Last Week in Southern Labor: 7/26 - 8/2

Here’s what workers in the US South and the colonies were up to from June 26th to August 2nd:

New Campaigns

854 workers across 9 bargaining units are in new union campaigns, 27 employees in 1 unit are in the middle of a raid, and 563 workers in 1 unit are in a new decertification election
365 Civil Rights Division Lawyers at the Department of Justice are organizing a union with the National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU), motivated by an interest in locking in current working conditions
Over 140 Teamsters across Florida at Breakthru Beverage Group formally demanded the company recognize their right to collectively bargain
The employer filed a petition to hold an election after a majority of the 10 workers at Environmental Air Systems in High Point, NC demonstrated support for unionization with the United Association of Plumbers and Pipefitters (UA) Local 421
25 security guards at Securememdy in Washington DC filed a petition to hold a union election with the National Capital Union for Security Officers (NCUFSO)
The Federal Contract Guards of America (FCGOA) is attempting to raid a unit of 27 security guards at KR Contracting in Sterling, VA who are currently represented by Union Rights for Security Officers (URSO)
86 security guards at ASP Security in Washington DC filed a petition to hold a union election with NCUFSO
Workers likely pushed by their employer filed a petition to decertify National Nurses United as the union representing 563 workers at SSM Health in Saint Louis, MO
27 workers at Hyatt Regency and J&B Cleaning (as joint employers) filed a petition to hold a union election with UNITE HERE Local 25
60 workers at WEHT-WTVW in Henderson, KY filed a petition to hold a union election with the National Association of Broadcast Employees and Technicians (NABET-CWA)
17 workers at Starbucks in Little Rock, AR filed a petition to hold a union election with Starbucks Workers United
The employer filed a petition to hold a union election after a majority of the 125 workers at Specs Family Partners in Dallas, TX demonstrated support for unionization with the Teamsters Local 745

Campaign Updates

LaborNotes has a new article out surveying the growth of the EV industry in the South (the same one Donald Trump wants to destroy) and the importance of organizing it

Election Results

216 workers across 5 bargaining units are newly unionized, 25 workers in 1 bargaining unit voted against unionization, and 46 workers in 1 bargaining unit decertified their union
13 workers at Starbucks in Sutton, WV voted 10 to 1 in favor of unionization with Starbucks Workers United
178 workers at AGL Services Company in Atlanta, GA voted 140 to 11 in favor of unionization with the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 1997
25 workers at Point Broadband Fiber Holding in Bristol, VA voted 5 to 16 against unionization with the IBEW Local 934
46 workers at Hendrickson Mount Vernon voted 21 to 25 in favor of decertifying the Teamsters Local 245
14 workers at Intralot in Baton Rouge, LA voted 11 to 1 in favor of unionization with IBEW Local 995
7 workers at Atomic Transport in Chattanooga, TN voted 5 to 1 in favor of unionization with the Teamsters Local 519
4 workers at John Fabick Tractor Company in Cape Girardeau, MO voted 3 to 1 in favor of unionization with the International Union of Operating Engineers (IUOE) Local 513

Settlements, Grievances, & Unfair Labor Practices

Bessemer City Schools were found to have underpaid their employees according to a new audit from the state of Alabama
McKenna Schueler did some sleuthing for the Orlando Weekly and found that the Florida contractor on last week’s Boss Watch that received over $160k in fines for willful safety violations – Carpenter Contractors of America – is a member of the Greater Orlando Builders Association, which led the charge for loosening child labor law on work sites

Strikes & Bargaining

Amazon workers at ATL6 in Atlanta, GA rallied with members of the Atlanta DSA, Union of Southern Service Workers, and Teamsters to raise the workers’ demands for a safe workplace
The SPLC union has a thread on Twitter detailing some of the two faced actions from the SPLC in the wake of the firing of dozens of their colleagues
Bargaining begins for the Teamsters National Costco contract on August 21, with the expiration date set on January 31. Newly organized Costco workers in Norfolk, VA just voted to authorize a strike
UE Local 150, which represents public service workers in North Carolina, is circulating a petition demanding local governments protect their workers from the heat
200 custodial and plant services workers who recently organized with the Teamsters at Richmond Public Schools in VA ratified their first union contract which includes 22% raises over 3 years, significant increases to paid time off, and more
National Nurses United (NNU) members at SSM Health in Saint Louis, MO voted to ratify a new contract that includes raises of between 17 and 40% over the three year term, along with safe staffing provisions and no concessions
Hundreds of Communication Workers of America members who work at AT&T rallied in Atlanta last week ahead of the contract expiration on August 3 (today). The contract covers thousands of workers in the Southeastern US
United Airlines unilaterally changed the sick leave policy, and the AFA is challenging the new change as a violation of their contract. The union is in the middle of a strike authorization vote right now
The NewsGuild successfully negotiated and ratified more than 90 first contracts at new units in just the last 12 months – many of which are in the South
The National Education Association is continuing to lock out its unionized staff of more than 300 (now more than 20 days), although they did backtrack their threat to cut their health insurance (after much backlash)

Political & Legislative

A Baldwin/Rubio amendment to the Senate Transportation, Housing, and Urban Development appropriations bill advanced last week. The amendment inserts Teamsters-supported language into the to prohibit federal funding from going to Chinese state-owned transit bus manufacturers
Anti-worker Senator Mike Lee put forward legislation to attempt to take away yet another right from government workers that workers and union members typically have in the private sector: paid time to perform representational functions. AFGE President Everett Kelley lambasted the bill
The UAW endorsed Kamala Harris for President last week
The US House of Representatives held a hearing on rail safety last week where union members said they are regularly told by management that “We’re in the business of moving freight, not fixing railcars,” and that for the rail companies “quarterly profits [are]… the most essential goal over anything else, including safety”
US Senator from Alabama, Katie Britt, a member of the supposedly pro-free-speech Republican Party, put forward a bill in the US Senate to bar the federal government from working with contractors who boycott Israel
The Huntsville City School Board voted to approve a Teachers Bill of Rights that give teachers the authority to exclude disruptive students
The same folks that own the Russel Erskine in Huntsville, which let its elderly tenants go with AC in Alabama for as long as two years, is also accused of not maintaining apartments at MayFair Towers, another HUD subsidized complex for low income elderly folks. I say the city should take over the apartments and not give the landlords anything
The City of Madison in Alabama is looking at adopting new “market-aligned” pay scales (which reportedly haven’t been updated since 2007) that would see $2.2M in raises in the first year for the city’s 400 employees
The state of Alabama jails more people than every single country in the world except one according to a new report
Matt Bruenig has a good breakdown of what the challenge to the NLRB’s constitutionality revolves around, and makes the point that even as the case is decided, however it’s decided, there will be years of damage because “while we wait, potentially for years, for the litigation to work its way through the process, the NLRB will be unable to operate in any state covered by a federal circuit court that follows what the Fifth Circuit has done. Efforts to process cases in those areas will be met with preliminary injunctions from federal district courts that halt the agency from acting until the final outcome of this case. For all intents and purposes, these workers and unions operating in these areas will have no protections during this period.”
The state of Texas continues its case to close a Catholic migrant shelter
Friend of the show Flash on America’s Workforce spoke to Livia Shmavonian, Director of the Made in America Office within the Office of Management and Budget of the White House, about the new department, what it does, and the investments made under the Biden-Harris administration
Unions, including the American Federation of Teachers, have come out in favor of the Biden-Harris Supreme Court reforms
A new Louisiana law will allow cops to tell people filming them that they must get back at least 25 feet or face arrest, because Louisiana Republicans love the first amendment, obviously

Internal Union Affairs

National Fast Food Workers Union – SEIU is hiring a Durham, NC based full time organizer. You can apply here