July 18, 2018
In a major victory for Teamsters Local 174 against UPS, an arbitrator has ruled in the Teamsters’ favor on a case regarding the installation of surveillance cameras in lunch rooms at the UPS Seattle and Boeing Field locations.
UPS violated the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) by installing surveillance cameras in the Seattle and Boeing Field UPS facilities’ lunch rooms because “a reasonable employee could conclude that the cameras were placed to monitor their protected activities and could well have a chilling effect on the free exercise of collective bargaining rights,” according to Arbitrator Kenneth Latsch in a decision issued on July 16, 2018. UPS also violated the NLRA by unilaterally installing surveillance cameras in the Seattle and Boeing Field facilities without prior notice to Teamsters Local 174 and the opportunity to negotiate about the cameras. (The Union’s unfair labor practice charges against UPS on both of these issues were deferred by the NLRB to the grievance-arbitration procedure.)
UPS argued that the surveillance cameras were necessary to prevent vandalism to vending machines and a microwave, but did not present evidence to support that theory. Instead, as the Arbitrator found: “It appears that the cameras were installed with the intent to observe employees using the lunch rooms, even when they were meeting with union officials or otherwise discussing collective bargaining matters. The cameras were not aimed only at the vending machines and the microwave oven, but were generally directed into the lunch room where employees met and talked…The lunch rooms were the only places on site where union officials could meet with employees to discuss the status of grievances or to get information to be used for upcoming negotiations. The Employer’s placement of cameras in those locations amounted to interference with the free exercise of collective bargaining rights.”
The Arbitrator found that the lunch room cameras were different from existing surveillance cameras covering points of entry and production lines because union business was routinely transacted in the lunch rooms and the cameras placed employee conversations with one another under surveillance.
As a remedy, the Arbitrator ordered UPS to immediately cease and desist from using the surveillance cameras in the lunch rooms and any images from them until it has completed good faith negotiations with Local 174. UPS must immediately offer to negotiate in good faith with Local 174 regarding the implementation and use of the surveillance cameras in the Seattle and BFI facilities. It must also post a notice stating that UPS violated Sections 8(a)(1) and 8(a)(5) of the NLRA.
This was an important victory in ensuring that UPS does not unlawfully interfere with employees’ protected union conduct. Employees must be free to talk to one another and their union representatives about their wages and working conditions without fear that members of management are peering over their shoulders, taking note of who is involved in union activities, and in what particular ways. The decision also enforces UPS’s obligation to bargain with the Union over important workplace issues.
If you see new surveillance cameras going up in lunch rooms in other UPS facilities, let your Business Agent know right away.