End Blacklisting and Reinstate Shelby
TO: IBEW Local 48 Leadership and NECA-IBEW Joint Apprenticeship Training Committee
THE ISSUE
Shelby, a union apprentice and member in good standing of IBEW Local 48, has been systematically denied work assignments through the training center. After enduring workplace harassment and requesting legally-mandated accommodations for her disability, she has been effectively blacklisted—economically expelled from the trade she has trained for and the union that is supposed to protect her.
Blacklisting is an economic death sentence and a betrayal of union principles. It weaponizes the dispatch system to silence workers who speak up, punish those who assert their rights, and push out anyone deemed "difficult" by management or union bureaucracy.
If one apprentice can be blacklisted for requesting accommodations and reporting retaliation, then no member's livelihood is secure.
WHY THIS MATTERS
Discrimination is Endemic: Women constitute only 4% of trades positions in construction, and research shows 26.5% of women in trades report being "always or frequently" harassed due to their sex. Apprenticeship cancellation rates for women reach 70% in some trades, driven out by hostile conditions.
Disability Rights Are Being Violated: Workers with disabilities who request legally-mandated reasonable accommodations under the ADA face retaliation, including denial of work assignments and exclusion from training opportunities.
Boss Control Over Worker Access: The National Electrical Contractors Association (NECA) represents employers, not workers, yet sits on the JATC controlling who gets into apprenticeships, who advances, and who is kicked out. This allows management to veto workers they deem "inconvenient."
An Injury to One Is An Injury to All: When any member can be disappeared from the out-of-work list for speaking up, none of us are safe. The union's fundamental purpose is to defend workers against employers, not to partner with them in disciplining workers.
OUR DEMANDS
We, the undersigned members and supporters, demand that IBEW Local 48 and the NECA-IBEW JATC immediately:
END THE BLACKLISTING - Restore Shelby to full access to work assignments through the hiring hall without discrimination or retaliation
REINSTATE TO APPRENTICESHIP - Ensure Shelby's full reinstatement to the apprenticeship program with all rights, training opportunities, and advancement that she is entitled to as a member in good standing
IMPLEMENT ACCOMMODATIONS - Provide the legally-mandated reasonable accommodations for Shelby's disability immediately, as required under the ADA and apprenticeship EEO regulations
REMOVE NECA VETO POWER - End management's power over worker access to training and employment. The union must control dispatch and apprenticeship without boss interference
ESTABLISH MEMBER OVERSIGHT - Create a rank-and-file committee, elected by and accountable to the membership, to monitor all dispatch decisions and investigate complaints of discrimination or retaliation
ZERO TOLERANCE FOR RETALIATION - Implement and enforce a clear policy that any employer, contractor, or union official who retaliates against workers for reporting harassment or requesting accommodations will be barred from hiring hall access
THE UNION'S JOB IS TO DEFEND EVERY MEMBER
When the union fails to defend a member's livelihood, when it sacrifices vulnerable members to maintain good relations with employers, it has failed at its most basic task.
Shelby's fight is our fight. We will not accept the blacklisting of our members. We will not tolerate discrimination and retaliation.
Solidarity with Shelby. End blacklisting now. Reinstate and accommodate.