Anita Alem is a student at Harvard Law School.
In today’s news and commentary: Chipotle closes store following workers’ push to unionize, staffing firms sue NLRB General Counsel Abruzzo over captive audience meetings, and Kellogg MorningStar plant workers file to unionize.
On Wednesday, Chipotle United workers filed a complaint with the NLRB alleging Chipotle closed down its Augusta, Maine location in retaliation for workers filing for a union. In late June, workers at the Maine store were the first Chipotle location to file for a union election, followed closely by a Michigan location filing in early July. The NLRB previously filed a complaint against Chipotle in 2019 and found that Chipotle had intimidated and fired workers who were attempting to unionize. Chipotle stated that the closure was not a union-busting move but was instead a result of staffing shortages.
Bloomberg reported that several staffing firms have filed suit against NLRB General Counsel Jennifer Abruzzo in federal court in Texas, arguing that Abruzzo’s memo against captive-audience meetings is unconstitutional. The lawsuit states that “[t]he new interpretation prohibits employers from speaking to employees about unionization” and “directly restricts employer speech on the basis of its content, viewpoint, and speaker.” As Tascha reported in April, Abruzzo’s memo stated that captive audience meetings where employees are cornered by management or forced to convene to hear anti-union rhetoric are unlawful under the NLRA. This interpretation would reverse decades of anti-union judicial precedent and potentially significantly embolden union elections.
In more labor news, workers at a Kellogg MorningStar manufacturing plant in Zanesville, Ohio filed a petition for union representation with the NLRB on Tuesday. The nearly 300 workers at the plant are seeking to organize with the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco, and Grain Millers International Union. A union representative said the workers are “fighting against mandatory overtime, favoritism, and high health-insurance costs.” Late last year, 1,400 workers at Kellogg, who are represented by the BCTGM as well, were on strike for nearly three months and negotiated to dismantle the two-tiered benefits system that Kellogg had imposed.
Daily News & Commentary
Start your day with our roundup of the latest labor developments. See all
November 21
Workers at electric vehicle battery production complex in Kentucky launch campaign to join the UAW; Amazon workers at company’s largest air facility on the West Coast start union drive to join the Teamsters; and medical residents and fellows affiliated with Brown University organize to join CIR/SEIU Healthcare.
November 20
Philadelphia unions plan a joint strike, Greece faces a 24-hour general strike, and University of California unions set strikes for today and tomorrow.
November 19
Fifth Circuit hears challenges to NLRB; Democratic NLRB majority may be ending soon; building trades unions criticize Democratic party
November 18
In today’s News & Commentary, the Democratic Party Union blasts staff layoffs and Philadelphia city workers threaten mass strike. The Democratic National Committee Staff Union has criticized party leadership following several days of layoffs in the wake of the 2024 election loss. The union claims these cuts go beyond typical post-election turnover and have impacted […]
November 17
DOL overtime rule struck down; Cornell Graduate Student Union speaks on campus repression.
November 15
In today’s News & Commentary, Philadelphia’s largest city workers union authorizes a strike, video game union at Microsoft completes one-day strike, and Massachusetts teachers’ unions are fined. District 33, a union of Philadelphia city workers, has authorized a strike. The union represents 9,000 mostly blue-collar workers, including sanitation workers. Workers are dissatisfied with the city’s […]