Concert crew workers at McMenamins Edgefield in Troutdale and McMenamins Grand Lodge in Forest Grove voted against joining International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE) Local 28. In mail ballots counted Oct. 30, 16 workers voted for the union, and 30 against. With a potential bargaining unit of 108 employees, the majority of employees chose not to cast a ballot.
When IATSE Local 28 first filed its election petition with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), it sought to represent 60 stagehands who work for local concert promotion company Monqui Presents at the two McMenamins venues. But Monqui hired prominent national anti-union law firm Fisher & Phillips, which argued that the bargaining unit should also include almost 50 other workers in front-of-house and box office jobs. The union agreed to that.
Then, according to an unfair labor practice charge IATSE Local 28 filed Oct. 10 with the NLRB, Monqui management unlawfully interrogated workers, changed their job duties and working conditions, and threatened workers with losing their jobs to a hiring hall. The most egregious allegation from the union in the run up to the election was Monqui firing two longtime employees in retaliation for their union support, and then telling the remaining workers that they would not be returning the following season due to their attempts to organize. Local 28 filed an objection to the election results on Nov. 5, arguing that the loss was caused by Monqui’s unlawful union busting.
