Jolt Action Accused of Unfair Labor Practices

Jen Ramos, Jolt staff union president, speaks at a press conference on alleged unfair labor practices at Jolt Action (Courtesy of Angel Vidal)

Jolt Action, which bills itself as the "largest Latino pro­gres­sive organization in Texas," is facing allegations of less-than-progressive behavior from its staff union, who filed two unfair labor practice claims with the National Labor Rela­tions Board on Nov. 30. Jen Ramos, union president, says that in June the organization voluntarily recognized the union, around the same time the former executive director was leaving: "Then in July was when the new interim director [Diana Maldonado] started … that was the beginning of the chaos."

Ramos and Taylor Treviño, an organizer with Jolt in Austin, say new leadership has been much less supportive of the union, and less receptive to feedback. The NLRB filings were in direct response to Jolt's refusal to bargain over Ramos' petition for remote work to be able to attend school, and Houston organizer Agustín Herrera's firing the day before Thanksgiving break without notice, which left a "chilling effect on the remaining employees." Herrera said he was locked out of his email the day of the termination and given until 5pm to leave; he was one of the more vocal employees in pushing back on Jolt's policies, and Treviño says, "The impression I get is the more we ask questions, the less tolerant they are of it. Like Agustín, it sort of happened suddenly, but for months, he was not afraid to speak his mind or be critical of leadership."

Ramos says what used to be a staff of around 30-45 has dwindled to around 15 since the summer, and "the executive leadership team has completely liquidated itself. We no longer have a development director, communications director, everybody is leaving because of fundamental disagreements."

Treviño says the two claims are "representative of the general sentiment in the organization where it feels like there's two or three people in power making decisions for everyone that are not aligned with what a lot of us believe. Jolt has a great mission and vision. I wish our leadership knew how much they're shooting themselves in the foot. Like there's not going to be a Jolt in the next year or two, if they keep acting this way." Jolt did not respond to multiple requests for comment.

The NLRB is overwhelmed with a backlog of case filings due to growing union activity over the last year, so Ramos doesn't expect a quick response. "But the reason we have decided to go public and share our story is in hopes that people will encourage the board of directors to do the right thing, and to add pressure to the interim executive director for their bad decisions. A lot of us want to continue to do this work. We're just asking for dignity and respect to do it."