Delaware North, a hospitality management company with annual revenues of $3.7 billion, fired winter tour guides in Yellowstone National Park in response to union organizing in early 2020. LaborLab’s 43-15 podcast brought on Ty Wheeler, a fired tour guide and organizer to highlight retaliation by Delaware North.

When tour guides at Yellowstone National Park started unionizing to bargain for higher wages, a consistent work schedule, and better housing conditions, they were quickly fired. In this episode, we chat with Ty Wheeler, one of the terminated organizers, about what it's like working at Yellowstone, why workers wanted to unionize, and where things have gone since Delaware North, the private company managing tours, illegally fired guides following their unionization efforts. 

On October 28, 2021, the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB”) Region 19 tallied the votes in a certification election involving Teamsters Local 117 and Hospital Central Services Association, located in Auburn, Washington.  There were seventeen (18) eligible full and part-time drivers in the proposed bargaining unit.  The union won overwhelming by a vote of 11 to 4 and Teamsters Local 117 was certified as the representative of these employees by the NLRB on November 5. 

Over the past year, a wave of rank-and-file organizing at Starbucks resulted in over 200+ successfully unionized stores. The 43-15 podcast sat down with two workers at the Willow Lawn location in Richmond, Virginia to discuss Starbucks’ union-busting efforts. More so, they share an insidious story about the transfer of a supervisor who sexually assaulted a barista at a neighboring store.

The following piece was written by Jon Reynolds, co-host of LaborLab's podcast 43-15. 

According to the latest research, 71% of Americans support unions. So, it may surprise many people to learn that their tax dollars are being used to subsidize the union-busting industry. In June, LaborLab reported that Pfizer, which has received billions of dollars in government contracts, had hired an army of union-busters. Now, LaborLab has discovered that one of the federal government's biggest contractors is also union-busting.

According to filings reviewed by LaborLab, General Electric (GE) brought in multiple anti-union consultants to conduct coercive union-busting activities targeting frontline workers attempting to organize a union through the UAW. As reported by Bloomberg Law, GE was the 18th largest federal contractor in 2020 and the 11th largest defense contractor. Nothing since 2020 has changed, the company continues to receive huge government contracts. 

Petco workers in Seattle want a union because of low pay, unfair commission structures, and unsafe working conditions for both humans and animals. Unsurprisingly, Petco has responded by hiring a top tier union buster and by trying to stall the union election. In this episode, Jon and Meagan chat with Olivia and Sydney, two pet stylists, about the specifics of what's going on and where things are going. 

Keep up with their campaign on: 

• Twitter: @PetcoUnited
• Instagram: @PetcoWorkersUnited
• TikTok: @PetcoWorkersUnited

Earlier this year, Starbucks workers at the Willow Lawn location in Richmond, VA voted unanimously to unionize, and yet, throughout the campaign, workers were left in the dark about a supervisor who had been transferred to their store after being convicted of sexual assault. In this episode, Jon and Meagan are joined by Meghin and Jillian, two baristas from the Willow Lawn location, who chat about the company's predictable union-busting along with their abysmal handling of sexual assault.

As we have noted in previous issues, many LM-10 filers, identified by persuader LM-20 filings, have yet to file their 2021 LM-10 reports, which would normally be due at the end of March 2022.  We even demonstrated one case using the OLMS Public Disclosure web page, how it is possible to look up a particular set of LM-20’s, then the persuader’s LM-21 to see if receipts from employers were itemized and then to search for the corresponding LM-10 filings.  Remember, the filing of an LM-20 triggers the requirement that the employer who engaged that persuader must file a corresponding Form LM-10 within ninety days of the close of that employer’s fiscal year.