Last Week in Southern Labor: 1/30 – 2/6

Jacob Morrison

Here’s what workers in the US South and the colonies were up to from Friday, January 30, to Friday, February 6

New Campaigns

74 workers in 3 bargaining units have gone public with their union campaigns, and 28 workers across 3 bargaining units withdrew their petition for a union election

  • 17 workers at American Air Conditioning & Mechanical in Springdale, AR filed a petition to hold a union election with the United Associations Plumbers and Pipefitters (UA) Local 155
  • 54 workers at four Hines Restaurants in Washington, DC (Eastern Point Collective, The Duck and The Peach, La Collina, and The Wells) filed a petition to hold a union election with UNITE HERE Local 25
  • 3 workers at Cap Transfers, LLC in Kansas City, MO filed a petition to hold a union election with the International Union of Operating Engineers (IUOE) Local 101

Election Results

233 workers across 5 bargaining units unionized, 108 workers in 5 bargaining units voted against unionization, and in Florida 45,979 state and municipal workers in 32 bargaining units voted in favor of recertifying their union

  • 13 workers at Republic National Distributing Company in Lubbock, TX withdrew their petition with the Teamster Local Union 577
  • 3 workers at Penske Truck Leasing Co., L.P. in Moberly, MO withdrew their petition with the Teamsters Local 833
  • The NLRB Regional Director closed the union election case without an election for 12 workers at Total Distribution in Kenova, WV who had originally filed for an election with the Teamsters Local 175
  • 2 workers at Hertz Car Sales in Florissant, MO voted 0 to 2 against unionization with the Teamsters Local 618
  • 19 workers at United Insurance Company of America in Beaumont, TX voted 15 to 3 in favor of unionization with the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 1 
  • 66 workers at Bally’s Hard Rock Casino in Biloxi, MS voted in favor of unionization with the Teamsters Local 891 in a card check election
  • 12,960 workers at Palm Beach County Public Schools in West Palm Beach, FL voted 4,666 to 72 in favor of recertifying the Palm Beach County Classroom Teachers Association as their union
  • 6,714 workers at Polk County Public Schools in Bartow, FL voted 1194 to 32 in favor of recertifying the Polk Education Association as their union
  • 63 licensed mental health specialists, registered nurses, and other medical staff at the Orange County Corrections Department in Orlando, FL voted 24 to 0 in favor of recertifying the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) as their union

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.

Strikes & Bargaining

  • 3,200 workers at Volkswagen in Chattanooga, TN – who are now unionized with the United Auto Workers (UAW) Local 42 – reached a tentative agreement with the company that contains significant improvements over what the company called in October their “last, best, and final” offer. Some highlights from the contract include a 20% raise, a $6,500 ratification bonus, strong language protecting against unilateral job cuts and plant closures, and new product commitments. In announcing the deal, UAW President Shawn Fain noted that – counting the UAW bump of 11% that Volkswagen workers got after the Big 3 strike in 2023 – VW workers will see their wages rise by $10/hr by the end of this contract. The members will now vote on the deal. 
  • 130 workers at Dairy Farmers of America (DFA) in Springfield, MO ratified a new contract. The new three year deal raises wages by 10.5%, more paid time off, and a 3% pension increase. The drivers and maintenance workers are members of Teamsters Local 245
  • DC nurses won a nearly 25% raise over just three years – and the aren’t done yet. 2,2000 nurses at MedStar Hospital in Washington, DC last week ratified a new union contract with huge wage increases, stronger protections against workplace violence, and more paid time off. The nurses – unionized with National Nurses United – stressed in their statements to the press though that this contract does NOT negate their allegations of widespread wage theft by the hospital, and they continue to seek a resolution to that case. 
  • Video game workers continue to rack up wins – last week quality assurance workers for Blizzard ratified their first union contract. The 70 workers in Albany, NY and Austin, TX are members of the Communication Workers of America (CWA) Locals 1118 and 6215. After organizing all the way back in 2023, they finally got Blizzard and their parent company Microsoft to come to an acceptable deal. The newly ratified contract increases wages and brings the minimum to $25.50/hr, contains AI regulations, restrictions on overtime or “crunch” as it’s known in the industry, and more. This is the third video game worker contract victory for workers at Microsoft – CWA members ratified deals at ZeniMax and Raven Software last year. 
  • 750 workers at Peco Foods in West Point, MS ratified their first collective bargaining agreement after unionizing with the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 1529 in 2024. The union says the contract contains “major hourly wage increases” along with more paid time off
  • The Professional Hockey Players Association (PHPA) membership ratified a new contract with the ECHL (formerly East Coast Hockey League, now it’s just the acronym. It’s a minor hockey league with teams across the US, including in the South). The PHPA said the contract made “meaningful progress” in “several key areas” but didn’t specify what areas those were

Political & Legislative

  • A Texas union member absolutely demolished a Trump-backed Republican in a special election for the State Senate. Machinists Union President Taylor Rehmet won by 14 points – swinging the district 31 points away from Republicans. He did this despite being outspent something like 10 to 1, and despite the fact that 51% of the electorate that turned out to vote were registered Republicans. He also didn’t shy away from populist messaging – supporting pro union policies, statewide rent control, increased transit spending, and more. The Texas AFL-CIO seeks to capitalize on this momentum and are highlighting sixteen other union members that are running for office in the state. 
  • North Carolina firefighters won union rights in one of the most union hostile states in the country. The International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF) Local 332 in Asheville had been advocating for some time for city employees to have the right to a union representative during their grievance proceedings, and last week they won it. Even though North Carolina bans public sector collective bargaining, this protection will allow Asheville unions to ensure their members are being treated fairly. This local also just won a 3% raise for their members last year. 
  • Texas Teamsters endorsed Greg Abbott for Governor of the state last week, saying he has given the Teamsters “a seat at the table.” In their press release, the Southern Region VP had this to say: “As our union has shown on a national level, the Teamsters care less about political affiliation and more about protecting good-paying union jobs. Texas Teamsters are proud to support candidates that support the American worker — and in this race, that candidate in Governor Abbott.” Teamsters on Twitter were less than thrilled about the announcement. 
  • The USMCA is up for review this July, and unions are working to influence the trade agreement in a more labor friendly direction. Last week the UAW, IAM, and AFL-CIO briefed congress on ways to accomplish this goal, in particular by closing offshoring loopholes, expanding labor rights enforcement tools, and more. 
  • I don’t think anyone can argue against the fact that the Nashville Electric Service (NES) has mangled their response to the winter storm. Two weeks after the outage, there were still people without power. One claim that went around however seems to have been false – that the NES turned away IBEW lineman. The Tennessee AFL-CIO put out a statement saying that was categorically false, and that IBEW members are working to restore service

Internal Union Affairs

  • The IAM’s international leadership toured represented workplaces in the Tennessee Valley, highlighting the important work their members do in aerospace and energy at ULA and the TVA