Nuch is a Union Buster

TRUTANICH BROKE UNION EFFORT TO ORGANIZE TRASH WORKERS

In 2004, Carmen “Nuch” Trutanich represented H&C Disposal in their fight to block a union organizing effort by its workers. Many of the workers had walked off the job, looking for a better contract and working conditions. They were looking to join Teamsters Local 396. Then Carmen “Nuch” Trutanich stepped in:

• Nuch’s Replacement Workers: With Trutanich at the helm, acting as H&C Disposal’s attorney and advisor, the company hired replacement workers and sent them a letter giving them a last chance to return to work or be fired.

• Strong Arm Tactics: Only after using a Hawthorne police officer to intimidate the workers the company won the vote.

• Nuch Called Right to Organize a Strong Arm Tactic: Trutanich said that the union “went in, strong-armed people, took advantage of a situation without explaining what it was all about and what it would cost (the workers) and what the union would do for them.”


The Whole Story: While the Teamsters Local 396 said the workers were intimidated into returning to the job, Trutanich said “They returned to the job on their own.... This place is run like a family.”

Most striking Hawthorne trash workers returned to the job Friday morning, but company officials and union representatives sparred over what brought them back.

Representatives of H&C Disposal Co. said the workers came back on their own because the business is like a family. But officials from the International Brotherhood of Teamsters Local 396 said the workers were intimidated into returning by a Hawthorne police officer who is friends with H&C's owner.

H&C employees walked off the job Tuesday and picketed outside the company's El Segundo Boulevard office. Several said they wanted to be represented by the Teamsters union, contending the company pays low wages and sometimes fails to provide health insurance despite deducting premium contributions from paychecks.

H&C representatives strongly denied the allegations.

All but a handful of the 32 or 33 strikers returned to work on Friday, said H&C's attorney, Carmen Trutanich. The company hired replacement workers and was only an eighth of a day behind in its service schedule, he said.

"They returned to the job on their own," Trutanich said. "We didn't promise them anything. This place is run like a family."
But Manuel DeLeon, a business representative and political coordinator for Local 396, said H&C sent letters to striking workers giving them a last chance to return to their jobs or be replaced. The letter, a copy of which was obtained by the Daily Breeze, in fact states that workers may be replaced until they choose to return or resign.

(Daily Breeze, October 30, 2004)

Trutanich again criticized the Teamsters union after they charged H&C with numerous safety violations, accusing them of trying to force the company to bring in the union without an employee vote.

Labor leaders charged this week that Hawthorne's longtime trash hauler is guilty of numerous safety violations, but the company's attorney denied the claims, which he said are aimed at pressuring the firm into bringing in the union without an employee vote.

Representatives of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters Local 396 told the City Council on Monday that H&C was illegally transferring trash at its El Segundo Boulevard offices, packing too many workers onto trash trucks and failing to provide health insurance despite deducting premium payments from paychecks.

Manuel DeLeon, a Local 396 business representative and political coordinator, said he addressed the council to get the panel to pressure H&C into ending the alleged violations....

The company's attorney, Carmen Trutanich, said Teamster officials went to City Hall to try to put political pressure on H&C into recognizing the union without a vote.

"These guys know they would lose the (unionization) election," Trutanich said. "What's their motivation -- the employees or their own agenda?"

DeLeon rejected that suggestion.

Most H&C employees walked off the job in late October but came back a few days later, except for six who resigned. Teamsters officials say the workers were intimidated into returning by an off- duty Hawthorne police officer who is friends with H&C's owner, but several workers said they returned on their own without any outside pressure....

DeLeon said Local 396 has filed for an election with the National Labor Relations Board and intends to follow through with a vote.

(Daily Breeze, November 10, 2004)

After employees voted against unionizing, Trutanich said that the union “went in, strong-armed people, took advantage of a situation without explaining what it was all about and what it would cost (the workers) and what the union would do for them.”

Employees of Hawthorne's longtime trash company voted overwhelmingly against unionizing this week.

In balloting conducted Thursday in H&C Disposal Co.'s pungent El Segundo Boulevard warehouse, workers by a 35-4 vote rejected joining the International Brotherhood of Teamsters Local 396. The Teamsters challenged one vote in the election, which was conducted under National Labor Relations Board standards with one observer present from the company and from the union.

H&C's attorney, Carmen Trutanich, said the result shows that there was never a popular push to unionize from within the workers' ranks.

"(H&C has) treated their employees decently for 50 years," Trutanich said. "(The union) went in, strong-armed people, took advantage of a situation without explaining what it was all about and what it would cost (the workers) and what the union would do for them."

Union officials could not be reached Friday for comment. They have said H&C workers initially contacted the union and denied exerting pressure on anyone.

Teamsters organizers must wait at least a year before making another attempt to unionize H&C workers, Trutanich said.

(Daily Breeze, December 18, 2004)

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