When the Seattle Mariners Retail Employees filed a petition to decertify — or remove — the UFCW 3000 via secret ballot election, the UFCW did everything it could to block the election itself, then challenged the results,1 instead of letting employees exercise their choice.
What Happened?
Five months after the UFCW began representing the Seattle Mariners retail workers, the employees decided that the UFCW was not a good fit for them and they petitioned the NLRB to hold a decertification election.
Instead of allowing the employees to use their voice through their votes, the UFCW asked the NLRB to stop the election. The NLRB allowed the employees to vote, and the Seattle Mariners retail employees voted 50-9 to remove the UFCW from their workplace.
But the UFCW couldn’t accept defeat. After trying to block the election, the UFCW continued to challenge the election results, forcing employees to be represented after they clearly indicated they no longer wanted the UFCW to speak for them in the workplace.
If you take away anything from the Seattle Mariners retail employees’ experience with the UFCW 3000, let it be this:
- The UFCW has proven that they’re not willing to listen to their members, even when they know they’re not wanted.
- Decertification is a long and complicated process, and the laws allow unions to try and block employees from exercising their rights.
The choice of whether or not you’d like to be represented by the UFCW is an important one for you, and for future Muddies. If you are unsure about the UFCW representing you, we encourage you to vote NO.
Please VOTE September 9, 10 or 12
- https://www.nlrb.gov/case/19-RD-316179 ↩︎