Union-Free Strategies and Considerations In the 'New Normal', Federal Court Orders Starbucks to Re-Hire Terminated Union Supporters, The Price for Refusing to Bargain May Soon be Going Up for Employers, Say It Aint So (Trader) Joes: Grocery Chain Workers File Union Petition, NLRB General Counsel Takes Aim at Employer Free Speech, Supreme Court Favors Employer Property Rights Over Union Access To Employees, Goodbye NY: No Union For Uber DriversFor Now, $250,000 in Grants Awarded to Five Nonprofit Organizations, Illinois Employers on Notice: BIPA Claims Accrue With Each Scan or Transmission, Court Says. The three prongs to union avoidance are corporate culture, positive employee relations, and employee training. Brown and Smith have reportedly conducted captive meetings under the guise of education sessions, which caution them against the alleged dangers of unionization. Hutchison Group is a nationally recognized HR and labor relations consulting firm. 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. The right mix. The disclosures from Amazon offer a glimpse into how far the online retailer is willing to go to stay union-free. Make the environment an overall great place to work, and employees will share in that excitement. . You can also participate in Management Education & Development, or draw together your whole organization with ourPowersharing programs. Littler Mendelson is the world's largest management-side law firm focusing exclusively on labor and employment issues. After all, you cant lose a union election that doesnt happen. Pro-union workers who challenge their claims have had their ID badges photographed. Advertisement. as confidential. [i]. We do not yet know how much Amazon is paying the three consultants from Labor Information Services, but it is likely a similar amount. 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. After first unionizing in 2016, Flexjet pilots voted to decertify the Teamsters, the first time that commercial pilots had ever decertified a union under the RLA, in May 2018. Preparing a first round of union avoidance materials. Kumho Tires: Numerous and Egregious Anti-Union Practices: Brown and Smith also conducted an anti-union campaign at Kumho Tires in Macon, Georgia, between 2017-2019. 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. The result is a more capable management team and a more effective workforce. While critical of the shred it! campaign, the CFA defended employers right of free expressionthe first time, according to Littler attorneys, that it had made such a statement.19. One major difference between union avoidance law firms such as Morgan Lewis and consultant firms such as Road Warrior Productions and Labor Information Services is that consultants conduct so-called direct persuader activity i.e., they have face-to-face contact with employees while the law firms generally avoid this. 16.Testimony of Stefan Marculewicz before the United States House of Representatives Subcommittee on Health, Employment, Labor, and Pensions, April 26, 2018, available at https://edlabor.house.gov/imo/media/doc/Marculewicz%20Testimony.pdf. Supported for the latest versions of: Even with taking these steps, employees might still erroneously think a union is a viable solution to their issues. Take our Union Vulnerability Assessment Quiz and find out if your company is susceptible to union organizing. The success of almost every company is largely determined by the performance and productivity of their employees. Rebecca Smith: A second consultant working with Russ Brown at Amazon, Rebecca Smith, claims to have worked for unions 20 years, 16 years with the Teamsters, including as Executive Director of Training for Southern Nevada. 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. NATERA seeks to expand knowledge on union expertise issues among its members. Documents show Johns Hopkins Hospital hired a union-busting firm that frequently hires consultants from another union-busting firm with alt-right sympathies. Unless otherwise agreed in advance, all unsolicited February 26, 2023 by Sara Blackwell. 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. November 4, 2021. Smith has also run several union avoidance firms of her own, including Taltos Consulting and, currently, Rock Creek Consulting, conducting dozens of high-profile anti-union campaigns, including at General Electric. Your labor relations training was excellent, providing our supervisors with useful information and practical tools to help reduce the risk of potential union organizing at our nonunion operations 2021 Hutchison Group Inc.. All Rights Reserved. 12.Jackson Lewis, Global Preventive Strategies for the Cross-Border Workplace.. Google's Union-Busting Methods Revealed - THE TOP 25 MOST CENSORED STORIES OF 2020-2021. Consider offering benefits like vacation time, compensation packages, and tuition reimbursement, and be sure to communicate the value of these offers. Smith has an extensive background in conservative political circles: she has published an anti-union book, Union Hypocrisy, which is written in the nature of [right-wing] political authors Laura Ingraham and Michelle Malkin and she has been a Contributor to the ultra-conservative Brenner Brief podcast. According to Brown, RWP is the nations premier full-service labor relations and management consulting team that specializes in keeping companies union free. RWP claims to be a collaboration of the best of the best labor consultants. The benefits of this program include: Again, supervisors are in the best position to create and maintain a positive work environment; helping to reduce the frustrations and resentments that often lead to union activity. . Leaked files from IRI Consultants, a union avoidance firm, obtained by Vice's Motherboard show the disturbing lengths to which companies will go in order to derail workplace organizing. The United States is alone among rich democracies in allowing an enormous industry of law firms dedicated to defeating union organizing campaigns and keeping their clientsincluding many multinational corporations (MNCs)union free. Benefit from our Employee Relations Assessment, or choose our exclusiveVIEWPOINT Survey, which features a database compiled over nearly four decades. The first nationally prominent consultant was Chicago-based Nathan Shefferman, who, as Sanford Jacoby described in Modern Manors (1997), worked for Sears Roebuck before establishing his own consulting firm, Labor Relations Associates (LRA). We will train your leaders, we will educate your employees. One of Browns former LRI colleagues says that hes knows up close and personal, from first-hand experience, what its like to run a successful campaign to defeat a union organizing attempt. RWP videos warn employers that during union organizing campaigns, You only have one chance to win, which appears to mirror Amazons approach at Bessemer. Julia Rock. However, it is estimated that hundreds of law firms and companies engage in union-busting activities. Right now, corporations can secretly hire firms designed to destroy union efforts. But several U.S. union avoidance firms have recently sought overseas markets for their expertise. A union organizing campaign can be an incredibly divisive and destructive experience for your organization or business. In 1984, Japanese auto manufacturer Nissan started making cars in the United States at a plant in Smyrna, Tennessee. You might hear your bosses call this "union avoidance," but it basically just means "Union busting, in a suit." Three: Delay, delay, delay The countrys 11 largest national passenger airlines all have unionized pilots, as do shipping carriers such as UPS and FedEx. following terms. 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. An Amazon-sponsored billboard urging employees to return their unionization ballots is seen on March 28, 2021, in Bessemer, Alabama. To underscore this finding, a recent survey by the Pew Research Center reported that the popularity of labor unions has grown in recent years, citing that their favorability hit 60% in January 2017, with only 35% percent of Americans viewing them unfavorably. 21.Daily Labor Report, Nissan Rejects State Department Offer to Mediate Over UAW Anti-Union Complaint, February 3, 2015. Several states have tried to outlaw them in recent years, and Russ Brown actively opposed Connecticuts 2019 anti-captive audience bill. . Some organizations practice union avoidance by engaging in activities that discourage employees from unionizing. Link to book room. February 26, 2023. Littler opted for overseas offices rather than forming international alliances with overseas firms in order to provide clients with a coordinated service. The U.S. branch operates as a separate financial entity, but Littler Global is really trying to be one firm.3. Our passion is to preserve a client's freedom to manage and to assist our clients in helping them remain union-free. For over 35 years we have helped our clients with employee relations, union negotiations, union avoidance, labor relations training, HR due diligence for M&A, and much more. Brown is a former Vice President at LRI while Smith is a former lead consultant at LRI. It has subsequently opened offices in London, Paris, Toronto, and Mexico City. 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. Use a tool that provides enough detail to identify actual and potential issues. Often the easiest way to solve a problem is to avoid it entirely . With ANHS, we make sure you stay union-free. In addition, consultants such as Brown and Smith script anti-union messages for corporate clients, such as the texts that Amazon has been sending to the phones of Bessemer workers several times per day, the anti-union billboards that Amazon has displayed around the Bessemer facility, or the anti-union flyers it has put up inside the stalls of the restrooms in Bessemer. Thomas McKibbin, a . Barnes & Thornburg is involved in the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's executive legislative committee in Washington, D.C. We monitor what's happening on the legislative and regulatory front, and we communicate these developments to our clients regularly. Follow us on Twitter @LAWCHA_ORG or @LaborOnline to take part in the discussion. In 2018, Littler employed over 1000 attorneys in the United States and over 1500 worldwide. 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. It is a form of union avoidance that involves tactics such as intimidation, misinformation, and legal challenges to limit or . We will train your leaders, we make sure you stay union-free labor and employment issues Twitter. 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