Workers at the Hershey Chocolate Company of Virginia in Stuarts Draft will vote for a second time whether or not to unionize. WMRA's Randi B. Hagi reports.
Hershey employees' efforts to join the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers union, or BCTGM, were stymied in March of 2022 after 79% of those who voted sided against the union. But by then, the union had already filed charges with the National Labor Relations Board, alleging that a union sympathizer – Janice Taylor – was fired in retaliation, and that the company, with the help of outside consultants, illegally engaged in union busting.
Those charges were set to go to trial before an administrative law judge in late October – when Hershey's attorneys reached out to negotiate a settlement.
JOHN PRICE: They just, basically, promise that they're not going to do any of that stuff again. The big parts of the settlement was to toss the results of the last election, saying the violations definitely influenced the vote, and to order a new election.
John Price is the director of organization at BCTGM. The agreement also included a $200,000 settlement for Taylor, including back pay and damages. And the company has to post notices throughout the plant detailing workers' rights to form a union.
Price said the new election will probably be held in late January or early February.
PRICE: And it's kind of like they give management a chance here. It's been more than a year and a half, and if they haven't changed their behavior, or the issues that really drove the workers to calling the Bakery, Confectionary, and Tobacco workers up, then they'll vote yes this time.
A Hershey representative declined WMRA's interview request. The previous election was conducted by mail-in ballot because of the pandemic. The rerun will be held in person at the factory.
