Despite BlueOval SK’s plans to shutter its electric vehicle battery plant in Glendale next month, workers there have officially won a union election.
More than 1,200 hourly workers voted in the election last summer with 526 votes in favor of joining the United Auto Workers while 515 ballots were cast against representation. The 11-vote victory by the UAW was contested by the company.
BlueOval SK challenged 41 ballots that could have changed the outcome of the election. Those ballots were cast by the plant’s Safety Emergency Response Technicians, or SERT employees. The votes were sealed, pending a ruling by the National Labor Relations Board.
When workers filed for the union election in January, they asked that only production, maintenance, and quality operators, as well as material planning and logistics employees be under the same contract.
In a ruling issued on Monday, the NLRB said SERT ballots should not be counted. A hearing officer found those workers perform different job functions from production, maintenance, and quality operators and shouldn’t be included in the same bargaining unit.
"I find that the evidence was insufficient to show that the SERTI and SERTII employees share an overwhelming community of interest with the petitioned-for unit," wrote Hearing Officer Austin Wishart, Region 9, National Labor Relations Board. "Accordingly, I recommend that the remaining challenged ballots should not be opened and counted, and an appropriate certification of...
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