By Richard H. Wessels, Esq.
The Al Piemonte Chevrolet dealership in East Dundee is now on the list of longest on-going strikes in America. The strike is America’s 6th longest. The Mechanics Local 701 strike has now been going on for about 15 months. It is a first contract situation. The scenario is pretty typical.
In late March of 2014, Automobile Mechanics Local 701 petitioned for an election to try to represent the Al Piemonte mechanics. There were nine auto mechanics in the unit. In May of 2014, a majority of the men voted for the union. The negotiations lasted only a few months. Local 701 called a strike on July 9, 2014.
Over Labor Day weekend 2014, after the strike had gone on then for about nine weeks, Local 701 put together a Labor Day rally with other unions to try to pep up the mechanics. There is a lengthy YouTube video of this which you can see on the internet. There is an interview with a couple of mechanics who you can clearly see are starting to get a bit tired of nine weeks of striking. If only they knew one year later they would still be walking the picket line!
The strike went on and on and on. Finally, at the end of January, 2015, the union made what is known as an unconditional offer to return to work. This means that the union is giving up. The men wanted to return to work at their old terms and conditions. But the dealership said it was too late. The men had already been permanently replaced.
NLRB litigation followed and is on-going. The issue, of course, is whether or not this is technically an unfair labor practice strike. And, if it is, the strikers would have a right to displace those mechanics who were hired to replace them. In any event, as of today, the strike is continuing and is going into its 16th month.
As a practical note for those interested in countering union organizing campaigns, the potential for strikes is a powerful argument for employers to persuade voters to vote no. Most studies have shown that the two most powerful arguments used by employers in organizing campaigns are the obligation to pay union dues and the potential for strikes. You might want to check out a video that we took of the Al Piemonte strike. We used it in a recent successful counter-organizing campaign in metro Chicago. It is certainly not professionally done and the audio is hard to hear, but you might want to take a look at it nonetheless. It’s only a couple of minutes long. Contact us if you would like to view the video.
Questions/Comments? Contact Dick Wessels at the St. Charles office of Wessels Sherman at riwessels@wesselssherman.com or (630) 377-1554
