Newly unionized workers at TCGplayer in Syracuse are celebrating a double victory in their fight to be recognized by their employer.
Briana Thomas is the union bargaining committee representative.
“The hope was that we would get here, that eventually we would be able to move forward with bargaining and they would drop the appeal," Thomas said. "They didn't drop the appeal, but the NLRB, like very quickly, dismissed it.”
The action from the National Labor Relations Board comes about two weeks after workers held a rally and filed unfair labor practice charges against TCGplayer and parent company eBay. Company officials quickly agreed to meet workers at the bargaining table. Thomas says they’re ready to work on a contract.
“The main things that we'll be looking for are benefits protections," Thomas said. "We just lost a lot of paid time off with the eBay transition, so things like that. We also are going to be looking for a pay raise, definitely a pay raise.”
Workers say they’ve gone three years without a raise. They’re joining the Communications Workers of America, and are the first unionized workers at eBay. Thomas says they were always optimistic they’d prevail in spite of pandemic delays and union-busting tactics. She says she’s proud to be part of a larger movement.
“Just look at the news and there's all these people...there's the actors strike, too, and the writers strike, and UPS contracts being voted on soon, I believe," Thomas said. "So all of these things are happening there is like such a large labor movement right now.”
Thomas says there is some concern about retaliation, especially from the law firm representing the company that’s been known to play hardball. Meanwhile, she says they’ll continue to gather information the union has requested in order to be fully prepared for a bargaining session. It’s not clear when that first meeting will take place.
The company confirms it is recognizing the union, but says there are still unresolved issues. Here's the statement through a TCGplayer spokesperson:
"As a result of the NLRB decision, we have recognized the CWA as the collective bargaining representative for the now certified unit of our AC team members. Unfortunately, whether certain disputed job classifications should be included in that bargaining unit was not addressed by the NLRB decision and remains unresolved. However, these unanswered questions will not delay our commitment to bargaining over a contract for those non-contested AC job classifications. We are taking steps to immediately move forward with the bargaining process with the goal of reaching a labor contract."
