It’s a case of really, really good news. And really, really bad news, as well.
The really, really good news? Some 220 workers at the Huntington Ingalls Shipyard in Newport News, Virginia, voted for union representation with the International Association of Machinists (IAM), an MTD affiliate.
The really, really bad news? It took two years for this to happen.
According to a spokesperson for the union, a lack of adequate funding for the National Labor Relations Board caused unnecessary delays.
As IAM Southern Territory Organizing Leader Tommy Mayfield noted, “It’s a travesty that these employees had to wait so long a time to have a say on the job concerning their working conditions, benefits and wages. It shows how underfunded the NLRB is and what can happen when there is not full board to make legal decisions.”