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ADT employees across Louisiana have decisively voted to remove the Communication Workers of America (CWA) union from their workplace. The nearly 2-to-1 vote in favor of decertification reflects a significant shift in worker sentiment.
Jonathan Rentrop, an employee at ADT Security Services, initiated the decertification process with free legal support from the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation. He filed the petition on May 7 with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), the agency responsible for overseeing federal labor law and union elections. Rentrop’s petition, backed by a majority of employees, was sufficient to trigger a decertification vote under NLRB rules.
The election took place on June 12 and 13 at various ADT locations in Shreveport, Lafayette, New Orleans (St. Rose), and Baton Rouge. The official NLRB tally recorded 30 votes for removing the union and 17 votes for retaining the CWA union officials as the bargaining representative.
Louisiana’s Right to Work laws mean that union officials cannot compel employees to join or pay dues as a condition of employment. However, federal law still allows union officials to represent all workers in a unit, even those who oppose the union. A successful decertification election removes this compulsory representation.
“This vote highlights the growing trend of workers across the country exercising their right to remove unwanted unions,” stated Foundation President Mark Mix. “Louisiana’s Right to Work law protects employees from being forced to fund a union they oppose, but it does not override federal laws that mandate union representation.”
“While we support workers in their right to decertify unions, the ultimate decision of whether to be represented by union officials should be up to each individual employee,” added Mix.
