NLRB rules TruStage violated federal labor law

The National Labor Relations Board has found that TruStage violated federal labor laws by withholding employment information from its employees. 

TruStage, the Madison, Wisconsin-based insurance provider formerly known as CUNA Mutual Group, did not disclose information that it was required to provide as part of a collective bargaining agreement with the Office and Professional Employees International Union's Local 39 chapter, the NLRB ruled last week. That union represents roughly 450 employees of the company.

The two sides are currently negotiating a new contract after its prior collective bargaining agreement expired in March 2022. Most terms from that agreement, including the disclosure of employee information, remain in effect until a new contract is signed. The withheld information included data on bonuses being denied to certain employees, according to Mike Farwell, vice president of OPEIU Local 39.

"This ruling shows TruStage's willingness to undermine its own mission of 'people helping people' and 'doing the right thing' in order to bust our union," Sarah Larsen, a member of the union's bargaining committee, said in a press release Thursday. 

The NLRB has ordered TruStage to provide the requested information immediately. 

TruStage said in a written statement that they have asked "union leaders to come to the negotiating table in good faith so that we can come to an agreement that is fair and market competitive to the members they represent."

Joe Evica, the chief steward of OPEIU Local 39, said that TruStage "purposefully obstructed and violated our contract," and did so "knowing they violated the law." Evica had previously been fired by TruStage for violating data privacy rules. 

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TruStage's workers unionized almost 80 years ago, and the union and the company have always had "a good working relationship," Farwell said. But the relationship has soured more recently over disagreements on various issues, including health insurance and retirement benefits, Farwell said. There has been increased support for the union in the past year, he added. 

"This slowly but surely galvanized employees," he said, and accelerated after the pandemic.

The current contract negotiations have been tense at times. The union has filed a number of other complaints against TruStage from February to June. This includes objecting to the firing of Evica and allegations of illegal surveillance, bad faith bargaining and retaliation against union members. Farwell sees this particular charge as one of the more "minor" complaints.

Union leaders plan to continue negotiations with TruStage management and are organizing a march on July 29, according to the release.

The labor movement has seen a resurgence in the years since the pandemic, including in the financial services sector, which historically has seen low levels of interest from employees in organizing, according to Michelle Kaminski, an associate professor in the school of human resources and labor relations at Michigan State University.

According to 2022 statistics from the Department of Labor, the financial sector has one of lowest unionization rates at around 1%. That's compared to 20% for the utilities industry, which had the highest unionization rate. 

Farwell speculated that the low levels of unionization in banks and credit unions could stem from the less labor-friendly culture of management and employees. "There might be a little less solidarity there between various workers. They may be much more competitive," he said.

In the last few years, workers at the $1.6 billion-asset Beneficial State Bank in Oakland, California, successfully organized, as did employees of the $38 million-asset Genesee Co-Op Federal Credit Union in Rochester, New York.

These efforts have been contentious at times. For instance, Ivan Diaz, a former employee at the $11.9 billion-asset Lake Michigan Credit Union, claims he was fired for supporting the unionization efforts there. Lake Michigan Credit Union has denied those claims.