IFES settles with union over unfair labor practice complaints

The International Foundation for Electoral Systems — a pro-democracy organization based outside Washington, D.C. — has paid out hundreds of thousands of dollars to five former employees, expunged disciplinary records, and posted written commitments to uphold U.S. labor law in a settlement agreement with its recently unionized workforce. The settlement — reached in August by IFES, the union, and the National Labor Relations Board — resolves a slew of unfair labor practice complaints that the union filed against the organization. NLRB, a U.S. government agency that enforces employee rights, found merit in 15 complaints from the union and began hearing testimony in July. The settlement resolves those complaints before any final ruling by NLRB. An IFES spokesperson told Devex that its terms should not be seen as evidence that the organization did anything wrong. “This agreement was reached in a spirit of compromise between the parties and reflects their mutual commitment to advance common interests,” Andrew Kolb, the spokesperson for IFES, wrote to Devex. But Gina Chirillo, a former IFES employee who was fired for an alleged violation of the organization’s social media policy, told Devex that the organization’s leaders have repeatedly broken U.S. labor laws by retaliating against union members and violating their rights to organize. Her firing was the subject of one of the unfair labor practice complaints, with Chirillo and the union alleging it was in retaliation for her vocal union leadership. “The fact that the NLRB found merit in 15 unfair labor practice charges against a nonprofit pro-democracy organization is just kind of shocking and is indicative of how the organization has been handling the union,” Chirillo told Devex after the settlement was reached. IFES provides technical assistance to election officials, conducts research on electoral systems, and supports civil society groups’ involvement in democratic processes. It employs roughly 500 people in 33 country offices. A seven-page notice outlining IFES’ commitments under the settlement — which NLRB mandated that the organization post in the workplace for 60 days and distribute to employees — states that IFES would have offered Chirillo “immediate and full reinstatement to her former job,” but that she “voluntarily declined.” It adds that IFES will expunge any reference to her discharge from its records, pay Chirillo for the wages and benefits she lost because she was fired, and compensate her for expenses she incurred as a result. Chirillo told Devex that amounted to over $200,000. Chirillo said she received an additional payment for “mental anguish,” but the financial terms are subject to a nondisclosure agreement. In accepting that additional payment, Chirillo also agreed to forgo reinstatement and cannot seek employment at IFES in the future. Chirillo told Devex that she wanted her job back, but that she accepted the agreement because of the size of the financial settlement and so that her former colleagues could secure the labor protections included in the overall agreement. “How I’m choosing to view it is that we were so powerful as a union, and we were so powerful as a unit, that the only way that management saw that it could respond was by taking such an egregious action as to fire unlawfully one of the leaders of the movement in order to hamper the movement, and then went as far as to pay that person … one of the largest individual settlements in the region’s history in order for me not to come back,” Chirillo told Devex. The NLRB notice also states that the organization will not interfere with employees’ right to discuss wages, hours, and working conditions, and will compensate union members “for any financial harm that resulted from the unilateral changes we made to the Return to Office policy” that it implemented in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, and will not enforce an organization rule “prohibiting employees from expressing views regarding management decisions to individuals who do not work at IFES.” In total, the NLRB notice includes more than 40 different commitments by IFES to uphold U.S. labor laws. Kolb, the spokesperson, told Devex that much of the language is “boilerplate” and “simply an affirmation that IFES complies with the law.” “That has always been what IFES maintains it has done,” he added. Sascha Eisner, a labor organizer who represents IFES through a local chapter of the Office and Professional Employees International Union, wrote to Devex that the NLRB notice “speaks for itself.” “We are hopeful that IFES will respect federal labor law moving forward, and work in good faith to expeditiously conclude bargaining a first contract with its staff union,” he added. Chirillo said she hopes senior leaders or board members will step in to hold the organization’s leadership accountable and “truly make IFES the best organization that it can be.” “I know and I have faith that the union will keep pushing for that and my colleagues will keep pushing for that. I just wish they didn’t have to do it in an environment that’s so hostile and detrimental to their mental health,” she said.