Charge: Union left after employees demanded vote to kick union out; now back as unlawful ‘company union’ under backroom deal

Los Angeles, CA (October 22, 2024) – Matthew Gonzales, an In-Home Expert for AT&T Mobility in Southern California, has just filed federal charges against both his employer and officials of the Communications Workers of America (CWA) union. Gonzales maintains that AT&T and CWA officials have colluded to force workers under the control of a “company union” in violation of federal labor law. Gonzales filed the charges at the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) with free legal aid from National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation staff attorneys.

The charges state that the CWA union and company started this arrangement despite the fact that there is no evidence of majority employee support for a union, and despite the fact that CWA union officials voluntarily abandoned Gonzales’ unit of In-Home Experts just last month after a large number of employees demanded an election to remove CWA from power (but before that vote could occur). According to the charges, despite the union’s formal departure, a CWA notice declared shortly after that “[n]ew hires will immediately be included in the [union] bargaining unit” and that AT&T would even help conduct a campaign to add existing workers to the union’s monopoly bargaining ranks.

The National Labor Relations Act (NLRA), which is administered by the NLRB and governs labor relations in the private sector, disallows the formation of company unions. Specifically, it prohibits employers from “dominat[ing] or interfer[ing] with the formation or administration of any [union]” or “coerc[ing] employees in the exercise of [their] rights” to either participate or not participate in a union.

Gonzales’ charge argues that AT&T’s and CWA’s actions have “violated employee free choice guaranteed by Section 7 of the [NLRA] by allowing CWA to act as their exclusive representative without majority [support],” and “given CWA unmerited opportunities to foist exclusive representation on unwilling employees.” Further, Gonzales maintains that a “Memorandum of Agreement of Voluntary Recognition” that AT&T and CWA are using to spell out this scheme actually amounts to a monopoly bargaining contract, and has been used to justify restrictions against Gonzales for opposing the union campaign.

CWA Union Officials Want Illicit ‘Second Bite at Apple’ After Being Forced Out by Employees

Gonzales’ charges detail that, roughly a month after he and his coworkers had successfully forced the CWA union out by petitioning for a union decertification vote, CWA released notices to the work unit in late September stating that a survey would soon be released to determine which employees to add to a separate “bargained-for unit” controlled by the union. It also stated that “[a]ll employees hired into the IHX department after this process is complete will be protected under our collective bargaining agreement.”

On October 8, the charges say, Gonzales visited an AT&T facility on his own time to observe an event that CWA officials held to drum up support for joining the union-controlled unit. At the union’s behest, an AT&T official asked him to leave, reasoning that the union and employer had an “agreement” that allowed CWA to campaign at the facility. Gonzales responded by asserting that the agent was stopping him from exercising his rights to oppose the union drive.

“The company representative said that [Gonzales] must receive permission to campaign or discuss labor organizing on the premises and that she did not know where he could go to receive such permission,” the charges state.

AT&T Employee Wants Federal Court Order to Stop Illegal Union Campaign, Which Could Soon Have Nationwide Impact

Gonzales is asking that the NLRB seek a federal court injunction “to prevent CWA from continuing its membership drive, its collection of dues, and its attempts to coerce non-bargained for employees into any unit without a secret ballot election.” He also seeks to revive his and his coworkers’ petition seeking a vote to remove the union.

“Union officials will often use rhetoric portraying employers as ‘bad guys’ that employees can only defeat by submitting to union power, but are more than willing to accept illegal employer assistance if it will help them sweep more workers into dues-paying ranks,” commented National Right to Work Foundation President Mark Mix. “In Mr. Gonzales’ case, this tactic is especially shameful because he and his coworkers already forced CWA union officials into abandoning the workplace just before their so-called ‘representation’ of employees was about to be put to a secret ballot vote. Not only that, but CWA union officials claim that this bargain they’ve struck with AT&T will also apply to other units of employees across the country that have similarly rejected the union.

“Instead of facing the will of the employees, it looks like CWA officials would prefer to finagle themselves into the workplace with the backing of AT&T in total violation of federal law,” Mix added. “Our attorneys will defend the right of AT&T In-Home Experts to freely choose whether they want a union or not, and will get to the bottom of this scheme.”

The National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation is a nonprofit, charitable organization providing free legal aid to employees whose human or civil rights have been violated by compulsory unionism abuses. The Foundation, which can be contacted toll-free at 1-800-336-3600, assists thousands of employees in about 200 cases nationwide per year.