Even with the new election rules, the NLRB election process will remain stacked in favor of corporations and their highly-paid "union avoidance" consultants. In fact, research shows that even a few supervisors with poor interpersonal skills can be the cause for instigating union organizing campaigns, grievances, litigations, and other costly disruptions. Information is found on slide 7. For nearly 30 years, Adams Nash Haskell & Sheridan has provided winning services, campaigns, and insights for clients across the country. [i]. These employee relations assessments are almost always appreciated by the employees, and the insights derived from these conversations provide management with a valuable opportunity to address areas of concern in a proactive manner. Advertisement. Other large law firms specializing in union avoidance, such as Jackson Lewis and Fisher Phillips, have internationalized operations through alliances with overseas management law firms. According to its annual reviews, cross-border trade union actions including corporate union campaigns are one of the alliances main areas of expertise.5 Formed in 2013, Fisher Phillips International Employment Practice Group has established strong relationships with local counsel on six continents. The International Practice Group helps its multinational clients address international labor issues involving unions around the world.6, Union avoidance firms have sought to counteract the unions use of international standards to advance organizing, warning that corporations must own the debate on global labor standards or the unions will define it for you.7 Littler attorneys have helped MNCs formulate and implement strategies to respond to efforts by labor unions . 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. With ANHS, we make sure you stay union-free. to be confidential until the attorney verifies that the firm does not represent other Here are some of the most well-known companies in America and how much they've spent on union-busting firms. Hotel Information. Julia Rock. Amazon Campaign Demonstrates Urgent Need for PRO Act. 4.Ogletree Deakins, Cross-Border Practice, available at https://ogletree.com/solutions/practice-areas/cross-border/. John Logan is Professor and Director of Labor and Employment Studies at San Francisco State University. This is a mail-in NLRB ballot that will end on March 29. We will work to guide you in the best ways to educate your employees about the dangers and problems of unionization and address underlying issues in your workplace. Part of that strategy involves training of key supervisors. The LM-20 form filled by Russ Brown states that three consultants will be paid a daily fee of $3,200 plus expenses for the duration of the campaign, which started in January. Do you want to receive more valuable insights directly in your inbox? The Burke Group [TBG], established in 1982, is the international leader in guiding management during union organizing (recognition) and union card signing campaigns. 3 (2002): 197-214. The Growing Impact of Social Media on Employees, Unions, and Labor Relations, Adams Nash Haskell & Sheridan Offers Free Vulnerability Quiz, Heads Up Supreme Court Lands Knockout Punch on Public Sector Unions And Perhaps Beyond, Heads Up New NLRB General Counsel Comes In Smoking, Strike4Democracy: What You Need To Know As A Business Owner, 2016 UNION MEMBERS REPORT DATA INFO-GRAPHIC. As with the Amazon campaign, Rebecca Smiths anti-union work on these campaigns was conducted through Russ Browns Road Warrior Productions. Google's Union-Busting Methods Revealed - THE TOP 25 MOST CENSORED STORIES OF 2020-2021. This makes proceedings more difficult during an already trying time. Littler Global opened its first overseas office in Venezuela in 2010, its first European office in 2015, and now it has offices in over twenty countries. We can provide a strategic response to labor union organization efforts, ensuring your work place stays union free and your business or organization is protected. The firm, which raked in more than half a billion dollars in revenue in 2021, has advised large corporations including Ikea and more recently museums, nonprofits, and universities on their anti-union efforts. 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. John Logan, "Consultants, Lawyers, and the 'Union Free' Movement in . In the 1970s and 1980s, 3M conducted thousands of anti-union campaigns with over 70 anti-union consultants, including Marty Levitt, who renounced his former profession in the late 1980s and published a tell-all memoir, Confessions of a Union Buster, in which he detailed a dirty business which was populated by bullies and built on deceit.. For this to happen, much depends on the employees day-to-day relationship with their immediate supervisor. He also lobbied to make union decertification easier under the Railway Labor, promoted union deauthorizations, advocated for easier union decertification on the Grover Norquist Show, and testified before the Labor Department on regulations that threaten the stability of American Businesses. Brown and Smith, along with Russ have also testified in favor of easier decertification under the airline industry. Union avoidance is a method companies use to keep unions out of their establishments. Human Rights Watch has criticized captive meetings as a form of legal intimidation, which are unlawful in many developed democracies. [U]nion avoidance firms have consistently opposed union access to the workplace in order to make the case in favor of unionization. At ANHS, our union avoidance management consultants have developed a program to build up every level of management, from your supervisors to your executives. . Brown is a former Vice President at LRI while Smith is a former lead consultant at LRI. For example, evidence reviewed by Motherboard . Barnes & Thornburg LLP appreciates your visit to the firms web site. Undeterred by this setback, Brown and Smith were involved in a bitter decertification campaign involving pilots at Flexjet LLC in 2018. 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. Use a tool that provides enough detail to identify actual and potential issues. 6.Fisher Phillips, International Employment Practice Group, available at https://www.fisherphillips.com/services-international-employment. According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics Union membership is on the rise for people under age 35 there were almost 400,000 more union members younger than age 35 in 2018 than there were in 2017. Follow us on Facebook page to receive the latest updates. provided for informational purposes only and should not be considered legal Five of Ogletrees fifty-three law offices are overseas; it publishes a global labor relations newsletter, and it recently expanded its cross-border practice to include global labor standards and corporate codes of conduct.4 Ogletrees expanding international focus has been client-drivena direct response to demands from corporations for its labor services in multiple countries. 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. Littler attorneys have argued that, under international law, employers not only have a right, but also have an obligation to oppose unions: ILO jurisprudence requires them to speak out against unionization, otherwise workers will be denied access to information they need to make an informed choice: [I]t may be a violation of international law for employers to be limited in their right to freedom of expression and opinion . October 15 - 16, 2019. Once again, communication is critical here, and your first line of defense is managers handling of employee concerns. One leading union avoidance law firm likened unions to a "virus" and recommended anti-union actions to "inoculate" new employees against the threat of unionization. . One of the best ways to determine a companys vulnerability to union organizing is to conduct onsite employee relations assessments. Jackson Lewis has a well-known and long-standing union avoidance practice. Thus, just as Nathan Sheffermans LRA spawned anti-union consultants and firms that dominated the business in the 1960s and 1970s, so too has LRI acted as a breeding ground for new union avoidance experts over the past two decades. What should you do next- When managers are ineffective, organizations become vulnerable to union organizing. Opera. Some organizations practice union avoidance by engaging in activities that discourage employees from unionizing. 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 4 (December 2006), pp. The three prongs to union avoidance are corporate culture, positive employee relations, and employee training. After all, you cant lose a union election that doesnt happen. . 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. © 1998-Present LAWCHA. As a result, employees are far less likely to seek out union representation, and the union is denied potential inroads or issues they might otherwise exploit in their attempt to organize the workforce. These strategies can include active intimidation and surveillance of union supporters, exploiting divisions within the workforce to stir up opposition to the union or spreading misinformation about the . 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. 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. 2.Michael Fichter and Dimitris Stevis, Global Framework Agreements in a Union-Hostile Environment: The Case of the USA, Friedrich Ebert Stiftung, November 2013, available at https://library.fes.de/pdf-files/id/10377.pdf. 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. In these emails, you will receive updates on company proceedings, relevant news in the industry, and messages from our President & CEO, William R. Adams. Soft Opening for EPAs Green Bank Funding to Reduce Emissions, Partner Tina Dorr Named President of the Georgia Asian Pacific American Bar Association, Rare Victory for California Employers: Ninth Circuit Says State Arbitration Law Preempted By Federal Law. The refusal was no surpriseemployers have turned down the NCP in every U.S. OECD complaintbut Nissan invoking the ILO was surprising. LIS is a long-established union avoidance firm that also operates under the name, The Burke Group, or TBG. Early intervention and maintaining a positive relationship with your employees from the beginning is key. 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. . 310-284-3894, F This month, we found out that Amazon is using a second anti-union consultant firm which is an unusual step, even for an anti-union firm like Amazon: California-based Labor Information Services. Between 2014 and 2017, Littler Mendelson advised Nissan during a ferocious three-year anti-union campaign in Canton, Mississippi, where many workers were African-American. The union avoidance industry continued to grow, and LRA served as a breeding ground for several future superstars of the union-free movement. Follow us on Twitter @LAWCHA_ORG or @LaborOnline to take part in the discussion. With top of the line labor . NATERA seeks to expand knowledge on union expertise issues among its members. The success of almost every company is largely determined by the performance and productivity of their employees. Unionization risks vary considerably by metropolitan area, region and state. Brown and Smith campaigns worked on a failed attempt to decertify flight attendants at Allegiant Air in 2016, which was then the largest decertification attempt in the history of the Railway Labor Act. The Starbucks Workers United union campaign has now won over 164 National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) elections, and over 300 stores have petitioned for NLRB elections. Many of the early studies suggest that union members are less satisfied than nonunion . 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.). 14.Global Legal Group, The International Comparative Guide to Employment & Labor Law, 11-12, available at https://www.hoganlovells.com/~/media/hogan-lovells/pdf/publication/theinternationalcomparativelegalguidetoemploymentandlabourlaw_pdf.pdf. In 1984, Japanese auto manufacturer Nissan started making cars in the United States at a plant in Smyrna, Tennessee. From policy making to the shop floor, we know that third party interference makes business less productive and less competitive. Make the environment an overall great place to work, and employees will share in that excitement. Consultants . 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. Unions have filed OECD complaints during several global organizing campaigns, including those at Nissan, T-Mobile, DHL, and Ikea. One commentator wrote about Brown on an online airline pilots forum: This guy is the reason American, Southwest, UPS and now ALPA are sending out letters letting us know they are watching this. 317-231-7433, F 18.Stefan Jan Marculewicz, Elimination of the Secret Ballot Union Election and Compulsory Arbitration under the Employee Free Choice Act: A Violation of Fundamental Principles of International Labor Law, available at https://www.uscib.org/docs/090317_marculewicz_article.pdf. 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. In more recent campaigns, the firm has offered employers a 50% refund in its fees if the union wins[iii] One could not invent better examples to illustrate that, under the current union certification process, the employer and not the employees gets to decide on whether a workplace becomes unionized. In 2018, Littler employed over 1000 attorneys in the United States and over 1500 worldwide. Union Organizing Efforts and Membership are on the Rise. Open communication between employer, employees is crucial for maintaining a healthy working environment. Study with Quizlet and memorize flashcards containing terms like 1) The term labour-management relations refers to: A) the process of labour- management contract negotiations and . Chicago, IL 60611. Having worked with both union and nonunion companies over the past 30 years, our labor and employment consulting firm . Visit our subscription center and let us know what you're interested in learning more about. Advised by its U.S. union avoidance lawyers, Nissan insisted that the U.S. NCP should not broker an agreement that would place the company in a position of . Russ Brown: Russ Brown is a long-time anti-union consultant, who worked for many years in labor relations at Delta Airlines, before starting as an anti-union consultant for Oklahoma-based Labor Relations Institute (LRI), Inc. and now runs his own firm, Road Warrior Productions (RWP) Labor, LLC, based in Florida. According to a filing with the Department of Labor, Amazon engaged the services of LIS starting January 3, 2021, for the purpose of "conducting meetings with employees in the voting bargaining unit to discuss the realities of signing authorization cards and voting in the upcoming . Training and Strategy 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. Labor rights is an issue whose time has come. By clicking any link on this page you are giving your consent for us to use cookies. In 2018, Littler employed over 1000 attorneys in the United . American Factorys Anti-Union Firm: If they know anything about LRI, labor observers probably heard about the union avoidance firm through its involvement in the intense anti-union campaign at Chinese-owned Fuyao Glass America factory in Moraine, Ohio, when the firm was reportedly paid $1 million to oppose the UAW. 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