Senior leadership response & our next steps
The organizing committee has received a response from Michael Costanzo on behalf of the Senior Team regarding our requests that we presented to him on April 21st. Both of our proposals have been denied. What exactly does that mean?
They have opted not to recognize CalAcademy Workers United through voluntary card-check recognition. This will mean a secret ballot election must take place, and likely means that management will use this extra step in the process as an opportunity to push back on our unionizing effort. Take a look at this visual guide to see the differences between card check recognition and a secret ballot election process.
They rejected our request for non-interference and neutrality with regards to our organizing campaign. By rejecting our request, they are reserving the right to interfere in a number of ways. This includes leadership sending emails or creating a website to spread misinformation about our organizing effort, management holding meetings to influence our decisions, and hiring union avoidance lawyers.
In fact, we’ve already seen examples of the fight to come. At the Gala, staff were told to remove their buttons indicating their unionization support which is a direct violation of the law. Some staff were intimidated and obliged management's request to remove the buttons. Wearing buttons is a protected concerted activity and employers cannot lawfully discipline staff for exercising this right. We will see more of this kind of interference moving forward, so it is important to document anything you may encounter thoroughly and let us know.
You may be wondering what the plan is now that we have this response. In short, our plan is the same. We will continue to have conversations with our coworkers and keep getting those confidential authorization cards signed.
At its core our movement remains firm in the belief that unionizing is the best path forward in gaining a real voice in the Academy’s future, and we will continue building support one conversation, card, and day at a time.
Reminder: Let’s show a united front! Please wear your shirt and/or button to the All-Staff meeting today, or download this logo and make it your Zoom profile pic!
