Bureaucratic Bungling
Temporarily Denies
UE Representation
UPDATE
(August 14, 2000) GATX warehouse employees have reaffirmed their
choice of UE, voting 67 for UE to 39 for no union. No votes were cast for the
discredited incumbent union. A bureaucratic blunder forced a second election
at GATX; the first election was held on April 14th. Details on the first
election appear below.
CHICAGO
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GATX workers celebrate
their April election victory a victory since denied them by a Labor
Board error. They are now gearing up for a high profile fightback
campaign to force the company and the old union to acknowlege their UE
victory.
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Bureaucratic bungling by the National Labor Relations Board
has denied temporarily the 130 workers employed the GATX warehouse in
nearby Hodgkins their right to union representation.
A Labor Board error has led to legal wrangling over the April
14th election in which
UE prevailed with 66 votes to 43 for no union, with just one vote received for
Local 12, the discredited incumbent union. The NLRB failed to provide the
other union with a list of GATX employees and their addresses, allowing the old
union to file an objection to the poll.
GATX workers are now gearing up for a high-profile fightback campaign
which will be waged in the shop and in the community to force the company and the old union to acknowledge their UE victory.
Eager to begin functioning as a UE local, GATX workers are
creating their bargaining committees, stewards structure and developing and
ratifying bargaining goals. As this story was being posted in the UE News
online, workers were
circulating a petition directed to the boss and entitled "Pay Us for Our
Time!"
Director of Organizing Bob Kingsley described the Labor
Board error and the resulting delays as a "travesty." "Working
people have a right to expect better from the National Labor Relations
Board," he declared.
UE News - 05/00
