The International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT) has posted flyers assuring its employees that it will not prevent them from unionizing, as a result of a settlement with the National Labor Relations Board that found that the Teamsters had engaged in union-busting.
While the Teamsters have long encouraged employees of other companies to unionize in their workplaces, they have a record of stifling the collective bargaining rights of their own employees.
The International Brotherhood of Teamsters “refused” to negotiate last year with a group of its own organizers who voted to form a union, the Federation of Agents and International Representatives (FAIR), to negotiate with the Teamsters.
The Teamsters relented last August after a settlement with the Obama administration’s National Labor Relations Board determining that the Teamsters had unlawfully busted their own employees’ union.
Now some Teamsters offices have flyers posted on the wall that are rife with irony.
The International Brotherhood of Teamsters posted a signed notice, “pursuant to a settlement agreement approved by a regional director of the National Labor Relations Board,” informing its employees that it will not interfere with their rights to unionize. Copies of the notice are now posted as flyers in Teamsters offices.
“Federal law gives you the right to: form, join, or assist a union; Choose a representative to bargain with us on your behalf; Act together with other employees for your benefit and protection; Choose not to engage in any of these protected activities,” according to the notice, signed August 29 of last year.
“WE WILL NOT do anything to prevent you from exercising the above rights,” according to the notice.
NLRB Tells Teamsters: Stop Harassing Organizers
“The International Union has been required by the NLRB to post notices that the IBT will cease harassing union organizers for joining a union. The notice includes that the IBT will not tell them they will no longer be Teamsters if they join a union, or that they will be laid off or that they cannot wear a union pin,” the Teamsters announced August 24 of last year.
“A majority of IBT organizers voted to form a union and are seeking to get ‘just cause’ protection. So far the IBT has refused to negotiate,” according to the Teamsters’ announcement last August.
The notice also makes clear that the International Brotherhood of Teamsters “WILL NOT” tell employees that it will refuse to negotiate with Federation of Agents and International Representatives (FAIR) if employees choose to select FAIR as their collective bargaining representative, and “WILL NOT” tell employees that they will be laid off if FAIR wins an NLRB election.