In a first for a Home Depot company, drivers at Temco Logistics in Lithonia have unionized, despite an intense anti-union campaign from Temco and Home Depot, according to the International Brotherhood of Teamsters.
Last week, 79 flatbed drivers, who deliver building materials for Home Depot’s Temco subsidiary, voted 42 to 33 (with four abstensions) to join Teamsters Local 528, according to its head, Chuck Stiles. The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) is expected to certify the Feb. 20 vote next week.
The Teamsters Local 528 chief called it “the most vicious anti-worker campaign that I’ve ever seen in my 40-plus years as a Teamster.” Stiles said the way the company treated its majority Black and brown employees “was something from the Old South.”
“We did have management telling us that we were going to lose our jobs and [the shop] would shut down,” said Temco delivery driver Jaree Beatles. “It did put some doubt with some drivers, but we stood strong with our beliefs.”
Beatles said the workers started organizing in December, because management ignored their concerns about equipment safety, cuts to hours, and allegations of favoritism. The next step for the unionized Teamsters drivers is negotiating a contract with Temco. “We need better pay and better everything to have a better livelihood for our families,” Beatles said.
Ahead of the union vote, the Teamsters on Feb. 4 filed an unfair labor practice charge with the NLRB alleging intense anti-union coercion from Temco. The union claimed in the filing that Temco managers “threatened employees with bodily harm if they vote for the union in the upcoming election,” and told them “Home Depot (the owner of TEMCO Logistics) will shut down operations if the union is voted in.”
In additional pressure tactics, Temco management “coercively questioned employees about their union activities and sympathies” and promised the Temco drivers benefits if they rejected the union, according to the Teamsters’ unfair labor practices complaint.
Temco Chief Human Resources Office Amanda Wiechmann declined to comment on the pending unfair labor practice charges. “We’ll cooperate with the NLRB as they conduct their investigation and will address these claims through their legal process,” she said in an email to Atlanta Civic Circle.
Wiechmann said Temco respects employees’ voices and their right to unionize. “We plan to work with the union and the NLRB on next steps,” she said in the email. “We’ve always believed we can create the best environment when we have a direct relationship with our employees, and we will stay focused on listening to all our frontline employees and continuing to make Temco a great place to work.”
Home Depot did not respond to a request for comment.
“These workers are taking a history-defining step in being the first at a Home Depot company to join a union,” said Teamsters General President Sean O’Brien in a press release. “They will prove that the Teamsters’ militancy and power have no bounds when they win their first contract.”