The Virginia Worker

Target Workers Unite issues the following statement regarding the recent National Labor Relations Board judgement in favor of the workers who faced illegal unionbusting efforts by their management at Store 1292 in Christiansburg during their 2022 organizing drive

After Target management engaged in illegal actions against Target workers in their attempt to unionize at Store 1292 last year, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has finally ruled in favor of Target workers. Target is required to post the above notice to all workers informing us of our rights to unionize, to distribute materials in nonwork areas – such as break rooms, parking lots, and near store entrances – and to be free from threats, interrogation, and spying by Target management as we exercise these rights.

This is the second settlement issued by the NLRB at Store 1292. The first settlement came off the heels of workers going on strike back in 2017, demanding the old Store Director be fired for abusing workers. Despite Target management violating the terms of the first settlement, the NLRB remains a weak federal agency with hardly any power to hold bosses truly accountable. There are no financial penalties or major punitive measures the National Labor Relations Act empowers the NLRB with in order to effectively stop the repeated violations and illegal conduct engaged in by Target.

This illegal conduct by Target management across all worksites is sadly under reported and normalized as many workers remain ignorant on what conduct by management is actually illegal. Last year we set a record of winning multiple cases related to these violations by Target management and could have won more if more workers were 1) educated and informed on what our rights are, as well as what constitutes illegal conduct by management and 2) dropped the fear of illegal reprisals by managers for participating in these federal investigations. We’ve constantly had to deal with workers dropping out of investigations, or informing us of illegal conduct by management only after the statute of limitations has expired.

Even though we have the right to organize, the law is not on the side of workers and is easily used by bosses to dissuade workers from organizing. This is how corporations want it, shrinking the unionized workforce, shrinking strike activity, and keeping workers miseducated and brainwashed against our own interests as a class. Until these dynamics change workers will continue to be taken advantage of, have no workplace democracy, and remain easy targets. Workers are the only ones who can fix it.