President of the TCG Players Union CWA Local 1123, Chris Ryan, joined the America’s Work Force Union Podcast to talk about the negotiation efforts of the union and their employer TCG Player. Ryan also talks about the work by Littler Mendelson P.C. and the workers' desired contract.
TCG Player, a subsidiary of eBay, saw its workers vote to become members of the Communication Workers of America Local 1123 by an overwhelming majority. TCG refused to accept this vote, sending the vote to a regional NLRB court for verification. Region 3 sided with the workers, and again TCG refuted that decision, sending the case to the National Labor Relations Board for a final decision. In the last week, the NLRB sided with the workers, establishing a valid vote and union, and now the workers await TCG’s response regarding contract negotiations, Ryan said.
When TCG Player was initially notified of the decision by its workers that they would seek to join a union, the employer reached out to retain the services of Littler Mendelson P.C. This law firm has notoriously used anti-union actions to try and dissuade workers from joining a union. This time was no different, with countless captive audience meetings, handouts explaining why unions are bad and other intimidation tactics, all documented, Ryan said. There are 20 NLRB complaints, still awaiting decisions, filed against TCG from the tactics used by the law firm.
TCG Player workers are responsible for picking and handling collector’s merchandise purchased from eBay. The workers here are well-trained in the knowledge and safety of proper merchandise handling to prevent loss of value and the inability to properly fulfill orders. When eBay bought TCG for several million dollars, none of that went to the workers or the workplace, Ryan said. The workers seek increased wages to a livable standard, improved working conditions and health and retirement benefits.
To find out more about the workers' efforts to unionize with CWA, press the play button above.
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