Local 639 Hailing Recent NLRB Decision

Current and former Quickway Transportation employees who tried to join Local 639 in Washington, D.C. in 2006 are hailing a decision by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) to reinstate unlawfully fired employees and issue back pay and interest that could amount to $500,000 or more. The decision is the latest in a three-year long struggle to form a union and secure a contract.

Last month the NLRB sided with Teamsters Local 639, finding that Quickway Transportation is guilty of violating the rights of its employees who tried to form a union there. The NLRB decision falls on the heels of other court hearings in which judges have also sided with the union.

Phil Giles, Recording Secretary for Local 639, is calling the decision a step in the right direction.

“This is a huge step forward. The case is so compelling that there was no other decision that could have been reached,” Giles said. “Quickway Transportation is an outlaw company that doesn’t give a damn about the law and has done everything in its power to impede the rights of employees.”

Twenty-one Quickway drivers successfully formed a union in 2006 despite a massive anti-union campaign by the company that included surveillance of workers and termination of pro-union employees.

After the company refused the bargain in good faith and began diverting bargaining unit work to non-union owner-operators, Giles filed unfair labor practice charges and led a seven week strike against the company. Employees made an unconditional offer to return to work, only to have the company unlawfully lock them out of the facility.

Of the 21 employees in the original bargaining unit, only one, Earl Payne, remains with Quickway Transportation. Local 639 has yet to negotiate a successful contract with the company.

“At this point, I want to see one of two things happen. Either employees at Quickway get a contract or the company is removed from this area,” said former Quickway employee Kenny Tucker. “Even despite this great decision by the NRLB, I feel slighted that the company is still in business and continues to violate the rights of its workers.”

Though it is yet unclear if the company plans to appeal the decision by the NLRB, Giles and Tucker have promised to keep fighting.

“I made a personal vow that as long as I’m drawing breath, I won’t be satisfied until those drivers are covered by a contract,” Giles said. “Local 639 stands behind the Quickway drivers and we aren’t giving up.”