Contact: Joe Smydo, jsmydo@usw.org, 412-562-2281
Workers at Kumho Tire in Macon, Ga., today welcomed a National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) decision certifying their vote to join the United Steelworkers (USW).
The certification of election results by Lisa Y. Henderson, the NLRB’s Region 10 acting director, requires Kumho to immediately sit down with the workers and negotiate a first contract.
“I want to congratulate these union members for staying the course when Kumho tried every reprehensible stunt possible to break their morale and thwart the organizing drive,” said USW District 9 Director Daniel Flippo, who represents Steelworkers in seven southern states and the U.S. Virgin Islands. “Instead of wasting money to fight workers’ free choice to organize, Kumho could have used those funds to enhance workplace safety and provide a fair contract.
“Now, because of their persistence, these workers will have a voice in the workplace and the strength to fight for better wages and working conditions,” Flippo added. “And they’ll have the backing of the USW, the largest tire union in the United States.”
After Kumho illegally interfered in a 2017 election, the NLRB found the company committed “numerous and egregious” unfair labor practices over the course of its anti-union campaign. Then, in a separate 2019 election, workers voted to join the USW. Kumho delayed the certification of election results by filing numerous frivolous objections, the last of which Henderson dismissed Wednesday.
“We encourage the company to recognize the workers’ vote and the government’s certification of the results,” Flippo said. “It’s time for Kumho to sit down and negotiate with its workers on the issues that face them during this most challenging time.”
The USW represents 850,000 men and women employed in metals, mining, pulp and paper, rubber, chemicals, glass, auto supply and the energy-producing industries, along with a growing number of workers in public sector and service occupations.