An important neutrality agreement has been recognized by the labor relations
board. An unfair labor practice charge filed by a group called the National
Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation against the United Auto Workers and
auto parts maker Dana Corporation was thrown out by the NLRB late last week.
The UAW and Dana have a neutrality agreement that allows workers to decide
whether or not they are in favor of union representation. If the majority of
workers in a Dana facility sign union cards, then the company will recognize
the UAW. The Right to Work attorneys claimed Dana illegally bargained with the
union before workers had a chance to vote. The board said it found no
instances of illegal bargaining.
It's been a rough start to the year for Starbucks. In Florida, a federal court
judge granted collective action status to a lawsuit filed by two managers who
say they are entitled to overtime pay because they are actually "glorified
baristas" and not true managers. The status gives the attorneys filing the
suit permission to find other managers throughout the country who have similar
complaints. Meanwhile in New York City, workers represented by the Industrial
Workers of the World watched as the National Labor Relations Board agreed with
their charges that the coffee chain has been "interfering with, restraining
and coercing employees" who have attempted to unionize.
[Gross1]: The labor board also alleges in their complaint that Starbucks
made outright bribes, created the impression of surveillance and much, much
more.
The National Labor Relations Board will hear a case today concerning Wal-Mart
auto shop workers who have expressed interest in forming a union. Nine of 17
workers at the Wal-Mart Supercenter Tire and Lube Express in Loveland,
Colorado submitted cards to the board. The attempt at organizing a small part
of the store indicates a new strategy by the United Food and Commercial
Workers in getting through the anti-union wall of the world's largest retail
chain. The union insists that the auto shop is separate from the rest of the
store and can therefore organize. When meat cutters at a Wal-Mart store in
Texas won union certification in 2000, the company reacted by closing all of
it's meat cutting departments countrywide.
The right of US workers to organize was dealt a major blow today as the
National Labor Relations Board ruled temporary workers will no longer be able
to collectively bargain with their permanent-status co-workers. The three
Bush-appointed NLRB members argued that temporary employees are different than
permanent workers. The two dissenting board members said this essentially puts
the right to collectively bargain in the employer's hands - excluding a
growing temp workforce from the benefits of union representation. The 2.5
million temporary workers in the US will now only be allowed to organize.
NLRB: Teamsters violate labor law in Budweiser boycott
05:46 PM CDT on Thursday, October 20, 2005
Associated Press
The National Labor Relations Board said Thursday that Teamsters violated
federal labor law when they picketed Anheuser-Busch Cos. Inc. this summer.
The International Brotherhood of Teamsters Local 600 is in the midst of a
five-month strike against Lohr Distributing Co., the exclusive distributor of
Anheuser-Busch products within St. Louis city limits. Teamsters are boycotting
Lohr, which essentially means boycotting Anheuser-Busch products. The
union violated a law prohibiting pickets against companies not directly
involved in a labor contract dispute, said Ralph Tremain, director of the NLRB
office in St. Louis. The Teamsters displayed signs calling for a boycott near
Anheuser-Busch headquarters several times this summer, he said, and will be
asked to stop such activity. Local Teamsters president Dan McKay said
workers would quit such activity if it is illegal. The NLRB is still
investigating four other charges Anheuser-Busch filed against the Teamsters.
The brewer did not immediately comment on the matter.