Brian Lyman | Montgomery Advertiser

Southern Poverty Law Center management said Tuesday they would not voluntarily recognize a union organized by employees at the civil rights nonprofit and have hired a Virginia law firm whose website boasts about victories over labor organization attempts.

In a memo to employees sent on Tuesday, Lecia Brooks, the chief workplace transformation officer for the SPLC, said that directors of the nonprofit had voted to allow an election to go forward, saying they wanted “to ensure that everyone has an opportunity to be heard.”

“There are employees at SPLC, mostly women of color and lower-wage workers who are often left out or often 'spoken for' instead of engaged and given a space for their own agency,” the memo said. “We want current and future employees to know and feel that their voices matter and their needs are met.”

The SPLC Union said in a statement Tuesday it was “disappointed” in the decision but that it would go through an election, if necessary.

“Management's refusal to voluntarily recognize the union and decision to hire a law firm that specializes in 'union avoidance strategies' are counter to SPLC's values,” the statement said. “The Center cannot truly claim to support workers' rights, while also hiring a 'union avoidance' law firm to prevent its own workers from exercising our right to collective bargaining.”

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SPLC employees formed the union after a year of turmoil in the civil rights organization that saw founder Morris Dees fired and several top executives, including President Richard Cohen and Legal Director Rhonda Brownstein, depart the SPLC.

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Richard Cohen of the Southern Poverty Law Center through the years

The organization's management have retained Hunton Andrews Kurth, a Richmond, Virginia-based law firm. The firm’s website says it advises businesses against “corporate campaigns” by unions, advocacy groups, and non-governmental organizations.

A message seeking comment was sent to Hunton Andrews Kurth on Tuesday. Amber Rogers, a labor relations attorney and partner in the firm, is advising SPLC management. She lists "union avoidance strategies" among her areas of expertise on her biography.

A message seeking comment was left with Rogers on Tuesday. Erik Olvera, a spokesman for SPLC, wrote Tuesday that Rogers "supports the work" of SPLC and "is one of the few women of color across the country, and black women in particular, who extensively practice labor law and possesses the type of experience we needed to guide us through this process."

"Amber understands the Center’s historical support for unions, its current support for employees' right to form a union, and will give legal advice and counsel from that respectful understanding," Olvera wrote.

Brooks wrote in the Tuesday memo that "unions reflect values that are in our DNA" and said management would “not engage in an anti-union campaign.”

"SPLC is unequivocally supportive of employee rights in every aspect, especially employees’ right to organize, and we look forward to continuing discussions with our staff that will help make the organization stronger for the communities we serve," the memo said.

Olvera wrote that the SPLC was “thoughtful” when considering counsel for representing management in the process.

“While we understand Hunton represents clients that desire to remain union-free, they also represent clients that voluntarily recognize unions based on Hunton’s legal advice and counsel," the statement said. "Our understanding is that Hunton is known in the marketplace as the type of firm that is not a union-busting firm.”

Management signaled last week it would not voluntarily recognize the employees' union. Under "Experience," Hunton Andrews Kurth's web page on labor management issues notes a “decisive victory” over the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW’s) attempt “to organize white-collar employees at a southeastern-based power company,” as well as an “overwhelming victory” over the IBEW in organizing nuclear power plant workers in North and South Carolina.

The firm has also hosted a webinar titled “Dodging Organized Labor’s One-Two Punch,” about micro-organizing rules that the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) promulgated during President Barack Obama’s term.

SPLC has been on the forefront of fights over immigration, poverty, and conditions within Alabama’s violent and overcrowded prisons. But SPLC has long faced issues in its workplace.

The organization for decades has faced accusations of internal discrimination against employees of color, particularly in the area of promotion. Earlier this year, whites held most leadership positions in the organization. Turnover at the SPLC has been high. Dees' firing in March followed the resignation of an assistant legal director at SPLC over racial and gender equity concerns.

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Morris Dees through the years

Union organizers say they have the support of a “supermajority” of employees at SPLC, though they have not provided a specific number.

"SPLC staffers demonstrated a legitimate expression of workers' desire to form a union when a supermajority of us signed union authorization cards and petitioned for union representation," the union's organizing committee wrote in a statement. "We hoped management would support our wishes to be more engaged in SPLC's transformation, but we are prepared to see our union organizing drive through an election process, if necessary."

SPLC reported employing 360 people at the end of October 2018, according to its most recent 990 form. The union says it is seeking improvements to working conditions, with a particular goal of ensuring equitable treatment for employees.

SPLC had $492.5 million in assets on Oct. 31, 2018, according to its most recent 990 form.