SPWU files an unfair labor practice charge against MDRC for bargaining in bad faith
- socialpolicyworker
- 33 minutes ago
- 1 min read
On February 28th, MDRC placed 39 unionized staff on administrative leave, and those staff were officially laid off on March 21st. SPWU shop stewards have been representing our laid off colleagues as they meet with HR to discuss their separation agreements. On multiple occasions, HR staff indicated to union members and their shop stewards that they would negotiate specific aspects of those separation agreements with SPWU. HR further requested that SPWU help them gather and organize information on which members were requesting changes to their agreements and what changes they were requesting. SPWU obliged this request and provided a spreadsheet containing this information, expecting to bargain over the changes.
MDRC then suddenly changed course, refusing to even meet with SPWU to bargain. It is unfathomable how MDRC would choose to exacerbate the incredible difficulty of this moment by lying to the staff they had just laid off. Their bait-and-switch is not just pointlessly cruel but also an egregious violation of their collective bargaining obligations.
SPWU filed this charge last week, and MDRC has yet to change course. We demand that MDRC come back to the table immediately and make this right.
Our field, our funding, and our workers are under attack; it's a shame that MDRC is turning its back on recent employees and eroding trust in our labor management relationship. We have put MDRC on notice that refusing to do right by these former employees will have long-lasting consequences. We believe it is more important than ever that we fight for our members and the integrity of organized labor.
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