In The News: Avis Workers Overcome Language Barrier, Employer Threats to Join CWA

Avis rental car agents at Denver International Airport overcame a language barrier and threats from management to join CWA. The vote in the NLRB election was 26-15, with all but six of the 46 workers voting. The ballot was printed in five languages.

Dignity, respect, equity, and decent working conditions are major issues for the group, most of whom are immigrants from Africa, Indonesia and the Middle East, said District 7 Organizing Coordinator Al Kogler.

"They were routinely subjected to disrespectful and discriminatory treatment by managers," said Kogler. Management spread misinformation about the union, trying to take advantage of the workers' lack of familiarity with U.S. labor laws, but the workers' inside committee stayed strong. Management from the company's Dallas headquarters even got involved in the campaign.

Workers have charged that supervisors issued veiled threats to activists. "The victory is a testimony to the workers. Many are from Sudan and war-torn nations and are new to America, but they didn't give in," Kogler said.

A key factor in the victory was support the workers received from IUE-CWA-represented Avis workers at Logan Airport some 2,000 miles away in Boston. The workers, represented by Local 81201, produced a handout welcoming the group into CWA and explaining the benefits of union representation.