Last Week in Southern Labor: 9/26 – 10/3

Jacob Morrison

Here’s what workers in the US South and the colonies were up to from Friday, September 26, to Friday, October 3

Union Elections

  • One of the functions of the government that is shut down is the National Labor Relations Board. So, for the duration of the shut down, we won’t be able to bring you the latest election filings – union elections themselves will also be postponed. However, I do have one press release about an election that took place before the shutdown but hadn’t been certified yet that I can share with you:
  • 41 workers at Breakthru Beverage in St. Louis, Mo. overwhelmingly voted to unionize with Teamsters Local 600. The union said in their press release that the workers are seeking increased pay, better benefits, and safer working conditions. Breakthru Beverage is one of the largest beverage wholesalers in North America, operating in 15 states, the District of Columbia, and Canada. The Teamsters represent hundreds of workers at Breakthru locations throughout the country.

Grievances, Unfair Labor Practices, & Court Cases

  • Now, in addition to violating workers rights to a fair union election, and in addition to putting their workers in significant danger as has been widely reported, Blue Oval SK in Kentucky – a battery manufacturing joint venture between Ford and South Korean company SK On – workers at the plant are alleging wage theft, saying that they are required to do work tasks before they are allowed to clock in. They filed a lawsuit against the joint venture 
  • AFGE and AFSCME have filed a lawsuit seeking to prevent mass firings by the Trump administration during a shut down
  • A tenured professor at Texas State University was fired for his speech – his union (the Texas State Employees Union – TSEU-CWA) is contesting the firing, including by launching a petition campaign, holding a rally, and a press conference
  • The NLRB found that Hearthside in Kentucky violated the law during a campaign where workers were trying to organize with the BCTGM. Specifically, they found that the company fired workers for union support, surveilled workers, and more. The company now must reinstatement of the fired workers with backpay, along with other remedies

Strikes & Bargaining

  • Teamsters at United Natural Foods Inc. (UNFI) in Atlanta, GA have unanimously ratified a first collective bargaining agreement that delivers significant gains for more than 225 warehouse workers. The union says the five-year contract provides a 30 percent wage increase, Teamsters health care coverage, participation in the Western Conference Pension Plan, defined classification bidding, and Martin Luther King Jr. Day as a paid holiday. In the past year alone, more than 1,250 UNFI drivers and warehouse workers have voted to join the union. Since 2022, more than 2,700 workers have organized, bringing total Teamsters representation at the company to over 5,000. Atlanta warehouse workers voted to unionize last year
  • The AFL-CIO in Texas rallied outside a Dallas Wings game last week – the Dallas Wings is the WNBA team there – to support the players as they negotiate a new union contract. Women’s basketball has been increasing in popularity recently, bringing in more revenue, and the players are seeking more of that new revenue
  • A company came out with an “AI Actor” last week, “Tilly Norwood,” and said she is seeking representation. The actors union, SAG-AFTRA, said in a statement that “the union is opposed to the replacement of human performers by synthetics” and that this computer program “doesn’t solve any ‘problem’ — it creates the problem of using stolen performances to put actors out of work, jeopardizing performer livelihoods and devaluing human artistry.” The union reminded production companies that they “should be aware that they may not use synthetic performers without complying with our contractual obligations, which require notice and bargaining whenever a synthetic performer is going to be used.”

Political & Legislative

  • Registered nurses at Mission Hospital in Asheville, North Carolina, members of National Nurses United (NNU) held a rally to sound the alarm on the hospital’s poor performance in staffing, health and safety, recruitment and retention, and meal and rest breaks. Nurses are concerned that these patient care issues continue as patients grapple with Medicaid cuts starting October 1, unless state legislators act. These cuts will impact more than 3 million North Carolina patients, many in the state’s western region.
  • A new report by YouGov, Jacobin, and a couple other organizations polled messaging and party ID in 4 swing states and found that independents with a strong populist message generally outperformed. You can hit up Les Leopold (or us) if you’d like a copy of the report
  • The government is now shut down because Republicans don’t want to keep healthcare costs low for poor and working folks. Several unions have issued statements about the shutdown, calling on the Republicans to not raise healthcare costs and open the government. The Professional Aviation Safety Specialists (PASS), a union that represents 11,000 FAA and DOD workers who install, maintain, support, and certify air traffic control and national defense equipment, and more, said in a statement that “a government shutdown could jeopardize the administration’s plans to modernize the nation’s air traffic control system.” The union said that of the employees they represent, “60% will be on the job but not getting paid. About 30% will be furloughed initially but subject to recall and 10% will be furloughed.” The National Air Traffic Controllers Association (NATCA) echoed those sentiments and added that “Certified air traffic controllers are classified under the law as “excepted” workers and are therefore required to work during a shutdown without pay, often subject to mandatory overtime, requiring many controllers to work six days a week, 10 hours a day. This leads to higher stress and fatigue, further complicating their ability to perform their essential duties.” The National Association of Letter Carriers (NALC) reminded members and the public that because the post office is a self funded agency, it remains open and operations continue as normal. The Federal Unionists Network (FUN) put out a statement saying Democrats shouldn’t pass a budget that harms workers in the name of federal employees
  • A local president of the union of workers at the Social Security Administration in North Carolina spoke to a local news outlet about the strain this shut down puts on the workers she represents
  • IUE-CWA members at GE in Kentucky were on CBS Evening News explaining how Trump’s anti-immigrant policies were hurting their immigrant coworkers and their native born coworkers
  • An Alabama scientist was fired from the National Institutes of Health for filing a whistleblower complaint

Internal Union Affairs

  • The North Carolina AFL-CIO passed a resolution encouraging affiliate unions to align their contract expirations with May 1st, 2028

Listener Submissions

  • We got a message that nearly 400 food service and hotel workers at UNITE HERE Local 25 unanimously ratified a new contract in Danville, VA. No word on the contents of the contract, but with unanimous ratification you have to imagine it’s pretty good