Second Election at Georgia Tire Plant Successful After Company’s Illegal Union Busting
Workers at the Kumho Tire factory in Macon, Ga., voted in September for USW representation, nearly two years after an initial vote was marred by the company’s numerous violations of workers’ rights.
While some legal hurdles remain before the election results are official, the initial vote count showed 141 votes for the union and 137 against, with 13 challenged ballots still to be resolved.
About 325 workers would be in the USW bargaining unit at Kumho.
“Kumho spent thousands upon thousands of dollars and used every trick in the book to fight its own workers, including suspending a union activist who was eight months pregnant. Still, solidarity prevailed,” said District 9 Director Daniel Flippo. “We look forward to resolving these challenges as quickly as possible so that these workers can finally have the chance to sit down with the company and bargain a fair contract.”
An administrative law judge issued an order in May for a new vote at the Kumho factory after finding that company officials violated workers’ rights during the first election in October 2017.
Following that initial vote, which resulted in a narrow defeat for the union, the USW filed charges with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) accusing the company of illegal conduct in its effort to suppress the union.
In his ruling, Administrative Law Judge Arthur J. Amchan wrote that the company’s illegal conduct was “pervasive” and that it warranted not only a new election, but the “extraordinary” remedy of requiring company officials to read a notice to employees outlining all of Kumho’s violations.
Kumho’s violations, Amchan said, included illegally interrogating employees, threatening to fire union supporters, threatening plant closure, and creating an impression of surveillance, among other threats to workers.
“Too often companies try to bully and intimidate workers who simply want to exercise their right to bargain collectively,” said International President Thomas M. Conway. “That is simply a losing strategy. Rather than fighting their own workers, employers should work with them to build a better future for everyone.”
In addition to its violations of workers’ rights, Kumho has also been fined for numerous health and safety hazards following an inspection by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).
OSHA said a recent inspection showed that workers were at risk for falls, burns and amputations as well as chemical and electroshock hazards. The agency fined Kumho more than $507,000 and put the company into a “Severe Violator Enforcement Program” for “willful, repeated, or failure-to-abate” violations.