(C) Common Dreams
This story was originally published by Common Dreams and is unaltered.
. . . . . . . . . .
Union Busting: What Are Some of the Most Common Tactics Employers Use? [1]
['Condé Nast', 'Jacqui Germain']
Date: 2022-02-17 12:00:00+00:00
“It's really about workplace democracy and having a say in the work that you do. Because even in the best workplace, if it's non-union, everything that's good about it can change at any moment,” Isser emphasizes. “Which is not to say it will, but I think workers should have a say just on principle because workers make the workplace run. So, it could be the best job on earth and it should still be union[ized].”
4. Using anti-union messaging
According to Logan’s research into labor history, employers have been using similar anti-union language and messaging for decades. One common messaging tool is to suggest that a union will create an unnecessary barrier between employees and company leadership, instead reassuring people that they maintain open lines of communication with everyone. Or an employer who makes exceptions to someone’s work schedule to accommodate childcare, for example, might argue that the same flexibility wouldn’t be possible with a union.
During the “boss fight,” many of the tactics that employers use to intimidate and pressure workers can create an uncomfortable work environment for weeks or months at a time. An employer might then blame those stressful workdays on the presence of union organizers, reasoning that things were fine — or at least less tense — before the union drive began.
A more modern twist on that messaging, Isser explains, sounds like employers promising that their business is like a family, and therefore should manage any problems or frustrations internally without the added “complication” of a union. Employers might even go so far as to take the union effort as a personal affront, suggesting that moving forward with the campaign would hurt their feelings.
5. Fear-based tactics, coercion, and breaking — or bending — the law
Firing employees for organizing their coworkers to unionize and coercing employees to vote against a union are both illegal under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) — but Isser and Logan say there’s really not enough of a deterrent in place to prevent companies from doing illegal things.
“I've seen workers fired for organizing,” Isser tells Teen Vogue. “It's technically illegal, but literally any union organizer has seen it happen.” Both are referring to a more widespread problem: Companies regularly violate labor laws. Recently, the NLRB concluded that Amazon violated labor law during last year’s highly publicized union election in Bessemer, Alabama, granting the workers a new election. A few months before that decision, the NLRB ruled that Starbucks illegally fired two employees in 2019 and 2020 in retaliation for their efforts to unionize their Philadelphia store.
Union avoidance experts know how to skirt labor laws or find loopholes to help the company avoid fines. But even if they have to pay fines, both Isser and Logan agree that many companies consider labor violation fines the cost of doing business.
“They just make a cost-benefit analysis and [say], if I fire someone now, I'm positive that there'll be no immediate repercussions,” says Isser. “And it will almost definitely take the wind out of the sails of the organizing campaign, right? People will be scared and the union will either not get to an election or it'll have an election and lose.”
[END]
---
[1] Url:
https://www.teenvogue.com/story/union-busting-what-is-it
Published and (C) by Common Dreams
Content appears here under this condition or license: Creative Commons CC BY-NC-ND 3.0..
via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds:
gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/commondreams/
