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Port Drivers Reject Teamsters As Impounded Ballots Opened
By Beverly Banks · 2023-03-20 16:24:26 -0400 · Listen to article
Port drivers at a transportation and logistics company in California voted against unionizing with two Teamsters locals after the National Labor Relations Board granted the unions' bid to open ballots that were previously impounded.
According to an NLRB tally of the votes Friday, Teamsters Locals 848 and 542 lost a representation election with STG Cartage LLC port drivers at facilities in Commerce, California, and San Diego, voting 165-76 against the unions. There were 19 challenged ballots and 12 voided ballots, which would not be enough to affect the outcome of the election. The ballots had been impounded since July 15, 2022, according to board filings.
On March 10, the NLRB granted the locals' request to open and count the ballots, saying STG Cartage's bid to keep the ballots impounded is a form of "extraordinary relief" under board rules.
"We find that the employer has not shown that impoundment is necessary under the particular circumstances of this case," the board said.
The locals urged the board in February to open the ballots, which were impounded under the board's recently vacated agency rule. The NLRB's 2019 election rule automatically impounded ballots when a request for review is filed.
STG Cartage filed a request for review of NLRB Region 21 director William B. Cowen's decision in June to allow port drivers to proceed with the representation election vote. The board granted STG's request for review in July.
In its AFL-CIO v. NLRB decision, the D.C. Circuit partly reversed the election rule in January, saying the impoundment provision violated Section 3(b) of the National Labor Relations Act . Under Section 3(b), the NLRB's review of a regional director's decision can't be a stay of a regional director's actions "unless specifically ordered by the board."
Impounding ballots is a stay of the regional director's counting of the votes, according to the appeals court's decision.
The Teamsters filed a representation election petition in January 2022, when the employer's name was listed as XPO Logistics Cartage LLC. In March 2022, STG Logistics bought the intermodal division of XPO Logistics, according to board filings, and STG later changed the name of XPO Logistics Cartage LLC to STG Cartage LLC.
Following the D.C. Circuit's ruling this year, the locals said the board should order the immediate opening of the ballots. But STG Cartage challenged the request in February, arguing the board still had the power to impound the ballots under Section 3(b).
At the heart of the dispute between the Teamsters and STG Cartage is whether the port drivers are employees who can unionize under the NLRA. The Teamsters have been advocating on behalf of port drivers for many years and have been organizing these workers.
STG Cartage said in its motion to impound that the board should have first ruled whether the drivers are employees or independent contractors who don't have unionizing rights under the act.
In a March 6 reply brief, STG Cartage said opening the ballots could create a "false expectation of potential union representation" that could "damage the board's reputation for impartiality by giving the impression that it has prejudged the threshold issue of voting eligibility."
STG Cartage said the Teamsters painted "an exaggerated picture of the burden" necessary for impounding ballots in a voter eligibility spat.
The International Brotherhood of Teamsters said in a statement to Law360 on Monday that the union won't "rest until XPO is brought to justice."
"We had a clear majority of support among XPO's courageous workers, but XPO refused to recognize the union and instead delayed the process and violated the law with impunity through its egregious unfair labor practices," according to the statement.
Representatives for STG Cartage did not immediately respond to requests for comment Monday.
The Teamsters are represented by Julie Gutman Dickinson, Jason Wojciechowski and Hector De Haro of Bush Gottlieb.
STG is represented by Michael Marino, Marshall Babson, Elliot Fink, Holger Besch and Jennifer Mora of Seyfarth Shaw LLP.
The case is International Brotherhood of Teamsters Local 848 and Local 542 and STG Cartage LLC dba XPO Logistics, case number 21-RC-289115, before the National Labor Relations Board.
--Editing by Neil Cohen.
By Beverly Banks · 2023-03-20 16:24:26 -0400 · Listen to article
Port drivers at a transportation and logistics company in California voted against unionizing with two Teamsters locals after the National Labor Relations Board granted the unions' bid to open ballots that were previously impounded.
According to an NLRB tally of the votes Friday, Teamsters Locals 848 and 542 lost a representation election with STG Cartage LLC port drivers at facilities in Commerce, California, and San Diego, voting 165-76 against the unions. There were 19 challenged ballots and 12 voided ballots, which would not be enough to affect the outcome of the election. The ballots had been impounded since July 15, 2022, according to board filings.
On March 10, the NLRB granted the locals' request to open and count the ballots, saying STG Cartage's bid to keep the ballots impounded is a form of "extraordinary relief" under board rules.
"We find that the employer has not shown that impoundment is necessary under the particular circumstances of this case," the board said.
The locals urged the board in February to open the ballots, which were impounded under the board's recently vacated agency rule. The NLRB's 2019 election rule automatically impounded ballots when a request for review is filed.
STG Cartage filed a request for review of NLRB Region 21 director William B. Cowen's decision in June to allow port drivers to proceed with the representation election vote. The board granted STG's request for review in July.
In its AFL-CIO v. NLRB decision, the D.C. Circuit partly reversed the election rule in January, saying the impoundment provision violated Section 3(b) of the National Labor Relations Act . Under Section 3(b), the NLRB's review of a regional director's decision can't be a stay of a regional director's actions "unless specifically ordered by the board."
Impounding ballots is a stay of the regional director's counting of the votes, according to the appeals court's decision.
The Teamsters filed a representation election petition in January 2022, when the employer's name was listed as XPO Logistics Cartage LLC. In March 2022, STG Logistics bought the intermodal division of XPO Logistics, according to board filings, and STG later changed the name of XPO Logistics Cartage LLC to STG Cartage LLC.
Following the D.C. Circuit's ruling this year, the locals said the board should order the immediate opening of the ballots. But STG Cartage challenged the request in February, arguing the board still had the power to impound the ballots under Section 3(b).
At the heart of the dispute between the Teamsters and STG Cartage is whether the port drivers are employees who can unionize under the NLRA. The Teamsters have been advocating on behalf of port drivers for many years and have been organizing these workers.
STG Cartage said in its motion to impound that the board should have first ruled whether the drivers are employees or independent contractors who don't have unionizing rights under the act.
In a March 6 reply brief, STG Cartage said opening the ballots could create a "false expectation of potential union representation" that could "damage the board's reputation for impartiality by giving the impression that it has prejudged the threshold issue of voting eligibility."
STG Cartage said the Teamsters painted "an exaggerated picture of the burden" necessary for impounding ballots in a voter eligibility spat.
The International Brotherhood of Teamsters said in a statement to Law360 on Monday that the union won't "rest until XPO is brought to justice."
"We had a clear majority of support among XPO's courageous workers, but XPO refused to recognize the union and instead delayed the process and violated the law with impunity through its egregious unfair labor practices," according to the statement.
Representatives for STG Cartage did not immediately respond to requests for comment Monday.
The Teamsters are represented by Julie Gutman Dickinson, Jason Wojciechowski and Hector De Haro of Bush Gottlieb.
STG is represented by Michael Marino, Marshall Babson, Elliot Fink, Holger Besch and Jennifer Mora of Seyfarth Shaw LLP.
The case is International Brotherhood of Teamsters Local 848 and Local 542 and STG Cartage LLC dba XPO Logistics, case number 21-RC-289115, before the National Labor Relations Board.
--Editing by Neil Cohen.
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