Unpopular Teamsters union officials forced unnecessary hearing to delay decertification election before losing by 8-1 margin
Cinnaminson, NJ (March 23, 2021) – Workers at a branch of XPO Logistics in Cinnaminson, New Jersey who were subject to the monopoly union control of Teamsters Local 107 voted overwhelmingly to throw the union out of their workplace by a 16-2 vote.
Miguel Valle and his coworkers petitioned the National Labor relations Board on December 28th, 2020 for a vote to decertify and remove the Teamsters union as the bargaining agent at XPO. The XPO employees received free legal aid from the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation, which helped to guide them through the roadblocks union officials tried to create to maintain their control over the workplace.
When decertification is looming, union lawyers often employ a variety of stalling tactics to delay elections. Recent NLRB rulemaking limited the use of “blocking charges,” which are often spurious unfair labor practice charges filed by union lawyers designed to hold up decertification elections while the charges are being resolved. The rule changes closely mirror suggestions made by the Foundation in comments during rulemaking.
Thanks to the “blocking charge” reforms, Teamsters bosses couldn’t create the kind of multi-year delay often seen under the old rules, but union lawyers still found ways to delay the vote Valle and his XPO coworkers had requested, by demanding that the vote would be held in person at the Teamsters union hall. Previously the NLRB’s Regional Office in Philadelphia had decided that because of Board voting parameters for COVID-19, the election should be conducted by mail.
Nevertheless, Teamsters lawyers demanded a hearing on the method of voting. Foundation attorneys argued that the union lawyers’ requests were merely an effort to delay the vote. As expected, the NLRB’s Regional Director reaffirmed that the election would be conducted by mail. On February 18th, 2021, ballots were sent to the employees in Valle’s bargaining unit, nearly two months after he had filed his petition.
When the votes were finally tallied, the workers had voted 16-2 in favor of removing the union from their workplace. With no union challenges to the result, Valle’s coworkers are no longer subject to monopoly representation by Teamsters officials.
“Union bosses take every chance they get to maintain control over workers, even when they are overwhelmingly opposed by those they claim to represent,” said National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation President Mark Mix. “Thanks to Big Labor’s government-granted monopoly bargaining powers, people like Miguel Valle and his coworkers have to turn to the Foundation for free legal assistance just to exercise their right to hold a vote to remove a union they overwhelmingly oppose.”
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.
