Miles Cook, director of organizing for the Association of Western Pulp and Paper Workers, has alleged that Garten Trucking LC has violated federal labor laws according to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB).
According to Cook who held a zoom video conference in July of 2021 with an employee of Garten Trucking LC after the employee contacted the Association of Western Pulp and Paper Workers concerning forming a union, Garten Trucking LC suspended the worker and later fired him.
Garten Trucking LC, an independent contractor of WestRock, hauls sundry items onto and from the paper mill in Covington, and Rogers Law Firm of Roanoke is representing the Garten Trucking LC in the matter.
“Cook remarked, “The employees contacted us about forming a union, and we started the process, but shortly after the zoom meeting, the employee who held the meeting at his home was fired.”
Cook asserted, “The firing is a violation of the National Labor Relations Act.”
The National Labor Relations Act was passed in 1935 to encourage collective bargaining and to curtail certain private sector labor and management practices, which can harm the general welfare of workers, businesses and the U.S. economy.
Cook continued, “We felt that the employer fired the employee because of the zoom meeting, and that violates the National Labor Relations Act.”
However, Va. is a right to work state, and employers have the right to hire and fire employees at their own discretion.
According to a press release issued by Cook, charges of violations committed by Garten Trucking LC will be heard on Aug. 15, by a judge of administrative law.
The fact remains that an election was held for Garten Trucking LC’s employees to vote to form a union or not to form a union, and the result revealed that more than 60 percent of the workers voted against forming one.
Matt Garten, president of Garten Trucking LC, and Tommy Garten, his father who founded Garten Trucking LC as a family business in 2010, by hiring three employees, both declined to comment on the allegations.
Rogers Law Firm’s Attorney Agnis Chakravorty said, “I can’t comment in that the matter is an ongoing litigation.”
He concluded, “But, we believe the charges are without merit.”
No charges have been filed against Matt, Tommy, or Garten Trucking LC, and the administrative hearing set for Aug. 15, appears to be more of a fact finding meeting.
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| Photo by Ray Allen |
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| Photo by Ray Allen |
