Santa Fe Employees Compensated for Auto Dealership’s Unlawful Coercion Against Supporting a Union

Phoenix, Arizona — On June 16, 2021, Region 28 of the National Labor Relations Board approved a formal settlement stipulation resolving allegations that during a union organizing campaign, Santa Fe T, LLC d/b/a Toyota Santa Fe, an auto dealership in Santa Fe, New Mexico, made coercive statements to its employees and refused to hire or recall five employees because of their union support and because one of them participated in an NLRB investigation. The same day, Region 28 approved a separate consent election agreement providing for the NLRB’s conduct of an election for the company’s car sales associates to vote on whether they wish to be represented by International Union of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, Local Lodge 794.  

The formal settlement stipulation provides for the Board’s issuance of an order requiring the payment of full back pay and front pay to the five employees who were not hired or recalled and the company’s posting of a “Notice to Employees” reassuring its employees that it will not interfere with their rights under the National Labor Relations Act and advising them of the actions it is taking to resolve the allegations against it. The agreement also provides for enforcement of the NLRB’s order by a United States Circuit Court of Appeals.   

The consent election agreement provides for the NLRB’s conduct of a mail ballot election among the company’s car sales associates. In the agreement, the company agreed to post the Notice to Employees alongside a notice of the election and to waive its right to campaign against the union during the election period.  

The formal settlement stipulation was signed by the company, the union, and two individual employees who filed charges against the company, and the consent election agreement was signed by the company and the union. Based on the agreements, a hearing before an NLRB administrative law judge has been cancelled, the formal settlement stipulation has been transmitted to the NLRB for further action, and Region 28 will conduct an NLRB election in accordance with the terms of the consent election agreement.  

“The National Labor Relations Act gives workers the right to organize without coercion from any parties,” said Regional Director Cornele A. Overstreet. “I am glad the workers and the employer were able to come to a settlement agreement and I am proud of my staff for securing this settlement.” 

Established in 1935, the National Labor Relations Board is an independent federal agency that protects employees, employers, and unions from unfair labor practices and protects the right of private sector employees to join together, with or without a union, to improve wages, benefits and working conditions. The NLRB conducts hundreds of workplace elections and investigates thousands of unfair labor practice charges each year. Region 28 serves Arizona, New Mexico and parts of Texas and Nevada from its Regional Office in Phoenix and Resident Offices in Las Vegas and Albuquerque.