Companies can stymie coercive union tactics with vigilance

If your company is in one of these industries, it is important that you recognize and understand union organizers' aggressive organizing tactics and take steps to implement union avoidance policies to avert the possibility of a union invading your workplace. If a portion of your work force is already unionized, beware the union does not target the remaining, non-union employees.

As union representation has plummeted below 8 percent in the private sector work force, many unions have turned to a coercive form of organizing known as the "corporate campaign." In a corporate campaign, a union targets a corporation and pressures its executives and directors to submit to the union's demands. It is a form of top-down organizing that seeks to bypass the National Labor Relations Boards (NLRB) election procedures with the goal of forcing recognition through a so-called "card check" in lieu of the more traditional secret ballot election.

In a "corporate campaign," unions utilize a variety of actions, including economic, political, legal and regulatory warfare, in an effort to redefine the image and tarnish the reputation of the target company until it yields to union demands. In our experience, no company is too small for this type of organizing effort. A union will enlist the help of the media, public officials, and religious and community leaders in its efforts.

Specific examples of corporate campaign tactics include:

• Filing class actions and other lawsuits alleging wage hour violations, discrimination, health and safety violations, and environmental violations.
  
  
• Staging rallies and demonstrations at the company's corporate headquarters to protest the company's policies.
  
  
• Discrediting the company in the media by releasing reports attacking its policies, buying advertising time, and speaking to reporters.
  
  
• Letter writing campaigns to employees, spouses and children, and retirees.
  
  
• Calling for a boycott of the company's product or services.
  
  
• Harassing the company's customers and suppliers through picketing, hand billing and letter writing.

The main objective of many corporate campaigns is to obtain an agreement for "card check" recognition, forcing the employer to recognize a union upon presentation of authorization cards signed by a majority of the employees, in lieu of a NLRB-supervised secret ballot election.

It is possible to fight against a union organizing effort, and to adopt policies now that would prevent a union from targeting your company for organization.

• Review your company's handbook and policies to ensure they are fair, uniformly applied, and understood by all employees. Policies relating to compensation and health care are hot button issues to union organizers and, as such, should be closely scrutinized for fairness.
  
  
• Train managers on the company's overall labor strategy, early warning signs of organizing activity, how to respond to suspected "card check" activity, and what the company can and cannot say when faced with an organizing effort.
  
  
• Evaluate your company's employee relations and leadership functions to ensure there is a method by which employees can voice concerns, that employees concerns are heard, and there is no retaliation for raising issues. Good leadership requires an ability to make employees feel valued and engaged with the company.

Union avoidance requires company vigilance to ensure its policies and procedures are fair, its managers are properly trained to implement the policies and recognize the signs of union organization, and that employees feel valued. If a company can successfully accomplish these goals, union organizers are less likely to target your organization.

Lisa Aguiar is an attorney with Hoge, Fenton, Jones & Appel Inc. in San Jose.