Last Week in Southern Labor: 5/15 – 5/22

Jacob Morrison

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 all of the stories we could find from May 15th to May 22nd.

New Campaigns

205 workers in 4 bargaining units have gone public with their union campaigns

  • 135 workers at Big River Forest Products in Gloster, MS filed a petition to hold a union election with the United Steel Workers (USW)
  • 46 workers at Proper Cannabis in Rock Hill, MO filed a petition to hold a union election with the United Food & Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 655 
  • 22 workers at Starbucks in Roswell, GA filed a petition to hold a union election with Starbucks Workers United
  • 2 workers at Highline Warren LLC in Glen Dale, WV filed a petition to hold a union election with the Teamsters Local 697

Election Results

46 workers across 3 bargaining units withdrew their petition for a union election, 281 workers across 9 bargaining units unionized, and 487 workers across 2 bargaining units voted against unionization 

  • 66 workers at Goldbelt Integrated Logistics Services, Inc. in Elizabeth City, NC voted 51 to 2 in favor of unionization with the International Union of Electrical Workers (IUE-CWA)
  • 482 workers at The Doe Run Company in Viburnum, MO voted 153 to 296 against unionization with the Laborers International Union of North America (LIUNA) Local 829 
  • Four groups of Starbucks workers voted to unionize with Starbucks Workers United:
  • 5 workers at Hope Gas, Inc. in Morgantown, WV voted 0 to 4 against unionization with the United Gas Workers Union (UGWU) Local 69 (nice)
  • 16 workers at Lee County Electric Cooperative Inc. in North Fort Myers, FL voted in favor of unionization with the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 1933 
  • 9 workers at The International Paper Company, Inc. in Cantonment, FL withdrew their petition with the IBEW Local 1937 
  • 26 workers at Huntsman Ethyleneamines LLC in Freeport, TX withdrew their petition with the International Union of Operating Engineers (IUOE) Local 564 
  • 9 workers at All Fired Up in Washington, DC voted 8 to 0 in favor of unionization with Workers United SEIU
  • 11 workers at Clean Harbors Environmental Services in Smithfield, KY withdrew their petition with the Teamsters Local 89 
  • 90 workers at Howard University Hospital Corporation in Washington, DC voted 4 to 0 in favor of unionization with the District of Columbia Nurses Association 
  • 14 workers at Metro Special Police Department in Washington, DC voted 10 to 0 in favor of unionization with the Security, Police and Fire Professionals of America (SPFPA)

Grievances, Unfair Labor Practices, & Court Cases

  • A 14 judge panel at the International Court of Justice said in an advisory opinion that the right to strike is protected under the International Labour Organization’s 1948 Freedom of Association Treaty that has been signed by 158 countries, although not by the US. In their opinion they did so though that the affirmation “does not entail ​any determination on the precise content, scope or conditions for the exercise of that right.” The AFL-CIO applauded the decision

Strikes & Bargaining

  • Beast Games Season Three is union made! That’s after Jimmy Beast initially tried to start the season non-union – even though season two was also union made. The International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE) organized to bring the production under a union contract and succeeded. Workers will now get back pay and benefits for work that happened before the contract was signed, and will now be covered by the contract for the rest of the season on for seasons to come. The production is taking place in Greenville, NC. This comes after a string of organizing victories for IATSE in the new media space – if you work in digital media and want to organize, you can go to iatse.net/join to contact an organizer
  • 60 workers for Tennessee American Water in Chattanooga, TN – who are unionized with the Utility Workers Union of America (UWUA) – told the Chattanooga Times Free Press that they have been working for a year without a contract and that the company continues to refuse to offer a fair contract
  • Workers at US Smokeless Tobacco in Richmond, VA who recently organized with the International Association of Machinists (IAM) Local 10 ratified their first union contract. The union said in a blog post on the contract ratification that “the agreement establishes a contract running through July 2030, along with a long-term agreement extending through June 2036.” The union says the agreement includes “significant wage and compensation improvements,” a ratification bonus, increased shift differentials, and more. 
  • The National Association of Letter Carriers and the US Postal Service are heading into mediation after the contract expiration came and went. In their statement on heading into mediation, the NALC didn’t include details about where things stand in negotiations, and on our program National Business Agent and NALC presidential candidate Mike Caref confirmed that members also don’t know where things stand at the table. The postal service is pushing for some concessions though, including eliminating steward pay.
  • IAM Local 2782 members at Leonardo DRS in West Plains, MO have been locked out since May 1st after they voted down a contract that they say didn’t include fair wage improvements, among other things. The union is calling on the company to end the lockout
  • The Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) Local 1019 in Austin, TX is calling on its members to stop taking overtime to increase pressure on their employer – Keolis – to negotiate a fair contract. Brent Payne, president of the local union representing those 1,400 workers, said they are looking for increased pay and time for training. If the employer continues to stall, the workers may strike
  • The International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF) Local 975 in Austin, TX won a workers compensation case for a member who got uterine cancer – the city wanted to deny the disease was occupational, and the union won. The attorney said this case “establishes a vital precedent”
  • 200 workers at Lufthansa Technik in Aguadilla, PR – organized with the IAM – ratified their first union contract. The union said this contract “establishes a solid foundation of rights, pay, benefits, and working conditions that workers can continue to build on in future bargaining”
  • Members of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE) held informational picketing today outside the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts to protest the Center’s decision to lay off union workers and eliminate entire departments without bargaining the terms/effects, potentially in violation of its union contract and federal labor law
  • 22,000 school bus drivers nationwide for First Student – organized with the Teamsters – just ratified a national collective bargaining agreement. This agreement will sit on top of local agreements, and “includes improvements such as increased access to health care benefits, new minimum standards for retirement contributions that will provide pension contributions for the first time to more than 10,000 workers, expanded leave protections… a standalone article governing video and audio technology on buses,” and more.

Political & LEgislative

  • Is a pro workers bill going to pass the Republican House? Maybe. The Faster Labor Contracts Act just got enough signatures on its discharge petition and will be voted on in a couple of weeks. The bill – a brainchild of Teamsters President Sean O’Brien and Senator Josh Hawley – would require employers to begin bargaining with their workers union within 10 days of a successful election, and force both parties to go into binding arbitration if if no agreement is met within 5 months or so, unless both parties agree to an extension. The contract imposed by arbitration would last two years. This bill, while significantly pared down from the PRO Act, would be a genuine improvement in labor law in the US. Accordingly, only 8 Republicans have signed the discharge petition – the rest are Democrats. Because it got a majority to support the discharge petition it will likely pass the House, but faces a much steeper climb in the Senate, where it would need 60 votes to overcome the filibuster and so far only has 3 Republican supporters. The numbers really do not support the pro worker Republican realignment that O’Brien is betting on
  • 9 in 10 people support the labor movement’s agenda for AI – that’s according to a new poll commissioned by the AFL-CIO. Those policies include empowering workers to protect themselves from surveillance through protections for organizing, through regulation on AI development and implementation, and regulation on data center development to ensure that citizens don’t pay for them through their utility bills or through polluted water. 
  • Palantir is getting millions of dollars to spy on federal workers