It appears a judge is agreeing with the findings of the federal government that management at the Novelis plant in Scriba has violated labor laws in trying to keep workers from unionizing.
International Union Representative for the United Steelworkers Jim Ridgeway says the intimidation was obvious:
"Potential loss of jobs, made threats about unilateral changes that would be made if we came in. They made threats about possibly relocating parts of the facility; they made threats about possibly lower pay, about forced overtime. It really quite frankly ran the entire gamut. I've been in the labor movement for 41 years, and some of them are so ridiculous, honestly, I've never even seen them."
Ridgeway says Novelis also demoted an employee who was leading the effort to organize. A court ordered the worker to be reinstated and paid any lost wages.
Ridgeway says the ruling by the judge all but forces Novelis to bargain with the United Steelworkers Union without an election by workers. The National Labor Relations board had previously concluded that it’s unlikely a fair election to unionize could be held due to the company’s past intimidation and threats to workers. About a year ago, a vote fell just over a dozen votes short of the majority needed. Ridgeway says workers are just seeking to maintain their pay and benefits, and are not trying to shut down the plant.
"That certainly would not be in the cards that we would make it cost prohibitive to do business. Our goal is to create a bigger pie, and if we create a bigger pie, then our people's slice of the pie naturally becomes a little bit bigger. We represent Novelis in four other locations, and we haven't shut any of those down."
Ridgeway says the Novelis has already made several unilateral changes over the past year since the organizing drive started.
Ridgeway hopes both sides can now sit down, bargain, and continue to keep the company successful. It appears that could be a challenge. Here's a statement released by Novelis plant manager Chris Smith:
“We are disappointed and strongly disagree with the administrative law judge’s ruling. As such, we will consider and pursue all appellate rights. Our employees have already spoken on the issue of joining the United Steel Workers (USW) and made their voices heard in a fair and lawful election- they do not want the USW. This decision was also validated in the recent U.S. District Court hearing, where the court denied the NLRB’s request for a bargaining order. Our obligation throughout this process has been, and will continue to be, ensuring that our employees’ decision is validated and respected. We will continue to vigorously defend their choice to maintain a direct and open relationship with Novelis.” – Chris Smith Plant Manager, Novelis Oswego
