Drivers employed by Energy Transfer, an oil and gas transportation entity operating in Texas, Oklahoma, and Louisiana, are seeking a National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) vote to terminate the United Steelworkers (USW) union’s bargaining powers over their workgroup. Jay Fifer, a driver from Hearne, TX, filed the petition with the NLRB, supported by the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation’s free legal assistance. If successful, this vote could release over 420 Energy Transfer drivers from the USW union officials’ oversight.
The NLRB is responsible for enforcing private-sector federal labor laws, including conducting votes on union certification and decertification. The petition, which exceeds the signature requirement for a union decertification vote, is now under NLRB review.
Texas, Oklahoma, and Louisiana Right to Work laws prevent USW union officials from mandating payment of dues or fees for employment at Energy Transfer. Even in these states, union officials can still apply monopoly bargaining contracts to all employees within a work unit, regardless of individual union membership or support. Fifer’s case highlights this issue, as work units can encompass hundreds of workers across multiple cities or states.
“Support among us drivers for this Steelworkers union is very low where I work. My colleagues at other locations have said similar things as well. It’s not fair for Steelworkers officials to dictate major things about our work lives when very few drivers at all are union members,” stated Fifer. “I filed this petition because I firmly believe that the overwhelming majority of my coworkers don’t think this union represents us, and we hope the NLRB lets us exercise that right without any delays.”
National Right to Work Foundation attorneys have recently assisted several worker groups nationwide in removing unwanted USW unions. Worker-filed petitions for union decertification votes have risen over 50% since 2020, according to NLRB data.
Mark Mix, President of the National Right to Work Foundation, commented, “American workers should not have to accept the ‘representation’ of a union that lacks worker support in the workplace, and more and more workers are standing up to free themselves.” He further advocated for the ability to freely vote out a union, a right he believes was jeopardized under previous NLRB leaders. Mix added, “As President Trump seeks new appointees for the NLRB, he should remember that workers all over the country like Mr. Fifer and his colleagues believe they are better off free from union influence, and those workers deserve to have their voices and will respected.”
