WNYLaborToday.com Editor’s Note: Pictured above, National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) General Counsel Jennifer Abruzzo visited Buffalo last week to participate in a Town Hall On The Status Of Labor With The National Labor Relations Board.  Held at 1199 Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Healthcare Workers East’s Main Street Union Headquarters, the event was very well attended by area Labor Leaders and Representatives, as well as Labor Attorneys and Friends of Labor.  (WNYLaborToday.com Photos)

(BUFFALO, NEW YORK) – In the birthplace of the national Starbucks Organizing effort, National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) General Counsel Jennifer Abruzzo seemed absolutely thrilled by the enormous amount of Non-Union Workers who have and are making the decision to Go Union across the United States over the past couple of years, citing a 53% increase in Union Elections in 2022 and a 14% increase in just the first six months of 2023.

“We ‘are seeing a lot’ of organizing across the country, especially in the Midwest.  It is ‘awesome,’” said Abruzzo, who was warmly welcomed to Buffalo by a packed crowd of Labor Leaders and Representatives, Labor Attorneys and Friends of Labor as the featured speaker in a panel discussion/Town Hall On The Status Of Labor With the National Labor Relations Board.

The event was sponsored by Cornell University’s School of Industrial Labor Relations Buffalo Co-Lab (Abruzzo was introduced by Cornell Buffalo Co-Lab Director Catherine Creighton as “one of my sheroes”) and hosted at 1199 Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Healthcare Workers East’s Main Street Union Offices.

Also serving as panelists (pictured below with Creighton at the far right) during the Town Hall were: Former NLRB General Counsel and Buffalo native Richard Griffin; Buffalonian Chairman of the NLRB, Mark Gaston Pearce; Buffalo NLRB Region 3 Director Linda Leslie; and NLRB Regional Attorney Jessica Cacaccio.  

Also in attendance was Barista Michelle Eisen, one of the leading Organizers for Starbucks Workers United in Buffalo, which got the Starbucks organizing ball rolling in Buffalo back in 2021.  At last report, there are now more than 300 stores that have had successful Union Elections - overseen by the NLRB, at the National Coffee Chain across the United States.

Asked by Cornell Creighton’s whether Buffalo was “Ground Zero” for Union Organizing across the country, Abruzzo answered: “Yes.”

“We are seeing Student Workers, Workers at Museums, Cannabis Workers and Workers in the Service Industries (seeking Union Elections with the NLRB).  There are so many ‘non-representation’ fields (where Workers are Unionizing).  ‘And we are also seeing an increase in Unfair Labor Practice cases,’” she told the mix of Public and Private and Building Trades Labor Leaders.

The NLRB is an Independent Federal Agency created in 1935 and vested with the power to safeguard Employees’ rights to organize, engage with one another to seek better working conditions, choose whether or not to have a Collective Bargaining Representative negotiate on their behalf with their employer, or refrain from doing so.

The NLRB also acts to prevent and remedy Unfair Labor Practices committed by Private Sector employers and Unions, as well as conducting Secret Ballot Elections regarding Union Representation.

The NLRB is a bifurcated agency governed on one side by a five-person Board and on the other side by a General Counsel.

Board Members and the General Counsel are appointed by the President with the consent of the Senate.

Its responsibilities and functions under the 1935 National Labor Relations Act, as amended, are carried out by the NLRB and its General Counsel, who, in addition to independent authority under the statute, exercises other authority by delegation from the Board.

Abruzzo also discussed a number of topics at the Buffalo Town Hall, including Protected Union Activity by Employees and Voluntary Union Recognition by management.

“If an employer ‘has got a legitimate’ business (concern about Employee Unionization), ‘we have to make sure it doesn’t (infringe) on Employees’ rights (to Unionize),’” said Abruzzo, adding former President Trump’s NLRB (a majority of appointees of which were Republicans) had “narrowed the definition of what employers can do to retaliate against Workers” who seek to Unionize.

“If (employers) ‘interfere with Employees (whom they want to) listen to their (Anti-Union) rhetoric and implied retaliation’ - ‘this is a violation that interferes with (Employees’) rights.’  (Management) ‘can express their (Anti-Union) views as long as there are no reprisals (for refusing to do so’ (such as those delivered in Captive Meetings).  That’s ‘outside (Employees) First Amendment Rights,’” she said.

Regarding Voluntary Recognition, Abruzzo said: “(Management must) ‘respect their Workers’ wishes.’  ‘They have to listen to their Workers’ voice.’  (The NLRB) ‘is trying to educate all on (each other’s) rights so they are all respected.’  And, if an (employer) ‘unlawfully bargains (during a first Union contract), they should be hit in their pocketbook so Workers are paid for the gains they’ve made as Workers.’  ‘That’s one way of getting more employers to the table’ (to bargain a first contract).”

Abruzzo also underscored the benefits for Unions and Workers by having a “pro-Union” White House under President Joe Biden and having an NLRB that “is ‘here to protect the rights of Workers.’”

She also talked about the need for the “vulnerable populus ‘who are elevating their voices and seeking a seat at the bargaining table’” as they fight against “inequities” in the workplace, including racial injustice and discrimination, as well as for better “wages, job security and work protections.”

Pearce (pictured below, next to Abruzzo) - a former Buffalo Labor Attorney who was appointed Chairman of the NLRB and who now serves as Executive Director of the Georgetown Law Workers’ Rights Institute in Washington, D.C., also pointed to what has transpired in New York State with Farm Workers now having the right to Unionize.  He also descried those who still attempt to try to “keep People of Color from getting the right to vote and (from attaining workplace) benefits.”

Western New York AFL-CIO Area Labor Federation President Peter DeJesus, Jr. told WNYLaborToday.com that he was “proud” to have Abruzzo visit Buffalo, which also registered a personal visit from former U.S. Secretary Marty Walsh, who met with a number of the same Buffalo Area Labor Leaders in the same room in 2022.

“This is a ‘big’ deal,” DeJesus said of Abruzzo’s visit.  “To ‘have the head’ of the National Labor Relations Board ‘here in our House of Labor.’  The topics she’s speaking on ‘are on point, especially organizing’ because Buffalo ‘has become a hub of organizing.’  ‘This speaks to the solidarity’ of (the Western New York Labor Movement).  Things ‘are different’ in Western New York.  ‘It’s all about results.’  ‘I am proud to have her here in our community.’”