Portside

When Stan Upshaw got a job at Eos Energy Enterprises Inc. in 2020, he hoped for good pay and benefits, like the ones that went to union workers who decades ago built American manufacturing. After all, Eos’ zinc battery plant in the Pittsburgh suburb of Turtle Creek had already received a nearly $400 million conditional loan guarantee from the Department of Energy, as well as millions in subsidies through the Inflation Reduction Act.

At Eos, Upshaw said he didn’t see the “good clean jobs” the act was meant to create. Instead, he saw management ignore seniority — and force workers to train new supervisors rather than promote from within, he said. The work felt dangerous, too. “We’re having people getting their fingers pinched [under batteries and] working under very hot, humid conditions [where] we’re almost tripping over each other, ” he said.

So earlier this year, Upshaw and some of his coworkers began to push for representation by the United Steelworkers union. In early August, they filed a petition to hold a union election; on Sept. 5, they’ll cast their votes and test whether reality in Turtle Creek matches the talk about the Inflation Reduction Act’s good jobs. 

In an emailed statement, Chad FitzGerald, Eos vice president of strategic partnerships and public affairs, said that the company is “a pro-union company,” adding, “We respect our employees’ right to choose or not choose to have a labor representative.”

“I know they’re going to try everything in their power to deter people away from voting for this unit,” Upshaw said shortly after Eos workers filed a petition with the National Labor Relations Board for a union election. 

Just a week after we spoke, Upshaw and another outspoken union organizer were fired.

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The 2022 Inflation Reduction Act represented a public investment of hundreds of billions of dollars aimed at combating climate change while also creating “good-paying union jobs.”  The potential effect is huge, say observers. The Inflation Reduction Act and other federal legislation will create 8.5 million jobs by 2032 — 849,000 per year, according to a recent study by the Political Economy Research Institute at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. 

As for what kinds of jobs those should be, the “labor standards built into [President Joe Biden’s industrial policy] are aimed at ensuring stronger protection for workers’ rights and allowing these federal investments to translate into more good, union jobs,” said Stephen Herzenberg, executive director at Keystone Research Center in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, “That’s what should happen.” 

When U.S. Sen. Bob Casey (D-Pa.) announced the Department of Energy loan award, he called Eos “the kind of project we had in mind” when Congress passed the legislation. (Casey had successfully pushed for well-paid clean energy jobs as part of the Inflation Reduction Act.) He went on to call the loan “not only an investment in cutting edge technology, but also in Pennsylvania workers.”

That investment has clearly benefited Eos, which received the legislation’s 45X tax credit, meant to incentivize production of alternative energy systems such as batteries. If Eos expands its production capacity as planned with the $398.6 million Department of Energy loan, the company will be eligible for up to $1.98 billion in 45X tax credits between 2026 and 2032 alone.

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The workers pushing for a union at Eos say the company’s focus on “green-collar” jobs hasn’t created good jobs.

Eos workers say entry-level wages are around $18 an hour — well above the state minimum wage of $7.25. But workers say pay isn’t the only thing they care about. While many union supporters want higher wages, especially for senior employees, they say they also want to be treated well and with respect. 

“You can’t even breathe wrong without [Eos management] saying that they want to write you up for something,” Upshaw said. Originally, he said, the company had a seven-minute grace period when clocking in or out of work. Then, shortly after the union effort began, Eos got rid of the grace period; the change is now cited in an unfair labor practice the union filed against Eos in June. “Our attendance policy has not changed in relation to union organizing,” FitzGerald said in an email, explaining that the company adopted a new attendance policy due to “our new manufacturing line launching and our expected dramatic growth in production.”

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By late August, the Steelworkers had filed five unfair labor practice charges on behalf of Eos workers with the National Labor Relations Board, which governs union activity. 

Three of the charges concerned the firing of union supporters. In May, the Steelworkers charged that the company fired one of the most vocal union supporters in retaliation for her union work. In August, the Steelworkers filed charges documenting what it said were the illegal firings of Upshaw and his coworker, LaToya Hampton, for union activities.

The union also charged that the company retaliated against union organizing by denying workers pay when it shut down production for a day without warning. Union supporters said the company learned of organizers’ plans to talk to workers outside the plant and canceled shifts and sent workers home to prevent them from doing so. 

Eos’ FitzGerald denied that, saying in an email that shifts were canceled to facilitate transition to a new production line and that affected workers were reimbursed for their lost wages or given paid time off. (Union supporters point out that reimbursement came after the union filed unfair labor practice charges.) FitzGerald also said “Eos has not taken any actions against any employees in connection with the union campaign.”

The five unfair labor practice charges are pending.

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Meanwhile, Eos’ union supporters are working toward an election. “I believe all of our opinions [and] words will have power once we establish a union,” said Christian Hickman, a quality control worker at Eos. “We just want to just improve the company [and] make sure everyone’s needs are met. I think our voices will be heard.”