Jerry Coble was an installer technician for Prime Communications in Omaha, Nebraska. Jerry and his coworkers install low voltage systems such as security systems, nurse call, voice, data and fire alarms. They worked in commercial buildings, hospitals, and industrial facilities on both public and private contracts.

After workers at Prime Communications’ sister company, Source Electric, joined the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW), Jerry and his coworkers decided they too wanted to join the union. Jerry wanted to form a union because he wanted the security of a union contract. He wanted his pay, benefits and work rules in writing and he wanted a voice in the decisions that affected his work. Jerry worked two years without a raise and had to pay out-of-pocket for health insurance. Further, it was stated in the company’s employee handbook that policies were subject to change without notice and Jerry often was told, after complaining about a violation of company policy, that the policy had changed.

In February 2007, Jerry and his coworkers began forming their union. Jerry was one of four workers who publicly declared their support for the union in an open letter to the company. After two years without one, Jerry got a raise. The company hired an anti-worker consulting firm whose consultants came to the worksite and met with workers one-on-one to convince them not to support the union. In May, Jerry was fired. He was told by a manager that he was being fired for wearing tennis shoes on the job and for calling in sick improperly even though he had always worn tennis shoes and had always used the same procedure for calling in sick. The union is in the process of filing charges with the National Labor Relations Board on Jerry’s behalf even though Jerry has still not received his official termination papers from the company.

Unfortunately, Jerry’s story is all too common. According to the National Labor Relations Board Annual Reports from 1993-2003, an average of 22,633 workers per year were paid backpay by their employers in cases involving allegations of labor law violations.