Jan. 7, 2011:NWLP
1/4/11
9:59 AM
Page 12
Introducing B U S T E D ! a new regular feature
Every month for the last 11 years,
the Northwest Labor Press has re-
quested and received two sets of
documents from National Labor Re-
lations Board Subregion 36. That of-
fice is supposed to protect the union
rights of workers in Oregon and
Southwest Washington.
BUSTED!
A sampler of recent charges of employer labor law violations filed
with the local office of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB).
Best Buy fires pro-union workers, one by one
At Best Buy stores in Oregon, a group of 24 home theater system
installers tried in late 2009 to join International Brotherhood of
Electrical Workers Local 48. But the big-box electronics retailer
brought in anti-union lawyers and consultants. The result: A day be-
fore the scheduled union vote, Local 48 acknowledged it had lost
the majority, and withdrew its election request. Seven months later,
on June 6, 2010, Best Buy fired Joseph Van Hoosen, an installer
who had actively campaigned for the union. Sean Ellis was next,
fired on June 22. Brian Sullivan was the third, fired Sept. 3. All
three supported the union, and were fired for what they say are
phony reasons. Last month they filed charges against Best Buy,
and are represented by Lake Oswego trial lawyer Roger Hennagin.
Union members need not apply
Information in documents about
union elections mostly ends up in
our monthly “Local Motion” fea-
ture. And information from docu-
ments about unfair labor practices
— as violations of the National La-
bor Relations Act are called —
sometimes tips us off to workplace
conflicts that end up reported in this
paper.
But most of the unfair labor prac-
tice charges have gone unreported.
Our small staff and limited space are
not up to the task of reporting the
nearly 200 charges a year that are
being filed by workers and unions in
Oregon and Southwest Washington.
So we’ve decided to publish a
sampler of the more interesting and
outrageous cases, in order that our
readers may see what we see: ram-
pant day-to-day employer violations
of labor law, workers fired for exer-
cising their rights, and managers
threatening, spying on, and punish-
ing pro-union employees. Our hope
is that this will give Labor Press
readers a fuller picture of what’s go-
ing on — and that they will some-
times reach out to help their fellow
workers — and let employers know
they can’t operate in the dark for-
ever.
‘American Made’
in the Northwest
Mon-Fri 9:30-7:30 Sat 9:30-5:30 Sun 12-6
Why spend money crushing a union campaign when you can just
avoid hiring pro-union workers in the first place? Johnson Crush-
ers International, a nonunion Eugene mining equipment manufac-
turer with about 200 workers, is accused by United Steelworkers
of breaking the law by refusing to hire or consider hiring two
welders because of their union past.
Boss grabs contract out of steward’s hands
UNITE HERE Local 9 shop steward Melissa Goff works room
service at the Portland Hilton Hotel & Executive Tower. On Nov.
1, she saw Sonny Superana, a steward from another union, in the
employee break room reading his Operating Engineers Local 701
contract. He lent it to her so she could compare it to her Local 9 con-
tract. Later, manager Florian Kunkel saw the Local 701 contract and
demanded to know where she got it. That’s confidential information,
he told her, and she had no business reading it. When she refused to
hand it over, he grabbed it out of her hands. “I was in shock,” Goff
tells the Labor Press. “He’s twice as big as me, and he’s the boss. I
knew it wasn’t right, but wasn’t 100 percent sure.” The NLRB
should have an easy time with this one. Workers have the right under
federal law to talk, compare notes, and share contracts if they want
to, and no manager can order them to stay divided.
Managers panic: Stewards talking to members!
Avamere nursing home in Hillsboro has ordered stewards not to
post materials or talk with employees in the break room, only in the
conference room. They would need to negotiate that change with
Service Employees International Union Local 503, the union
charges.
Vacation any time … except most of the year
Oregon Child Development Coalition, a network of child care
centers, announced a new vacation policy: Nobody can take any for
nine months — from September to June. Previously, the “black-
out” dates were two months. But they didn’t bargain the new policy
with Laborers Local 320, and thus broke the law, the union
charges.
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NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS
JANUARY 7, 2011