Guild seeks remedy in retaliation against leaders
Merit has been found on one of the Guild’s three unfair labor charges filed against the company. If the company does not agree to a full settlement and remedy, a complaint will be issued against them and a hearing held before an administrative law judge.
- The first one involved retaliation. The company threatened to fire President Wendy Liberatore and Chief Steward Kathleen Moore as they tried to advocate for an advertising employee and obtain air-quality information during the asbestos removal. Both actions are protected. If the complaint is upheld it could mean that the company must remove the written warnings from the personnel files, apologize publicly and post a notice informing Guild members of their rights to take collective action.
- The second charge involved the company’s unwillingness to recognize the 2022 tentative agreements. We withdrew the charge it after the company claimed the 17 sessions we held in 2022, during which we agreed on many provisions, were all off-the-record and that the person they had at the table did not have final authority to enter into the various tentative agreements. This is not true. The first day we sat down, President Ken Crowe made it perfectly clear that everything said at the table was on the record. The company agreed and their representative never told us they didn’t have final authority to reach agreement. We have the proof, but somehow a complaint did not move forward. That puts us back to square one on the contract.
- The third charge was also withdrawn. It involved the company not bargaining fairly. Since we have returned to the table in 2025, the company balked at giving us dates, would not provide on-the-record proposals and would not compromise on anything – thus the charge. After the charge was filed, the company offered an on-the-record proposal and we agreed to two items. Therefore, that charge did not move forward.
We could appeal. However, with the current anti-labor administration overseeing the National Labor Relations Board, the Guild attorney told us we would not likely prevail.
We will continue to fight for all of our rights.