Homepage

First EBay Union Files Unfair Labor Practice Charges Against Syracuse TCGplayer First eBay Union Holds Action against Syracuse TCGplayer

By Anthony Leon

Sen. John Mannion speaks at the TCG union rally in Syracuse, N.Y.
© 2023 Anthony Leon

Jalyss Agosto: Workers at Syracuse card marketplace TCGplayer are outraged due to what they call unfair working conditions. As NCC’s Anthony Leon reports, the TCG union is in the midst of negotiating its first labor contract.

Workers: A contract. When do we want it? Now!

Anthony Leon: TCGplayer workers rallied for a new contract as the company officially integrated into eBay today. However, Bargaining Committee Member Robert Guy says the work towards recognizing eBay’s first union is far from over.

Robert Guy: The problem is they’ve done a lot of flip flopping on whether or not they want to recognize our union. They want to recognize our union when it’s convenient for them to frame us as a blocker.

Leon: EBay filed an appeal over the union’s election, challenging that TCGplayer supervisors were in the voting area when they were not supposed to. Bargaining Committee Member Briana Thomas says that issue needs to be resolved.

Briana Thomas: That is not the next step that we need to take. We need to just have this unit clarification so that we can get started on this first contract.

Leon: The TCG union has filed an unfair labor practice charge and is pressuring eBay to drop the appeal.

Anthony Leon, NCC News

SYRACUSE, N.Y. (NCC News) – The TCG Union-CWA is filing unfair labor practice charges on behalf of TCGplayer workers in Syracuse. 

An online trading card marketplace, TCGplayer is now officially integrated into eBay, which acquired the company last year. As a result, workers now want eBay to drop its pending appeal against the union’s formation so both sides can negotiate its first labor contract.

“We figured today was the best day to file that ULP saying that they continue to refuse bargaining even though it’s been four months since our vote,” Bargaining Committee Member Briana Thomas said.

According to Thomas, eBay and TCGplayer are refusing to bargain because the union won its election with a majority vote. Instead of listening to its workers, she believes large companies like eBay would rather hire union-busting law firms like Littler Mendelson.

“There are very limited protections for workers,” Thomas said. “These large companies get to just spend their money to wait out the system and use legal loopholes until they hope that we back down.”  

Central N.Y. Labor Federation President Anne-Marie Taliercio speaks on the challenges of forming the union at TCGplayer
Central N.Y. Labor Federation President Anne-Marie Taliercio speaks on the challenges of forming the union at TCGplayer. Taliercio encourages workers to continue pursuing a new labor contract.
© 2023 Anthony Leon

Bargaining Committee Member Robert Guy says unionizing at eBay is tough because the company has a lot of resources to shut potential unions down rather than help its workers.

“They could have come to the table six months ago, recognized our union, and had a contract in place today, instead of spending that money to fight us,” Guy said.

For now, the TCG union is calling on support from the local community to have eBay drop the appeal. Workers have already delivered a petition that has been signed by over 6,500 supporters.

Related Articles