UE Local 625, whose members build high-quality circuit breakers and high-voltage equipment at two locations, have successfully restored their right to wear union shirts on the shop floor. The conflict began in 2022 when their employer, Hitachi Energy, unilaterally imposed a new dress code which prohibited members from their wearing union shirts at work.
“The company just made up a rule out of left field, that we never consented to, requiring that we exclusively wear company-issued uniforms,” said Mark Shaffer, UE Local 625 president at the time of the dispute. “Not only that, but managers and office staff were allowed to dress very casually and without the same requirements. It was a total double standard.”
“Of course, the result of the rule change was an attack on our right to wear union paraphernalia at work,” explained UE 625 executive board member Sharon Johnston, who helped spearhead the union’s campaign. “Wearing our union shirts at work is a simple way to remind each other of our collective interests and show our bosses that we as workers stand in solidarity and support of each other.”
In conjunction with a board charge, the local took actions on the shop floor to make the situation untenable for the employer to continue its faulty policy.
“Groups of members repeatedly approached managers throughout the last months demanding that the company’s unfair policy be rescinded,” said current UE Local President 625 Gary Williams. “Some openly defied the rule by proudly wearing their union shirts to work.”
“The NRLB took up the case in representing the charge, and we had a hearing date scheduled earlier this year in front of an Administrative Law Judge,” added Johnston. “It was pretty clear to all involved that they (the NLRB) felt strongly that the company had violated our rights.” The charge asserted that the employer failed in its bargaining obligations and had discriminated against the rights of union members to concerted union activity.
The local was able to leverage both the board charge, but more importantly its own members, to pressure the company to back off its new rule change. The employer eventually discontinued their restrictive dress code policy, which settled the case. UE Local 625 members are now allowed to wear their union shirts at work without fear of reprisal.
“This win is even more important given that 2024 is a contract year (contract expires at the end of October),” said Williams. “On top of that, our local membership has nearly doubled over the past few years as the company has expanded its operations across Westmoreland County. The next generation of UE Local 625 members entering the workforce is seeing and experiencing what trade unionism is all about.”
The Local 625 bargaining committee at the time of the campaign consisted of President Shaffer, Vice President Chris Pratt, Chief Steward John Shifflett, Recording Secretary Leia Hernley, and Financial Secretary Bob Good. They were assisted by UE Field Organizer Ben Wilson and UE General Counsel Margot Nikitas.