Penske Truck Rental employees in Nashville have filed a petition with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) to hold a decertification vote to remove International Association of Machinists (IAM) union officials from power, the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation announced Wednesday.
The NLRB is the federal agency responsible for enforcing federal labor law, which includes administering elections to certify or decertify unions.
Penske employee David Saylor filed the petition at the NLRB with free legal aid from the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation after collecting signatures from a majority of his coworkers, “clearly exceeding the 30% support threshold needed to trigger a decertification vote under NLRB rules.”
A successful decertification vote would strip union officials of their powers over Penske workers in Nashville. A majority of votes decides the outcome.
“Transportation and trucking employees across the country are realizing that monopoly union control is frequently harmful. While workers’ right to vote out union bosses they oppose is vital in every state,” National Right to Work Foundation President Mark Mix said in a statement.
Decertification petition filings have increased by more than 40 percent since 2020, according to data published by the NLRB.
Penske employees in Nashville looking to remove IAM officials from power comes one day after Tennessee Governor Bill Lee joined a coalition of governors in issuing a joint statement in opposition of a unionization campaign by the United Auto Workers (UAW) as workers at the Chattanooga Volkswagen plan are currently voting on whether or not they will join the labor union.
The Chattanooga Volkswagen plant employs over 4,000 auto workers. The plant attempted to unionize in 2014 and 2019 but failed to do so.
Volkswagen employees in Chattanooga have until Friday to vote if they want to join UAW or not.
“In America, we respect our workforce and we do not need to pay a third party to tell us who can pick up a box or flip a switch. No one wants to hear this, but it’s the ugly reality,” Lee and the governors from Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, South Carolina, and Texas said.
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Kaitlin Housler is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Follow Kaitlin on X / Twitter.
Photo “Penske Truck” by Penske Truck.
Just because someone is in a union, does not mean they are a better worker.
A wise group of workers.