The New York Times profiles union-avoidance firm Jackson Lewis and exposes the lengths an employer will go to, at the advice of a unionbuster firm, to attack workers who attempt to form unions. [iv] https://www.amazon.com/Union-Hypocrisy-Organized-Standard-Business/dp/1478275162(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/). Select a quiz below to take the Union Vulnerability Quiz that best matches your organizational structure. That said, providing labor relations training for supervisors is extremely important. After all, you cant lose a union election that doesnt happen. This report was originally published in the New Labor Forum and was written byJohn Logan,Professor and Director of Labor and Employment Studies at San Francisco State University. 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. Lawyers and consultants devise strategies for managers to maintain union-free workplaces. Jane McAlevey has spent most of her life as an organizer and negotiator. Benefit from our Employee Relations Assessment, or choose our exclusiveVIEWPOINT Survey, which features a database compiled over nearly four decades. Through overseas offices or strategic alliances, Littler Mendelson, Ogletree Deakins, Jackson Lewis, and Fisher Phillips have expanded their reach to Latin America, Europe, and Asia. We use cookies on this site to enhance your user experience. This makes proceedings more difficult during an already trying time. All Rights Reserved. Under international law, information from employers . 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. 21.Daily Labor Report, Nissan Rejects State Department Offer to Mediate Over UAW Anti-Union Complaint, February 3, 2015. Share your views of unionization and communicate the repercussions of a union at the start of employment, so that there is no misunderstanding down the line. 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. February 26, 2023. . Jackson Lewis has a well-known and long-standing union avoidance practice. 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. 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.). 8.Littler Mendelson, International Practice Group, available at https://www.littler.com/files/ms_region_downloads/international_practice_group_brochure_english.pdf. Advertisement. 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 . advice. Over the past decade, the four largest management-side law firms specializing in union avoidance have internationalized their operations. 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. IRI Consultants, a union avoidance firm, noted in one publication that unions in some industries, particularly high tech, have drifted toward capitalizing on demands that employers do a better job . And . LIS is a long-established union avoidance firm that also operates under the name, The Burke Group, or TBG. Our team at Adams, Nash, Haskell & Sheridan will work with management to help your organization achieve the best possible outcome. Should you choose to contact an attorney at Barnes & Thornburg LLP (via 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. Flexjet is just their first target.. The autonomy to run your business as you desire is paramount to the success of your business. waiving employer rights . 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. Employers can demonstrate their commitment to providing employees a voice in three key ways: Experience and Innovation With ANHS, we make sure you stay union-free. In June 2020, after widespread criticism of its lackluster response to the Covid-19 pandemic, Amazon hired two corporate health and safety experts from one of the country . These firms often provide so-called union vulnerability assessments, which are usually based . 1.John Logan, The Union Avoidance Industry in the United States, British Journal of Industrial Relations 44, no. 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. 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. 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. kill organized labor in aviation. February 26, 2023 by Sara Blackwell. 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. Cemex managed to narrowly defeat the union in a March 2019 election, but not without traipsing all over the law and illegally firing a female driver who had been organizing her co-workers, according to trial testimony. [U]nion avoidance firms have consistently opposed union access to the workplace in order to make the case in favor of unionization. Looking to kill organized labor in aviation: Brown and Smith have consistently attempted to expand their anti-union crusade into the still heavily unionized airline sector. Between 2000-2009, he was an assistant and associate professor of comparative employment relations at the London School of Economics and Political Science. 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 . The leaked records include a spreadsheet of anecdotal personal information the company had gathered . I have written about the message during captive meetings in greater detail elsewhere. LIS is a long-established union avoidance firm that also operates under the name, The Burke Group, or TBG. Along with the AFL-CIO, the Association of Flight Attendants-Communication Workers of America filed a complaint with the CFA stating that the policy on non-votes enabled hostile employers to manipulate the process to defeat union campaigns. Convince your employees to stay union-free. The nations third and fourth largest management-side law firms specializing in union avoidance, Jackson Lewis and Fisher Phillips, have adopted a different model of international expansion. In 2018, Littler employed over 1000 attorneys in the United . 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. Even with taking these steps, employees might still erroneously think a union is a viable solution to their issues. Research on union avoidance firms Power structure analysis and strategy Mission-driven sectors of the economy (health care and education) About Jane. Littler Mendelson is the world's largest management-side law firm focusing exclusively on labor and employment issues. Monitoring the NLRB and Other Pro-Labor Legislation and Regulations. Seaton is a well-known union-avoidance consultant, otherwise known as a "persuader" or, more accurately, a union buster. necessary.17. It is estimated that companies spend between $500 million and $2 billion per year on union-busting activities. The federal PRO Act, which passed the House this month, would prohibit captive audience meetings. An Amazon-sponsored billboard urging employees to return their unionization ballots is seen on March 28, 2021, in Bessemer, Alabama. With centuries of combined labor relations experience, our consultants equip you with the knowledge you need. Araby is all too aware: "Union avoidance firms are a growing presence in the cannabis industry; the big union-busting law firms like Morgan Lewis and Littler Mendelson, as well as others, see . Finding new ways to help clients identify solutions and new business opportunities, across industries, is at our core. 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. For nearly 30 years, Adams Nash Haskell & Sheridan has provided winning services, campaigns, and insights for clients across the country. #7. Ogletree opened its first overseas office, which it called a game-changer, in Berlin in 2012. You need to emphasize to employees from the beginning that a third party is never necessary when there is a problem. In the 1960s and 1970s, the industry was spurred on by multiple former LRA personnel, including attorneys Louis Jackson and Robert Lewis of New York-based Jackson Lewis, one of the biggest anti-union law firms of the past four decades, along with Chicago-based consultant John Sheridan and Herbert Melnick, founder and chairman of the notorious Modern Management Methods (3M) firm. In 2019, Google hired IRI Consultants, a union avoidance firm, "amid a wave of unprecedented worker organizing at the company," as Vice's Motherboard put it in January 2021, while reporting on leaked files from IRI that provided a disturbing picture of how far Google may have strayed in its . Learn how to create an environment at your business where your employees will feel no need to seek outside representation with our union avoidance training. Like Littler, it has expanded by opening its own overseas offices, rather than engaging in alliances with other management law firms. 17.The Littler Report: The 2011 Global Employer: Highlights of Littlers Fourth Annual Global Employer Institute, available at https://www.jdsupra.com/legalnews/the-littler-report-the-2011-global-empl-95500/. Often, its your efforts that can protect them from unwittingly putting everything on the line. Research shows that even a few supervisors with poor interpersonal skills can instigate union organizing campaigns.. Employees see no way to address their issues beyond inviting outside help to disrupt your business. [i]. 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. 2. Here are some of the most well-known companies in America and how much they've spent on union-busting firms. Framework agreements, the firm cautioned, are especially problematic for public-facing retail brands.14, Union avoidance attorneys have advised employers to deploy global standards offensively against labor organizations. 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. The right mix. Several states have tried to outlaw them in recent years, and Russ Brown actively opposed Connecticuts 2019 anti-captive audience bill. 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. Firefox 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. Consultants . . In what they called a fresh perspectives from the ILO, Littler attorneys (who have represented Delta on labor issues) wrote that the Delta decision was of tremendous significance and the first definitive statement by the ILO to confirm that the right of employers to express their opinion about labor unions trying to organize their employees under U.S. law is consistent with international law. Jackson Lewis concluded that, with the Delta decision, the ILO had effectively endorsed employers use of third-party persuaders or management consultants to communicate directly with employees about managements opposition to unionization.20 International labor organizations protested their interpretation of the Delta decision, but union avoidance law firms have continued to cite it in policy briefs, newsletters, conference presentations, blog posts, and at every other opportunity. The result is a more capable management team and a more effective workforce. The key to any union avoidance plan lies with front-line supervisors and their ability to deal with issues immediately and constructively. Preparing a first round of union avoidance materials. Union Organizing Efforts and Membership are on the Rise. Littler Mendelson is the worlds largest management-side law firm focusing exclusively on labor and employment issues. 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. 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. 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 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. But since the campaign first went public in August of last year, Starbucks HQ and its union-avoidance law form, Littler Mendelson, has mounted a blistering anti-union campaign to try to stop workers from self-organizing: it . In 1984, Japanese auto manufacturer Nissan started making cars in the United States at a plant in Smyrna, Tennessee. Among other things, the Macon workers were threatened with losing their jobs if they voted for unionization. A proposed rule change would expose such anti-union expenses the last thing the union busters themselves want. 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. We understand what keeps you up at night and work collaboratively to find practical and creative solutions, at the heart of business. The notoriously secretive, $340 million-a-year industry of union-avoidance firms is currently advertising based on the idea that the pandemic has put organizing on "steroids." 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. 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. . Cemex quickly hired a "union avoidance" firm that it would pay more than $1 million to try to dissuade workers from organizing. Crushing Unions With Consultants, "Explainer Videos" and "Heat Maps". 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. Question. This same billionaire class, including some of the very . Univar USA. Chrome . 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. Often the easiest way to solve a problem is to avoid it entirely, and avoiding a union is no different. When addressed early, organizing is avoidable. 616-742-3999, F Our site is LRI works with consultants based around the country, many of whom run their own satellite firms, such as Browns Road Warrior Productions or Smiths Rock Creek. Google's Union-Busting Methods Revealed - THE TOP 25 MOST CENSORED STORIES OF 2020-2021. 12. 651-675. In 2018, Littler employed over 1000 attorneys in the United States and over 1500 worldwide. 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. Plan lies with front-line supervisors and their ability to deal with issues immediately and constructively Mendelson International. 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