UFCW union officials bypassed secret ballot election to gain power over Green Thumb Industries employees, but workers now back decertification vote

New Jersey (October 2, 2024) – Employees of Green Thumb Industries have filed a petition seeking an election to remove United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 360 union officials’ monopoly “representation” over them. Michael Potter, a Lead Warehouse Technician for Green Thumb, filed the decertification petition with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) on behalf of his coworkers at five locations across New Jersey.

Mr. Potter is receiving free legal aid from National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation staff attorneys in filing the petition. The NLRB is the federal agency responsible for enforcing federal labor law, which includes administering votes to certify and decertify unions.

Mr. Potter collected more than enough employee signatures on his petition to trigger a decertification vote under NLRB rules, and filed the decertification petition to challenge the so-called “card check” unionization campaigns that UFCW union bosses foisted on his coworkers.

Under card check, union officials can bypass the secret ballot election process that has long been recognized as the most secure and reliable way to determine if a majority of employees want to unionize. During card check drives, union officials can repeatedly solicit and pressure workers face-to-face to demand they sign union authorization cards, which are then counted as “votes” to impose the union on workers. The process is a breeding ground for coercive and intimidating tactics.

New Jersey’s lack of a Right to Work law lets union officials demand that workers pay union dues or fees just to stay employed. Additionally, union officials in a unionized workplace enjoy monopoly bargaining privileges, which allow them to contract and speak for every worker in the unit – even those that voted against the union or otherwise oppose its presence.

If Mr. Potter and his coworkers win the decertification election, around 275 workers will be freed from UFCW union officials’ monopoly bargaining power. “Many of us believe the UFCW does not advance our interests and that we would be better off without the union in our workplace,” commented Potter. “We simply seek a secret ballot election that was denied to us when the union was installed, so we can determine what the majority of Green Thumb employees want.”

Petition Filed Days Before NLRB Strips Workers of Right to Challenge “Card Check” Drives

The workers at Green Thumb Industries are able to challenge the union’s installation via a card check due to the Foundation-backed 2020 reforms to the NLRB’s election rules. Collectively referred to as the “Election Protection Rule,” one of the key elements of the reforms was to allow employees to submit decertification petitions to force a secret ballot vote after a union gains power through card check.

Under the rules, workers had a 45-day window to petition for a secret ballot decertification vote. In the event that a notice about the window was not posted, workers retained their right to decertify indefinitely.

Unfortunately, the Biden-Harris NLRB in Washington, DC, issued a final rule that goes into effect September 30, which will undo the Election Protection Rule and make it much harder for rank-and-file workers to exercise their right to vote out union officials they oppose. Had the Green Thumb Industries employees filed their decertification petition after September 30th, they would have been blocked from holding the secret ballot vote because the NLRB-created “contract bar” blocks decertification for up to three years when a union contract is in place, as is the case currently at Green Thumb.

“If Mr. Potter had filed his decertification petition just a week later, workers at Green Thumb Industries would be denied their right to vote out union officials who seized power over them in a hasty and coercive manner,” commented National Right to Work Foundation President Mark Mix. “This is yet another example of the Biden-Harris Administration’s effort to heap legal privileges on its union boss political allies, all at the expense of workers who just want to exercise their free choice when it comes to deciding who should speak for them in the workplace.

“American workers don’t deserve to be stripped of this freedom, and those who are prevented from voting out unwanted union bosses due to this cynical rule change should not hesitate to contact the Foundation to explore their legal options,” Mix added.

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.