The National Labor Relations Board has issued a formal complaint against Instafab — a nonunion steel fabrication and erection company based in Vancouver, Washington, where a group of workers went on strike Feb. 27.
The Oct. 28 complaint, which followed an investigation, says Instafab broke federal labor law when it fired six strikers and repeatedly threatened to fire other employees for talking with strikers, among other charges.
The NLRB seeks nearly $33,000 in back pay, covering the period from Feb. 27, when Instafab fired the strikers, to April 20, two weeks after it offered to reinstate them. The complaint gives the company until Nov. 18 to respond, and sets a hearing Feb. 23, 2016 before a federal administrative law judge.
It comes as no surprise that the NLRB has already decided that Instafab is guilty, although at this point these are only allegations. At the hearing in February, we fully expect the NLRB to find some wrongdoing- it is their mandate to promote, protect and serve the unions. I don’t think it really matters if the charged non-union party is guilty or not. The NLRB does not seem interested in fairness or justice. We’ll see how it goes.
Bruce
If the NLRB finds this company guilty, it will prove that the workers were right and should be allowed to have a union. These workers just want their jobs back, and want to be treated with respect. They tried to talk to the owner, and he fired them for it. Maybe now Perkins will finally sit down and talk to the workers. The union would be good for their business. That would be a good day.
Supporting the Strikers
Do you really think for one minute that any of this is about the strikers getting their jobs back? And what does a wage claim have to do with union representation? Do your homework, think for yourself, quit repeating the same tired rhetoric- who really stands to gain here? Good for Instafab’s business? According to whom?
If I sat down and talked to the strikers, they would say exactly what the union pays them to say. The strikers are well paid to do what they do and say what they say, and they are trying to hide that income from the NLRB and the public.
The way to move forward is to give all of the workers the opportunity to vote on whether or not they want Instafab to be a union company. If that’s what the workers want, that is what they will get. If they don’t want the union, then the union should RESPECT THE WORKERS WISHES and move on. I agree with what AFL-CIO President Tom Chamberlain said- the union must evolve. Give people information, give them a chance to make a decision and live with it. Misrepresentation, intimidation, and false claims to OSHA and L+I shouldn’t be a part of the union’s campaign.
I also read something else Mr. Chamberlain wrote in an article in the Oregonian about the art of misdirection- “Misdirection is also a classic campaign tactic. When you know you don’t have logic or public opinion on your side, you try to divert the audience’s attention” This seems to explain why the union and the strikers keep talking about water on jobsites instead of the real issues surrounding the relationships between unions and companies like mine.
Take a vote Camarillo. What are you waiting for?
Sure let management fire those that support collective bargaining and then let him load up the votes with class traitors who management controls and call it democracy. For the workers that are actual employees and are left you just threaten and coerce them to bend to managements desires.
History is filled with documented cases of management rigging votes, hiring spies, and ignoring workers rights.
BTW since 1947 the NLRA and the NLRB has become the management attorneys favorite tool. Notice only after management fires pro democracy employees does management want a vote.
HAHAHAHAHA
“Walter Derickson”
Thanks for the thoughtful response. It says a lot abut you.
How about that vote?
“Donny Johnson”-
Every worker that is on strike still has a vote along with every current worker. Whether you believe a striker was fired or not, they still have a vote. Based on the number of people that went on strike, the union never did have much support. If what you’re saying is true about us controlling the process, why didn’t the union take a vote before we “loaded up with class traitors”? We couldn’t have affected something we had no knowledge of. The union couldn’t take a vote because they would lose and they knew it. Most of the workers did not and do not want a union. Especially after some of the things they have seen the union do.
I don’t know about the history you mentioned, but today’s union sends in ‘salts’ to try and turn workers against the company. The salts look for wrongdoing so they can report it to the union. They are rewarded for anything they can come up with. They go around taking pictures with their phones. What were you saying about spies? The union spreads lies about the working conditions and how the workers are treated. They go to our customers and suppliers to damage long standing relationships to keep us from getting work. They call in bogus claims to OSHA and L+I, wasting public resources. I’m not saying some employers haven’t done some crappy things in the past – I think there has been plenty of blame to go around.
If you think somehow the NLRB favors the employer, you are out of your mind. Seriously, read up on the NLRB before you make a ridiculous statement like that. Like I said before, nobody is fired, and everyone has a vote.
If you want to see my company, talk to my workers or have any questions, email me at [email protected] and we’ll set a time. I tired of folks that say how it is without finding out for themselves. Learn the truth- or does the truth even matter to you?
Of course Bruce, it’s the same tired shit about the union being bad yada yada. Meanwhile greed from ownership and the sad fact thier poor pride might be hurt. Produce the conditions they ask for, or is it cutting in on too much profit?