. Here are some of the most well-known companies in America and how much they've spent on union-busting firms. In response, large union avoidance law firms have not only internationalized their operations, but also proposed using global standards offensively against labor organizations, and attempted to use ILO jurisprudence to argue that employers have a rightand even an obligationto oppose unionization. persons or entities involved in the matter and that the firm is willing to consider Many of the early studies suggest that union members are less satisfied than nonunion . . Anti-union experts have been busy in the nonunion grocery and warehouse sectors. In 2018, Google dropped its long-time slogan, "Don't be evil," from its code of conduct. We call it The Union-Free Privilege. Your employees have a right to unionize, but you also have a right to educate them about potential dangers and negative effects of labor union representation. . The Great Railroad Strike of 1877 in . #7. Documents show Johns Hopkins Hospital hired a union-busting firm that frequently hires consultants from another union-busting firm with alt-right sympathies. Brown has repeatedly lobbied for and written in support of rule changes under the Trump Administration that would have facilitated decertification under the Railway Labor Act. Amazon Campaign Demonstrates Urgent Need for PRO Act. Monitoring the NLRB and Other Pro-Labor Legislation and Regulations. You can also participate in Management Education & Development, or draw together your whole organization with ourPowersharing programs. Don't forget to like us! There seems little doubt that when the campaign at Bessemer is finally over, Amazon will have paid millions of dollars to its law firm and its union avoidance consultants. With twenty six of its eighty-one offices located overseas, Littler has been the union avoidance firm most aggressive in expanding internationally. 4 Issues In Play As New Biden . Dont think there wont be repercussions. Whether you choose one-on-one mentoring, group training, or The Union-Free Privilege Academy, our union avoidance management consultants tailor seminars and workshops to meet the specific needs of your organization. Among other campaigns, while working under LRI, Brock helped defeat a union campaign at the Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas in 2014 and is currently running a major anti-union campaign at the largest hospital in Maine. Over the past four decades, Ogletree has advised many foreign MNCs operating in the United Statesincluding Nissan, Michelin NA, BMW, Mercedes-Benz, and Ikeaand has played a leading role in keeping them union free. These firms often provide so-called union vulnerability assessments, which are usually based . Over the past decade, the four largest management-side law firms specializing in union avoidance have internationalized their operations. Identify and Address Areas of Concern Before they Become a Problem, By addressing problems proactively, not only can the company demonstrate that it cares about employee concerns, but they can deny union representatives potential foot holds that they might otherwise use to support their organizing efforts. Pitt reduced payments to "union avoidance" law firm Ballard Spahr following faculty unionization, but continues to pay hundreds of thousands to firms with labor management services as efforts to organize staff and graduate student unions persist. 3. . Union avoidance law firms have grown increasingly concerned that unions have used International Labour Organization (ILO) conventions and other international labor standards to advance organizing campaigns. Having worked with both union and nonunion companies over the past 30 years, our labor and employment consulting firm have learned to identify key warning signs and recommend proactive steps to remain union free. The company claims it can't afford to raise workers' pay but spends millions on anti-union consultants. . Julia Rock. The Center for Individual Employees: In addition to running the RWP consulting firm, Brown is president of the Center for Individual Employees (CIE), a 501c(3) non-profit legal defense foundation. CIE, which claims to be active in all 50 states, is a legal defense foundation that provides free legal services to workers against unionization Although the organization is secretive about its funders, we know that CIE received $18,000 from the anti-union, billionaire Koch Brothers in 2017. Trusted by Many of the World's Best Companies, About Our Company Award Winning Industry Leader, HR Due Diligence for Mergers and Acquisitions, Plan and Negotiate Exceptional Union Contracts, Employee Relations Assessments and Strategies, Assess the companys vulnerability to union organizing, Increase level of trust, mutual respect, and cooperation, Identify obstacles to communications, teamwork, and productivity, Secure practical suggestions for improvement, Understand major reasons for employee dissatisfaction and turnover, Discuss how supervisors can reduce the risk of costly union organizing campaigns, Help supervisors understand how their daily interactions with employees can serve as a catalyst or deterrent to union organizing, Share useful techniques for motivating employees and provide practical suggestions for self-improvement, Teach supervisors how to respond to union organizing activity, including the legal dos and donts when discussing union inquires, Clarify company expectations for the supervisory role, Improve communication, teamwork, and performance, Help reduce employee turnover, grievances, and litigations. By agreeing to remain silent, an employer effectively may deny workers information, opinions and ideas they have a right to receive . This is a mail-in NLRB ballot that will end on March 29. Seaton is a well-known union-avoidance consultant, otherwise known as a "persuader" or, more accurately, a union buster. When addressed early, organizing is avoidable. During the winter, The Hershey's Company hired six union-avoidance firms to block organizing efforts at its chocolate factory in Stuarts Draft, Virginia. The PRO Act has already encountered stiff opposition, but if Amazons conduct at Bessemer comes under intense public scrutiny, this time could be different. Civil rights leaders, ministers at black churches, and leaders of historically black colleges criticized Nissan for running one of the nastiest anti-union campaigns in modern American history. The United Auto Workers (UAW) and the global union federation IndustriALL subsequently filed a complaint accusing Nissan of violating the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises. With 30 years of experience as union avoidance consultants, we know what it takes to avert a disaster for your business. With 1400 clients in 50 industries and 10 countries (including the United States, E.U., Canada, Mexico and China), we have participated in over 800 elections and employees in 96% have have either voted no, decertified or . Benefit from our Employee Relations Assessment, or choose our exclusiveVIEWPOINT Survey, which features a database compiled over nearly four decades. Her Reliant bio page states: As a consultant, Rebecca has led numerous anti-union campaigns, resulting in a winning record for the companies with whom she partnered, including but not limited to government, non-profit, and for profit organizations within airline, transportation, healthcare, hospitality, energy and retail industries. In 2018, Littler employed over 1000 attorneys in the United . . These activities can include holding mandatory meetings where managers discuss the negative aspects of unions, distributing . Using this proven process, our experienced union relations consultants meet with small groups of employees, where they can talk freely and share their opinions about the company. Select a quiz below to take the Union Vulnerability Quiz that best matches your organizational structure. The refusal was no surpriseemployers have turned down the NCP in every U.S. OECD complaintbut Nissan invoking the ILO was surprising. Crushing Unions With Consultants, "Explainer Videos" and "Heat Maps". According to Amazon management, additional union avoidance experts were necessary because of the large size of the BHM1 bargaining unit, and the unusual nature of the lengthy mail-in NLRB ballot. Early intervention and maintaining a positive relationship with your employees from the beginning is key. Here is a sample of what we found: Amazon. Equally important to identifying employee concerns, our improving labor relations assessment process helps to reaffirm that management values employees ideas and contributions, which are essential for maintaining a positive working relationship. After all, you cant lose a union election that doesnt happen. Union Organizing Efforts and Membership are on the Rise. A closer examination of the background of Brown and Smith I have written about the activities of Labor information Services elsewhere shows their involvement in several high-profile anti-union campaigns, their lobbying efforts on behalf of anti-union legislation, and their sustained efforts to weaken unions and collective bargaining, especially in the transportation and aviation sectors. Univar USA. For those organizations with a non-union workforce, Hutchison Group can help to discreetly determine your vulnerability to potential union organizing and reduce your risk of having to endure a union campaign. Union avoidance law firms have advocated using the OECD Guidelines on Multinational Corporations to attack global union federations, cautioned corporations against signing international framework agreements that limit their union avoidance options, and argued that, under ILO jurisprudence, employers have not just a right but an obligation to campaign against unionization and collective bargaining. Factor in geography. The chief result of the hearings, under the guidance of chief counsel Robert Kennedy, resulted in the enactment 1959 Labor-Management Relations and Disclosure Act (LMRDA), which targeted unions, not union-busting firms. In 2021, the company paid more than $4.2 million to four anti-union labor firms, according to disclosures filed with the . . LIS is a long-established union avoidance firm that also operates under the name, The Burke Group, or TBG. This case features well-known union-avoidance firm Jackson Lewis. This includes our Leadership Effectiveness Analysis, which helps your managers identify and leverage their strengths. Under the Obama Administration, the failure of the Employee Free Choice Act demonstrated that labor cannot withstand the lobbying of the anti-union right under normal circumstances. . Brown, Smith and James Edwards, general counsel of both CIE and RWP, were deeply involved in the anti-union campaign (After the Flexjet decertification election, the chairman of Cleveland-based carrier, Ken Ricci, stated: This is a historic moment not only for our company but also for the industry as a whole, since no other pilot group has elected to remove representation by organized labor. Brown also celebrated the historic election as the first time in the 80-year history of the Railway Labor Act that pilots have chosen a direct relationship with their employer rather than have a labor union interfering as a third party., Union activists agreed that Brown and Smith had played a critical role in the decertification campaign. Thomas McKibbin, a . Gamekeepers Turned Poachers: Several prominent consultants have claimed to have worked working for unions, including some of Smiths close associates. Research on union avoidance firms Power structure analysis and strategy Mission-driven sectors of the economy (health care and education) About Jane. After all, you cant lose a union election that doesnt happen. Training and Strategy Union-avoidance specialists, and the employers that hire them, must disclose their arrangements to the Labor Department. . Question. Although we excel in union avoidance and elections, a hallmark of Littler's practice remains the ability to prevent workplace issues from ending up in court or administrative tribunals, sparing our clients time-consuming and costly headaches. Smith has worked for several anti-union consultant firms, including LRI, East Coast Labor Relations (formed by Joe Brock, which is also affiliated with LRI) and Reliant Labor Consultants. Three of the biggest law firms that do this work are Littler Mendelson, Ogletree and Jackson Lewis, which have grown from regional operations into global union avoidance behemoths. You need to emphasize to employees from the beginning that a third party is never necessary when there is a problem. The union avoidance industry continued to grow, and LRA served as a breeding ground for several future superstars of the union-free movement. Hutchison Group is a nationally recognized HR and labor relations consulting firm. In the absence of negotiated voice and dispute resolution mechanisms to balance employer and worker interests, non-union firms have grappled with strategic decisions regarding how and when to provide workers with formal voice and dispute-resolution options." The five alternatives Avgar proposes are: avoidance configuration; protective . Teamster Avoidance: Since leaving the Teamsters to join the ranks of its adversaries in 2007, Rebecca Smith has been involved in several anti-union campaigns against her former employer, as well as against multiple other unions in transportation, manufacturing, building trades and others. Failure to recognize early warning signs of union activity can result in having to engage in a costly and disruptive union campaign, which can create deep and long-lasting divisions within the workforce, not to mention the negative consequences should the union prevail (e.g., increased costs, restrictive work rules, work stoppages, etc.). At ANHS, we know unions. . The EPI estimates that the "union avoidance" industry, through which companies hire outside firms to defeat organizing efforts, is now worth $340 million per year. To augment its extensive internal union avoidance capabilities, Amazon used several leading outside anti-union consultant firms. Reduced Jackson Lewis rate: $379 per night. Last month, we discovered that, starting in January, Amazon had hired two prominent anti-union consultants, Russell Brown and Melissa Smith of Florida-based Road Warrior Productions (RWP), to assist with its campaign against the RWDSU. Our labor relations training for supervisors is conducted on site and is typically completed in just three hours. Labor History for the Classroom and the Public, The Radicalism of Working-Class Americans, activities of Labor information Services elsewhere, and LRA served as a breeding ground for several future superstars of the union-free movement, a barrage of anti-labor tactics and intimidation, https://olmsapps.dol.gov/query/orgReport.do?rptId=740712&rptForm=LM20Form, https://theintercept.com/2021/02/10/amazon-alabama-union-busting-koch/, https://www.bloomberglaw.com/product/blaw/bloomberglawnews/daily-labor-report/XDO8UHS0000000?bc=W1siU2VhcmNoICYgQnJvd3NlIiwiaHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuYmxvb21iZXJnbGF3LmNvbS9wcm9kdWN0L2JsYXcvc2VhcmNoL3Jlc3VsdHMvYzk5NGZkYWY2Njk3ODRlZWY1ZWMwNDFmNTU4N2I1MWIiXV04b7364334cc7ae9ee73746b2a39fefa3bcbfd714&bna_news_filter=daily-labor-report&criteria_id=c994fdaf669784eef5ec041f5587b51b&search32=z06D2qAaUyOlZ5RoTngirA%3D%3DAFxBuzXRrdQ1eS8JhXb75fLUkPDQjTdd3oCq3KwQ-HHDP0xweicPLMSsdCqq59RV_jlTjPNdfq8FAgUVzbrDJ7Oc9jwyLuv_QVo0oiA1us7ZhFnB13ZPEVTUhGezjqnjtiFX8AfvZ8tlbvpuSJmU_A%3D%3D, https://files.epi.org/uploads/LM20_C525_01_28_2013_525631-copy.pdf, https://www.amazon.com/Union-Hypocrisy-Organized-Standard-Business/dp/1478275162, https://tunein.com/podcasts/Conservative-Talk/The-Brenner-Brief-w-Sara-Marie-Brenner-p514156/, https://www.rwplabor.com/consultant-bios/rebecca-smith/. In September 2020, almost 1000 nurses voted to join the NNU in a landslide victory, thereby providing the labor movements largest hospital victory in the South since 1975. Under the National Labor Relations Act of 1935, it is illegal for employers to intimidate, retaliate against, or ask workers whether they support a union drive. When Britain introduced its new union recognition law in 1999, one U.S. firm wrote: "Sixty-five years' U.S. experience with union organizational experience provides valuable parallels from which U.K. employers can learn how to stay union free. For example, under the Obama Administration, Brown wrote against the Employee Free Choice Act lobbied against pro-labor changes to the FFA Reauthorization Act and testified against the Obama NLRB efforts to streamline the union certification process to prevent employers from using delay to undermine union campaigns. Fewer problems arise when employees have faith and trust in their organizational superiors. Barnes & Thornburg LLP appreciates your visit to the firms web site. . 9.The Federalist Society, Harold P. Coxson Bio, available at https://fedsoc.org/contributors/harold-coxson. Flexjet is just their first target.. Follow us on Twitter @LAWCHA_ORG or @LaborOnline to take part in the discussion. It is estimated that companies spend between $500 million and $2 billion per year on union-busting activities. 1.John Logan, The Union Avoidance Industry in the United States, British Journal of Industrial Relations 44, no. Preparing a first round of union avoidance materials. However, it is estimated that hundreds of law firms and companies engage in union-busting activities. In May 2010, the ILOs Committee on Freedom of Association (CFA) issued a decision that the U.S. employer community has interpreted as an endorsement for American-style anti-union campaigns. From policy making to the shop floor, we know that third party interference makes business less productive and less competitive. 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