Every week in the south, workers organize new unions, they bargain for new contracts, they fight for good legislation and against bad legislation, and they put the boss in their place. These are some of the stories we could find from April 24th to May 1st: This is Last Week in Southern Labor.
New Campaigns
950 workers in 15 bargaining units have gone public with their union campaigns, and 20 workers in 1 bargaining unit are trying to decertify their union
- 58 workers at Central Alabama Electric Cooperative in Prattville, AL filed a petition to hold a union election with the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 443
- 350 workers at Schnellecke Logistics USA, LLC in Chattanooga, TN filed a petition to hold a union election with the United Automobile Workers (UAW)
- 10 workers at American Electric Power in Hurricane, WV filed a petition to hold a union election with the IBEW Local 978
- 28 workers at Six Flags Entertainment Corporation in Arlington, TX filed a petition to hold a union election with the Communication Workers of America (CWA)
- 33 workers at Novel in Memphis, TN filed a petition to hold a union election with the CWA
- 11 workers at First Student in Scott City, MO filed a petition to hold a union election with the Teamsters Local 600
- 5 workers at GHD Services Inc in Calvert City, KY filed a petition to hold a union election with the International Union of Operating Engineers (IUOE) Local 181
- 4 workers at Aqua-Terra Recycling & Treatment in Oxford, GA filed a petition to hold a union election with the Teamsters Local 728
- 21 workers at Greif-Silsbee in Silsbee, TX filed a petition to hold a union election with the Printing, Packaging & Production Workers Union of North America, Local 527M
- 8 workers at Tanner Industries in Apopka, FL filed a petition to hold a union election with the Teamsters Local 385
- 234 workers at Garda World Security Services in North Charleston, SC filed a petition to hold a union election with the Security, Police and Fire Professionals of America (SPFPA)
- 20 workers at XCEL Energy in Amarillo, TX filed a petition to hold a union election with the IBEW Local 602
- 40 workers at Trailboss Enterprise in El Paso, TX filed a petition to hold a union election with the SPFPA
- Workers likely pushed by their employer filed a petition to decertify the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) District 1 as the union representing 20 workers at United Insurance Company of America in Beaumont, TX
Election Results
23 workers across 1 bargaining units withdrew their petition for a union election, 331 workers across 9 bargaining units unionized, 23 workers in 1 bargaining unit voted against decertifying their union, 108 workers in 1 bargaining unit voted in favor of decertifying their union, one Florida public sector union is seeking to decertify itself by disclaiming interest in 9 bargaining unit, and 22,321 Florida public sector workers in 12 bargaining units recertified their union
- 56 workers at Bull Moose Tube Company in Gerald, MO voted 53 to 1 in favor of unionization with the Teamsters Local 688
- 14 workers at Starbucks Corporation in Springfield, MO voted 10 to 4 in favor of unionization with Starbucks Workers United
- 108 workers at Hunt MH Shared Services, LLC in Camp Lejeune, NC voted 38 to 56 in favor of decertifying the IUOE Local 465
- 4 workers at Irving Materials in Brandenburg, KY voted 2 to 1 in favor of unionization with the Teamsters Local 89
- 5 workers at Children’s National Hospital in Washington, DC voted 3 to 0 in favor of unionization with the District of Columbia Nurses Association
- 23 workers at Oak Ridge Utility District in Oak Ridge, TN withdrew their petition with the United Association of Plumbers and Pipefitters (UA) Local 102
- On April 23, a worker likely pushed by their employer filed a petition to decertify the United Steel Workers (USW) as the union representing 20 workers at Georgetown Nursing Center in Georgetown, SC. Last week, the case was closed by an order of the NLRB Region Director without an election, meaning the union still represents those workers
- On April 15, a worker likely pushed by their employer filed a petition to decertify the International Brotherhood of Boilermakers (IBB) Lodge D-NCL as the union representing 2 workers at Conco Quarries in Springfield, MO. Last week, the NLRB approved the petitioner’s request to withdraw the petition. The union still represents those workers
- 23 workers at Veolia Water North America – South, LLC in Tampa, FL voted 9 to 8 against decertifying the IUOE Local 30
- 5,982 workers at Miami-Dade County Schools in Miami, FL voted 361 to 26 in favor of recertifying the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) as their union
- 250 workers for Thompson Hospitality – a subcontracted food service provider for Virginia State University and Norfolk State University – in Richmond, VA won voluntary recognition of their unionization with UNITE HERE Local 23. In their press release, UNITE HERE says these workers join 1,500 other dining service workers who have organized with the union since 2023. UNITE HERE is calling on Thompson Hospitality to agree to the same fair process for dining workers at Hampton University to unionize
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, see the full list of last month’s Florida public sector union elections, as well as exclusive details about union elections referenced here.
Strikes & Bargaining
- Transit workers nationwide are attacking private transit operators for mismanagement and a lack of training. The Asheville, NC city council recently narrowly approved (by a 4 to 3 vote) a new four year contract with the operator of the municipal transit system – RATP Dev – for $55M. The union representing bus drivers – the Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) Local 128 – says they are surprised the company retained the contract. Blue Ridge Public Radio (BPR) in NC quotes the local president as saying “we had anticipated that there was no way this company was going to stay, there were just too many things that were done wrong over the past seven years.” BPR also noted that RATP Dev buses have been consistently late (on time only 62% of the time), and hasn’t provided proper training to new hires. Across the country – in Austin, TX – ATU Local 1091 echoed similar concerns about training with respect to the company running their bus system – Keolis. In that city, the local union president told the city council that he got significantly more training when he started in the 80s than new hires do now, despite the fact that the work is more complex, in a bigger city, with more construction and detours than when he started. Seems like cities ought to just run their own transit systems for the public good rather than selling these systems for private companies to make a profit!
- An immediate 40% raise – that’s what is in the tentative agreement covering 5,000 pilots between the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA) and Fedex. Additionally, the deal includes 3% annual raises beginning in 2028. The deal has been approved by the union’s FedEx Master Council and now goes to a vote of the affected membership. The vote will begin on May 12 and will close on June 9. Membership voted down a tentative agreement in 2023 that contained a 30% pay raise.
- Concession workers at the George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston, TX – organized with UNITE HERE Local 23 – ratified a new union contract with the airport’s employee contractor OTG by 99%. The contract includes raises that workers told Houston Public Media were “life changing.” All workers who work for the contractor for more than one year will now make at least $20/hr – with that number increasing to $21 in October. One worker said this will give them an immediate $4.50/hr raise. Workers will also pay less for family healthcare, receive another paid holiday, and more.
- Drivers and warehouse workers at Keurig Dr Pepper in Norcross, GA held a rally at 9:00 am on Thursday, April 30, to demonstrate solidarity during their current negotiations. The Teamsters Local 528 represents the 150 workers there. The union says that “Keurig Dr Pepper has been dragging out bargaining” and that “if management does not bring a deal to the table fast… Local 528 members will be forced to strike.” Georgia State Representatives for Gwinnett County Ruwa Romman (D-97) and Akbar Ali (D-106) were present at the rally to support the workers
- Workers at Temco Logistics – a wholly owned subsidiary of Home Depot – organized with the Teamsters Local 528 three months ago, and apparently they haven’t even been able to begin contract negotiations because of the company’s stalling. The Teamsters held a rally at Home Depot’s corporate headquarters, which also happens to be near where the workers are located – in Atlanta, GA. The union says the company has engaged in multiple unfair labor practices since the workers organized
- AT&T Orange Mobility workers who are organized with the CWA reached a tentative agreement with the company last week. If ratified, the 9,000 customer service and call center workers in 36 states plus DC would secure a 15.6% wage increase over 4 years, and more.
Political & Legislative
- The IBEW slammed the Trump administration for the freefall of worker health and safety law enforcement, citing a report from Good Jobs First. We interviewed one of the authors of that report here. “This was not a miraculous change of heart in the American managerial class that stealing our wages and damaging our bodies is wrong,” said Government Affairs Director Dean Warsh. “Bad things don’t stop happening when the sheriff quits. That’s what they did. They closed their eyes and left the American worker to the wolves.” The union similarly decried the Trump administration’s running of the National Labor Relations Board. “International President Kenneth W. Cooper is accustomed to pendulum swings at the NLRB depending on which party wins the White House, as well as congressional action and federal lawsuits. Of recent note, a case filed by some of the nation’s best-known corporations challenges the board’s very existence. ‘The NLRB’s ability to protect and enforce our rights as workers and union members has been under attack since the 1940s, so we’ve got a lot of practice fighting back,’ Cooper said. ‘But what we’re witnessing now is a different type of threat: a deliberate pattern of neglect and hostility from inside the board itself.’”
- Last week contained two holidays that are deeply important to the labor movement – Workers Memorial Day on April 28 and International Workers Day, otherwise known as May Day, on May 1st. The AFL-CIO released its annual Death on the Job report which details the scale of human suffering inflicted on working people by their employers in the United States. The report relies on data that takes a while to come in, so they’re always a year behind. This year’s report analyzed 2024 data, and showed a decline in worker fatalities in the US, while anticipating a reversal of that positive trend in 2025 due to the destruction of worker safety agencies within the federal government by the Trump administration. Thousands of events were held across the country and across the south, including illegal strikes! So many educators in Durham, NC, for example, had called out to celebrate May Day that the district preemptively closed schools. North Carolina AFL-CIO President Braxton Winston said in his May Day message, “The actions we take on International Workers Day are about building the political, social, community, and labor coalitions needed to disrupt the status quo.” May Day demonstrations in the South also included a protest against Elbit in South Carolina. Elbit is a manufacturer of weapons for the Israeli military. Protestors included Leonard Riley, a member of the board for the International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA) in South Carolina
- On May Day, Florida’s Republican Governor Ron DeSantis signed a bill that will further erode public sector union rights in the state. Currently, if a union does not maintain dues paying membership above 60%, they must go through a recertification election. These elections, like most elections, only require a simple majority of voters to win. Under the new law, which takes effect on July 1st, these elections must be won with majority support from at least 50% of the bargaining unit (meaning the minimum win number for unions is at least 25% + 1 one vote). McKenna Shueler has more details here