Certified Building Services agrees to pay nearly $20K in back pay, benefits and union organizing costs

Three former employees of Certified Building Services have won over $16,000 in back pay and other benefits they lost when CBS illegally fired them for engaging in protected union activity. The National Labor Relations Board approved a settlement earlier this month in which CBS must also compensate UFCW 1994/MCGEO nearly $3,000 for its expenses incurred during the campaign to organize employees working under the janitorial services company's contract with Montgomery County. The workers were fired and threatened with deportation in response to a MCGEO organizing campaign. CBS also agreed to stop its anti-union campaign and allow NLRB representatives to train its supervisors and managers on employee rights under the National Labor Relations Act. "These are tough and extraordinary remedies which the NLRB only imposes for severe labor law violations," Local 1994 noted. "This case also represents an alarming trend whereby the Montgomery County government loses taxpayer dollars to unscrupulous contractors."