GRAND RAPIDS, MI — Employees at a national entertainment ticketing agency based in Grand Rapids have filed paperwork for union representation with the Industrial Workers of the World.

According to the National Labor Relations Board, the I.W.W. is petitioning to create a bargaining unit among as many as 14 employees at the Star Tickets call center office in Grand Rapids.

The petition, signed by seven employees at the ticketing agency, was filed on Wednesday, Jan. 23. Star Tickets is located at 620 Century Ave. SW.

“Over the years, more and more has been added to our roles without any additional compensation,” said Deirdre Cunningham, a client services representative for Star Tickets in Grand Rapids. “Whatever the boss says, we have no power to say otherwise unless we stand together.”

The I.W.W. sent out a press release stating the employees were demanding a reduction in workload and an employee grievance procedure. The statement called the work environment at Star Tickets "untenable."

Star Tickets is one of North America's "leading entertainment ticketing companies," according to its website. The company was founded as Tickets Plus in Grand Rapids in 1994 and became Star Tickets in 2003 after acquiring an Austin, Texas-based competitor.

The company says it has more than 250 retail ticketing outlets and two full-service call centers in the United States, and is the "exclusive ticketing service for hundreds of venues."

In Michigan, Star Tickets handles ticketing for the Grand Rapids Griffins hockey team, Frederik Meijer Gardens concerts, Grand Rapids Public Museum exhibits and the Soaring Eagle Casino & Resort in Mount Pleasant, among other clients.

Jack Krasula, Star Tickets chairman and CEO, is also founder of the Southfield executive search firm Trustinus. Messages seeking comment left with Krasula and Star Tickets vice president of sales Tamra Bouman were not immediately returned.

Cunningham, a Star Tickets employee for eight years, said the union organizing effort has taken three years. She said her fellow petition-signers chose the I.W.W. because “it’s distinctly different from a business union model.”

The I.W.W., nicknamed the "wobblies," collects voluntary dues. The union constitution contends that all workers should be united as a class and that the wage system should be abolished. In 2011, workers at the co-op model Bartertown Diner in Grand Rapids organized with the I.W.W.

Tom Good, resident officer at the NLRB office in Grand Rapids, said Star Tickets management has not filed paperwork to dispute the union election process.

Assuming a timely agreement governing time, place and voter eligibility between management and the petitioners can be reached, an election would take place sometime in the next two months.

In order to form a bargaining unit, a majority of the 14 employees eligible to cast a ballot must opt for I.W.W. representation during an NLRB-supervised vote.

“It’s been really empowering here,” said Cunningham. “Right now, we’re taking a big sigh of relief to not have to hide our organizing efforts from our boss and fellow workers who were previously unaware.”