MacAllister Machinery Company (Photo provided)

WARSAW — Earlier this week, a sign appeared outside MacAllister Machinery Company Inc.’s Warsaw location declaring the federal government has pressed charges against the company for “unfair labor practices.”

This statement, MacAllister Legal Counsel John Deckard said, is not entirely accurate.

“When they say the federal government is prosecuting MacAllister, that’s a bold misstatement,” Deckard said. “The National Labor Relations Board does not prosecute anyone. Only U.S. attorneys and county prosecutors can prosecute people. The NLRB is just adjudicating.”

Among charges filed is the claim MacAllister fired two employees for union-related activity. Deckard noted two employees have been fired, but not for union activity. One, he said, admitted to driving a MacAllister service truck at 96 miles per hour to get to the vote. He arrived 15 minutes too late, Deckard said, and the National Labor Relations Board would not allow him to vote. He also admitted to stealing from the company.

“It wasn’t our decision,” Deckard said. “I don’t know how he was going to vote, nor do I care. We are about submitting to the will of our employees.”

The other employee was disciplined for disorderly conduct and signed a resignation. Deckard was not aware whether or not the employee had engaged in union-related activity.

As far as the union’s rat mascots, “Scabby” and “Cheesy,” Deckard is not too impressed.

“We kind of find it comical, actually,” he said, adding, “What it’s done over the last few months is traipse its childish, brat-like rats to our various facilities and to our various customer facilities to protest, as they say, conduct that MacAllister has engaged in.”

Background

Last fall, representatives of the IUOE Local 150 approached MacAllister’s South Bend location with the possibility of unionizing. There are between 40 and 50 employees at the South Bend location, Deckard said. The vote was held Nov. 3, 2015, with a majority vote not to join the union.

Union representatives, however, saw a different side to the story. According to Deckard, there is a 30-day period following a vote during which a union can file unfair labor practice charges. The deadline passed he said, and the company did not hear anything. Then, in early to mid-February, the union filed five to six unfair labor practice charges. Shortly thereafter, the protests began.

See Related:

IUOE Local 150 Pressing Federal Charges Against MacAllister

Signs, Rat Confiscated During Protest

Protestors Continue To Protest Local Businesses

Local 150 protesting D&D Contract

Local Union Striking For Fair Treatment