Arbitrator Rules Quebecor World Violated Agreement with Teamsters
07 Febrero 2006 - 1:07PM
PR Newswire (US)
Company Engaged in 'Systematic' Anti-Union Campaign, Independent
Arbitrator Says WASHINGTON, Feb. 7 /PRNewswire/ -- An independent
arbitrator has ruled that Quebecor World Inc. (QW) (NYSE:IQW), the
second largest printing company in the world, violated an agreement
with the Graphic Communications Conference of the Teamsters Union
(GCC/IBT) in a union election held at its Covington, Tennessee,
plant in November 2005. In the decision issued Monday, the neutral
arbitrator upholds the union's charges, saying, "I have no
hesitancy in concluding the company was 'engaged' in a systematic
campaign to convince its employees of the risks and futility of
unionization." The arbitrator ruled that the company's actions were
a direct violation of QW's May 2005 agreement with the GCC/IBT in
which QW agreed to "make no statement or action showing opposition
to unionization." The Teamsters engaged in a hard-fought two-year
campaign to represent workers at QW's North American plants when
the company agreed to negotiate a less adversarial process. After
months of bargaining, Quebecor signed an agreement with the union
that spelled out, in detail, company and union behavior during
representation elections. According to Teamster representatives,
the agreement was intended to allow workers a free and fair process
to choose representation. The arbitrator cited company statements
to workers about plant closings, wage freezes, and benefit cuts,
ruling, "the systematic manner in which the company repeatedly
placed carefully chosen and almost invariably negative facts before
the workforce is sufficient to satisfy me that any reasonable
reader or listener would conclude that the company was showing its
opposition to unionization of its workforce at Covington." Among
other examples, the arbitrator cited a flier issued the day before
the election reiterating veiled threats of job loss and plant
closure if workers chose to unionize. He concluded that, "...no
reasonable, disinterested person can walk away from the totality of
the presentations without a clear sense of the company's position:
unionization and collective bargaining are nonproductive and
dangerous for employees and should be avoided. I call that 'showing
opposition.'" "We made a good-faith effort to begin a new
relationship with this company," said Jeff Farmer, Teamsters
Director of Organizing. "The arbitrator has supported our charge
that the company broke its word to remain neutral and resorted to
the same old anti-union playbook. This decision puts Quebecor World
on notice that it can't get away with violating the neutrality
agreement in the upcoming union elections in QW plants nationwide."
Farmer added that the Covington workers would get another chance to
vote for union representation next November. "If QW honors its
agreement, Covington workers can finally make a decision free from
company interference," he said. The arbitrator's decision comes on
the heels of a January 31 National Labor Relations Board (NLRB)
complaint issued against QW for labor violations at its Fernley,
Nevada, plant, where workers voted for union representation with
the GCC/IBT in July 2005. The NLRB issued a complaint against the
company for discriminating against its employees based on their
union activity. Worker abuses at QW were further spotlighted by a
strike at the company's Recife, Brazil, facility on January 30.
After workers shut down the morning shift, management agreed to
recognize the local union and to negotiate over the workers'
demands starting February 20. The two sides will address the
rehiring of two fired union leaders at the plant as well as
longstanding health and safety problems that resulted in severe
injuries to workers in recent months. Founded in 1903, the
Teamsters Union represents more than 1.4 million hardworking men
and women in the United States and Canada. First Call Analyst: FCMN
Contact: DATASOURCE: International Brotherhood of Teamsters
CONTACT: Galen Munroe of International Brotherhood of Teamsters,
+1-202-624-6904, Web site: http://www.teamster.org/
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