SEARCH
Interbake Workers’ Struggle Shows Need for Employee Free Choice |
|
Members of Congress need look no further than the Interbake Bakery plant in Front Royal, Va., to understand why the Employee Free Choice Act is at the top of the workers’ agenda for the 2008 election.
For two years, workers at the plant have been fighting a vicious corporate anti-union campaign to prevent them from forming a union with the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers (BCTGM). But because the workers want to better their lives and working conditions, Interbake has pulled out all the stops.
The union says the company has resorted to surveillance, interrogation, illegal firings and threats of discharge, loss of benefits, misuse of disciplinary warnings, removal of union literature and assigning managers to intimidate union supporters. Interbake is a subsidiary of George Weston Ltd., the nation’s third-largest cracker and cookie maker.
If enacted, the Employee Free Choice Act would help prevent employer abuses by allowing workers to decide how they want to choose a union. Currently, the employer can demand a National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) election. During the period leading up to the election, employers routinely harass, intimidate and fire workers who support the union. The Employee Free Choice Act would allow workers to choose majority sign-up to form their union, if they prefer.
On July 31, the NLRB regional director issued 48 unfair labor practice complaints against Interbake, charging the company with blatantly violating federal labor laws. Specifically, the NLRB charged the company with illegally firing employees, putting workers under surveillance, threatening employees with loss of benefits, disciplining employees who support the union and interrogating employees about their union preferences. A hearing is set for late October.
Says John Robinson, one of the fired workers:
Work is hard to find right now (because) the economy is slow. Interbake proved they would stop at nothing to try to keep us from our American right to form a union, including breaking the law.
All of this just proves one thing. America needs unions, and the laws need to be reformed to reflect what the majority of other countries have: employee free choice.
The company settled 15 previous unfair labor practice complaints in March 2007. But it failed to live up to its settlement agreement and kept up its nasty campaign.
On April 14, the NLRB conducted an election, which the union lost in a 100-97 vote. However, just before the election, the company illegally terminated six pro-union workers, according to the union. When five of the fired workers participated in the election, the company challenged their votes, and those votes were not counted. BCTGM Local 68 immediately filed charges with the NLRB and objected to the election.
The workers are asking the NLRB to require Interbake to drop its challenge to the five ballots and “count all the votes.” Under a settlement proposed by the NLRB, the five ballots will be counted, according to the union. If the challenged ballots are accepted, the workers finally will win their union. For a detailed description of the charges, click here.
Meanwhile, the workers received some heavy-hitting support this past weekend. Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine (D) met with Robinson and Joe Sardina, a BCTGM international representative after a campaign stop for presidential candidate Barack Obama in Winchester, Va.
In his speech to the crowd, Kaine said that as president Obama would appoint a new and more worker-friendly NLRB. Obama is a co-sponsor of the Employee Free Choice Act, while his Republican opponent, John McCain, opposes it.
Says Stewart Acuff, assistant to AFL-CIO President John Sweeney:
Because of their courage and tenacity, these workers will get their union. But by the end, it will have taken years and way too much sacrifice. We cannot rebuild America’s middle class if workers have to risk their livelihoods simply to bargain with their employers.
7 Comments
Sorry, the comment form is closed at this time.
I am Weston-Interbake employee in Front Royal fully supporting
our union organizing. This article clearly states the current state at this facility.Policies regarding the employees are constantly being changed or made up as management sees fit to intimidate.
At a plant meeting on 8/21/2008, we were asked to ”do the right thing” in helping to get better audits. The employees are asking the same from Weston-Interbake to better our lives and improve our workplace–DO THE RIGHT THING–COUNT THE VOTES
It is a crime when a majority of Adults sign cards to be members of a union and their bosses can say no and block their wishes. Then when the Governments sets up an election the employer pays hundreds of thousands of dollars for hire guns to come into the employee’s place of work to scare them to death about joining. When the boss says you’ll be fired for supporting the union and in this case actually fires workers it is like voting with a gun to your head. Employee Free Choice Act must be passed to restore the middle class and to ensure Dignity and Respect for all American working Adults!
Rowdy is absolutely right about the company “policy” being made up as they go along. In one case it’s “that’s the policy” in another case (for example - bidding on another job) it’s “oh we changed the policy”…in still others it’s “we can’t do anything until the union thing is settled.” They’re still putting out flyers saying that there are no charges against them.
At this week’s so called communication meeting they said that production goes down when there’s talk of the “union” in the plant and that they are aware that it’s going on…. People are being watched at the time clock. People are being watched when they take breaks…and it doesn’t matter whether you did what they say you did you are guilty with no chance to prove your innocence. In America isn’t it supposed to be the other way around???
We need representation sooooooo badly. The people at the plant are good, hardworking people who deserve to be treated fairly, with dignity and respect. They just want to do an honest days work and go home. I feel so bad for my brothers and sisters who have been unjustly terminated and pray for the day Interbake will have to make amends. Thanks letting me speak!
All the employees at Weston/Interbake want is to be treated fairlly and with respect. From the very begining it’s been nothing but lies and broken promises. At the top of the companies list of core values is INTEGRITY referred to as honesty and fairness. Nothing could be further from the truth when it pertains to ongoing issues, policies and the employees themselves.
I’m amazed that during the two union election campaigns the companies management lied, intimidated and harassed employeees on a daily basis. If there was ever a situation where employees needed THE EMPLOYEES FREE CHIOCE ACT and representation from the BCTGM Union its at WESTON/INTERBAKE in Front Royal, Virginia.
It’s very encouraging to see that our story at Weston/Interbake Foods is getting out there. I work with a lot of great hard working people. All we want is to go to work every day and feel confident that we’re treated fairly and respectfully. In my 21 years experience of working in a bakery I’ve never seen so many upset people. Almost on a daily basis I hear stories from people about harassment, unfairness and disrespect. Some of these people were in tears. Without the representation of the BCTGM we’ll never get the respect and fairness we deserve. If the Employees Free Choice Act was already in effect we would be well on the road to a better work environment. All of us well deserved, hard working people need this act to be passed! Thank you for putting us out there. We need HELP!!
I must say that in all my years serving in this Union, never have I seen such anti-union tactics on workers trying to do what they feel is best for themselves and their fellow workers. To know that an Employer would go to such extremes to violate their workers rights tells me that they have no respect for family values. I say that because the tactics they used to fire hard working employees who really care for their jobs and depended on this job to raise and support their families, were just literally thrown out of the bakery with fabricated terminations. I firmly believe in the saying “what goes around comes around” and the workers will have their day in court !! Lastly, this is the number one reason why workers in this country need to have laws that protect their rights and it is imperitive that the Employees Free Choice Act get passed.
I think the owners and board members of George Weston Bakeries have stood back and watched what is happening at their Interbake, Front Royal, Va. facility long enough and it is time for them not to look the other way, hoping this mess their management has caused will go away, but to step forward and do the right thing and to allow their workers the right to organize and to be treated fairly and with dignity and not be harrassed and threatened on the job.
I hope this is not the way George Weston Bakeries Corp feels that all their workers should be treated in the future.
This is just one of many reasons the Employees Free Choice Act must be passed.