Lawyers’ Committee Management Reverses Commitment to Certify Staff Union through Card Check
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Katie Barrows, NPEU, kbarrows@npeu.org, 360-624-6936
WASHINGTON, August 7, 2020 - More than three months after pledging to certify Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law staff’s union through voluntary recognition, President Kristen Clarke and executive management have backed out of recognizing Lawyers’ Committee United through card check. Instead, Lawyers’ Committee management is demanding staff go through a National Labor Relations Board election or take part in a private election to certify their union with the Nonprofit Professional Employees Union (NPEU). Since asking for recognition in April, Lawyers’ Committee United members have been negotiating in good faith with management on the composition of the union’s bargaining unit with the understanding card check would occur once they both agreed on the employees eligible to be in the union.
“This is an egregious show of bad faith from President Clarke and the rest of the Lawyers' Committee executive management,” said Lawyers’ Committee United organizing committee members. “An overwhelming majority of staff support our union, yet management wants to again draw out the process and force an election to certify our union.”
Today, Lawyers’ Committee United published a letter urging management to honor their promise to voluntarily recognize their union through card check.
Lawyers’ Committee staff unionized to make the prominent civil rights organization a better place to work. Currently, many staff have shared stories on why they are organizing, including having to rely on food stamps due to the organization’s low pay, facing harassment for being queer, being subject to hostility from management, and facing retaliation for calling out racism. With their union, Lawyers’ Committee staff plan to create a more equitable and sustainable organization.
“It’s deeply disturbing to hear about the toxic work environment at one of the country’s leading civil rights organizations,” said NPEU President Kayla Blado. “It’s clear that Lawyers’ Committee employees urgently need a union. Particularly in an election year, it’s absurd to waste so much of the organization’s time and energy on delaying the recognition. Now, in another show of bad behavior, management is union-busting by failing to recognize employees’ workplace rights.”
About NPEU:
The Nonprofit Professional Employees Union (NPEU) is a local of IFPTE and represents professionals employed at more than 30 nonprofit organizations, including employees at Economic Policy Institute, the Center for American Progress, and Community Change. With several hundred members, NPEU gives nonprofit workers a voice to strengthen their workplaces and continue to do work that makes a difference in people’s lives.