The recent National Labor Relations Board complaint against Cintas, charging the nation's largest uniform and commercial laundry with violating federal labor law at 19 plants nationwide, is unusual in both its size and scope.
The NLRB [unfair labor practice] complaint is the labor law equivalent of an indictment. Some of the most serious violations concern Cintas' behavior in Eagan, where UNITE HERE has been trying to gain union recognition for more than a year and a half.
In Eagan, Cintas is accused of illegally firing Jacob Salinas, disciplining Salinas and other union supporters, spying on workers and union organizers, interrogating union supporters, threatening to move the plant, and disciplining workers for wearing union buttons, hats, shirts or using union water bottles, among other charges.
Long list of harassment
"These workers went through hell at this plant," said Jeanine Otte, a UNITE HERE organizer who has been assisting workers in Eagan. "Week after week after week, workers faced anti-union harassment. We're hoping the board will bring some justice to the situation."
So far, Otte said, the NLRB has not been willing to take the most drastic steps against Cintas, which could include ordering the company to recognize the union and begin collective bargaining.
But in a rare move indicating the wantonness of Cintas' behavior, the NLRB is seeking "special remedies" against the company. Proposals include giving UNITE HERE access to company bulletin boards, and requiring Cintas managers not simply to post NLRB notices, but to publicly read the notices to employees.
"These are not general or vanilla remedies we're seeking," said Bob Chester, acting regional director for the NLRB in the Twin Cities.
Asked what that implies about Cintas' policies, Chester said, "You'll have to draw your own conclusions."
In another rare move, the NLRB general counsel who issued the complaint also names an outside, anti-union consultant hired by Cintas ? Craft-Barresi Consultants Ltd., of Clarkston, Mich. ? as violating labor law at the Eagan plant.
Cases consolidated
The complaint, issued Sept. 29 by the NLRB office in Philadelphia, is the result of cases consolidated against Cintas from around the country. The complaint focuses on the most blatant cases from Eagan and three other Cintas plants, in which the NLRB cites 34 specific violations of labor law.
In addition, UNITE HERE says, Cintas is trying to settle charges from 15 other locations. UNITE HERE and the Teamsters have a nationwide campaign to organize Cintas' laundry workers and drivers.
A trial on the Eagan charges is scheduled to begin in Minneapolis Jan. 9, though Chester said the NLRB hopes to settle the case before the trial begins.
"Cintas workers should be applauded for courageously attempting to form a union," said UNITE HERE president Bruce Raynor. "They are facing a company that is a repeat offender and continues to act as if it is above the law."
The NLRB ruling isn't the only recent legal decision against Cintas. On Sept. 23, a judge in California's Alameda County ordered Cintas to pay 219 current and former workers at two plants $805,243 in back pay for breaking the living-wage requirements of a contract the company had with the City of Hayward. The judge also ordered Cintas to pay $300,000 in damages.
Press Associates Union News Service contributed to this article. Adapted from The Union Advocate, the official newspaper of the St. Paul Trades and Labor Assembly. E-mail The Advocate at: advocate@stpaulunions.org
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Cintas violated workers' rights, NLRB says
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The recent National Labor Relations Board complaint against Cintas, charging the nation’s largest uniform and commercial laundry with violating federal labor law at 19 plants nationwide, is unusual in both its size and scope.
The NLRB [unfair labor practice] complaint is the labor law equivalent of an indictment. Some of the most serious violations concern Cintas’ behavior in Eagan, where UNITE HERE has been trying to gain union recognition for more than a year and a half.
In Eagan, Cintas is accused of illegally firing Jacob Salinas, disciplining Salinas and other union supporters, spying on workers and union organizers, interrogating union supporters, threatening to move the plant, and disciplining workers for wearing union buttons, hats, shirts or using union water bottles, among other charges.
Long list of harassment
“These workers went through hell at this plant,” said Jeanine Otte, a UNITE HERE organizer who has been assisting workers in Eagan. “Week after week after week, workers faced anti-union harassment. We’re hoping the board will bring some justice to the situation.”
So far, Otte said, the NLRB has not been willing to take the most drastic steps against Cintas, which could include ordering the company to recognize the union and begin collective bargaining.
But in a rare move indicating the wantonness of Cintas’ behavior, the NLRB is seeking “special remedies” against the company. Proposals include giving UNITE HERE access to company bulletin boards, and requiring Cintas managers not simply to post NLRB notices, but to publicly read the notices to employees.
“These are not general or vanilla remedies we’re seeking,” said Bob Chester, acting regional director for the NLRB in the Twin Cities.
Asked what that implies about Cintas’ policies, Chester said, “You’ll have to draw your own conclusions.”
In another rare move, the NLRB general counsel who issued the complaint also names an outside, anti-union consultant hired by Cintas ? Craft-Barresi Consultants Ltd., of Clarkston, Mich. ? as violating labor law at the Eagan plant.
Cases consolidated
The complaint, issued Sept. 29 by the NLRB office in Philadelphia, is the result of cases consolidated against Cintas from around the country. The complaint focuses on the most blatant cases from Eagan and three other Cintas plants, in which the NLRB cites 34 specific violations of labor law.
In addition, UNITE HERE says, Cintas is trying to settle charges from 15 other locations. UNITE HERE and the Teamsters have a nationwide campaign to organize Cintas’ laundry workers and drivers.
A trial on the Eagan charges is scheduled to begin in Minneapolis Jan. 9, though Chester said the NLRB hopes to settle the case before the trial begins.
“Cintas workers should be applauded for courageously attempting to form a union,” said UNITE HERE president Bruce Raynor. “They are facing a company that is a repeat offender and continues to act as if it is above the law.”
The NLRB ruling isn’t the only recent legal decision against Cintas. On Sept. 23, a judge in California’s Alameda County ordered Cintas to pay 219 current and former workers at two plants $805,243 in back pay for breaking the living-wage requirements of a contract the company had with the City of Hayward. The judge also ordered Cintas to pay $300,000 in damages.
Press Associates Union News Service contributed to this article. Adapted from The Union Advocate, the official newspaper of the St. Paul Trades and Labor Assembly. E-mail The Advocate at: advocate@stpaulunions.org
Related article
Cintas violated workers’ rights, NLRB says