Help Fired Home Depot Worker Steve Pace Fight Union Busting

Help us raise legal funds for Steve Pace, a friend and former Home Depot worker who was fired this past July in retaliation for his union organizing with Home Depot Workers United.

Steve has filed unfair labor practice charges with the National Labor Relations Board, but since Home Depot is a notoriously anti-union corporation, we anticipate this to be a challenging and protracted legal battle. That’s why this GoFundMe to build Steve’s legal defense fund is crucial in order to support Steve and hold Home Depot accountable.

Steve and his fellow employees began organizing a union at their Home Depot store when it became clear it was the only way for them to address issues like fair scheduling, safety, pay, and more.

Unfortunately, once Home Depot discovered their organizing drive, they union-busted hard, including retaliating against Steve and ultimately terminating him after 11 years of service.

Steve started his Home Depot career in New York, and later moved to a Seattle location. Up until Steve started organizing with his coworkers, he was considered a “high potential associate” and “go-to guy” for work questions and issues.

After Steve started organizing, that changed pretty much overnight.

After a district HR manager told Steve that he couldn’t even say the word “union” to his coworkers, not even in the context of referencing their existence in a neutral way, Steve filed unfair labor practice charges with the NLRB. Home Depot gave him his first write-up after he filed these charges.

The write-ups continued as Steve and his coworkers started signing union cards with Home Depot Workers United, and kept going after Home Depot responded to their organizing efforts with an intense union busting campaign.

On July 16th, Steve reported to work as usual. His manager greeted him by saying, “Steve, it’s time,” and then promptly fired him.

To this day, Steve is still involved in organizing and trying to help his fellow Home Depot workers get better pay and working conditions.

I met Steve this past spring at a conference. He’s smart, laid-back, friendly, and dedicated to making the world a better place. So far Steve has handled a lot of the legal aspects of his case himself, like the charge I mentioned earlier, but he’s one dude up against a corporation with near endless resources and a track record of harsh anti-union activity. His case could be held up in appeals for a long time, and having the right resources–like legal support and representation–is huge.

Let’s donate and show up for Steve the way that he showed up for his coworkers. In Steve’s own words: "I didn't start organizing for myself; it was never a me-driven thing. I started organizing because I got tired of seeing Home Depot churn through people for easily solvable issues. I started organizing because I wanted my fellow Home Depot associates to realize they deserve better - because they're what makes this company wildly profitable."

Donations to this fund will go to helping Steve hold Home Depot accountable for their union-busting actions and continue to support Home Depot Workers United’s organizing efforts.