COWAY WORKERS DECLARE VICTORY DESPITE COMPANY’S ATTEMPT TO SUPPRESS PRO-UNION BALLOTS
With a powerful majority of NLRB-certified ballots supporting unionization, workers at Korea-based firm call bad faith and demand their employer recognize California Retail & Restaurant Workers Union as their representative
Koreatown, Los Angeles—The U.S-based employees of Coway, a manufacturer and installer of water and air filtration systems, announced the preliminary results of their National Labor Relations Board-overseen union certification election with the California Retail & Restaurant Workers Union (pronounced “crew”) Tuesday.
“By a ratio of over two to one certified votes, our colleagues declared that they are not scared and they want a voice at work,” said Sun Young Oh, a “Coway Lady” (Cody) and eight-year employee of the company. “When all the votes are counted, that will go up to three to one. Coway, it’s time to stop hiding from your employees behind your lawyers. We have a voice and we’re not afraid to use it.”
An NLRB-supervised election held yesterday resulted in 69 yes votes, 31 no votes, and up to 28 additional yes votes that remain uncertified until cleared through legal challenges. A simple majority of the 157 employees in Coways’ Los Angeles bargaining unit is required for the NLRB to require union recognition.
“Coway workers have been asked to work without breaks,” said Eunae Park, a nine-year Cody worker. “We’ve been asked to work off the clock. We’ve had wages stolen and raises denied for years. We organized through intimidation and fear, we have the support of a strong majority, and it’s time for Coway to stop trying to silence our voice.”
Earlier this year, Coway employees began to meet to try to improve conditions in their workplace. When their employer rebuffed their concerns, they approached the California Retail and Restaurant Workers Union, previously known as the union formed by employees at Genwa Korean Barbecue restaurants.
“Coway needs to stop thinking of us as their enemy, because we want it to be the best company it can be,” said Eunjoo Choi, a 8-year Cody worker “U.S. customers have accepted these products with good faith, allowing Coway to make millions off of our work selling and installing them. We are so disappointed to see Coway treat us with such incredible bad faith.”
“It’s unconscionable to see the tactics this company has used to try to get its workers to take abuse in silence,” said Jose Roberto Hernandez, president of the California Retail and Restaurant Workers Union. “No company is too big or too small to recognize a union. And every group of workers, no matter their age, their gender, their language, or the kind of work they do can join together and win respect and a voice at work.”
Coway workers are not putting their activities on hold while they wait for the final certification of the challenged ballots. An official election victory will mean that they can bargain collectively with their employer as part of CRRWU; however, the leaders of the workplace organizing effort have already begun to challenge abusive conditions at work and to demand that Coway honor U.S. labor laws.
“There can be no compromise on basic rights for workers in Los Angeles,” said Aquilina Soriano, executive director of the Pilipino Workers Center. “The Pilipino Workers Center stands with CRRWU and the Coway workers, and we expect Coway to recognize you and negotiate a fair first contract in good faith.”
