Jeff Lemon

Beaver County Times Pittsburgh, Pa.

In 2005, Jeff Lemon and his coworkers decided to form a union to bargain for a better life.  A year later, in 2006, Lemon was fired for being a supporter of the union.  Today, Lemon has neither the union nor the job.  His company is still stalling with the first contract and is appealing the government complaint that Lemon was fired for union activity.

Lemon worked in the Beaver County Times distribution center.  It’s his second job.  He worked one night a week distributing papers to neighborhoods in the middle of the night.  The income goes directly to his kids’ college fund; his first job pays the bills.

Lemon explains that he and his coworkers “weren’t given the raises we were promised.”  Meanwhile, routes were rearranged and eliminated.  There was more work to be done and no compensation for it. 

The workers asked the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) to conduct a union election—and, in doing so, triggered a massive backlash from the company.

The Beaver County Times went to great lengths to intimidate them.  The company spied on them when they distributed information on the union at community events.  They also threatened to eliminate their jobs and replace them with contractors.  They forced everyone to sit in meetings and listen to why the union shouldn’t be allowed in.

In May 2005, the workers voted for the union despite the company’s intimidating and sometimes illegal tactics. 

When Lemon and his coworkers voted for the union, they expected to immediately bargain for better wages and benefits with their employer.  Instead, they’ve waited two years because the company keeps stalling and refusing to reach any kind of agreement. In a complaint issued against the company by the National Labor Relations Board, it's called "surface bargaining;" that's where the company goes through the motions of bargaining but has no intention of ever reaching an agreement.

Today, Lemon and his coworkers still don’t have a first contract, even though they chose the union two years ago.

In August of 2006, in the middle of the struggle for a first contract, Lemon was fired because he was vocal in the fight for a contract.  The NLRB's complaint against the company charges that the Beaver County Times illegally fired Lemon in retaliation for his union support and in order to "discourage employees" from supporting the union.  The case is winding its way through the NLRB legal process.  Lemon will have to wait longer for justice.  In the meantime, Lemon’s kids are ready for college but the money Lemon was trying to save is indefinitely held up.