University ordered to recognize union, post signs

[Omaha Steve]

http://media.www.theeagleonline.com/media/storage/paper666/news/2007/10/01/News/Drivers.Successfully.Unionize-3001750.shtml

Allie Feras
Issue date: 10/1/07 Section: News

AU will bargain with the shuttle bus drivers' union, according to a statement President Neil Kerwin released Friday. Kerwin released the statement after the board of trustees discussed the issue during its meeting Friday, according to Board Chairman Gary Abramson.

"The bottom line is that they're not going to go into extensive legal appeals - they're just going to sit down and engage in collective bargaining and negotiate with them," Abramson said.

AU submitted objections to the National Labor Relations Board's decision to certify Teamsters Local Union 922 as the drivers' representative last October. The objections claimed the election that certified the union was unfair, The Eagle previously reported.

The university appealed the decision because it violated drivers' right to vote and the obligation of government to adhere to established policies and procedures, Kerwin said in his official statement.

"I understood that by acting on these principles, we risked being viewed as opposing another important principle that we also value highly - the right of workers to organize and bargain collectively," he said in the statement.

In a decision released Tuesday, the NLRB ordered the university to recognize the Teamsters as the drivers' bargaining representative. The order also requires the university to prominently display signs acknowledging that the NLRB found the university in violation of federal law. The signs must also state that the university will bargain with the union and will not interfere with the drivers' right to unionize.

FULL 2 page story at link.