WASHINGTON, D.C. — In a decision issued by an Administrative Law Judge for the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), Overnite Transportation Company, the trucking subsidiary of Union Pacific (UP), has been ordered to reinstate and pay lost wages plus interest to eight unlawfully fired Overnite workers at the company’s Memphis terminal.
This ruling comes on the heels of a Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals decision earlier this month ordering Overnite to recognize and immediately begin contract negotiations with the Teamsters at four additional Overnite terminals, and an NLRB ruling last month ordering the company to pay in excess of $176,000 to unlawfully fired workers in Memphis.
These three rulings add to Overnite’s pathetic record as the nation’s worst labor scofflaw, with more NLRB charges and complaints per employee than any other company in the United States. Overnite argued in recent NLRB and appeals court hearings that the company remedied unlawful conduct in 1997 with the departure of Overnite President and CFO Jim Douglas and many other management-level personnel, who, the company contended, were the characters responsible for the massive unlawful conduct committed from 1994 to 1997. This ruling demonstrates that Overnite has not remedied its continuing and pervasive unlawful conduct.
In 1999, in a sworn affidavit, former Overnite supervisor Dale Watson revealed a conspiracy that reaches Overnite’s corporate headquarters in Richmond, including the compilation of covert “hit lists” of workers who supported the Teamsters. Watson’s affidavit mirrors an internal Overnite memo obtained through discovery that describes a meeting between top-ranking Union Pacific and Overnite officials. At the meeting, while discussing the Teamster organizing campaign, current Union Pacific CEO Dick Davidson asks Overnite officials if they have a system to get the bad apples out. According to Watson, hundreds of so-called “bad apples,” Overnite workers who supported the union, were unlawfully targeted and illegally fired for infractions fabricated by Overnite officials. Teamsters Local 667 in Memphis learned of Watson’s affidavit on October 22, 1999, and began an unfair labor practice strike two days later on October 24, 1999. The strike quickly spread to Overnite terminals around the country and continues to this day.
This ruling is a culmination of Watson’s affidavit and testimony, as well as a host of other evidence presented at trial, and it affirms the Teamsters’ contention that unlawful conduct at Overnite has continued unabated from 1994, when the workers began organizing for union representation, to today.
In his 56-page ruling, Judge Leonard M. Wagman credits Dale Watson, writing “Watson testified in detail, in a full and forthright manner” and “Watson testified candidly,” while the Judge’s assessment of the company’s terminal manager, Bob Cecil, and other management-level personnel are described as “not being forthright.”
The ruling goes case-by-case through Overnite workers who strongly supported Teamster representation who were then unlawfully targeted and fired for transgressions fabricated by company officials. One of the most disturbing of these cases is the unlawful termination of 20-year Overnite worker and union steward Sam Powell. When the company paraded a group of antiunion workers from South Carolina as a not too subtle threat that the Memphis workers could be replaced if they struck, Powell warned the South Carolina workers to be careful on the dock, as it was dangerous given the presence of the many forklifts. In fact, a worker had broken his arm on a forklift a week earlier. Powell was fired because the company officials said he was threatening the workers from South Carolina when he told them to be careful on the dock.
The judge noted previous cases show that antiunion employees, who threatened and assaulted pro-union workers, received no discipline from the company.
Shocking examples are cited.
In April 1999, Teamster supporter Anthony Johnson was going to his locker when he encountered two antiunion workers, Brad White and Buzz McKenzie. White opened a knife up and said it was not a tool but a weapon. Whereupon, McKenzie said, “I have a knife, too,” and pointed his knife in front of Johnson’s stomach. White took McKenzie’s knife and used both knives to make a “Z” motion across Johnson’s chest. Johnson froze with fear. Johnson reported the incident to Overnite’s fleet service manager and the terminal manager, but no action was taken against the perpetrators.
In July 1999, antiunion employee Ron Meyer also accosted Teamster supporter Anthony Johnson. Meyer jabbed Johnson in the chest and told Johnson he was lucky because if Meyer weren’t retiring in a week he would come in with his nine-millimeter and shoot the Teamster supporters. Later that same night, antiunion Overnite worker Charles Foster held a switchblade knife with its blade open to Johnson’s neck to “demonstrate” what he’d do to a union supporter. Another worker, Michael Lounsberry, came up and Foster put the knife away. Johnson reported his encounter with Foster and Meyer to the fleet service manager, the shop supervisor and the terminal manager, and was assured they would check into his complaints. Lounsberry also reported Johnson’s incident with Foster to the fleet service manager and terminal manager. The judge noted that Overnite never disciplined either Meyer or Foster for their conduct toward Johnson, and that Foster continued his run between Memphis and Kansas City.
Judge Wagman concluded that Overnite was guilty of engaging in unfair labor practices through its unlawful firing of eight Memphis workers, and violated the law by refusing to furnish the Teamsters with information it requested to defend the unlawfully fired workers.
As a remedy, the judge ordered Overnite to cease and desist its unlawful conduct and to reinstate the unlawfully fired workers, make them whole for lost wages and other benefits, plus interest. Overnite must also remove from its records any references to the suspensions and discharges of the unlawfully fired workers.
The Teamsters represent approximately 2,500 Overnite workers at 26 UP/Overnite terminals across the country and another 1,000 workers at 11 terminals are under bargaining orders from the NLRB
Founded in 1903, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters represents more than 1.4 million hardworking men and women throughout the United States and Canada.