AAA Insurance Accused of Harsh Employee Treatment

• Author: Bryan Miller
• Posted: 2024-06-02

The American Automobile Association (AAA) is a large conglomerate of motor clubs from all around the nation, and in effect AAA operates as a nonprofit for things like auto maintenance and particularly insurance. Although they're labeled as a nonprofit, they still have over 3,200 employees who draw an actual salary and aren't just volunteers. They have dozens of branch offices all across America, and their long-time mission statement has been to provide travelers safety and peace of mind. However, according to employees who have recently protested AAA by picketing them, the organization does not offer that same peace of mind to its employees. In fact, it is alleged that AAA grossy mistreats its employees in many different areas, none the least of which is providing security and adequate compensation.

500 different workers from AAA, and other insurance sales agents, all rallied on Wednesday, March 2, outside of AAA's annual Farmington, Utah meeting in order to read a list of demands off to the executives of AAA. Chief among these demands was the right for the union to have a seat at the table and be taken seriously in negotiations on the employees' behalf. Workers' rights was the theme, as a rather large protest emerged in Utah. People who have worked for AAA for decades risked their employment by joining a union and demanding to negotiate with the executives and owners of the company.

With so much going on in the world since 2020 in terms of groups protesting, it's always hard to tell if people have a legitimate beef or if they just want to try to leverage someone or get attention by causing such a commotion. However, one thing that the AAA protest has going for it that makes it seem more organic than others is the fact that employees attended who have been employed by the organization for years. So it's not as if the union just bused a bunch of people in, as they're very prone to doing.

Unions Will Do Union Things

Yes, unions will most definitely bus people in, hand them pre-made signs, and even pay people to stand on the streets and shout. They're definitely famous for doing this in teachers' unions. Some protests that they hold, claiming that 'teachers' are angry, end up just being unemployed adults looking to make a quick buck. Even still, the union always gets its point across. Sure, things might be a little safer for people on the other end of that protest now that the Teamsters are no longer running the show; but things can still get very wild, and more often than not the union is just leveraging power and not actually bringing up issues that actually affect them.

It may just be a coincidence that the AAA employees didn't decide to protest until they became a union. The timing is suspicious, but the protests and cause seems genuine to people close to the issue. They claim that AAA has long had a bad reputation for treating employees badly, and that now being part of a union just makes neglected, mistreated employees feel empowered to take a stand.

No Companies Get Off the Hook

Just because some union protests get carried away and are faked should in no way let some of these companies off the hook. In fact, people who side with unions often claim that unions have every bit the right to act how they act, as that's the only way to force real change among exploitative corporations using people as labor. This can especially be true with insurance companies. These companies are famous for doing whatever they can in order not to pay claims, and the employees are often mistreated while working for these companies.

Just because AAA is a nonprofit insurer doesn't make them immune to requiring profit. Executives and people who control the company still make a salary. They're just not allowed to profit, as with shareholders or huge bonuses. So it's definitely possible that AAA has been doing poorly by their employees, and their employees are just now taking a stand.

According to the employees of AAA who feel aggrieved, the protests are just now starting and will not stop until which point the company negotiates and decides to treat their employees better. There is no specific date set as of yet for the next protest.