ACORN has almost 400 known affiliates and quite possibly more that have not been uncovered yet. Due to the numerous entities ACORN controls, charting their violations and uncovering information has not been an easy task. However, Judicial Watch has uncovered several sets of documents on ACORN from the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) when we requested records on ACORN violations. Below are excerpts from these files. These complaints are almost certainly not isolated instances, and we are currently trying to obtain more records on ACORN from the NLRB. The NLRB only keeps records and case files for 6 - 10 years, and unless the case is of particular interest, none of the documents are kept at NLRB headquarters. To obtain these documents, Judicial Watch submitted Freedom if Information Act requests to numerous field offices after being told by NLRB Headquarters that ACORN compalints had been filed at those offices. In some instances, the case files we requested had already been destroyed.
San Jose ACORN
John Eller, ACORN's San Jose Office Manager, had a complaint filed against him by three former employees in June 2001. The employees, who were represented by Industrial Worker of the World (IWW), claimed that Eller intimidated them from forming a union. "Eller knew that workers had talked to IWW organizers and had been given literature. He then questioned [them]...telling them, 'stay away from them (IWW).'" Additionally, Eller told an employee that "She was not allowed to mention IWW, to stay away from the IWW, and not to tell any other employees about the IWW."
Eller was accused of interfering and discouraging legal union activity, and "made untrue statements that intimidated the workers from discussing forming a union or contacting IWW organizers such as 'their (sic) liars,' ... 'their (sic) crazy' ... 'all they want to do is dig up ACORN's money.'" The matter ended in an informal settlement, where ACORN agreed to comply with NLRB laws.
NLRB Documents on San Jose ACORN
New York ACORN
In New York, a worker filed a complaint represented by an organization called Negation of the Negation. The worker, Dakem Roberts, accused ACORN of wrongfully firing him in retaliation for his participating in unionized activity, and trying to start a union in the Bronx office.
When Roberts requested that the Executive Director of New York ACORN recognize Roberts' labor association, he was immediately demoted from "organizer" to "canvasser" and ordered to return to basic training. "In my estimation," Roberts stated, "this practice was disparate, discriminatory, and retaliatory for requesting recognition of an association of laborers." ACORN refused to acknowledge Roberts' labor association, and the next day Roberts was terminated for "insubordination and failure to perform your work duties." Roberts asked if he could appeal the decision, but his supervisor "became loud, boisterous and verbally abusive, using profanities as he demanded I leave the premises. This behavior was witnessed by nearly a dozen staff members and was...very intimidating to myself and the other workers." Less than a month later, according to Roberts' affidavit, ACORN threatened to close the Bronx ACORN office, where the incident took place, in an effort to discourage union activity. "Bronx ACORN was never closed, though workers have complained of the constant pressure...since the threatened closures."
After being warned to do so at least twice by NLRB, ACORN's legal counsel finally responded to Roberts' complaint, claiming that "Mr. Roberts' employment was terminated...because he was disruptive, a substandard employee, and rude to his supervisors." However, if that is the case, it seems unlikely that ACORN NY would have promoted Roberts to "organizer" and only demote him after he submitted his request to have a union recognized. Additionally, only a few weeks after the complaint was filed, ACORN submitted its own complaint to the NLRB against Negation of the Negation, the organization that filed Roberts' complaint.
While Roberts' complaint was eventually dismissed, the documents included in the case file shed some light on the standard practices of ACORN's offices. ACORN claimed that Roberts did not fulfill his contract to collect enough money, since "the canvassers each must fulfill the minimum standards of NY ACORN by signing up an average of at least five new NY ACORN members each day and collecting at least $50 in donations each day." ACORN could not produce any of these contracts, claiming that "when NY ACORN moved offices...several of the files of NY ACORN were misplaced, including these contracts."
In a Statement of Facts submitted by Roberts, he claims that "I was advised by [redacted] that all organizers must work 11 hours each weekday and 5 hours on Saturday for a total of 60 hours each week with no right to overtime. He, additionally, advised that if I missed any time, I would be obligated to make up the hour(s) at the earliest juncture." According to his Payroll Transmittal Form, Roberts was compensated at a salary of $25,000 per year, or about $8 an hour.
ACORN canvassers are also not allowed to wear "overly concealing clothes" or head coverings. Why? Because "canvassing generally takes place at night when apartment buildings' halls are dark, and NY ACORN does not want individuals who look through their peepholes when deciding whether to open their doors to be frightened." It is not surprising that people might be frightened, since, as Roberts stated, ACORN asked that organizers work "11 hours each weekday," and ACORN states that canvassers began each day at 1:00pm. If Roberts is correct, that would mean ACORN was conducting door-to-door canvassing as late as midnight on a regular basis.
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