Last Week in Southern Labor: 1/31 – 2/7

Jacob Morrison

Here’s what workers in the US South and the colonies were up to from January 31 to February 7

A note about Florida public sector organizing:

All these numbers coming from McKenna Schueler, a staff reporter for the Orlando Weekly, and creator of the Caring Class Revolt substack – available at caringclassrevolt.substack.com – you can find information about Florida’s public sector organizing there first, along with more details about the campaigns in her monthly Florida union election round-up. In addition to her Florida union election round-up, she also has regular articles on her substack, as well as a monthly report on union busters in the state. Follow her on Bluesky and X/Twitter!

New Campaigns

  • 18 workers at Starbucks in Tampa, FL filed a petition to hold a union election with Starbucks Workers United, as did 17 more workers at a location in Louisville, KY
  • 49 workers at Rhino Staging in Nashville, TN filed a petition to hold a union election with the Appalachian Concert Riggers Union
  • 13 workers at American Electric Power Company in Bluefield, WV filed a petition for a union election with the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 978
  • 150 workers at BWXT NOG in Lynchburg, VA filed a petition to hold a union election with the International Brotherhood of Boilermakers, Iron Ship Builders, Blacksmith, Forgers and Helpers (IBB) 
  • 93 workers at A National Transit in Atlanta, GA filed a petition to hold a union election with the Teamsters Local 728
  • 8 security guards at ADC LTD NM in Memphis, TN filed a petition to hold a union election with the International Union of Security Police and Fire Professionals of America (SPFPA) 
  • 20 security guards at Paragon System in Washington DC filed a petition to hold a union election with the SPFPA
  • 178 workers at the city of Homestead, FL filed a petition to hold a union election with LiUNA Local 630
  • 82 workers for the city of Lake Worth Beach, FL filed a petition to hold a union election with IBEW Local 728
  • Workers likely pushed by their employer filed a petition to decertify the IBEW Local 1 as the union representing 34 workers at ADT in Maryland Heights, MO
  • 17 workers at AEP Texas in Aransas Pass, TX filed a petition to hold a union election with IBEW Local 738
  • Fire department workers at the city of Flagler Beach, FL are seeking voluntary recognition of their union the Flagler Beach Professional Firefighters (an IAFF affiliate)
  • Workers of the city of Miami Beach, FL are seeking voluntary recognition of their union the Communications Workers of America (CWA)
  • 13 workers at the Melbourne Orlando International Airport in Melbourne, FL filed a petition to unionize with the Laborers International Union of North America (LiUNA) Local 630
  • 56 workers employed by the city of Jacksonville Beach, FL’s Beaches Energy Services filed a petition to unionize with IBEW Local 177
  • 101 police at the Columbia County Sheriff’s Office in Lake City, FL filed a petition to unionize with the Florida State Lodge of the Fraternal Order of Police (FOP)
  • 11 police at the Palm Beach County School District in West Palm Beach, FL filed a petition to unionize with the Palm Beach County Police Benevolent Association (PBA)
  • 5 other police in a different unit at the Palm Beach County School District in West Palm Beach, FL also filed a petition to unionize with the Palm Beach County PBA
  • 15 police at the St. Lucie County Sheriff’s Office in Ft Pierce, FL filed a petition to unionize with the Palm Beach County PBA
  • 7 police at the Fort Lauderdale Police Department in Ft Lauderdale, FL filed a petition to join an existing bargaining unit represented by the Fort Lauderdale Police Lodge 31 (an FOP affiliate)
  • 40 police at the Florida Department of Management Services and Florida Department of Law Enforcement in Tallahassee, FL filed a petition to unionize with the Florida FOP
  • 105 police at the Florida Department of Corrections and Office of the Inspector General in Tallahassee, FL filed a petition to unionize with the Florida FOP
  • 14 police at the Arcadia Police Department in Arcadia, FL filed a petition to unionize with the Florida PBA 
  • 6 police at the University of West Florida Police Department in Pensacola, FL filed a petition to unionize with the Florida PBA
  • 9 workers at the city of St. Petersburg, FL filed a petition to unionize with the Sun Coast PBA
  • 16 police at the St. Augustine Beach Police Department in St Augustine, FL filed a petition to unionize with the Florida FOP

Campaign Updates

  • Amazon workers in North Carolina are kicking off union election week with a rally

Election Results

  • A group of workers for Lakeshore Recycling Services (LRS) in Mayflower, AR voted in favor of unionization with the Teamsters Local 373
  • 2600 workers at the Harris Center for Mental Health and Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (IDD) – a public agency in Houston, TX, won recognition of their union CWA Local 6154, along with the “strongest possible legal structure for unionization in the state,” where collective bargaining is banned in the public sector
  • 60 workers at PrimeFlight Aviation voted 42 to 0 in favor of unionization with the Transport Workers Union (TWU)
  • 112 workers at Care Centers’ of Nassau in Fernandina Beach, FL voted 70 to 6 in favor of unionization with Teamsters Local 947
  • 58 workers at Unity Healthcare in Washington DC voted 42 to 0 in favor of unionization with 1199 SEIU United Healthcare Workers East
  • 631 workers for Putnam County Public Schools in Palatka, FL voted 169 to 2 in favor of recertifying the Putnam Federation of Teachers as their union (AFT)
  • 410 workers at Credence Management Solutions in Washington DC withdrew their petition for a union election with IBEW Local 1900
  • 168 workers at Titan Florida voted in favor of unionization with Teamsters Local 769
  • 10 workers at The Logistics Company in Daleville, AL filed a petition to hold a union election with the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAMAW), but the case has since been closed. Unsure why – the NLRB website usually indicates 
  • 47 workers at the Center for Environmental Law in Washington DC filed a petition to hold a union election with the Washington-Baltimore News Guild Local 32035, but then withdrew the petition within the same week 
  • A petition to decertify IAMAW Local 219 as the union representing 18 workers at Lockheed Martin in Lexington-Fayette, KY has been withdrawn
  • 5 workers at King & George in Ft Myers, FL withdrew their petition for  a union election with the IBEW Local 177
  • 15 workers at the Richmond Electricians Joint Apprenticeship Training Committee in Richmond, VA withdrew their petition for a union election with the IAMAW
  • 46 security guards at KR Contracting in Washington DC withdrew their petition for a union election with the SPFPA
  • 81 workers at Newport Healthcare in Leesburg, VA withdrew their petition for a union election with “union WOLF 703”
  • 20 workers at APAC-Alabama in Birmingham, AL voted 13 to 5 in favor of maintaining their unionization with the International Union of Operating Engineers (IUOE) Local 312 in a decertification election
  • 41 security guards at Defense Contracting Activity and Paragon Systems as joint employers in Durham, NC voted 35 to 0 in favor of unionization with the Security Officers Association of RTP
  • 4 workers at Standard Iron and Steel in Webb City, MO voted 3 to 1 in favor of unionization with the General Drivers and Helpers Local 823 (a Teamsters affiliate)
  • 67 workers at Breakthru Beverage in Miramar, FL withdrew their petition for a union election with Teamsters Local 769
  • 43 workers for the city of Defuniak Springs, FL voted 30 to 0 to re-establish their union with AFSCME Council 79, (it was previously decertified)
  • 36 workers at the Coral Springs Fire Department in Coral Springs, FL voted 8 to 0 in favor of unionizing with the Metro Broward Fire Fighters union (an IAFF affiliate)
  • 10 police at the Clewiston Police Department in Clewiston, FL voted 7 to 0 in favor of unionizing with the Florida FOP
  • 124 police at the Nassau County Sheriff’s Office in Yulee, FL voted 75 to 14 in favor of unionizing with the Florida FOP
  • 191 workers for St. Lucie public schools in St. Lucie, FL voted 43 to 4 in favor of recertifying the Education Association of St. Lucie as their union (an NEA affiliate)
  • 309 workers for Hendry County public schools in LaBelle, FL voted 92 to 2 in favor of recertifying the Hendry Educational Support Personnel Association (NEA)
  • 227 workers at Holmes County public schools in Bonifay, FL voted 81 to 7 in favor of recertifying the Holmes County Teachers Association (NEA)
  • 207 workers at Bradford County public schools in Stark, FL voted 47 to 5 in favor of recertifying the Bradford Education Association (NEA)
  • 221 workers in a different unit at Bradford County public schools in Stark, FL voted 26 to 11 in favor of recertifying the Bradford Education Association (NEA)
  • 165 workers for the city of Venice, FL voted 96 to 1 in favor of recertifying American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) Council 79 
  • 112 workers at the Florida School for the Deaf and the Blind in St. Augustine, FL voted 75 to 2 in favor of recertifying the Florida School for the Deaf and Blind Education Association (NEA)
  • 47 workers in a different unit for the Florida School for the Deaf and the Blind in St. Augustine also voted 32 to 1 in favor of recertifying the same union
  • 93 workers at Franklin County public schools in Eastpoint, FL voted 26 to 2 in favor of recertifying the Franklin Educational Staff Professional Association (NEA)
  • 107 supervisors at the city of Fort Lauderdale, FL voted 38 to 2 in favor of recertifying the Federation of Public Employees (an affiliate of the National Federation of Public and Private Employees [NFPPE], which is also an AFL-CIO affiliate)
  • 339 workers for the Miami-Dade School Board in Miami, FL voted 111 to 3 in favor of recertifying the Dade County School Administrators’ Association (an affiliate of the American Federation of School Administrators [AFSA], AFL-CIO)
  • 160 workers at the city of Pembroke Pines, FL voted 54 to 3 in favor of unionizing with the Florida FOP
  • 34 workers at the Village of North Palm Beach, FL voted 12 to 0 in favor of recertifying the Federation of Public Employees 
  • Employees of the Port Everglades Authority in Broward County voted 10 to 0 in favor of recertifying the Federation of Public Employees (NFPPE)
  • 15 workers at the city of Neptune Beach, FL voted 13 to 0 in favor of recertifying LiUNA Local 630
  • 111 workers at the Dixie County Public Schools in Cross City, FL voted 40 to 1 in favor of recertifying the Dixie County Education Association (NEA)
  • 320 workers at Wakulla County Public Schools in Crawfordville, FL voted 52 to 5 in favor of recertifying the Wakulla County Education Association (NEA)
  • 380 workers at Levy County Public Schools in Bronson, FL voted 86 to 14 in favor of recertifying the Levy County Education Association, AFT Local 4077
  • 362 workers at Broward College in Weston, FL voted 170 to 3 in favor of recertifying United Faculty of Florida (NEA-AFT)
  • 184 police at the city of Miami Gardens, FL Police Department voted 91 to 0 in favor of unionizing with the Florida FOP
  • 57 police at the Broward County Sheriff’s Office in Ft Lauderdale, FL voted 29 – 9 – 4 in favor of unionization with the International Union of Police Associations (IUPA, AFL-CIO) a three way election between them, the Florida PBA and the Florida FOP, respectively. The Florida FOP previously represented the unit. 
  • 427 workers at the city of Boca Raton, FL voted 182 to 12 in favor of recertifying the SEIU-Florida Public Sector Union (FPSU)
  • 237 workers at the city of Port Orange, FL voted 111 to 16 in favor of recertifying the National Association of Government Employees (NAGE-SEIU) 
  • 206 workers at the city of Palm Bay, FL voted 149 to 2 in favor of recertifying NAGE
  • 9 workers at for Wakulla County, FL voted 7 to 0 in favor of unionizing with the Tallahassee Professional Firefighters Local 2339 (IAFF)
  • 14 police for the town of Ocean Ridge, FL voted 10 to 3 in favor of retaining the Palm Beach County PBA as their union, rejecting a raid attempt by the Florida FOP
  • 3 police for the Delray Beach, FL Police Department voted 3 to 0 in favor of unionizing with the Palm Beach County PBA
  • 5 police the Naples, FL Police Department unanimously voted 5 to 0 in favor of unionizing with the Collier County Lodge #38 FOP
  • 3 workers for the Temple Terrace, FL Fire Department voted 3 to 0 in favor of unionizing with the Temple Terrace Professional Firefighters Local 2160 (IAFF)
  • 3 workers for the Bayshore Fire Protection and Rescue Service District in North Fort Myers, FL voted 3 to 0 in favor of unionizing with the Southwest Florida Professional Firefighters & Paramedics (IAFF)
  • 332 workers for the Okeechobee County, FL school district voted 71 to 3 in favor of recertifying the Okeechobee County Education Association
  • 110 workers employed by the Village of Palm Springs, FL voted 36 to 3 in favor of recertifying SEIU-FPSU
  • 424 workers at the city of St. Petersburg, FL voted 182 to 17 in favor of recertifying SEIU-FPSU 
  • 251 workers for the Baker County, FL school district voted 90 to 2 in favor of recertifiying the Baker County Educational Support Professionals 
  • 48 workers at the city of Holly Hill, FL voted 17 to 3 in favor of recertifying NAGE

Settlements, Grievances, & Unfair Labor Practices

  • An NLRB administrative law judge found that Amazon in Florida illegally retaliated against a pro-union worker, and ordered the company remove the discipline from his file

Strikes & Bargaining

  • The United Auto Workers (UAW) continues to pressure Volkswagen in their contract negotiations 
  • 5000 workers who make GE appliances at Haier in Louisville, KY voted to ratify a new collective bargaining agreement. Their union – IUE-CWA Local 83761 – announced that the contract includes major gains, particularly around healthcare and wage scales. They said that currently only 300 people are at the top pay level – that number will soon increase to 1800, with clearer paths to getting there for the rest of the workforce
  • Longshoremen on the East Coast are getting closer to voting on the new tentative agreement – Freight Waves estimates that the vote will take place towards the end of February, with the first checks under the new agreement going out in early March (assuming it is ratified)
  • Nurses in New Orleans went on another two day strike as management at the University Medical Center continue to refuse to agree to a fair contract
  • Rank and file state workers in Florida have no pay raise in DeSantis’ proposed budget – those same employees lost their union only last year
  • UAW members at Ford are receiving a record breaking $10,208 profit sharing check as a result of increased profits for the company and the 2023 contract win, this following similar news at GM
  • The NLRB Union has a thread on Twitter outlining a recent OPM “Fork in the Road” follow up, where it appears that the agency admits that many of the things critics were saying about the buyout are true. Some IRS employees who took the deal are now being told they have to work until at least March 15 (Trump apparently forgot about tax season, which illustrates the need for more IRS personnel, not less). You shouldn’t take it
  • The Teamsters continues contract negotiations with United Airlines, pointing out that the company stock increased by the largest amount of any airline last year at 180%, but instead of investing in the workers, they spent $1.5B on stock buybacks, which, it’s worth remembering, used to be considered illegal stock manipulation before Reagan. 
  • “Former National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) officials told CBS News that current employees have been told to expect a 50% reduction in staff and budget cuts of 30%,” reports Laura Geller and Tracy Wolf. This agency and the National Weather Service (NWS) are important for maintaining readiness for natural disasters
  • The Office of Personnel Management (OPM), where Russ Vought was recently confirmed – someone who wants to make federal workers into “villains,” – put out a memo saying that agencies can ignore previously agreed to telework agreements with unions, a blatant violation of federal labor law
  • Hertz workers in West Palm Beach, FL, unionized with the Teamsters Local 769, are on an unfair labor practice strike against the company

Political & Legislative

  • Alabama Republicans are attempting to further restrict unemployment benefits in the state
  • Republicans are trying to increase the amount of lead that can be in your pipes
  • Tennessee Republican Andy Biggs’ has introduced legislation to abolish the Occupational Safety and Health Administration
  • While DeSantis’ new budget proposal doesn’t include a raise for state workers, it does include a nearly $900k increase to support the carrying out of Florida’s anti-union SB256 which passed a couple year back
  • An audit is showing that “Good Republican” Ben Sasse appears to have wildly overspent while at his post as president of the University of Florida. Expenses include 300,000 in private jet flights, a $6.4M consulting contract which yielded no discernible benefits, and his salary continues to be $1M/year despite the fact that he is no longer the president! 
  • Texas retirees have gone 23 years without a pension increase – AFSCME Texas Retirees are trying to change that. Alabama retirees haven’t seen one since 2007
  • Texas is attempting to pass a school voucher scam. Unions have opposed it, but it recently passed the State Senate and the House Speaker says it likely has support to pass there too
  • A college student in North Carolina had her scholarship revoked due to her activism
  • Federally funded community health centers – including those in Virginia – are beginning to shut down due to the federal funding freeze, despite the fact that it was supposed to have been lifted
  • A science teacher in Florida has been detained by immigration officials and likely deported to Honduras, according to the Miami-Herald. The paper has been unable to independently verify his immigration, but said that he likely had either temporary protected status or DACA. His union – the United Teachers of Dade – sent a letter to the immigration judge who ordered him deported but has not received a response
  • The NLRB is dropping its defense of the constitutionality of its structure in a federal lawsuit brought against it by Elon Musk and SpaceX. It’s worth noting though that the case isn’t about the constitutionality of the entire NLRB and NLRA, just its system of administrative law judges and some of the protections for NLRB board members. There is still concern about the supreme court taking the case and using it to dissolve the whole system of labor relations in this country though
  • Musk’s DEI hire DOGE bros are in hot water over saying things like “normalize indian hate,” and “I was racist before it was cool.” This initially prompted the one responsible for those comments to resign, before Elon Musk saying he would bring him back on only hours later. JD Vance is pretending to believe the argument is binary: give this shithead racist a top government job as a teenager, or ruin his life, when this is obviously not the case. He can work any number of jobs like the rest of us, but he shouldn’t have authority at the top of the largest employer on earth. Simple! The union at CFPB also points out that these kids have “lawyer daddies” that the CFPB is going after for scamming people, but that they “welcome our newest colleagues and look forward to the smell of Axe Body Spray in our elevators.” They have also been given access to IT systems in the Department of Energy over objections from the General Counsel, although reportedly not to the portions that hold nuclear information, but that is probably next
  • In other power consolidating moves, the administration has indefinitely paused the work of a federal workplace safety council made up of agency heads and union leaders that was set up by Congress – not the President – which is a violation of the law, but who gives a shit. Trump also purports to have removed a member of the Federal Election Commission, but the member of the Commission said her status on the commission “isn’t changing anytime soon,” so we’re likely to see a lawsuit over this
  • Union members and lawmakers protested DOGE at the Department of Labor and the Office of Personnel Management. Lawsuits that accompanied the protests initially succeeded in securing a temporary restraining order forbidding the Labor Department from sharing information with DOGE, but the judge denied maintaining it, despite “concerns about defendants’ alleged conduct” over ostensible standing concerns, but it boggles the mind to attempt to imagine a party more suited to sue to protect worker data than organizations made up of workers that exist to represent workers. Whatever you want to say about the labor movement’s leadership, you can’t say they aren’t busy right now. The American Federation of Government Employees has a list of all the major actions the national union took just last week on their website. The AFL-CIO recently announced the creation of the “Department of People Who Work for a Living,” which will attempt to serve as a countermeasure to messaging from “DOGE.”
  • The local union president representing Department of Education workers recently spoke to ABC News about the affects on her members and the country, describing what is happening as “pure chaos,” saying that her and her coworkers “took these jobs to serve the public.”
  • Breitbart is running cover for facebook by trying to paint Biden anti-trust enforcers as woke DEI obsessed types, rather than, as Matt Stoller accurately notes, folks who were “the architects of the Google adtech antitrust case, which revealed Google and Facebook colluded to monopolize adtech”
  • The Trump administration has continued its assault on the federal workforce – much of it illegal of course. Including the attempt to dismiss nearly all of the staff of USAID. A Federal judge (and Trump appointee) put a temporary pause – until February 14 – on the imminent dismissal of 2,200 workers for the agency and ordered 500 be rehired that were previously fired in response to a lawsuit brought by federal employee unions. Trump has said it intends to fire nearly all 10,000 employees for the agency, despite the fact that Congress allocated the funding. The NYT reports that “the stop-work order on U.S.A.I.D.-funded research has left thousands of people with experimental drugs and devices in their bodies, with no access to monitoring or care.” David Sirota’s Lever News’ is reporting that USAID’s Inspector General was investigating a public private partnership with one of Musk’s companies before the agency was essentially shut down. 
  • The AFL-CIO is asking workers to share their stories about how the Trump administration’s actions are impacting them. You can do that here
  • In response to attempts to protect workers from the heat deaths, a Florida Agriculture Commissioner scoffed that “those things are going to happen.” Presumably, Commissioner Wilton Simpson is not in a position where he is concerned about dying from the heat at his job anytime soon

Internal Union Affairs