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Organizing new members is rarely a smooth process. This story, excerpted from the September issue of Diamond Bar, California, Local 47’s Union Reporter, shows how quickly a loss can be turned into a victory.

S. California Line Clearance Workers
Refuse to Get Burned Twice

October 9, 2009

Snatching victory from the “jaws of defeat” is getting to be a habit for the Membership
Development Team at Local 47.

On September 8, the workers at Guzman Garden Line Clearance voted 13 to 7 to accept
the local as their exclusive bargaining agent.  This was only 7 weeks after they voted 19 – 2 to stay non-union.

What happened?

Guzman Gardens is a line clearance contractor who sub-contracts for Davey Tree
Surgery on the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power property. The workers at
Guzman contacted Local 47 in May of 2009 and inquired about representation. Business and membership development reps. visited the workers and collected authorization cards. Twenty-two out of 24 workers signed cards.

Guzman Gardens hired a union buster to persuade workers to reject the
union. The day before the first election, the company’s owner had a “captive audience”
meeting with all his employees. He purportedly apologized to the workforce and promised
to listen to their concerns, and asked them for one more chance.

Out of a sense of loyalty to the owner, and trusting that he would keep his
promises, the workers had an internal meeting and decided to give the owner one more chance. They then voted against union representation.

Within days, the owner reneged on his promised changes, and told his employees to call
the union if they did not like it. He apparently believed that there was nothing Local 47
could do.

The owner acted in too much haste. Had he waited a few more days,
there would have been nothing Local 47 could do for at least one year. But, the “captive audience” meeting, held within 24-hours of the election, is considered by the
National Labor Relations Board to be “objectionable activity”.

The NLRB ordered a new election. This time the workers voted union. Local 47 has sent a letter to the owner, requesting that negotiations for a first contract begin in October.

“Local 47 will continue its efforts to organize every line clearance contractor in our jurisdiction,” says Business Manager and IEC member Pat Lavin.