🗞️ Decertification Election: NLRB Rules Breakthru Beverage Workers Can Vote on Union Representation
NLRB allows decertification vote for 227 Florida drivers despite new union contract, ruling the agreement wasn't executed until after petition was filed. Election scheduled for February 2026 hinges on contract effective date.
The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), Region 12, has directed a decertification election for drivers at Premier Beverage Company (Breakthru Beverage Florida), rejecting the International Brotherhood of Teamsters' arguments that a newly executed collective bargaining agreement should bar the vote. The January 16, 2026 decision by Regional Director David Cohen turned on a critical timing issue: whether the contract was executed before or after the petition was filed.
On October 24, 2025, driver Tim Zulinke filed a decertification petition seeking to remove the Teamsters as the collective bargaining representative for approximately 227 drivers across six Florida facilities. The same day, the parties reached a tentative agreement on contract terms. The union argued this created a "contract bar" that should prevent the election from proceeding.
However, Regional Director Cohen found that no contract bar existed because the parties did not execute their final collective bargaining agreement until November 5, 2025—nearly two weeks after the petition was filed. Under the NLRB's contract bar doctrine, a contract must be executed before a petition is filed to bar an election. Additionally, the contract's effective date of November 5 meant it could not bar a petition filed on October 24.
The decision relied on established precedent including Deluxe Metal Furniture Co. and Silvan Industries, which hold that contracts executed after a petition is filed—or with effective dates after the filing—do not bar elections. The Regional Director distinguished the union's cited case, Television Station WVTV, noting that unlike that case where parties initialed all pages simultaneously, here the parties only initialed select provisions and disputed the effective date until shortly before final execution.
The Union also challenged the petition on procedural grounds, arguing it wasn't properly served and contained inaccurate information. The Regional Director denied these challenges, finding the petitioner made good-faith efforts to serve the petition, the union received actual notice and participated fully in the hearing, and suffered no prejudice. The petition was filed during a government shutdown from October 1 to November 13, 2025, which affected initial processing.
The decertification election is now scheduled for February 10-12, 2026, across six polling locations at the employer's Florida facilities. The outcome will determine whether the Teamsters continue to represent the drivers or whether the unit becomes non-union.
Key Points
- Petition filed October 24, 2025 by driver Tim Zulinke seeking to decertify International Brotherhood of Teamsters
- Tentative agreement reached same day but parties disputed whether this created contract bar to election
- Contract not executed until November 5, 2025—12 days after petition filing
- No contract bar applies because contract was both executed and became effective after petition was filed
- Election directed for February 10-12, 2026 involving approximately 227 drivers at six Florida locations
- Procedural challenges rejected—despite service deficiencies and government shutdown complications
- Union's strike ended October 28, 2025 after parties negotiated wage increases and amnesty agreements
- Critical legal principle: Under NLRB precedent, contracts must be executed before petition filing and be immediately or retroactively effective to bar elections
Primary Source Author: David Cohen, Regional Director
Primary Source: Decision and Direction of Election, Case 12-RD-374423
Primary Source Link: https://apps.nlrb.gov/link/document.aspx/09031d458419532b
