labor Practices
- The ACLU, which has had charges brought against it at the NLRB by the workers’ union, compared criticism of its management by workers to the lynching of Emmett Till
Strikes & Bargaining
- Sarah Jaffe wrote for In These Times about the efforts of New Orleans workers to establish a Workers Bill of Rights in the city
- Workers at Delbar in Atlanta, with the Union of Southern Service Workers (USSW) protested in front of the restaurant to demand higher pay and better working conditions
- City workers in Gainesville, FL, unionized with CWA, are scrambling to maintain their 60% threshold so they are not dissolved by the state
- UAW Local 862 in Louisville, KY announced that it had reached an agreement on the skilled trades local addendum to the master contract at the Ford Kentucky Truck Plant
- Nurses in Central Florida represented by National Nurses United rallied for safe nurse-patient ratios
Politics & Legislation
- The Biden administration unveiled a proposal to protect workers from extreme heat, which, if finalized, would mandate employers undergo extreme heat safety training, create and regularly update emergency heat response plans, and provide workers with shade and water
- The Supreme Court refused to hear a case which challenged the constitutionality of OSHA, to the chagrin of Billionaire-Friend-Having Clarence Thomas, who says he thinks it is unconstitutional
- The UMWA is slamming Republicans for trying to kill a rule that would protect coal miners from black lung
- Allied Universal, a security firm contracted by Orange County Corrections for a price of $27M, has failed to meet minimum contractual staffing requirements
- Recent reporting from Propublica highlights how rural Republicans are fighting against voucher privatization schemes in their schools
- Renters need to earn at least $31/hr to afford living in Orlando, according to a new study