More than 420 truck drivers working for oil and gas giant Energy Transfer have ended their representation by the United Steelworkers of America after a majority of them signed petitions to leave the union.
The drivers, working out of about 30 locations in Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana and New Mexico for Sunoco Logistics — an Energy Transfer subsidiary — had been expected to vote in an election this month to “decertify” USW.
Instead, a majority of the workers signed a petition to end the union’s representation, according to the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation, which assisted the workers. The foundation, a nonprofit that says it works to “eliminate coercive union power” and supports laws that limit unions’ means of collecting dues, said the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) acknowledged Sunoco Logistics’ withdrawal of recognition from USW on May 12.
Energy Transfer, USW and the NLRB did not respond Tuesday to requests for comment. But a USW official had previously blasted the right-to-work foundation as an outside group seeking to “turn workers against each other.”
