‘Our Health And Safety Is Not A Priority Here’
Nearly 240 factory workers at the world’s biggest independent bottler, Refresco, in Wharton, New Jersey, have been fighting for years to improve working conditions and win recognition of their union after voting twice to unionize their workplace.
Now, after winning their second election, Refresco workers are finally starting negotiations with the company. Refresco filed numerous appeals and stalled the bargaining process for as long as possible by claiming the election had been improperly run. The National Labor Relations Board did, in fact, overturn workers’ first union victory in June 2021. The reason? An agency staffer conducting the election was five minutes late to the proceedings and the resulting number of workers who didn’t vote due to the delay exceeded the margin of victory for the union.