On April 8th, the Denver regional office of the Federal Labor Relations Authority (FLRA) confirmed that NFFE-IAM had won an election to represent over 110 federal employees at the U.S. Department of Agriculture Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) Animal Care Program. The new unit is mostly veterinarians and animal welfare inspectors tasked with monitoring the wellbeing of animals used in commercial and research settings. NFFE-IAM was overwhelmingly elected as their exclusive representative with a winning tally of 80 to 3. APHIS workers also voted to merge into a single bargaining unit from two, a show of strength in numbers to help with future bargaining. The Agency indicated no objection to the election result clearing the way for FLRA to certify it in the coming weeks.
Animal Care Program employees expressed considerable concerns about the work environment at USDA including improper treatment by leadership, unfair hiring practices against older workers, unanticipated and invasive policy implementation without proper input from the field, and work-life balance inequalities.
“I’m ecstatic about Animal Care becoming part of the NFFE family,” said Dr. Pamela Smith, a Veterinary Medical Officer in the newly-formed unit. “It’s exciting that my coworkers have overwhelmingly supported joining NFFE, and I am looking forward to all of us working together to move Animal Care toward a better future.”
NFFE-IAM Midwest Business Representative Amanda Booher will assist the new unit with its charter and training new Local leaders on employee representation and union stewardship. The NFFE Legal Department is working to establish a bargaining strategy in preparation for the local’s first contract.
“We are very excited to welcome our new sisters and brothers from Animal Care into our Union,” said NFFE National President/DBR Randy Erwin. “This group overcame so much adversity just trying to organize a union during the pandemic, but they persevered and earned a decisive victory for the workers in their agency. Now we go to work to get a contract and build their Local to even greater numbers. I’m excited to see all of the wonderful accomplishments awaiting this new local.”
One of the most valuable benefits a union member receives is protection from unjust discipline. Often members do not realize the value of this until they have become the subject of unfair discipline.
In March, one of our members at Boeing, who was a victim of an unjust termination, had his situation vindicated. This member’s termination was reversed after our Union filed a grievance to challenge the unjust discipline and took the case all the way through arbitration.
The arbiter agreed with our Union and ruled the termination was not for just cause. The arbiter’s decision not only reversed the unjust termination, but brought our member back to work without loss of seniority and provided him full back pay and benefits (minus a five-day suspension). Just as important, the decision provided him an opportunity to continue his career at Boeing.
The arbiter noted a five-day suspension was more appropriate and provided our member the opportunity to correct his behavior (which is the purpose of progressive discipline) since management had not given clear instructions about what behavior needed to be changed and why.
After a thorough investigation, our union concluded this was an unjust termination that didn’t follow Boeing’s own procedures, the principles of just cause or the process laid out in our contract. Despite pointing this out to Boeing numerous times, Boeing refused to reverse firing this member. Therefore, our union escalated the matter to arbitration where an impartial third party reviewed the facts and determined the termination was unjust discipline. Credit goes to 751 attorney Spencer Thal, Grievance Coordinator Dan Swank and Business Rep Rod Sigvartson (as well as past Business Rep Greg Campos who originally brought the grievance forward for arbitration).
This case confirms that union members are no longer “at-will employees,” which means a company must not only show just cause for termination, but must follow progressive discipline called out in very specific contract language. The ruling also confirms that discipline is meant to allow an employee the chance to correct their behavior once they are aware their behavior is not acceptable. Discipline must also be fair and consistent or the union can challenge it through the grievance and arbitration system.
“This is a good example of why having rights on the job is important and just how valuable those rights are. Without a union, a worker is simply at their employer’s will and can be disciplined or fired for any or no reason,” said Business Rep Rod Sigvartson.
“Our staff attorney Spencer Thal does a great job ensuring our members’ rights are protected. Having him on staff, we can more readily challenge unjust discipline and our Union has been taking considerably more cases to arbitration. Spencer often has four or more separate arbitration cases in a month, in addition to his other work,” said District 751 President Jon Holden. “Only by having union representation can workers have a voice in their wages, hours and working conditions.”
“This is a great team effort for DL 751, they continue to raise the standards of representation for all unions,” said IAM Western Territory General Vice President Gary R. Allen. “The Leadership Team deserves our appreciation and congratulations on a great victory.”
Members should ALWAYS ask for a Union Steward in any meeting or investigation that could lead to discipline. This is your right, but you must ask for a Steward. No matter how you are contacted – by a manager, HR, security, a fact finder or corporate investigator – either in person, on the phone or by email, your answer should always be the same “I want a Union Steward.” It is your right and one you should exercise in any questionable situation.
Thirteen years after President Lyndon Johnson’s signed the landmark Civil Rights Act, IAM delegates made history at the 1976 Grand Lodge Convention in Hollywood, FL by voting for the creation of a union-wide civil rights program to address the social, cultural and racial needs of a growing number of minority members.
IAM Family at the District 5 Labor Day outing
Months later, in the spring of 1977, thirty-five Machinists met at the union’s headquarters in Washington, DC to create the IAM Civil Rights Program, the precursor to the organization’s current Women’s and Human Rights Department, which is now under the leadership of IAM General Counsel Carla Siegel.
During the two-day conference then-IAM President-elect William W. Winpisinger promised to make the program a priority for the union and proclaimed, “it will be a program with far-reaching effects.”
In response, the multiracial group of delegates, offered the Executive Council a long list of suggestions on how to initiate and build the program, most notably, training shop stewards on how to handle discriminations cases on the job.
To aid the IAM in its planning, delegates at the conference received advice from William Pollard, then AFL-CIO civil rights director; Charles Bradford, former president of IAM Local 41 in St. Louis; and Leo Perils, former AFL-CIO community services director.
The 1970’s saw a rise in powerful union-based activist organizations aimed at advocating for minorities. The Coalition of Black Trade Unionists, or CBTU, was founded in 1972 under the leadership of William “Bill” Lucy, former AFSCME International Secretary-Treasurer. The same year Hispanic union leaders founded the Labor Council for Latin American Advancement, also known as LCLAA. Soon after, the Coalition of Labor Union Women, or CLUW, would be founded in 1974 under the guidance of the late Olga M. Madar, the first woman to serve on the United Auto Workers (UAW) International Executive Board.
The IAM’s efforts grew along with the civil rights movement and today, thousands of IAM members are active participants in these and other constituency groups. The IAM has Board members on CBTU, APRI, LCLAA and CLUW as well as Pride at Work, APALA and others. Hundreds of IAM Lodges have their own Human Rights Committees and are actively engaged in effectuating change in their communities. Our Executive Council is one of the most diverse Executive Councils in all of labor while the Union continues to be active in expanding civil rights among our ranks. Most recently, the IAM, initiated its LEADS program to mentor IAM Sisters and encourage more participation in leadership roles.
The Machinists and the Transportation Communications Union (TCU/IAM) mark the April 15 birthday of a giant in the labor movement, A. Philip Randolph. Randolph, a labor leader and social activist was born on April 15, 1889, and founded the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters (BSCP) in 1925, the first majority African-American labor union to receive a charter in the American Federation of Labor (AFL). The BSCP engaged in a long struggle with the Pullman Company, the largest employer of African Americans at that time, which was often met with violence and firings.
In 1934, porters were granted rights under federal law, and after years of bitter struggle, the Pullman Company finally began to negotiate with the Brotherhood in 1935, and agreed to a contract with them in 1937. Serving as its president, Randolph sought to gain the union’s inclusion in the American Federation of Labor (AFL), the affiliates of which, at that time, frequently barred African Americans from membership. In 1937, Randolph won membership into the AFL for the BSCP.
In 1978 the BSCP merged with the Brotherhood of Railway and Airline Clerks, now known as TCU, which in turn merged with the IAM in 2012.
The IAM is an affiliate of the A. Philip Randolph Institute (APRI), the senior AFL-CIO constituency group working for economic justice and employment rights.
