Workers Fired during Strike Could Get Millions

June 7, 2016

In early June, after a nearly six-year battle, 38 union workers illegally fired during a strike found out they should be rehired and reimbursed for lost wages. Eighty workers at the Piedmont Gardens senior living facility in Oakland, California, went on a five-day strike in 2010 over healthcare, pension, disciplinary policies, and other issues. Less than 24 hours before the strike was to end, the employer sent contacted some of the employees and told then they had been permanently replaced.

The ruling by the National Labor Relations Board found that Piedmont had replaced the workers to teach them and the union a lesson. The facility’s executive director admitted in an affidavit that she was motivated to permanently replace the workers to avoid future strikes. The attorney for the Service Employees International Union – United Healthcare Workers West called the decision significant, stating that every employer in the US will now had to follow the law created in the decision.In early June, after a nearly six-year battle, 38 union workers illegally fired during a strike found out they should be rehired and reimbursed for lost wages. Eighty workers at the Piedmont Gardens senior living facility in Oakland, California, went on a five-day strike in 2010 over healthcare, pension, disciplinary policies, and other issues. Less than 24 hours before the strike was to end, the employer sent contacted some of the employees and told then they had been permanently replaced.

The ruling by the National Labor Relations Board found that Piedmont had replaced the workers to teach them and the union a lesson. The facility’s executive director admitted in an affidavit that she was motivated to permanently replace the workers to avoid future strikes. The attorney for the Service Employees International Union – United Healthcare Workers West called the decision significant, stating that every employer in the US will now had to follow the law created in the decision.