Geico workers accuse company of aggressive tactics to deter union push

theguardian.com:

Workers at an office of US insurance giant Geico have embarked on a unionization campaign in the face of what they say are aggressive and unfair management tactics to prevent them from forming a labor union.

Workers at the office of about 2,500 employees in Amherst, New York, near Buffalo, say they have faced deteriorating working conditions in the past two years under Geico CEO Todd Combs. Combs is an investment manager and protege of billionaire Warren Buffett, whose firm Berkshire Hathaway owns Geico – known across the US for its ads featuring its English-accented gecko mascot.

The organising effort, Geico United, went public shortly after Geico sent out a company-wide email in August 2022 that told workers to call the police if they felt uncomfortable with union organisers collecting union authorization signatures.

“TheNLRB [National Labor Relations Board] says that an employer should not hinder your activity, but they did,” said Lila Bilali, an employee and organiser at Geico.

Another email was sent out by Geico shortly after, which included several references to the Starbucks union campaign, in an effort to deter and dissuade union organising with claims that the campaign hadn’t yielded any benefits for workers.

Then, meetings with Geico management were held, and the union was discussed. After one of the meetings, Bilali said the bulletin board where union flyers were posted was removed from the office.

The union hasfiled unfair labor practice charges with the NLRB. New York state legislators sent a letter to Geico over the emails and actions, calling on the company to allow its employees to organise freely.

Workers explained the union organising campaign took off in response to changes and issues that arose under Geico’s