Historical Society layoffs draw outrage, charges from union

July 19, 2024 by

Union members rallied behind their co-workers at MNHS who were laid off June 28.

Newly unionized workers at the Minnesota Historical Society are pushing back against a round of layoffs at the nonprofit, filing charges with the National Labor Relations Board that accuse management of targeting their member-organizers and failing to bargain impacts of the workforce cuts.

At a rally June 28 outside the Minnesota History Center in St. Paul, union members offered support to seven colleagues laid off earlier in the week, and they blasted CEO Kent Whitworth – who walked through the gathering of workers – for balancing the organization’s budget on the backs of frontline staff.

“They say the budget cuts are about planning for the future,” MNHS worker Allie Mitchem said. “Where are you going to get workers if you keep treating us like this?”

Five of the laid-off workers were members of the bargaining unit, and two were from management. All were “intrinsic to the visitor experience and dedicated to their jobs,” according to the MNHS Workers Union, an affiliate of AFSCME Council 5.

Alex Weston, a former program associate laid off by MNHS in June, addressed supporters outside the History Center.

Together, the seven employees had given over 100 years of service to the organization.

But the layoffs came with just two-days notice – and a demand that workers sign away their recall rights, laid out in the union contract, as a tradeoff for severance pay and job coaching.

“I was informed at 11 a.m. on Tuesday that my last day was Friday, and I was ordered to take the remaining time off because they didn’t want me talking to my co-workers, as if my disappearing would just go unnoticed,” Alex Weston, a former program associate, said.

Weston had worked at MNHS for 19 years. Two other program associates laid off in June had given over 20 years to the organization.

Colin Dunn, president of the MNHS Workers Union, said the timing of the layoffs was puzzling, given that MNHS had 14 active job postings at the time. He also noted that the MNHS employee handbook says the organization will give workers two weeks’ notice, in writing, before their position is eliminated.

“They seem to view us as easily expendable, and that’s just so disappointing,” Dunn said. “These are people who are writing interpretive programming. There’s an educational background you need to have, there’s experience you gain over time to know what it’s like to interact with people on historical tours, what you can offer them to expand their horizons while also being entertaining.”

The union announced July 16 that its pushback had drawn a response from MNHS leaders.

“Management is open to discussing the separation terms, and the union is entering into the conversation in good faith and with the hope of finding a cooperative solution,” the statement said.

– Michael Moore, Union Advocate editor

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Museum workers rally public support for contract campaign

April 23, 2024 by

Science Museum of Minnesota workers supported their union’s bargaining team during an informational picket and rally outside the museum in St. Paul.

Union members at the Science Museum of Minnesota tapped into a well of solidarity during their contract rally April 2, pulling support from hundreds of fellow AFSCME Council 5 members taking part in a convention across the street.

Together, they turned Kellogg Avenue’s sidewalk into a river of AFSCME’s trademark green, holding informational picketing to demand museum management pick up the pace in negotiations over a first union contract for the newly formed bargaining unit of over 200 workers.

“It’s been a real slog,” Gretchen Haupt, a member of the Science Museum of Minnesota Workers Union, said. “But the small gains we have gotten usually come after some action or public pressure. That’s why we’re out here today.”

When Haupt and other museum workers voted to unionize in January 2023, they cited a need for pay transparency, fair grievance and disciplinary processes, and compensation increases to reflect their skill levels and experience. The union’s bargaining team has turned those issues into more than 20 contract proposals over the course of negotiations that began over eight months ago.

Getting management to counter their proposals, though, has taken as long as five months. And when they do get a response, Haupt said, it’s usually unproductive.

“They laughed, actually, at our initial pay scale proposal,” she said. “But they still haven’t said what they would rather have, other than the way it is now. It’s really disheartening.”

[Show your solidarity! Supporters can sign a petition calling on the Science Museum to stop committing unfair labor practices and settle a fair contract.]

During the rally, Science Museum workers described a growing frustration among their ranks. Several speakers wondered how the nonprofit could claim, in its statement of values, a commitment “to achieve collective liberation” while showing such disdain for collective bargaining.

For Megan Goeke, an evaluation and research associate, the frustration has been building for some time. She has been stuck at the bottom of the recommended pay range – or lower – for her job classification since accepting her current role with the Science Museum six years ago. As she gained experience and moved closer to her doctoral degree, Goeke asked for a pay increase, but management refused, keeping her at the bottom of the pay scale.

“I love my work, and I truly believe in the vision and impact the Science Museum of Minnesota has on our community,” Goeke said. “When I decided to go into nonprofit museum work, I knew I wouldn’t see the biggest paycheck in town, but what I didn’t know is that my pay would forever be limited by my initial pay.”

Her message to museum management: “I’ve experienced my share of delays. Let’s see some action.”

But instead of working swiftly toward a first contract, Science Museum management has been engaging in unfair labor practices, according to 12 separate complaints filed by Council 5 with the National Labor Relations Board since workers voted to unionize.

The NLRB has upheld three charges, and others remain pending. Many of the complaints allege that the museum has made unilateral changes to benefits and working conditions – and even layoffs – without engaging the union.

Bart Anderson, Council 5’s interim executive director, said Science Museum bosses seem to believe that ignoring their workers’ union will make it go away. In fact, he said, it’s only going to bring more public pressure on the museum.

“AFSCME Council 5, our union of more than 43,000 workers, is standing firm on our commitment to support our Science Museum of Minnesota members every day as they fight to secure a first contract that respects the rights, contributions and dignity of all workers,” he said.

By sticking together as a bargaining unit and rallying public support to their campaign, union members at the museum believe they have the formula to achieve a fair first contract, Haupt said.

“It’s not just a small group of people who are at the bargaining table, we have broad internal support,” she said. “And today we’re showing we have broad community support, too.”

– Michael Moore, Union Advocate editor

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Bussin’ baristas take Starbucks union campaign on road

July 10, 2023 by

Starbucks workers launched their bus tour a block from the Capitol in St. Paul.

Set to embark on a nationwide tour to pressure Starbucks into bargaining in good faith with their union, members of Starbucks Workers United rallied today in St. Paul with labor activists, community supporters and U.S. Rep. Betty McCollum, who encouraged the baristas to keep up their fight for a union contract.

“I know firsthand the courage it’s taken to do what you’re doing today, and I salute you for it,” said McCollum, who represents Minnesota’s 4th Congressional District.

Workers at over 300 Starbucks locations nationwide, including six in the Twin Cities, have voted to unionize with the Service Employees (SEIU) affiliate since December 2021. None of them has a contract yet.

In Minnesota, bargaining committees from three stores – including the location at 300 Snelling in St. Paul – have held negotiating sessions, but the company’s representatives walked out of each meeting in less than five minutes, according to union members.

Rather than negotiate with its union, Starbucks has cut hours, closed unionized stores and intimidated workers – all textbook union-busting tactics, Wisconsin barista Charles Poulter said.

“It is my opinion that the Starbucks corporation intends to ignore this union to death,” Poulter said during a press conference outside a coach bus emblazoned with union logos and slogans. “They will slash hours until every union partner is forced to move on. And when they bargain with us, they will not bargain in good faith.”

Rep. Betty McCollum encouraged Starbucks workers to keep up their contract campaign.

Their union has appealed – successfully in most cases – to the National Labor Relations Board to force Starbucks to reinstate fired workers, reopen closed stores and bargain in good faith.

Workers United says 19 of 20 decisions handed down by the NLRB have been favorable for the union, with the agency finding Starbucks has committed 194 labor law violations. Another 77 complaints, encompassing over 1,300 alleged violations, are still pending.

But as the NLRB process plays out, union members are hoping to ramp up public pressure on the corporation with a summer road trip, building solidarity among workers at unionized stores, encouraging others to join and calling out members of Starbucks’ board of directors – like Beth Ford, president and CEO of Arden Hills-based Land O’Lakes Inc.

Minneapolis barista Rev Beeby called Workers United’s bus tour a “new, big counteroffensive” in the contract campaign.

“We’re highlighting the victories we’ve had and the new stores that have organized, and we’re going directly to the board of directors and telling them to negotiate,” Beeby said. “Starbucks is scared of us. They know they’re losing, and they know that once we win a strong contract, even more workers will be inspired to join and organize and exercise their power.”

Locally, union baristas have shut down several stores with short-term strikes, protesting unfair labor practices, the company’s failure to bargain and short staffing in their cafes.

Workers at the 300 Snelling location have been on strike five times since forming a union in April 2022. The St. Anthony location saw picketing June 28 in response to allegations that Starbucks banned some LGBTQ Pride Month decorations.

With the bus tour, dubbed “The Union Is Calling,” Starbucks workers plan to extend those worksite actions to a larger public audience.

“By going on tour, these Starbucks workers are raising the stakes and escalating their fight, and Minnesota’s labor movement stands in solidarity with the thousands of Starbucks workers who are fighting for their right to form a union across the country,” St. Paul Regional Labor Federation President Kera Peterson said.

After the kickoff event at the Minnesota AFL-CIO’s offices in St. Paul, Starbucks workers traveled to Land O’Lakes headquarters, where they called on Ford to oppose union busting at Starbucks. Later this morning the bus stopped outside two non-union stores, where union members distributed campaign materials.

The bus leaving from St. Paul will wind its way to Buffalo, NY, where workers made history in forming the first union at a corporate-owned store in the U.S. Another bus tour is scheduled to launch later this week on the west coast, with union members traveling to the company’s headquarters in Seattle.

Supporters can follow the tour online.

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St. Paul baristas to Starbucks: ‘We’re not going away’

May 19, 2023 by

Baristas at the Starbucks on Snelling and Stanford avenues in St. Paul went on strike for the fourth time since winning their union election a year ago.

Workers at Minnesota’s first unionized Starbucks store, at Snelling and Stanford avenues in St. Paul, went on strike for a fourth time April 27 – on the one-year anniversary of their historic union election – after management unlawfully removed their union bulletin board.

Workers on the picket line said the bulletin-board stunt is emblematic of Starbucks’ do-nothing approach to labor relations since a wave of successful union drives began sweeping across the country 18 months ago.

Pulling down a union bulletin board isn’t just disrespectful – it’s illegal, too.

But breaking labor law has become the norm for Starbucks’ since the union organizing spree began. The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), through its regional offices, has issued over 80 official complaints against Starbucks, alleging over 1,400 charges of unfair labor practices since late 2021. The charges include illegal surveillance of workers, firing union supporters and failing to bargain in good faith.

Workers at Minnesota’s six unionized shops can attest to Starbucks’ failure to bargain.

The company’s representatives walked out of separate meetings with bargaining teams from St. Paul and unionized locations in St. Anthony and Minneapolis after just five minutes – and has refused to meet since.

Workers chalked the union’s logo onto the sidewalk outside the store.

The same scene has played out in over 100 bargaining sessions nationwide, according to Starbucks Workers United.

“Recently, a (district manager) came in to the store, and she asked if I needed anything from her,” barista Graciela Nira said. “I told her I needed some bargaining dates.”

“It’s been a year and we still haven’t had any bargaining sessions that Starbucks has shown up to,” another barista, who requested anonymity, said. “They have refused to release benefits to our store that they’ve released to other stores. They’ve cut down our hours so that we’re extremely short staffed, more so than since I’ve been here. And then they took down our union board.”

The NLRB process is grinding, but Nira, who serves on the union’s national bargaining committee, said she is hopeful it will push Starbucks back to the bargaining table.

Meanwhile, baristas around the country are continuing to organize with Starbucks Workers United, which now represents some 8,000 workers at over 300 U.S. locations.

The national union recently released a list of its contract demands. They include a $20 starting wage, with cost-of-living adjustments for baristas in high-cost areas.

The union also says it will bargain for grievance procedures, employer-paid health insurance with mental-health coverage, consistent schedules, higher staffing levels and more.

On the picket line in St. Paul, workers said staffing is at the top of their concerns. Their bargaining unit had 20 members when workers petitioned for a union election a year ago. Now it’s down to 12.

Nira was one of two baristas who clocked into work at 5 a.m. April 27. Two hours later, as the store was set to open, about 20 co-workers, customers and community supporters showed up in solidarity as they walked off the job.

It was the first strike at the St. Paul location that involved a walkout, and union members said they pulled it together in about 48 hours.

“We just want to sit down and bargain,” Nira added.

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Teamsters cite ‘shady business practices’ at Finish Line Express

December 2, 2016 by
web-lme-teamsters-scene

Former Lakeville Motor Express employees and supporters rally outside Maple Grove-based Finish Line Express, which workers say absorbed LME’s business.

MAPLE GROVE – Heartbreaking, gutless and dishonest were among the ways workers, union leaders and high-ranking elected officials described a Roseville trucking firm’s decision to withhold pay from 90 members of Teamsters Local 120 after abruptly closing the week of Thanksgiving.

Out-of-work Teamsters staged a rally last night outside Finish Line Express, a Maple Grove-based trucking company that, workers allege, has absorbed Lakeville Motor Express’ business since it abruptly closed shop Nov. 20. Local 120 President Tom Erickson said the closure was “surgically done” to shake off the union’s contract more than a year before it is set to expire.

“The same management team that was over in Roseville is exactly the same management team that is in that place,” Erickson said, pointing to Finish Line Express.

Local 120’s officers pledged a campaign to raise awareness of Finish Line’s “shady business practices,” particularly among the company’s clients. They include John Deere, 3M, Land ‘o Lakes and Toro – which, not coincidentally, are many of the same clients Lakeville Motor Express served.

“Every day we’re going up and down this street, trying to find these customers and divert them in a different direction,” Erickson said. “That’s the only way we’re going to win this thing.”

Meanwhile, state officials are pursuing wages owed to workers locked out of their jobs by LME. Lieutenant Gov. Tina Smith, who likened the company’s behavior to “stealing,” said the Department of Labor and Industry has filed six claims on behalf of former LME employees already.

“And I suspect there will be more,” Smith said.

Steve Satterlee said he doesn’t know how he’ll afford medication for his wife, Wanda, who is disabled.
Teamsters Local 120 “passed the hat” to support out-of-work LME drivers.
Lisa and Shane Thompson, pictured with their two sons, are both looking for work since Shane found himself out of a job three days before Thanksgiving.

Several former LME workers described having their lives turned upside down by the company’s sudden decision to pick up and, allegedly, move to Maple Grove without them.

“I spent 14 years here, and now I’m left with no insurance for my family, no paychecks,” Shane Thompson of Braham said, standing next to his wife, Lisa, and their two sons. “It kind of hurt. It’s been kind of a struggle.”

For both Roger Nelson of White Bear Lake and Steve Satterlee of Cottage Grove, there could not have been a worse time to lose their family health insurance coverage. Nelson’s wife faces surgery, and Satterlee’s relies on expensive medication to live a “normal life” with a disability.

“These people don’t (care) about your hardships or my hardships,” Satterlee said of Finish Line management. “They don’t (care) about anybody but themselves. That’s why they’re going this to us.”

Smith pledged assistance for workers navigating the state’s unemployment insurance system, and she said LME could face penalties if it refuses to comply with orders to pay back wages.

“I want the people in these buildings to understand that they cannot just get away with this,” she said.

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Photos: Picket lines go up as 5,000 Allina nurses begin strike

June 19, 2016 by
Nurses and supporters picketed outside United Hospital in St. Paul.

Nurses and supporters picketed outside United Hospital in St. Paul.

Nearly 5,000 nurses employed by Allina Health began a seven-day strike this morning, setting up picket lines outside five metro-area facilities.

In downtown St. Paul, well over 200 nurses and their supporters blanketed the sidewalk outside United Hospital in red, the Minnesota Nurses Association’s official color. Picketers put up cheers as nurses finishing the night shift walked out of the facility and onto the strike line.

“To see this many nurses on the outside, you know something is wrong on the inside,” United labor and delivery nurse Christine Hicks said.

Nurses are standing together to defend their affordable, quality health insurance plans. Since contract talks began in February, Allina has refused to budge from its demand that nurses give up four union-sponsored insurance options and transition into “core” plans that cover most of Allina’s other employees.

“We hear a lot of our co-workers complaining about those plans,” United physical rehabilitation nurse Barbara Slagg said. “Some insurance plans seem cheaper until you actually access the care. Then you pay huge amounts out of pocket.”

Slagg, whose unit at the hospital has been shut down for the duration of the strike, said union negotiators have been unable to gain access to the information necessary to adequately compare Allina’s core plans to the MNA options. She also said Allina refused to bargain over nurses’ staffing and safety concerns “until we complied with their demand to give up our insurance.”

In response, the union filed charges of unfair labor practices with the National Labor Relations board. Under federal law, union members can engage in an unfair labor practice strike without fear of retaliation. The nurses’ employment is protected under federal law.

“It hasn’t been a negotiation,” Hicks said. “Allina has held other issues hostage until we give in on the insurance.”

Nurses are also on strike at Unity, Abbott-Northwestern and Mercy hospitals, as well as Phillips Eye Institute.

Supporters are welcome ­– and appreciated – on the picket line, according to the union. MNA has posted a sign-up form for picketers at allinastrike.com.

Nurses are also asking supporters to sign onto a petition asking to Allina to drop its efforts to shift $10 million in health care costs onto nurses and their families. The petition is online at nursesneedcare2.com.

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Striking janitors: ‘We do the dirty work, we deserve a better wage’

February 17, 2016 by

web.Local26-strike.msp1

Union janitors are setting up picket lines across the Twin Cities today, raising the stakes in their fight to win a $15 minimum wage and address alarming workload issues.

The one-day strike over unfair labor practices will impact nearly 200 office buildings in the area before the day is done, according to Local 26 of the Service Employees International Union, which represents about 4,000 janitors in contract negotiations.

Although employed by several different cleaning contractors, members of Local 26 work inside the offices of the state’s corporate elite, including Medtronic, U.S. Bank, 3M and United Health Group.

The day’s first picket line popped up at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport. Janitors marched and chanted slogans in several languages outside the drop-off area at Terminal 1.

Terry Groce, third from left, walks the picket line with other MSP Airport janitors.

Terry Groce, third from left, walks the picket line with other MSP Airport janitors.

Terry Groce, whose duties include waxing floors and separating compostable waste from garbage, said his wages haven’t kept pace with his ever-increasing workload during the two years he’s worked at MSP.

“We do more than people see to make the airport look good,” said Groce, who earns $14.80 per hour. “We do the dirty work. We work with chemicals. We work hard, and we deserve a better wage.”

Groce isn’t the only janitor being asked to do more without getting paid more. Reductions in the Twin Cities’ janitorial workforce over the last decade have created dangerous, backbreaking conditions in the industry, with many janitors cleaning the equivalent of 20 homes in one night on the job, according to a report released last month.

It’s dangerous work, too. Building-cleaning and maintenance occupations had the highest rate of lost time due to work-related injury or illness in Minnesota during 2014.

Janitors are seeking several gains in contract negotiations to remedy the workload crisis, including a greater voice over staffing levels and safety procedures, in addition to wages and health benefits that reflect the work’s dangerous and stressful nature.

Union janitors walk a picket line outside the Securian building in downtown St. Paul.

Union janitors walk a picket line outside the Securian building in downtown St. Paul.

Brahim Kone, who cleans the Minnesota Department of Human Services’ offices in St. Paul, said Local 26’s previous contract included language stipulating that employers would not put “unreasonable” workload demands on janitors.

“But what’s unreasonable?” asked Kone, a Maplewood resident who has worked as a janitor for the last 15 years.

“We need the language to be something solid, something specific. Otherwise the (contractors) will just keep increasing and increasing and increasing. I’ve seen it over and over again.”

Janitors’ previous contract expired at the end of 2015, and talks between to the two sides began in October 2015. According to the union, cleaning contractors have refused to address the workload crisis, instead offering a contract that would leave nearly half of the union’s members earning below $15.

Negotiations are scheduled to resume Monday.

“We’re out here showing the bosses that we’re serious, that we want them to do the right thing,” Kone said.

Non-union janitors in the Twin Cities, members of the worker center CTUL, plan a strike of their own tomorrow.

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In victory for staff, charter acknowledges workers’ union rights – in three languages

October 6, 2015 by
Community School of Excellence is a charter school focused on Hmong language and culture in St. Paul's North End.

Community School of Excellence is a charter school focused on Hmong language and culture in St. Paul’s North End.

Staff at Community School of Excellence in St. Paul, still fighting for a first contract more than a year after organizing their union, have compelled Superintendent Mo Chang to acknowledge her administration infringed on workers’ legally protected rights on the job.

The admission comes in a notice to all employees, signed by Chang, affirming CSE employees’ legally protected rights to union representation and to engage in collective action for better wages and working conditions.

Posted Friday in English, Hmong and Karenni, the notice (view PDF) reiterates for staff members of all cultural backgrounds “that the federal government and the National Labor Relations Act are advocating for them,” CSE teacher Eric Johnson said.

CSE, located in St. Paul’s North End neighborhood, is a charter school focused on Hmong language and culture. About 100 teachers and other staff members voted in June 2014 to join the Federation of Charter School Employees, an affiliate of Education Minnesota.

“I don’t know many other situations where you’ve got notices like this to employees in these specific Southeast Asian languages,” Johnson added. “It’s a step forward in educating a variety of immigrant groups about how unionization can help them.”

CSE agreed to post the notice as part of a settlement agreement stemming from charges of unfair labor practices filed by CSE employees last winter. The Minneapolis regional office of the National Labor Relations Board approved the settlement last month.

The notice references interactions between workers and management last school year, after employees voted to unionize, and it provides a glimpse into the backlash workers faced for publicly supporting the organizing drive. For example:

“We will not threaten employees that their comments are appalling because they exercise their right to discuss or protest working conditions with employees, or because they publicize labor disputes at meetings with third parties.”

As part of the settlement, CSE agreed to “engage in further training” on workers’ rights under federal law, provided by the Minneapolis branch of the NLRB. And the district rescinded disciplinary actions against four pro-union employees, including Johnson, who is now president of the Federation of Charter School Employees.

“Because a lot of the events coincided with unionization, including reprimands of union leadership, we felt these things were all just too coincidental and seemed to be retaliatory,” Johnson said. “But as a union these issues now have been resolved, and we look forward to negotiating a first contract with the school.”

The two sides have held six negotiating sessions, and they plan to meet regularly until reaching a tentative agreement, according to Johnson.

CSE is one of two unionized charter schools in St. Paul. Teachers at the Twin Cities German Immersion School, who voted for union representation in January 2014, approved a first contract earlier this school year.

When union members at CSE have a tentative agreement of their own to vote on, Johnson said, “we’ll continue to legitimize charter school unions in Minnesota.”

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Law judge rules North Memorial violated labor law, orders hospital to reinstate fired worker

September 8, 2015 by

NLRBNorth Memorial Medical Center illegally fired one worker and unlawfully attempted to block others from participating in a campaign to fight staffing cuts and protect patient safety at the Robbinsdale hospital, an administrative law judge ruled Friday.

Acting on behalf of the National Labor Relations Board, Judge Christine Dibble upheld charges of unfair labor practices filed by two unions, the Minnesota Nurses Association and SEIU Healthcare Minnesota, and she ordered North Memorial to reinstate Melvin Anderson, an SEIU member fired after joining informational picketing outside the hospital in June 2014, with back pay.

“By giving him his job back and paying back pay for the time they took from him, this ruling shows that workers can stand up for what is right for patients and workers and not have to fear for their job,” SEIU Healthcare Minnesota President Jamie Gulley said. “Melvin, and all of the members of SEIU and MNA who continue to stand up for patient safety, should take pride that this ruling only reinforces their fight.”

Members of the two unions staged informational picketing June 26, 2014, after hospital management moved unilaterally to cut staffing among nurses, dietary aides, housekeepers and other support workers. The cuts, workers said, made it more difficult for them to provide the quality of care North Memorial’s patients deserve.

Union nurses and health care workers picketed outside North Memorial June 26.

Union nurses and health care workers picketed outside North Memorial June 26.

Management took action to block union organizers and officers from talking with members in the days before informational picketing, calling security guards to escort two union representatives off the property and forcing an off-duty nurse to change out of a union t-shirt.

Those actions, Dibble ruled, amount to an unlawful infringement on workers’ right to engage in “protected, concerted activity” regarding the terms and conditions of their employment, as enshrined in the National Labor Relations Act.

“We are pleased that the Board has vindicated our rights to represent our union and recognized the injustice of the employer’s attempt to harass and intimidate legitimate union activity,” MNA representative Joe McMahon said.

Specifically, the ruling confirmed that workers are entitled to have conversations with union staff or stewards in public areas – like a hospital’s cafeteria – free from intimidation or surveillance. Employers may not deny union representatives access to their property unless they are being disruptive, and employers may not prohibit union members or representatives from displaying union logos.

In addition to reinstating Anderson with back pay, the ruling requires North Memorial to post on its bulletin boards that it has committed the unfair labor practices and will halt them immediately.

North Memorial may file an exception to Dibble’s ruling. If no timely exception is filed, her findings become the NLRB’s official decision.

Read the full ruling here.

Read the Union Advocate’s report on the safe staffing campaign at North Memorial.

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Tim Mackey: Laborers fought physical machine testing – and won

July 2, 2015 by
Laborers Local 563 Business Manager Tim Mackey

Laborers Local 563 Business Manager Tim Mackey

On June 30, Laborers Local 563 won its federal court case to enforce an arbitration award that stopped an employer from using a physical machine test to screen members. The union believes that this type of test has nothing to do with the ability to do the work and may unfairly exclude people who have disabilities or past work injuries, women and older employees. The employer, Ramsey Excavating Company, imposed the test without giving the union notice or an opportunity to bargain.

The physical machine test used by the employer measures the strength of an isolated muscle group – such as one arm or one leg – at a constant rate of speed, and within a specific range of motion. The test does not, however, evaluate body mechanics, experience-based judgment or technique used to perform essential job functions.

In other words, the test does not measure whether an employee has what it takes to perform the practical skills of the job.

As soon as the union found out about the employer’s unilateral imposition of the physical machine test in early April 2013, Local 563 filed a grievance and an unfair labor practice charge with the National Labor Relations Board on behalf of all affected members. The union aggressively pursued the grievance and held a two-day arbitration hearing on May 5 and 6, 2014.

While arbitrating the grievance in early May 2014, Local 563 discovered that other employers had unilaterally imposed the same physical machine test. The union immediately filed grievances and unfair labor practice charges against those additional employers. In response, each of the employers agreed to stop using the test immediately and not to use it ever again unless a court ruled that the test is not discriminatory.

In addition, and with support from Local 563, a female member over the age of 40 who was denied work because of a physical machine test, filed civil rights charges on behalf of all affected employees regarding use of the test. The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission is currently investigating those class-wide discrimination charges, which have been filed against the employer, the testing company (Cost Reduction Technologies, LLC) and the test administrator (Minnesota Occupational Health).

On Nov. 18, 2014, the arbitrator decided the union’s grievance in favor of the union and against the employer. In particular, the arbitrator ordered the employer to stop using a physical machine test immediately. On Dec. 20, 2014, the arbitrator again sided with Local 563 by denying the employer’s petition to modify the arbitration award.

The employer then filed suit in federal court in an attempt to vacate the arbitration award. Local 563 countersued to enforce the arbitration award. After considering the submissions and argument of the employer and of the union, the federal court entered judgment in favor of Local 563 and enforced the arbitration award.

We will continue to stand strong against the use of physical machine tests in its bargaining units. If members of other unions have been subjected to a similar test, we encourage them to contact their business agent immediately to address the issue. Working together, we all can help to ensure that no one is unfairly denied work because of these tests.

– Tim Mackey is business manager of Local 563 of the Laborers International Union of North America (LIUNA). Local 563 members work in the construction industry across Minnesota and North Dakota. Learn more at http://www.local563.org.

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