The dissolution of the relationship Terry Nelson formed between the Carpenters District Council and a notorious non-union electrical contractor has been the hot topic inside the St Louis labor movement for a number of weeks now. The methods used by Terry Nelson to reach an agreement with Mike Birkel that would allow the St Louis carpenters union to represent Birkel employees was found to be in violation of several articles of the National Labor Relations Act of 1935. In order to help our readers understand the severity of the violations we preface this information with a description of the role of the National Labor Relations Board as detailed on the front page of their website:
What We Do
The National Labor Relations Board is an independent federal agency created by Congress in 1935 to administer the National Labor Relations Act, the primary law governing relations between unions and employers in the private sector. The statute guarantees the right of employees to organize and to bargain collectively with their employers, and to engage in other protected concerted activity with or without a union, or to refrain from all such activity.Local 57 Facts has obtained the following documents from the National Labor Relations Board through the Freedom Of Information Act and promises to publish the remainder of these documents as they become available. It is important to recognize that documents of this nature are not new to labor advocates who have devoted their lives to advancing the rights of working men and women in America. However, it should be stated that this is the first time in the history of organized labor in St Louis that a federal agency has mandated posting this information in a union hall! Shame on Terry Nelson! The following document has been downsized for publication on this site.
(Don't want to download? Click-on the images below. Document size can be expanded by pulling the lower right corner of the document with your mouse)
Download a copy of the Carpenters NLRB Public Post
Below is a more detailed NLRB settlement document signed by Mike Birkel, the owner of Birkel Electric. Both of the documents presented here can also be downloaded from our new downloads category - NLRA Violators! Just one more example of non-union workers benefitting from the actions of trade unionists.
Download the Birkel Electric NLRB Settlement
Download the NLRA violations flyer
( Quotes below from St Louis/Southern Illinois Labor Tribune article "Carpenters, Birkel to pay $100,000 for unfair labor practices" published in VOL. 73 No. 50)
"The NLRB found merit to every one of our allegations of unfair labor practices by Birkel and the carpenters."
Stephen P Schoemehl, Business Manager, IBEW Local One
"We hope this sends a message to the other electrical contractors who have signed contracts with the carpenters and thier phony Local 57!Larry Palazzolo, Director of Membership Development, IBEW Local One
The following is an excerpt from the article NELSON RHETORIC RINGS HOLLOW originally published under the JURISDICTION tab on this website
The damage Terry Nelson has done to the labor movement not only here is St Louis, but across the country, is profound. Developers now "fly-over" St Louis not for the reasons he has stated publicly, but due to the battle he and he alone has started. Nelson's actions support the anti-worker elements who seek to devour our market and the standard of living that union leaders have fought so long and hard to achieve. Terry Nelson willingly joins forces with the anti-union organizations of yesterday for his agenda today; he offers his union's insignia freely to his new partners who neither understand its meaning nor embrace its values; surely he will cross any boundary in his anti-union attack without thought or regard for the honor bestowed upon him to serve his union membership. We hope we have shed some light on the truth behind the misrepresentations that he has spread throughout the St Louis community. We vow to continue exposing the facts regarding the falsehoods he has propagated for three years in the St Louis media. We have been given the green light to move forward with this public information campaign from the great men and women who lead us. For almost three years, they have been tirelessly negotiating behind the scenes. It was their honor, duty, and allegiance to the general welfare of the larger labor community that propelled them to these good faith negotiations, and it was their hope that negotiation might prove successful that caused us to delay our full public information campaign. We will provide you with the facts of the situation, and we will back up our information with documentation of our sources. Some of the information we provide will be legal in nature, and we hope that you will continue to educate yourself on these issues! We feel that our standard of living will be degraded if Terry Nelson and people like him continue on their current course.
