Employees voted nearly 2-1 to remove unwanted Teamsters ‘representation’

Atchison, KS (January 12, 2022) – Distribution center workers at Blish-Mize, a wholesale hardware distributor in Atchison, Kansas, voted to remove Teamsters Local 696 union officials from their workplace. With free legal assistance from the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation, Diane Dame, a Blish-Mize employee, filed a decertification petition with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). The petition bore the signatures of enough of Dame’s coworkers to trigger an NLRB-supervised decertification election, during which a large majority of the employees voted to oust Teamsters officials from their workplace.

Yesterday, NLRB regional officials tallied the ballots and announced the workers had voted 26-14 to remove the Teamsters. Now, barring any legal challenges from Teamsters bosses, the workers at this location will no longer be subject to union monopoly control.

In the past year alone, Foundation attorneys helped numerous workers remove unwanted Teamsters officials from workplaces across the country. Thanks to “blocking charge” reforms adopted by the Trump NLRB in 2020 at the Foundation’s urging, workers have been able to act on their desire to oust unpopular union officials with far fewer delays.

The “blocking charge” reforms prevent a union’s unfair labor practice charges against employers from halting decertification elections. Now, except in extraordinary circumstances, even if charges are filed, employees still have a chance to vote immediately and know the results. Before the reforms went into effect, even charges that ultimately proved meritless could delay an election for months or years.

“Diane Dame and her coworkers exercised their right to free themselves from unwanted Teamsters boss control,” said National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation President Mark Mix. “We hope that Teamsters officials respect the choice made by the workers they claim to represent, and don’t resort to legal tricks to try to remain in power in a workplace where it’s clear they aren’t wanted.”

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.