Republic Services Files ULP Charge Against Teamsters

Republic Services Files Unfair Labor Practices Charge against International Brotherhood of Teamsters

“When It Comes to Trusting Local Unions, Teamsters Say One Thing but Do Another“

Republic Services of Southeast Michigan, serving approximately 265,000 homes in Metro-Detroit and more than 4,600 Detroit area industrial customers reported yesterday that it had filed an Unfair Labor Practices Charge against the Washington, DC-based International Brotherhood of Teamsters.

According to the Charge filed on December 21, 2012, with the National Labor Relations Board, “the International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT) engaged in bad faith bargaining for forcing Local 247 to withdraw a tentative agreement regarding the ability of employees to refuse to cross picket lines that Local 247 itself had proposed to the Company to withdraw in return for the Company withdrawing its proposal to eliminate a maintenance of benefits provision.”

The IBT’s action in forcing Detroit-based Local 247 to withdraw a provision already agreed upon with Republic Services stands in stark contrast to the operating procedures the International Brotherhood of Teamsters promotes on its very own website.

“Unlike other labor unions, the Teamsters Union is structured to promote strong local unions, and strong local leaders. Since the locals negotiate most Teamsters contracts and provide most of the services to the members, they keep most of the dues money.” Source:  http://www.teamster.org/content/teamsters-structure

The International Brotherhood of Teamsters also forced Local 247 to conduct “regressive bargaining.” From the Charge, “Even if the International is now requiring local unions to do its bidding over the wishes of their membership, such a reason is not sufficient just cause under the NLRA to justify such regressive bargaining. By requiring Local 247 to engage in regressive bargaining, the IBT has bargained in bad faith in violation of Section 8(b)(3) of the NRLA.”

The National Labor Relations Act prohibits the use of “regressive bargaining” which one union, the National Air Traffic Controllers, has defined as “Regressive bargaining occurs when a proposal is advanced by a party to a negotiation stating one thing, then at a later time that party advances another proposal which can be construed to be somewhat less than what was offered previously. http://nwp.natca.net/Documents/LR_Stuff/LR_Chronicles_PDFs/LR_Chronicles__34.pdf