Indianapolis, IN – Drivers for uniform and workplace-supply company Vestis walked off the job at 2 a.m. Monday, July 13, launching an unfair labor practice strike organized by Teamsters Local 135.

The union says the strike is about accountability. Local 135 alleges Vestis threatened workers for engaging in protected concerted activity, a right guaranteed under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA).

Vestis, based in Roswell, Georgia, provides uniform rental, workwear, floor mats, linens and related workplace supplies to businesses across North America. The company was spun off from Aramark in 2023, separating Aramark's uniform services division into its own publicly-traded company. Vestis drivers deliver and service uniforms and supplies for businesses like UPS.

In a statement posted to Facebook, Local 135 said the union remains “ready, willing, and available” to meet with the company to bargain in good faith and called for Vestis to respect workers' rights and negotiate fairly to end the dispute.

The union is asking Teamsters members, families and labor supporters in the Indianapolis area to join the picket line, which will run 24 hours a day, seven days a week, at 2050 Oliver Avenue.

#IndianapolisIN #IN #Labor #Teamsters #Strike #Vestis #IBT135 #NLRA #Featured

Michigan City, IN – Slot attendants at Blue Chip Casino Hotel Spa marched on management Tuesday, June 23, to demand voluntary recognition of their union with Teamsters Local 135.

Joined by Teamsters from Locals 135, 364 and 142, approximately 15 slot attendants and supporters marched through the casino before presenting a union recognition letter to General Manager JC Rieger on the gaming floor. The letter was read aloud before being handed to Rieger, who accepted the demand letter but offered no response.

The letter warned Blue Chip management to refrain from union-busting, stating “that should you or any other Company Representative make any unilateral changes to the employees’ terms and conditions of employment or take any type of retaliatory action against employees” the local union would “enforce these employees’ rights to the fullest extent of the law.”

As the delegation concluded, workers filled the casino with chants of “Who are we? Teamsters!”

Later that day, Teamsters Local 135 filed a representation petition with the National Labor Relations Board. A pre-election hearing has been scheduled for July 2.

The bargaining unit includes slot attendants and dual-rate slot attendants, a majority of whom have signed authorization cards for representation with the Teamsters. Workers say they are organizing in response to declining wages, chronic understaffing, unjust discipline, a punitive attendance policy, and a paid time off system that often leaves employees waiting without timely approval or denial of their requests.

Workers also point to the consolidation of the guest service representative position into the slot attendant classification without any corresponding increase in pay, leaving attendants responsible for additional duties while earning the same wages.

One of the central issues in the campaign is the decline in tip income for slot attendants. Although attendants receive an hourly wage, the most significant portion of their earnings comes from pooled tips, or tokes, left by players receiving hand-paid jackpots. Recent changes to the federal W-2G reporting threshold increased the amount that triggers a mandatory hand-pay from $1200 to $2000, and many casinos have adjusted their slot machines accordingly. Workers say fewer hand-pays means fewer opportunities to earn tips, resulting in a sharp decline in take-home pay even as their workload has increased.

Teamsters Local 135 is also seeking contractual protection for tipped casino employees elsewhere in Indiana, including guaranteed toke rates for slot attendants and table games dealers during ongoing contract negotiations at Horseshoe Indianapolis.

The recognition campaign at Blue Chip marks the latest casino organizing effort by Teamsters Local 135, as gaming workers across Indiana continue pushing for a greater voice on the job and contracts that address wages, staffing, and working conditions.

#MichiganCityIN #IN #Labor #Teamsters #Casino #IBT135 #Featured

Lawrenceburg, IN – Workers at Batesville Products Inc. (BPI) have been on strike since May 11 after voting unanimously to withhold their labor and demand recognition of their union, Teamsters Local 135.

The strike began after a supermajority of workers signed authorization cards seeking Teamsters representation and demanded voluntary recognition from the company. BPI management refused to recognize the union, prompting the filing of a representation petition with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB).

Rather than allowing workers to move quickly toward an election, the company challenged which employees should be included in the proposed bargaining unit through the NLRB's pre-election hearing process. Workers and Teamster representatives contend the objections are a bogus attempt to delay the election and buy time for union-busting inside the facility.

The union's bargaining unit includes machinists, polishers and shipping and receiving employees working at the company's facility in Lawrenceburg, Indiana. Management wants to include workers from another separate location in Aurora, in hopes of diluting the vote with unorganized workers who were not a part of the union campaign.

The strike comes as the NLRB faces significant staffing shortages and case backlogs nationwide. Delays in the union certification process give employers major advantages in their campaigns to break organizing drives before workers have the chance to vote.

BPI workers formed their union over unsafe and unfair workplace conditions, excessive overtime, low wages, high health insurance costs, and declining benefits. Employees say many workers have been required to work mandatory 60-hour weeks for extended periods.

Facing delays from the bureaucratic pre-election hearing process, Teamsters Local 135 held a strike authorization vote and the workers unanimously approved a recognition strike. Picketing began outside the facility on May 11 and has continued for more than a month.

“This is about workers standing together and demanding a voice in their workplace,” said Teamsters Local 135 President Dustin Roach on the day of the strike's commencement. “These workers built their majority themselves, they organized themselves, and now they are prepared to stand together on the picket line for as long as it takes to win the dignity, respect, and representation they deserve.”

The strike remains ongoing as workers continue to seek recognition of their union and the opportunity to negotiate a first collective bargaining agreement.

This is the second strike for recognition called by Teamsters Local 135 in the past year, with the first taking place at the Horseshoe Indianapolis casino in Shelbyville. The early U.S. labor movement made use of the strike for recognition in the period of time before the passage of the National Labor Relations Act in 1935 and for years after. In the modern era, the tactic was virtually extinct as unions came to rely more heavily on the NLRB for union certification.

As the NLRB becomes more dysfunctional and openly operates on behalf of employers, militants in the labor movement are beginning to rediscover this tactic – and in Teamsters Local 135, they are making use of it to counter employers' unchecked union-busting campaigns.

#LawrenceburgIN #IN #Labor #Teamsters #BatesvilleProducts #Strike

Indianapolis, IN — More than 30 workers, Teamsters members and labor supporters rallied outside the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) office in Indianapolis on the morning of June 2. They gathered to demand union certification for nearly 200 table games dealers and dual-rate dealers at Horseshoe Indianapolis, who struck for recognition in fall 2025.

Although the workers won an NLRB election on December 5, 2025, with 70% voting yes, the dealers and dual-rate dealers have continued to face anti-union tactics from Caesars Entertainment. The company filed three objections to the election results in an attempt to delay certification, leading NLRB Region 25 to schedule a hearing for June 2 – nearly six months after the workers' victory.

The rally began an hour before the hearing. It brought together many of the dealers and dual-rate dealers who spent 52 days on strike last year, along with Teamsters from workplaces including UPS and Kroger. Members of other unions, including the United Steelworkers and the Air Line Pilots Association, also joined community supporters in solidarity.

Outside the federal building, the energy was defiant and militant. Workers carried signs reading “Union now,” “Fight back,” and “Organize” as chants echoed through downtown Indianapolis. Teamsters Local 135's tractor-trailer repeatedly circled the building, sounding its horn as workers cheered.

“What do we want? Union! When do we want it? Now!” protesters shouted, calling for the election result to be respected and for the company to stop delaying recognition.

Other chants came directly from the strike that first united the dealers and dual-rate dealers. “One day longer, one day stronger,” demonstrators repeated – a familiar phrase that became a source of encouragement and solidarity on the picket line.

After the rally, members of Teamsters Local 135 and other supporters entered the federal building for an NLRB hearing on Caesars Entertainment's objections related to the payment of strike benefits during the workers' 52-day strike for union recognition.

Dealers and dual rates revive the strike for recognition

A supermajority of dealers and dual-rate dealers at Horseshoe Casino formed a union with Teamsters Local 135 and demanded recognition from the company on September 4, 2025. When management ignored that demand, the workers moved toward an NLRB election scheduled for October 17. But last year's federal government shutdown postponed the election indefinitely.

The union proposed holding the vote as scheduled through a neutral third party under the stipulated election agreement, but the company ignored that proposal as well. Instead, Caesars hired Littler Mendelson, one of the country's largest anti-union law firms, to launch an aggressive campaign against the union.

With no resolution in sight, the Horseshoe dealers and dual-rate dealers turned to a tactic used widely before the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) of 1935: the recognition strike.

Strikes for union recognition continued after the passage of the NLRA, though employer and government attacks on the right to strike in general made them increasingly less common. In the last four decades, the tactic virtually disappeared, as organized labor came to rely on the NLRB election process for union certification and moved away from strikes at all. Meanwhile, union density has collapsed from 20.1% in 1983 to 10% in 2025, with an even greater decline in the private sector.

On October 17, the date originally set for their union election, the dealers and dual rates of Horseshoe casino made history. By a vote of 92%, they authorized a strike for recognition and set up a picket line to force Caesars to the bargaining table. The strike lasted 52 days through severe thunderstorms, subzero temperatures, and heavy snow. Caesars relied on the Shelbyville Police Department and city officials to pressure the strikers, but those efforts failed to break the strike.

After the federal government reopened in mid-November, the NLRB set a date for an expedited election. NLRB Region 25 rejected union requests to hold the vote off-site while the strike continued, forcing striking workers to cross their own picket line to cast ballots.

Following advice from Littler Mendelson, Caesars challenged the eligibility of 50 of its own workers, further delaying the process. Even so, the union won decisively on December 5, 2025, with 100 votes in favor and 47 against. The strike ended a few days later, and the dealers and dual-rate dealers returned to work.

Employer attacks on the right to strike

One week after the union's victory, Caesars Entertainment, through outside counsel, filed three objections aimed at delaying certification. All three focused on strike benefits paid to workers while they were out, which Caesars claimed improperly influenced the election.

Since 2023, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT) has offered enhanced strike benefits of $1000 per week, beginning on the first day of an authorized strike. Under General President Sean O'Brien, the union has paid these benefits in more than 300 labor disputes in less than three years.

Because the Horseshoe dealers and dual-rate dealers had already organized, whether or not the employer or the NLRB formally recognized them, the IBT extended enhanced strike benefits to support their fight for recognition. Teamsters Local 135 also provided supplemental aid from its own strike and defense fund. That support helped protect workers and their families from serious financial hardship and enabled them to sustain the strike through victory.

These benefits became the basis for all three company objections, which the NLRB allowed Caesars to pursue without requiring proof at the outset. Caesars argued that the benefits bribed workers to support the union, even though the strike began when no election was scheduled. The company also claimed, without evidence, that the union threatened workers with having to repay benefits if they did not back the union.

Despite decades of case law supporting unions' right to provide financial support during strikes, the Region 25 director ordered a hearing on these claims. The hearing took place on June 2 and 3 and drew more than a dozen dealers and dual-rate dealers.

These objections amount to a broad attack on workers' right to strike. Under the Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act (LMRDA) of 1959, workers picketing for union recognition must file an election petition with the NLRB by the 30th day, and employers may file their own petition during that period. As a result, while not every recognition strike ends in an NLRB election, any recognition strike can.

If the NLRB were to rule that strike benefits constitute a form of bribery that taints an NLRB election, it would effectively restrict the ability of workers to strike for recognition at all. Such a ruling would give employers a powerful weapon for breaking recognition strikes any time a union provides financial support to its members.

Caesars' false testimony and Littler Mendelson's real motive

On the first day of the hearing, Jill Bortone, Horseshoe Casino's director of human resources, testified. When challenged during the union's cross-examination, she said twice that she had received a union message about strike benefits before the December 5 vote. When the union attorney produced screenshots of the original message dated December 6, the day after the election, doubts were raised about the accuracy of her testimony.

As the company's case weakened, Caesars attorney Alan Model of Littler Mendelson became increasingly combative before the hearing officer.

Model, who says he specializes in “NLRA compliance” and represented Starbucks in its recent anti-union campaign, signaled the company's broader goal in his opening remarks. He argued for limiting recognition strikes by restricting a union's ability to support members on the picket line. Over the two-day hearing, he presented no evidence for the company's third objection: that the union threatened workers with repaying strike benefits.

Lawyers like Model hate working people. They ideologically despise unions because they represent the organized power of the working class. Billing tens of thousands of dollars per hour, they work on behalf of big business and monopoly corporations to attack labor.

For Littler Mendelson, this case is larger than Horseshoe casino. By reviving the strike weapon during an organizing campaign, the dealers and dual rates dealt a mighty blow to their union-busting playbook and won. Employers and their dogs like Model fear the power of the recognition strike will spread to other workplaces. Much to their dismay, this has already happened in Lawrenceburg, Indiana, where workers at Batesville Products Inc. are engaged in their own strike for recognition, also with Teamsters Local 135.

Teamsters power at the NLRB hearing

The union presented a strong defense to the objections, calling witnesses and introducing evidence showing the true picture of the Horseshoe strike. Payroll records and other documents showed that Caesars artificially juiced wages for dealers who continued working during the strike and even paid scabs from another casino to break the strike, all of which far exceeded the $25 per hour of strike benefits ($1000 per week divided by 40 hours on the picket line).

Strike leaders testified to the discipline on the strike line, in which both part-time and full-time dealers walked the picket line for five eight-hour shifts each week, and highlighted the real economic harms that strikers overcame to fight for their union. In a particularly powerful display, the union introduced a petition that dealers and dual rates gathered themselves in the days before the hearing. Well over 100 workers signed the petition to demand union certification from the NLRB and to dispel the company's bogus objections.

The proceedings ended on June 3. Both the union and the company have additional days to file a 25-page brief outlining their positions and using the available evidence introduced at the hearing. The hearing officer will make a recommendation to NLRB Region 25 director Colleen Maples, who will then issue a ruling.

After the hearing, dealers and dual rates pledged to continue fighting in the workplace. They have already formed their union, and billion-dollar corporations cannot override the power of organized labor.

#IndianapolisIN #IN #Labor #Teamsters #Featured

Indianapolis, IN – Around 100 workers, union members and community allies gathered Friday evening, May 1, at Monument Circle to mark International Workers’ Day with an energetic May Day rally centered on solidarity and a renewed pro-labor program for Central Indiana.

Organized by the Central Indiana AFL-CIO and Teamsters Local 135, the rally brought together a cross-section of the local labor movement. Speakers from Teamsters Local 135, the Indiana AFL-CIO, UAW Region 2B, IUOE Local 399, BCTGM Local 372A, AFSCME Local 3395, and SAG-AFTRA addressed the assembly of workers from the podium. Community allies, including Indivisible Central Indiana and students from across the state, also attended.

May Day, rooted in the 19th-century struggle of U.S. workers for the eight-hour workday, set the tone for the evening as speakers emphasized the continued relevance of that fight amid rising costs of living, anti-union policies, and employer resistance to organizing.

Dustin Roach, president of Teamsters Local 135, opened the May Day rally with a fiery call for renewed worker militancy. “International Workers’ Day was a day built on sacrifice, struggle and worker power,” said Roach. “In 1886, workers in this country fought, they bled, and they died for an eight-hour workday. Did they get that by asking nicely? Hell no! They stood together and they took that shit. Here we are over 100 years later, and we're still dealing with the same bullshit today. Different year, same fight. Working people versus corporate greed.”

Roach asked the crowd, “Who built this city?” They responded in unison, “We built this city!”

Dakota Massman, a Teamster table games dealer at Horseshoe Indianapolis casino, delivered a powerful speech recounting the workers’ 52-day strike for union recognition last year and their ongoing fight with Caesars Entertainment.

Massman told the crowd, “Every workplace has the right, every worker the ability, to carry the torch of the working class and become union,” Massman said. “Don't be afraid. I promise you from experience, if you have a little faith and the backing of a strong union, things will turn out better. Solidarity will always win, so let's get to work building a stronger labor movement.”

Tavish Bryan of Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) at Purdue University spoke about an ongoing campaign demanding transparency from the administration over what organizers say is a de facto ban on international graduate students, particularly from countries such as China and Iran. Bryan emphasized that while the full scope of the policy remains unclear due to a lack of transparency, its effects are already being felt by graduate and research assistants, many of whom are international workers who perform a large share of the university’s academic labor. The campaign also calls for protections for international students and pushes back against broader anti-immigrant policies, linking these attacks to declining conditions, wages and rights for graduate workers more broadly.

“This isn't just about Purdue,” said Bryan. “This is about a system that divides workers to weaken them. But we know the truth: An injury to one is an injury to all. If international workers are under attack, all workers are under attack. That's why SDS at Purdue stands with graduate workers – teaching assistants, research assistants, all of them – in the fight for living wages, the right to organize without fear, and dignity on the job, no matter where you're from.”

Throughout the rally, chants echoed across Monument Circle: “An injury to one is an injury to all!” and “We ain’t no one’s working slaves, we deserve a living wage!” and “They say give back, we say fight back!”

Union members carried signs reading “Organize!” “Fight back!” and “Stop the war on workers,” while two large banners framed the gathering: “Labor built this city,” and another displaying the rally’s six-point Pro-Labor Agenda. Some attendees carried signs that read, “Fight for workers and immigrant rights!”

The Pro-Labor Agenda, highlighted repeatedly by speakers, called for a living wage for all workers, healthcare for all, retirement with dignity, protection of the right to strike and honor picket lines, repeal of “right-to-work-for-less” laws, and resistance to attacks on voting rights.

Near the end of the event, rally organizers called for a moment of silence in observance of Workers Memorial Day, which was on April 28 and recognizes workers who have lost their lives on the job. They also held a moment of silence for Alex Pretti, a VA hospital nurse and AFGE member, who was murdered by ICE in Minneapolis earlier this year.

Despite chilly weather, the crowd remained energized throughout the event. The rally concluded with participants joining together to sing Solidarity Forever.

#IndianapolisIN #IN #Labor #MayDay #Teamsters

Whiting, IN – On Saturday April 11, members of Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) and Jobs with Justice Chicago (JwJ Chicago) traveled to Whiting, Indiana to stand in solidarity with the over 800 United Steelworkers (USW) Local 7-1 members who have been facing an illegal lockout by British Petroleum (BP) since March 19.

USW members warmly welcomed the supporters and were anxious to share their story about a fight with one of the most powerful corporations in the world. Despite the vast wealth of the bosses at BP, the locked-out USW members are confident that worker solidarity will prevail in the end.

BP and USW Local 7-1 have been bargaining over a new contract since January 2026. On March 2, BP came to the table with an offer that USW says showed they were not negotiating in good faith with the union. BP’s offer would expand managerial rights significantly, reduce hourly wages, replace seniority-based promotions with promotions only granted after training given by management, and eliminate other bargaining unit rights. The contract proposal from BP would also eliminate around 100 jobs.

BP’s offer was rejected by the USW members through a 98% no vote on March 12. On March 13, BP came back to the table with a revised offer that the USW members say was worse than the March 2 offer. This new offer was also rejected by the union’s negotiating committee on March 17.

On March 19, the BP responded by illegally locking out the USW members. Since the lockout began, BP management has since been making statements to the public about the negotiations and lockout that USW members say have been misleading, and has refused to return to the table and negotiate in good faith.

USW District 7 Director Mike Milsap said, “In its drive to lower staffing levels and implement wage cuts, BP is choosing confrontation and gambling the community safety on inexperienced replacement workers. The lockout is a direct attack on workers’ rights and an attempt to weaken the bargaining power of the very people who can make this facility successful. We are standing united and will not back down from securing a fair agreement.”

BP has brought in hundreds of out-of-state scabs who lack the training and experience of the USW members who regularly run the refinery, posing a risk to public safety for the community of Whiting.

What stood out as the largest concern in BP’s unreasonable offer was the expansion of managerial rights. This would increase BP’s ability to undermine the contract if it was ratified and would defeat the purpose of that contract entirely. USW members say that if they signed that contract they would become a union only on paper with no real rights inside the massive BP oil refinery.

USW Local 7-1 members are preparing for a long fight ahead. In 2021-2022, USW Local 13-243 in Beaumont, Texas faced a ten-month lockout and a campaign by ExxonMobil management to try to push employees to decertify the union. Management from the Exxon refinery in Beaumont have been brought into the BP Whiting refinery during the current clash.

Despite BP’s history of attacks on unions, USW International President Roxanne Brown was defiant and said, “Generations of union members have kept this refinery running safely and efficiently, and they deserve a contract that reflects their value – not intimidation tactics designed to force concessions.”

USW is accepting donations at United Steelworkers Local 7-1, Inc., Strike and Defense Fund, 2045 Schrage Ave, Whiting, IN 46394

#WhitingIN #IN #Labor #Lockout