Opinion ID: 789622
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Ryder's Response

Text: 18 On December 11, 2000, the Union submitted a petition for an election among the 32 service attendants and technicians at the Indianapolis East and West facilities. Ryder management immediately began devising a strategy to respond to the petition. For the following three days, December 13, 14, and 15, 2000, Buckley met with Bill Herlihy, regional director of employee-labor relations, and Roger Cicchini, regional vice-president of operations, to identify key participants, [and] set forth [an] action plan and key issues to be addressed. During these meetings, Buckley explained to Cicchini the dos and don'ts of conducting a union campaign, which he shorthanded as TIPS — meaning that management cannot threaten, interrogate, make promises to, or engage in surveillance of employees. The managers devised an extensive campaign schedule consisting of daily meetings between managers and employees in the shop. At these meetings, managers sought to explain the company's view that a union was not necessary and that they should give new regional general manager Michael Campanale a chance. 3 19 Adhering to this campaign schedule, Ryder managers met with employees almost daily until January 19, 2001, the planned election date. On December 19, 20, and 21, 2000, Buckley and Herlihy met with all six shifts of employees subject to the petition. Herlihy and Buckley also met with local management, including customer service manager David Toneges and Woehlke, and explained to them the TIPS limitations. 20 The regional managers met with certain employees on an individual basis and kept track of the employees' positions toward the Union. On December 18, vice-president Cicchini met with Bullman. Cicchini acknowledged that there was a lot of commotion related to the Union and asked about Bullman's concerns. Bullman complained about the payment system, and Cicchini responded that he understood the employees' concerns and that things would work out for the better. Shortly thereafter, Bullman was called into another meeting with Herlihy and Buckley. During this meeting, Bullman revealed that he intended to vote for the Union because he believed employees needed a union to get a fair shake. 21 On December 28 or 29, 2000, Toneges received an e-mail with an attachment entitled Manager Communications Kit, announcing the adoption of the company's new nationwide vacation plan. The plan, which was to become effective January 1, 2001, reduced the amount of time necessary to acquire three weeks of vacation and allowed employees a one-time opportunity to transfer unused vacation days from the old vacation plan to the new one. The kit contained the following eligibility requirement: All full-time and part-time employees in the U.S. are eligible, except for those employees operating under a collective bargaining agreement. 22 On January 3 and 4, 2001, regional managers Herlihy and Buckley returned to Indianapolis to meet again with each of the employees. The managers told employees about the new vacation plan and stated that it applied to all employees except those covered by a collective bargaining agreement. At one of the meetings, Herlihy said that employees would receive the new vacation benefits only if they voted against the Union and did not have a collective bargaining agreement. He also stated: once you elect a Union you have nothing, you have no benefits, this is what you got, nothing and held up a blank sheet of paper. 23 During these meetings, management showed a video that attributed trucking industry deregulation and the failure of trucking businesses to unions. At one of the meetings, Bullman raised his hand to challenge the claims in the video. Campanale also addressed the employees and asked to be given a chance as the new general manager. He promised that if employees voted against the Union, he would make everything right after the vote. At the end of the meeting, Herlihy again held up a blank sheet of paper and said, remember, guys, this is what you get, blank. He also said that if the employees voted for the Union, they would not receive the extra vacation days under the new vacation plan. 24 During the first week in January, Toneges posted a copy of the company's new vacation plan, including the eligibility requirement. Prior to the election scheduled for January 19, 2001, Woehlke held meetings at the Indianapolis West facility where he informed employees that collective bargaining units were not covered by the new vacation policy. When Bullman later applied for his vacation days, Woehlke told him that although Bullman had some extra vacation time, he would only receive it if he voted against the Union. 25 On January 5, 2001, Ryder's Miami headquarters sent an urgent e-mail to all officers and directors informing them that the company's recently announced vacation policy contained an error and was under review, and that the one-time transition component of the vacation program is being modified. The memo directed managers to halt all activity related to the vacation program, including the scheduling of vacation time for 2001, pending further instruction. Although this e-mail was distributed to Buckley and Herlihy and forwarded to Toneges within the week, no regional or local manager notified employees that the vacation policy was under review. On January 17, Toneges received an e-mail with an attached memo stating that the information employees had received about vacation was incorrect and too good to be true. Toneges was instructed to post the memo immediately, but he did not do so, nor did he inform employees that the new vacation policy was being modified. The memo was posted only after January 19, the date on which the election was scheduled. 26 On January 17, 2001, two days before the scheduled election, Ryder held a luncheon meeting for its employees at a local Marriott hotel. Employees were paid for their attendance and received a free lunch. Management did not mention the pending modification of the vacation policy at this meeting even though it was aware of the planned changes. Rather, management announced the date of the election and stated that everyone needed to vote, regardless of how he intended to vote. Herlihy remarked that an employee could still vote against the Union even if he had signed a union card. He also said that the employees should trust the company and give it a chance. Bullman challenged Herlihy, asking how he could ask the employees to trust management when he had provided inconsistent information about seniority to different employees. Herlihy responded using profanities and accused Bullman of lying by calling in sick and then going out to knock on doors to drum up support for the Union. 27 Before January 19, Bullman and Silhavy agreed that the Union should withdraw its election petition, based at least in part on the sentiment of some employees that they should give the company an opportunity to deliver on its new vacation policy. The Union withdrew the petition on January 18, 2001, the day before the scheduled election. 28 On March 5, 2001, Silhavy sent a mailing to employees raising questions about the latest modification to the company's vacation plan and soliciting their signatures on another petition for an election.