Unions 101

Interbake Workers' Struggle Shows Need for Employee Free Choice *Click here to read this article on the AFL-CIO Blog site, and read feedback from the Weston/Interbake Workers. by James Parks, AFL-CIO, Aug 20, 2008 Members of Congress need look no further than the Interbake Bakery plant in Front Royal, Va., to understand why the Employee Free Choice Act is at the top of the workers' agenda for the 2008 election. For two years, workers at the plant have been fighting a vicious corporate anti-union campaign to prevent them from forming a union with the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers (BCTGM). But because the workers want to better their lives and working conditions, Interbake has pulled out all the stops. The union says the company has resorted to surveillance, interrogation, illegal firings and threats of discharge, loss of benefits, misuse of disciplinary warnings, removal of union literature and assigning managers to intimidate union supporters. Interbake is a subsidiary of George Weston Ltd., the nation's third-largest cracker and cookie maker. If enacted, the Employee Free Choice Act would help prevent employer abuses by allowing workers to decide how they want to choose a union. Currently, the employer can demand a National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) election. During the period leading up to the election, employers routinely harass, intimidate and fire workers who support the union. The Employee Free Choice Act would allow workers to choose majority sign-up to form their union, if they prefer. On July 31, the NLRB regional director issued 48 unfair labor practice complaints against Interbake, charging the company with blatantly violating federal labor laws. Specifically, the NLRB charged the company with illegally firing employees, putting workers under surveillance, threatening employees with loss of benefits, disciplining employees who support the union and interrogating employees about their union preferences. A hearing is set for late October. Says John Robinson, one of the fired workers: Work is hard to find right now (because) the economy is slow. Interbake proved they would stop at nothing to try to keep us from our American right to form a union, including breaking the law. All of this just proves one thing. America needs unions, and the laws need to be reformed to reflect what the majority of other countries have: employee free choice. The company settled 15 previous unfair labor practice complaints in March 2007. But it failed to live up to its settlement agreement and kept up its nasty campaign. On April 14, the NLRB conducted an election, which the union lost in a 100-97 vote. However, just before the election, the company illegally terminated six pro-union workers, according to the union. When five of the fired workers participated in the election, the company challenged their votes, and those votes were not counted. BCTGM Local 68 immediately filed charges with the NLRB and objected to the election. The workers are asking the NLRB to require Interbake to drop its challenge to the five ballots and "count all the votes." Under a settlement proposed by the NLRB, the five ballots will be counted, according to the union. If the challenged ballots are accepted, the workers finally will win their union. For a detailed description of the charges, click here. Meanwhile, the workers received some heavy-hitting support this past weekend. Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine (D) met with Robinson and Joe Sardina, a BCTGM international representative after a campaign stop for presidential candidate Barack Obama in Winchester, Va. In his speech to the crowd, Kaine said that as president Obama would appoint a new and more worker-friendly NLRB. Obama is a co-sponsor of the Employee Free Choice Act, while his Republican opponent, John McCain, opposes it. Says Stewart Acuff, assistant to AFL-CIO President John Sweeney: Because of their courage and tenacity, these workers will get their union. But by the end, it will have taken years and way too much sacrifice. We cannot rebuild America's middle class if workers have to risk their livelihoods simply to bargain with their employers.

Unions 101