Last Week in Southern Labor: 7/5 – 7/12

Jacob Morrison

Here’s what workers in the US South and the colonies were up to from June 5th to July 12th:

New Campaigns

  • 18 workers likely pushed by their employer at Puerto Rico Energy in San Juan, PR filed a petition to decertify the Congreso de Uniones Industriales de Puerto Rico (Congress of Industrial Unions of Puerto Rico)
  • 22 workers at Division 5 LLC in Hickory, NC filed a petition to hold a union election with the International Association of Iron Workers (IW)
  • 10 workers at AT&T Mobility in Tampa, FL filed a petition to hold a union election with the Communication Workers of America (CWA)
  • The employer filed a petition to hold a union election after a majority of the 12 workers at Brinks in Salem, VA demonstrated support for unionization with the Armored Personnel Services Union
  • 11 workers at Starbucks in Sutton, WV filed a petition to hold a union election with Starbucks Workers United

Election Results

  • 94 workers at AT&T In Home Experts joined CWA last week, presumably through card check since there is not NLRB data on the win that the union is reporting
  • The state of Florida, as anti-union as it is, sometimes grants voluntary recognition. It just so happens that it’s for cop unions, as was the case when the state voluntarily recognized the International Union of Police Police Associations (IUPA) as the union representing 6 sergeants employed by Sarasota County Schools. Hat tip to friend of the show McKenna Shueler.
  • 13 workers at The Westin in Washington DC withdrew their request for a union election with the International Union of Operating Engineers (IUOE) Local 99
  • 26 workers at Imerys Fused Minerals in Greeneville, TN voted 16 to 10 in favor of keeping the United Steel Workers (USW) Local 507G-02 as their union in a decertification election
  • 36 workers at Corporacion SANOS in Caugas, PR voted 16 to 18 against unionization with ULEES
  • 5 security guards at Kerberos in Arlington, VA voted 3 to 0 in favor of switching unions to the Security Police and Fire Professionals of America (SPFPA) from Union Rights for Security Officers (URSO)

Strikes & Bargaining

  • The EPA announced that it has signed the new collective bargaining agreement with the American Federation of Government Employees. This agreement includes groundbreaking protections for scientific integrity after workers felt those principles were under assault during the Trump administration
  • Kroger and C&S Groceries are merging, and Kroger announced last week which distribution centers they would be divesting from. It’s unclear to us if this “divestment” means that the distribution centers will close or will be run under some other ownership. The Teamsters issued a fiery statement following the announcement, calling on state Attorneys General and the FTC to block the merger, saying that it will inevitably lead to job losses, among other things
  • IATSE has published the Memorandums of Agreement for the Hollywood Basic, Videotape and Area Standard Agreements–which is the specific contract language of the tentative deals reached between IATSE and the AMPTP–ahead of a ratification vote that begins on Monday. Eligible IATSE members will vote on whether to ratify these agreements between July 14-17, with the results scheduled to be announced July 18th. IATSE recently issued a statement in support of the Hollywood Basic Crafts, who continue to negotiate with the big studios.

Politics & Legislation

  • Nearly half of Governor Ivey’s cabinet received raises of over 30%, meanwhile, teachers got a 2% raise, with the highest paid cabinet member having a salary increase to over $258k, up 32% from the prior year. The highest percentage raise among the cabinet was 40% and the lowest was 17%. All cabinet members now make over $160k.
  • The 1996 Congressional Review Act (CRA) allows Congress to essentially veto certain federal agency actions. Currently, Republicans are pushing more than a dozen CRA resolutions to overturn pro-worker agency actions, including a new minimum staffing requirement for nursing homes from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. 50 Labor Leaders sent a letter asking they withdraw these resolutions
  • The AFL-CIO’s executive board unanimously re-affirmed its support for Biden in a meeting last week. In the original endorsement vote, APWU voted against the endorsement – it would be interesting to know how they voted this time: in favor, or abstaining
  • Anne Wagner was confirmed to the Federal Labor Relations Authority, meaning the body responsible for adjudicating cases of federal labor law is now full and can finally hear cases. The FLRA still lacks a General Counsel though. Federal employee unions like AFGE, IFPTE, NFFE, and NTEU celebrated Wagner’s confirmation
  • A US Appeals Court held that college athletes could be athletes, in a huge loss for the NCAA and a win for the athletes. The court sent the case back down to the lower courts to determine a test to differentiate between athletes who are employees and athletes who are not
  • Busloads of CWA members from New York (CWA District 1), Alabama and North Carolina (CWA District 3), and across CWA District 2-13 gathered in Washington, D.C., last week for the historic “Mass Poor People’s & Low-Wage Workers’ Assembly and Moral March on Washington D.C. & to the Polls.” CWA’s Director of Human Rights and Education, Angie Wells, also spoke, saying, “CWA is proud to be here today to demand that our elected officials address the immoral reality of mass poverty and low wages in the richest country on the planet.”

Internal Union Affairs

  • UFCW reformers with Essential Workers for Democracy have filed a lawsuit against their own union, claiming that the delegate system at union conventions violates the LMRDA by not giving equal voice to all members. If successful, this lawsuit will mean that many union’s election systems will come under fire next
  • Renowned labor educator and organizer Jane McAlevy died this week, and in the wake of this event a flood of celebratory obituaries have come out in LaborNotes, Jacobin, and the like. 
  • The recent allegations from the federal monitor are looking more likely to have been trumped up, after its been revealed that Barofsky, the federal monitor appointed by the courts to oversee the UAW, inappropriately used his office to attempt to influence the union’s position on Gaza. Only 6 days after the UAW made it known to the monitor that they do not accept the improper meddling in union affairs, Barofksy made a sweeping demand of hundreds of thousands of documents. Drop Site, a new venture by Ryan Grim and Jeremy Scahill, has built on reporting from the Wall Street Journal
  • Finally, United Campus Workers is holding their convention in Birmingham this weekend. My understanding is they will be consolidating their various campus based chapters into one Southern local as they organize wall to wall in higher ed, representing grad students, staff, and faculty. In Alabama, UCW has grown their membership over the past year at University of Alabama, Auburn University, and Jacksonville State University.