Workers at Trojan Battery in Sandersville, Georgia, made it crystal clear through an 89-23 vote: They wanted a union.
The overwhelming vote in favor of unionizing with the Boilermakers came after a five-month campaign led by Carlos Brooks, Southeast Organizing Coordinator, M.O.R.E. Work Investment Fund and Edwin Allen, Southeast Organizer, M.O.R.E. Work Investment Fund.
According to Brooks, Trojan workers were ready for better working conditions.
“They needed a voice,” he said.
Brooks said IBB got the tip to call on Trojan Battery workers from Boilermaker Darryl Brookins, a National Cement Lodge member who works at Imerys nearby. Brookins knows Trojan worker Willie C. Carswell and had heard his friend’s complaints about his working conditions. Brookins explained to Carswell how a union works, and then he got in touch with his International Rep, Justin Mundy. Mundy contacted Brooks, and Brooks directed Brookins to the Boilermakers’ “Organizing Our Future” incentive program. Brookins then followed the program’s instructions to provide the lead on Trojan and connections to workers like Carswell inside the facility.
“When I talked to Willie C. Carswell about the Boilermakers and the union, though, he moved forward with it pretty quick,” Brookins said.
But, as Brooks and Allen went to work to get Trojan workers organized, they knew in a right-to-work state like Georgia, they would need to use all the best tactics and a full arsenal of support.
Brookins was one of the people who actively assisted and provided a local perspective and voice. Throughout the campaign, he spoke with Trojan workers about how the Boilermakers represent workers, how workers can get information and how contract negotiations work. And, as a nearby member himself, he candidly answered their questions.
“There were a lot of questions, and I just had to keep encouraging them and saying ‘you’re going to get there,’” Brookins said. He credits International Vice President-Southeast Jeff Campbell with teaching him “how to be calm and cool” as he talked to nervous Trojan workers. He also emphasized the importance of Carswell’s enthusiasm and influence with his coworkers.
Organizer Brooks said it was also a boon to have a recent Trojan Battery win on the West Coast to prove to Georgia’s Trojan workers that the Boilermakers union is the real deal. And, he said, Western States organizers contributed invaluable support to the Southeast’s Trojan campaign.
“I want to say special thanks to Rome Aloise,” he said, highlighting his appreciation for the consultant who works with Western States organizing and stepped in to help.
“This organizing win at Trojan Battery is another exciting victory for the Southeast,” Campbell said. “Brother Carlos Brooks and Brother Edwin Allen are doing a phenomenal job to grow our organization.”
READ MORE ABOUT DARRYL BROOKINS AND THE ORGANIZING OUR FUTURE PROGRAM.