SBS factory workers vote to leave union

Workers at the Spenard Building Supply (SBS) factory recently voted to remove the Pacific Northwest Regional Counsel of Carpenters union by an overwhelming majority.

A petition filed by Scot Breuer with the National Labor Relations Board Region 19 (NLRB) led to the vote.

Breuer filed a decertification petition with the NLRB on March 31, 2023, with support from a significant number of his coworkers. Under federal labor law, workers can trigger a decertification vote with the support of 30% or more of workers in a unionized workplace.

A vote was then scheduled via a secret ballot election to determine whether a majority of workers wanted to end the union to impose a contract, including forced dues, on workers. On April 12, the NLRB issued an election notice to all parties involved.

On May 2, SBS employees voted to remove the union from their workplace with over two-thirds of the workers voting in support of the petition, with the official tally of 17-6.

Excluding any objections by union officials to overturn the vote, the workers will officially leave the union in one week.

In a press release, NLRB said: “The SBS election is just one example of workers looking to leave union control. Currently, the NLRB’s own data shows a unionized private sector worker is far more likely to be involved in a decertification effort as their nonunion counterpart is to be involved in a unionization campaign. NLRB statistics also show a 20% increase in decertification petitions last year versus 2021.”

Reforms from 2020 have made it somewhat easier for workers to remove unwanted union officials, such as the “Election Protection Rule,” which prevents union bosses from filing “blocking charges” meant to delay or stop decertification elections entirely.

Under the Foundation-backed reforms, most votes take place promptly, with union blocking claims adjudicated later, after the votes have been counted. However, under the Biden administration, the NLRB is currently engaging in rulemaking to roll back these protections and make it much harder for workers to decertify a union.

“We are extremely pleased to help these Alaskan workers exercise their right to remove a union they want nothing to do with. With over two-thirds of the votes being cast in favor of removing the union, this case is a clear example as to workers’ growing dissatisfaction with compulsory unionism,” stated Mark Mix, President of the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation. “Unfortunately, as the NLRB moves to roll back reforms that gave workers at Spenard a speedy victory, workers will again find it increasingly difficult to exercise their rights and decertify unwanted unions even when opposition to the union’s so-called ‘representation’ is overwhelming.”