Last Week in Southern Labor: 6/20 - 7/4

Here’s what workers in the US South and the colonies were up to from June 20 to July 4

All information on Florida’s public sector union elections comes from McKenna Schueler’s monthly round up of Florida union news. You can check it out on her website, caringclassrevolt.substack.com, where you can get more information about Florida labor as well as exclusive details about union elections referenced here.

New Campaigns

220 workers at International Motors in Huntsville, AL filed a petition to hold a union election with the United Auto Workers (UAW)
11 workers at Wells Fargo in Cartersville, GA filed a petition to hold a union election with the Communication Workers of America (CWA)
73 workers at the Norfolk Botanical Garden in Norfolk, VA filed a petition to hold a union election with the International Association of Machinists (IAM)
23 workers at Starbucks in Alpharetta, GA filed a petition to hold a union election with Starbucks Workers United, as did 18 more at a location in Beaumont, TX
360 workers at Pratt & Whitney Engine Services in Bridgeport, WV filed a petition to hold a union election with the IAM
2 workers at Appalachian Power Company in Beckley, WV filed a petition to hold a union election with the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 978
20 workers at Midwest Drywall Company in Austin, TX filed a petition to hold a union election with the United Brotherhood of Carpenters & Joiners of America (UBC)
Workers likely pushed by their employers filed a petition to decertify the International Union of Operating Engineers (IUOE) Local 465 as the union representing 110 workers at Hunt Military Communities in Camp Lejeune, NC
14 workers at MV Transportation in El Paso, TX filed a petition to hold a union election with the Teamsters Local 745
30 workers at Parsec & Universal Logistics Holding in Wylie, TX filed a petition to hold a union election with Teamsters Local 745
13 workers at Vestis Services in Jackson, TN filed a petition to hold a union election with the Teamsters Local 480
9 workers at Amentum in Corpus Christi filed a petition to hold a union election with the International Association of Machinists (IAM)
21 workers at Occidental Chemical Corporation in Dallas, TX filed a petition to hold a union election with the IAM
3 workers at Marmic Fire & Safety in Gulfport, MS filed a petition to hold a union election with the United Association of Plumbers and Pipefitters (UA) Road Sprinkler Fitters Local 669
35 workers at AEP Texas in Corpus Christi, TX filed a petition to hold a union election with the IBEW Local 738
55 workers at Motors & Armatures in Earth City, MO filed a petition to hold a union election with the Teamsters Local 688
Workers likely pushed by their employer filed a petition to decertify UNITE HERE Local 355 as the union representing 81 workers at Magic City Casino in Miami, FL
The Public Employees Relations Commission (PERC) dismissed the following petitions because of an insufficient amount of signatures in support:
- Federation of Public Employees to recertify a unit of workers at Broward County Public Schools in Fort Lauderdale, FL.
- Palm Beach County Police Benevolent Association (PBA) to represent cops at the Indian River County Sheriff’s Office in Vero Beach, FL.
- Sebastian Police Department employee to decertify the International Union of Police Associations (IUPA) as the existing union representing civilian employees (e.g. 911 dispatchers) at Sebastian PD in Sebastian, FL.
- DeFuniak Springs Police Department employee to decertify the Florida PBA as the existing union representing cops in DeFuniak Springs, FL.

Campaign Updates

Back in January, workers at Kentucky’s Blue Oval SK (BOSK) plant (a joint venture between Ford and South Korean company SK On) filed a petition to hold a union election. The company sought to have the NLRB deny the workers their right to an election because they said they would be hiring a lot more workers later. The NLRB last week disagreed with that request, saying that an election is justified. The UAW is calling on the NLRB to investigate the company for what it claims are illegal union busting tactics, such as threatening plant closures and forcing workers into captive audience meetings, and restore a clean environment for a free and fair union election

Election Results

18 workers at Skyworks in Decatur, AL voted 11 to 4 in favor of unionization with the International Union of Operating Engineers (IOUE) Local 320
44 workers at the JB Speed Art Museum in Louisville, KY voted 22 to 2 in favor of unionization with the UAW
162 workers at MonPower – a First Energy Company in Haywood, WV voted 84 to 72 to stick with the Utility Workers Union of America (UWUA) in a decertification election
15 workers at Starbucks in Tampa, FL voted 8 to 5 in favor of unionization with Starbucks Workers United, as did 21 workers at a location in Fayetteville, NC (voting 12 to 0)
35 workers at Compass Youth Services in Richmond, VA voted 21 to 5 in favor of unionization with the Teamsters Local 322
5 workers at ABM in Washington, DC withdrew their petition for a union election with IUOE Local 99
13 workers at Quest Diagnostics Clinical Laboratories in Marietta, GA voted 6 to 7 against unionization with the Teamsters Local 728
38 workers at Caney Fork Electric Cooperative in McMinnville, TN voted 19 to 19 in a union election with the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 429 – and ties go to the employer
49 cops at St. Johns County Sheriffs Office in St. Augustine, FL voted 6 to 29 against unionizing with the Florida State Lodge, Fraternal Order of Police (FOP)
821 workers at Highlands County public schools in Sebring, FL voted 316 to 2 in favor of recertifying the Highlands County Education Association as their union
922 workers at Flagler County Schools in Palm Coast, FL voted 236 to 6 in favor of recertifying the Flagler County Education Association as their union
1,530 workers at Polk County Public Schools in Bartow, FL voted 369 to 1 in favor of recertifying the Polk Education Association as their union
6,832 workers in another bargaining unit at Polk County Public Schools in Bartow, FL similarly voted 1,620 to 30 in favor of recertifying the Polk Education Association as their union
1,343 workers at Osceola County school district in Kissimmee, FL voted 223 to 1 in favor of recertifying the Teamsters Local 385 as their union
296 workers at Indian River County in Vero Beach, FL voted 131 to 8 in favor of recertifying the Teamsters Local 769 as their union
1,467 workers at Marion County Public Schools in Ocala, FL voted 357 to 5 in favor of recertifying the Marion Education Support Professionals as their union
1,265 workers at Duval County Public Schools in Jacksonville, FL voted 158 to 4 in favor of recertifying Duval Teachers United as their union
871 workers in another bargaining unit at Duval County Public Schools in Jacksonville, FL voted 175 to 8 in favor of recertifying Duval Teachers United as their union
39 workers at the city of Williston, FL voted 15 to 4 in favor of recertifying the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) Council 79 as their union
32 workers at the city of Gainesville, FL voted 10 to 0 in favor of recertifying the Communications Workers of American (CWA) as their union
640 workers at the city of Gainesville, FL voted 113 to 7 in favor of recertifying the CWA as their union
26 workers at the Gainesville Housing Authority in Gainesville, FL voted 6 to 3 in favor of recertifying the CWA as their union
354 workers at the city of Largo, FL voted 101 to 21 in favor of recertifying the CWA as their union
126 workers at the Madison County school district in Madison, FL voted 34 to 2 in favor of recertifying the Madison County Education Association as their union
2,874 workers at Marion County Public Schools in Ocala, FL voted 1001 to 20 in favor of recertifying the Marion Education Association as their union
2,975 workers at Clay County Public Schools in Green Cove Springs, FL voted 1048 to 26 in favor of recertifying the Clay County Education Association as their union
651 workers at Putnam County Public Schools in Palatka, FL voted 160 to 4 in favor of recertifying the Putnam Federation of Teachers/United as their union
812 workers at Flagler County Public Schools in Palm Coast, FL voted 102 to 5 in favor of recertifying the Flagler Educational Support Professional Union as their union
47 workers at Chipola College in Marianna, FL voted 14 to 1 in favor of recertifying United Faculty of Florida-Chipola Faculty Association as their union
4,282 graduate student workers at the University of Florida in Gainesville, FL voted 276 to 1 in favor of recertifying United Faculty of Florida as their union
113 workers at the Hamilton County school district in Jasper, FL voted 26 to 1 in favor of recertifying the Hamilton County Education Association as their union
5,514 workers at Pasco County Public Schools in Land O’Lakes, FL voted 1557 to 28 in favor of recertifying the United School Employees of Pasco as their union
1,171 workers at Palm Beach County in Palm Beach, FL voted 493 to 24 in favor of recertifying the CWA as their union
46 workers at the town of Surfside, FL voted 14 to 0 in favor of recertifying the AFSCME Council 79 as their union
43 workers at the city of Opa-Locka, FL voted 5 to 0 in favor of recertifying the AFSCME Council 79 as their union
106 workers at the city of Dania Beach, FL voted 34 to 0 in favor of recertifying the AFSCME Local 3535 as their union
166 workers at the city of Hallandale Beach, FL voted 58 to 0 in favor of recertifying the AFSCME Local 2001 as their union
2 workers at Pinellas Park Water Management District voted 0 to 0 against recertifying the AFSCME Council 79 as their union

Grievances, Unfair Labor Practices, & Court Cases

A judge in Kentucky issued a restraining order against a landlord ordering him to stop retaliating against his tenants, who are organized with the Louisville Tenants Union (Kentucky’s tenant protections laws must be way better than Alabama’s)
The Federal Railroad Administration is warning Brightline Florida that they may risk federal transportation dollars if they don’t bargain with their workers union in good faith

Strikes & Bargaining

After working under an expired contract for nearly a year, union firefighters – members of the Brevard County Professional Firefighters Local 2969 – for Brevard County, FL declared an impasse and had their contract negotiations heard before a judge. The judge recommended that the county accept the union’s proposal, although this recommendation is not binding, if accepted it would raise wages by at least 10% and up to 26% in the first year.
After 3,200 members of Teamsters Local 577 at Tysons in Amarillo, TX voted by 98% to authorize a strike, management agreed to offer a fair contract, according to the union. The new contract, overwhelmingly ratified by the members, includes a 32% wage increase over 4 years, more paid time off, and expanded retirement benefits
3,200 members of IAM District 837 at Boeing in St Louis, MO began contract negotiations. The contract is set to expire on July 27, 2025
Workers at Genesis who recently unionized with Teamsters Local 322 in VA voted unanimously to authorize a strike, according to the union
Workers at H&M in Melbourne, FL who unionized with the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 1625 last year just voted to ratify their first union contract. The union says the new contract includes annual wage increases, weekly hour guarantees, and more.
The Teamsters say that United Parcel Service (UPS) is expected to unveil a plan later this month to buyout full-time Teamsters employees that the union says violates their national contract. The union has also filed information requests on the status of delivery of trucks with AC and on the promised job creation from the last contract
Nurses at the University Medical Center in New Orleans, represented by National Nurses United, voted to authorize another two day strike against the hospital to protest the hospital’s retaliation against union members. The strike will take place on July 15th.
Members of UNITE HERE Local 737 in Orlando, FL at Hilton Buena Vista Palace near Disney Springs and the Hilton-owned DoubleTree Universal near the Universal Orlando resort ratified a new 4 year collective bargaining agreement by 97%. According to the union, the agreement includes raises of up to $10/hr, protections for immigrant workers, and more
GE Aerospace workers from Kansas, Kentucky, Massachusetts and New York, members of IUE-CWA, voted to approve a new 4 year contract that the union says includes a ~17% wage increase, added COLA, an intact pension, and more
Employees of the Knoxville Transit Authority – members of the Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) Local 1164 – picketed to protest bad faith bargaining from management

Political & Legislative

Congress passed and the president signed into law a huge transfer from poor and working people to wealthy people in the form of the One Big Beautiful Bill. Unions were almost unanimously opposed. North America’s Building Trade Unions (NABTU) – a typically much more politically conservative federation of blue collar trade unions – said in a statement that this piece of legislation is “the biggest job-killing bill in the history of this country… the equivalent of terminating more than 1,000 Keystone XL pipeline projects… threatening an estimated 1.75 million construction jobs and over 3 billion work hours, which translates to $148 billion in lost annual wages and benefits.” The AFLCIO slammed the legislation as a “billionaire giveaway.” The IAM noted that rail workers were excluded from the overtime tax cut and said the bill as a whole is a “blatant attack” on working families. The International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE) noted that they and others were able to get the AI regulation ban removed, but still condemned the legislation as a “betrayal.” The UAW said that “Anyone who claims to stand with workers should see this bill for what it is—a disaster.” Postal unions APWU and the NALC touted their ability to get rid of the anti-postal-service provisions of the reconciliation bill while still condemning the legislative package. Even the Teamsters didn’t praise the bill, staying silent. Somewhat surprisingly (to me at least), the International Association of Firefighters (IAFF) issued a press release highlighting only things they saw as positive from the bill, the closest the legislation appears to have gotten to an endorsement from the labor movement.
The Labor Department ended several protections for workers last week, “including eliminating overtime and minimum wage protections for home health care workers and union organizing rights for migrant farmworkers,” according to the Washington Post. The Orlando Weekly also points out that OSHA is seeking to roll back protections for entertainment workers.
The US House held a hearing last week where the Republicans and their witnesses attempted to make the case for privatization of the postal service
Hundreds of NIH workers are raising the alarm about what’s happening to the agency under Trump’s leadership. In an interview with the Federal News Network, one worker said “we’re being asked to terminate studies midstream, putting participants at risk. We’re being asked to categorize grants based on the words that they use rather than the rigor of their science.” She continued: “we’re witnessing, causing even, study participants to be pushed out of a trial, often in places where there isn’t a public health infrastructure that can absorb them. So they are cut off medications midstream with no follow up on the safety. They are left with implanted devices with nobody monitoring them to make sure those devices aren’t causing harm with potentially no pathway to remove those devices. And so that’s one thing that’s incredibly just remarkably cruel and wrong and completely unethical.”
Federal transportation dollars come with strings attached, including respect for transportation unions. Florida’s public sector transit unions were able to utilize those strings to secure a partial survey out from Florida’s anti-union legislation. Now, McKenna Schueler reports that the Trump administration has said it would not enforce those regulations, and Florida can impose the draconian regulations on the transportation unions as well.
Jordan Barab wrote an analysis of public comments regarding OSHA’s proposed heat safety standard. In summary, the employer arguments are bad
The Teamsters continue to back Trump’s nomination of David Keeling, a former UPS executive, for head of OSHA, despite his refusal to commit to implementing a heat safety rule. The New York Times has more on this thread
Steven Greenhouse wrote a play-by-play of the fall-out from AFT President Randi Weingarten and AFSCME President Lee Saunders leaving the DNC, including RWDSU President Stuart Applebaum’s rebuke of his fellow labor leaders.
ICE’s actions terminated the pregnancy of an undocumented immigrant from Tennessee. She had been pleading for medical help for days, and was forced to stay with a dead fetus in her body for still days more
Speaking of immigration enforcement, the CATO Institute published numbers showing that 93% of ICE detainees have no violent criminal history
The IAM’s Florida Sugar Workers lobbied congress for an extension of subsidies for their industry
Postal service privatizers laid out their line of attack in a recent congressional hearing
The Brotherhood of Railroad Signalmen noted that a train carrying hazardous materials derailed in Virginia immediately before a House hearing on rail safety, saying this illustrates the need for more regulations

Internal Union Affairs

A Kentucky man claims to have been fined $1.29M by the IBEW for violating the union’s constitution, and appears to have enlisted the National Right to Work Foundation (boo) to fight the fine. I don’t know how you get a $1.29M fine from your union, but if that comes down, honestly my hunch is that you probably deserve it.
The Ironworkers Southeast District Council held their apprentice competition last week, the Shoals Times-Daily has a photo gallery from the event
This is an older announcement, but it’s one we missed, apparently back in April Sean O’Brien announced the formation of a slate around his candidacy for the Teamsters Presidency. TDU has not made an endorsement yet, they will vote on endorsing at their November convention