Almost inevitably during an election campaign, a union will publish a flyer or other communication that makes false or outlandish claims to which management may feel compelled to respond. Such responses, in and of themselves, can be lawful. Further, they are frequently strategically necessary. While an employer should not place themselves in a position of continuously playing defense, sometimes a direct response to a union campaign piece is an essential campaign strategy.
For most employers, success in maintaining union-free status is a quiet victory. They will never know what might have happened because they were victorious in avoiding an election petition, recognition demand, or even meaningful organizing activity. Success, in such circumstances, is measured by the lack of failure.
In last month's Management Report, we began a discussion of a union campaign from an organizer's viewpoint. More specifically, we highlighted several points—such as accumulating background information, identifying problems with workplace conditions, and recruiting potential employee leaders who will support an organizing effort—that are frequently pursued during the first stages of an organizer's campaign. This month, we continue that discussion to assist union-free employers in understanding how an organizer tries to build initial momentum in organizing. With that information, employers can place themselves in a better position to extinguish union organizing before it gains a meaningful foothold.
When it comes to issues of union avoidance, much attention is correctly placed on various tactics and strategies that can help educate employees that remaining union-free is the best option. An important threshold question for every workplace is the appropriate selection of such measures. What may work very well in one setting may fall on deaf ears in another. Management must remember that there is no one-size-fits-all approach to effective union prevention.
When it comes to union-avoidance strategies, success starts at the top. Many times, managers will think of the organization's president or CEO as the “top.” For smaller companies, this may be true. However, for larger entities that are governed by a board of directors, the top shoots past the highest-level executive. Boards can put pressure on CEOs and presidents to implement certain policies, such as union neutrality. It only makes sense, therefore, that unions will try to exert influence at the board level to cause executives with control over labor relations to take non-aggressive approaches to unionization and, by extension, ease efforts to organize.
Each month, we take time to offer information to union-free employers on the tactics and strategies they may consider to maintain their status. This month, we take a moment to look at the coin from the other side, to take a glimpse into how a union organizer will pursue efforts to flip a non-union work environment. The game plan that follows will allow readers an opportunity to view what is considered by the union organizer. In knowing thy enemy, management can be better positioned to implement its own strategies.
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