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Organizing Roundup
'Good neighbors' help UAW victory at Johnson Controls
“Thanks, neighbor.”
That’s what Johnson Controls workers in Shelbyville,
Ky., are saying after their recent UAW win.
With help from nearby UAW locals, workers capped a rapid-fire
52-day organizing campaign with a 186-158 victory March 2.
As one organizer summed it up, “We got it quick, capitalizing
on that short time frame.”
Now the 356 new members of UAW Region 3 will elect a bargaining
committee and prepare to negotiate their first contract.
Johnson Controls Inc. makes seats for Ford and is a direct
supplier to the Kentucky Truck Plant in Louisville (UAW Local 862).
They’re also just down the road from UAW Local 2383
at the Budd Co. And the support from their union brothers and sisters
at the two nearby UAW locals was an invaluable key to the victory.
Bob Loudermilk, president of UAW Local 2383, said: “Johnson
Controls used some of the same tactics the Budd Co. used against us in
our four organizing drives (the last one was in 1998). So we knew what
to expect.”
Loudermilk said management used closed meetings, propaganda,
and misleading “fact sheets” to thwart the union drive.
When organizers “hit a valley” late in the drive,
Local 862 held a reception for Johnson Controls workers and their families.
UAW Region 3 Director Terry Thurman was there, along with Local 862 President
Rocky Comito, Loudermilk and others.
“There was a lot of energy. We showed them what being
part of a union was all about,” Loudermilk said.
About a week before the election, things picked up as more
workers got involved. Volunteer organizers made housecalls, talked with
workers, and neutralized the company’s anti-union tactics.
Waterville TG
In a significant UAW victory in Canada, Waterville TG workers
at the Petrolia, Ontario, plant voted 109-56 in favor of representation
on Nov. 6.
The ballots were impounded by the Ontario Labor Relations Board over
some unresolved issues and sealed until Feb. 16.
Now the 180 new UAW Region 1 members--who make rubber weather stripping
used around windows and doors for DaimlerChrysler vehicles--will elect
a bargaining committee and prepare to negotiate their first contract.
“They’re thrilled to be part of the UAW,” one organizer
said, “and we’re so happy to have them.”
In its effort to squash the organizing drive, Waterville management launched
a tough anti-union campaign, hiring temporary workers (and then hiring
some permanently), firing one full-time worker, and holding daily captive
audience meetings.
The Canadian organizers, who praised the work of the inside committee,
also enlisted Region 1 organizers to help with housecalling during the
campaign.
Grade Point
Meanwhile, workers hoping to gain UAW representation at Grade Point
held a card check on Dec. 7. The Warren, Mich.-based firm offers computer
sales, service, and training for the Big Three.
The unit, in UAW Region 1, has doubled in size to 25 workers in recent
months.
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