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| A 2011 photo of, left to right, then-IAM District 166 Organizer Javier Alamazan and auto technicians Dean Catalano, Juan Cazorla and David Poppo who were recently reinstated after being fired from Mercedes-Benz of Orlando because of their union involvement. |
The IAM has scored another important legal victory for workers who endured harassment, intimidation and firings after they voted to unionize at Mercedes-Benz of Orlando, FL. The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has reissued its 2012 ruling requiring the dealership, which is owned by AutoNation, reinstate five workers who were fired for their union activities, with full back pay.
Mercedes-Benz of Orlando appealed the original decision back in 2012, a normal anti-union industry tactic to further punish the workers by dragging the process out as long as possible. The case was remanded for further proceedings after the June 2014 NLRB v. Noel Canning decision, which invalidated hundreds of NLRB rulings for lack of a quorum.
With the case back before the NLRB, the board upheld its previous ruling against Mercedes-Benz of Orlando, including an order to cease and desist from maintaining an unlawfully-broad rule prohibiting all solicitation on company property, interrogating employees about their union activities, creating the impression that employees’ union activity were under surveillance, and refusing to bargain in good faith with the union.
