People in black polos and green T-shirts clustered at 49th streets yesterday (September 18), in front of two large, red sightseeing tour buses parked beside them. Most of the people in black polos are clean cut, and some of them carried campaign ads. On the other hand, most of the people in green are casually dressed and less organized. This is where the workers of the largest sightseeing tour bus company in New York City, Grayline Citysights, vote for their representative union. Although, the atmosphere was tense, people still chat with each other happily.
Img1: The two unions in the campaign
A ticket agent with two buttons on his red vest
In fact, the result of the vote is not clear until the following day. After a whole day voting, from 6 am to 8 pm, there were a total of 502 votes cast. The TWU (Transport Workers Union) local 225 “temporarily” leads the election by 236 votes against the USWU (United Service Workers Union) local 1212’s 174 votes. There are 85 votes challenged, and seven people voted for no union. The result will be released after checking the eligibility of the 85 votes.
Both unions and the NLBR (National Labor Relations Board) excercised their right to challenge certain ballots, as a tactic to affect the election result. According to the election information given out by the NLRB, challenged votes had to be sealed in an envelope while voting. If the investigation reveals the challenged voters are eligible, their ballots will be counted by the board agent in secrecy. If the ballots are not allowed, the TWU will win. If the ballots are allowed, the USWU needs 78 out of the 85 contested ballots to win.
Img2: Voting place of the unions election
The election was held at the third floor of visitor center of Grayline Citysights
With a big chance of winning the election, James Muessig, the campaign director of the TWU local 225, said that the vice president of the company had already sent his greetings to him. “Our union showed up with a 96 percent attendance rate,” Muessig said proudly. The TWU is ready to settle a new contract with the employer right away. As the union representing the workers, the first goal is to raise the commision for all ticket agents including tour bus agents, Empire State Building agents, and boat agents.
This election is caused by the merger of two New York City tour bus companies: Grayline and Citysights. After the merger, the NLRB required the members of the two unions to vote for a representing union to fight for their workers’ rights.
USWU local 1212, who used to represent the Citysights workers, is a strong union with a lot of resources. They ran campagin trucks with large ads through Times Square during the campaign, they also have a mobile application and a website that informs their workers rapidly. According to their current contract, the workers work the same amount of time but get a lower commision compared to their opponent’s contract. But they still brought up this point often during the campaign, because TWU’s contract has expired, and their contract last until 2017.
TWU local 225, who used to represent Grayline workers, on the other hand, feels less polished. They have a campaign director who himself is a tour guide. Most of their ads are poorly designed, even their campaign buttons looks more old-fashioned. Their goal is to sign a new contract and bargain for a better commision equal to that of the workers of Bigbus, another New York City tour bus company.
“TWU has already started negotiating, and the company didn’t like James Muessig,” said Sarafa Sanoussi, a senior ticket agent who has been selling tickets for nine years. He believes Muessig is disliked because he is a tough negotiator. He also said, “The USWU is too close to management,” which means that they are more likely to have a contract that the employer prefers over that of the TWU. “I’m really excited about the result!” he said with a smile on his face.
According to Ms. McRae, who started working for the company last November, she got a chance to pick the union that better fits her needs. She made her choice to join the USWU after reading both contracts carefully. She felt even if the TWU wins “nothing about salary really changes,” because it’s only a difference of one dollar per ticket. One union is more about flexibility; the other is more about stability.
After the merger of the two companies, there had been some discontent between workers from the different unions. But now, they are all on the same boat. However drastic the campaign was, the workers will ultimately unite as one. Whether they like it or not, the chosen union will be the collective bargaining representative for them all. All 600 workers in this together will have the same rights and same benefits. There will be no more grudges between workers who should be united against their employer.
“I think we’re probably gonna lose this time, but”, Xiping Huang paused and said, “I think it would still be better because we finally be united into one union.”
“The current result is already really positive, it’s brilliant that we all finally stand together, into a final,” Ms. McRae siad, “A word that Jesus would use – unity,” she added.