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. 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 . 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. 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. Prior to conducting the first session, Hutchison Group will meet with senior management to discuss the process, answer any questions, and identify areas of particular interest that should be explored during our employee relations sessions. 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. . If you let employees voices go unheard at the office level, you run the risk of problems festering and spiraling out of control. When you start to notice the early warning signs of union organization, it's too late. One consultant writes in his LinkedIn profile: To start, I want to make it clear that I own a consulting firm that works exclusively for management to stay union free and promote positive employee relations, but my story did start on the union side with nearly 24 years of experience for unions.. A second lawyer, a partner at one of the nation's leading anti-union law firms, also insisting on anonymity, said that workers' smart use of social media has undercut union avoidance efforts. Advertisement. In 2018, Google dropped its long-time slogan, "Don't be evil," from its code of conduct. 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. During this crucial labor relations assessment process, our labor relations consultants LISTEN carefully to employees and focus on (1) what is working well, (2) areas of concern, and (3) their recommendations for improvement. Union-avoidance specialists, and the employers that hire them, must disclose their arrangements to the Labor Department. Union Avoidance. 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. Employees see no way to address their issues beyond inviting outside help to disrupt your business. 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. Question. During the winter, The Hershey's Company hired six union-avoidance firms to block organizing efforts at its chocolate factory in Stuarts Draft, Virginia. She's fourth generation union, raised in an activist-union household. The NLRBs recently implemented quickie election rule has many repercussions for employers. We are, at times, more than lawyers, we are advisers bringing new ideas to light. None of these global union federations comply with the requirements of the LMRDA [Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act].16 Thus, union avoidance law firms have opposed using the 1959 LMRDA to require financial reporting from union avoidance firms and employers that hire theman original intent of the lawbut support using it to regulate global union federations, over which U.S. law has no jurisdiction. Ogletree opened its first overseas office, which it called a game-changer, in Berlin in 2012. 15.Littler Mendelson, The U.S. NCP and Developments on Extraterritoriality, available at https://www.slideserve.com/sean-fox/stefen-marculewicz. 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. Training and Strategy . After leaving the Teamsters reportedly fired for gross incompetence Smith started working as a anti-union consultant. The "Big Four" Union Avoidance Law Firms Go Global. Often the easiest way to solve a problem is to avoid it entirely, and avoiding a union is no different. 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. Under international law, information from employers . With 30 years of experience as union avoidance consultants, we know what it takes to avert a disaster for your business. We also know how to help you avoid unions all together: by maintaining a positive relationship with your employees. Reassure the Board of Directors and Shareholders. Learn more about the Union Free Privilege Academy Here. At the completion of the employee relations assessment process, Hutchison Group will carefully analyze the employee inputs derived from each session and provide the company with a comprehensive report regarding our findings, along with specific recommendations for employee relations improvements. 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. We will get you through this - our professionals have worked with employers from coast-to-coast, across most industries and with most of the major unions. These firms often provide so-called union vulnerability assessments, which are usually based . 20.Stefan Marculewicz and Brent Wilton, Employer Freedom of Opinion and Expression Within the Context of Union OrganizingA Fresh Perspective from the ILO, Littler, November 10, 2010, available at littler.com/publication-press/publication/employer-freedom-opinion-and-expression-within-context-union. 2023 Barnes & Thornburg LLP | Attorney Advertising, Barnes & Thornburg Racial and Social Justice Foundation, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Commitment, Creating an environment where employees are comfortable speaking to management about issues and concerns, Engaging a management team that is willing and able to listen to these concerns, Providing a culture and operational structure that allows the management team to follow up and act effectively to correct these issues when necessary. 10.Ogletree Deakins, Traditional Labor Relations, available at https://ogletree.com/solutions/practice-areas/traditional-labor-relations/. . 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. . It's not only Morgan Lewis: Amazon has links to other leading union avoidance firms and experts: Amazon has connections with several other leading anti-union law firms. In 2017, for example, NATERAs annual conference included a pre-conference workshop featuring union avoidance and campaign simulation, run by the anti-union law firm, Jackson Lewis, which was tailored to the transportation industry.. 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 . During the bitter anti-union campaign, Blomberg Law reported, union activists were fired and all employees were called into mandatory meetings where the companys anti-union consultant advised them against unionizing.[ii] But LRIs activities extend well beyond its cameo role in the American Factory documentary. Assess Your Vulnerability to Union Organizing. following terms. 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. In addition, Amazon is using one of the nations most expensive law firms that specializes in union avoidance, Morgan Lewis. The refusal was no surpriseemployers have turned down the NCP in every U.S. OECD complaintbut Nissan invoking the ILO was surprising. John Logan is Professor and Director of Labor and Employment Studies at San Francisco State University. We have an extensive team of legal professionals that offer creative solutions and innovation, aimed at engaging clients in union avoidance activities prior to the formation of an actual campaign. 12.Jackson Lewis, Global Preventive Strategies for the Cross-Border Workplace.. 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. Often the easiest way to solve a problem is to avoid it entirely . The firm also provides comprehensive counseling related to drafting, review and revisions of employer handbooks and manuals. Opera. 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. . And he is why we will all be looked upon as pariahs if the Union is decertified. Research shows that even a few supervisors with poor interpersonal skills can instigate union organizing campaigns.. Pro-union workers who challenge their claims have had their ID badges photographed. We use cookies on this site to enhance your user experience. Supported for the latest versions of: 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. Amazons Huge Expenditure on the Bessemer Anti-Union Campaign: Amazon is paying a small fortune for its anti-union consultants. Empower those in authority to deal with problems quickly and efficiently. Ogletree Deakins is the nations second largest management-side law firm specializing in union avoidance. When it comes to unionizing, many can . 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. 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. In 2019, Kumho workers voted for the steelworkers, after the NLRB ordered a rerun election, and after numerous company efforts to delay, the labor board finally certified their victory in 2021. 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. Like Smith and Brown, Brock has a long-time association with Oklahoma-based LRI, and he includes Teamster Avoidance in his areas of expertise. Chicago, IL 60611. Littler attorneys have proposed filing an OECD complaint against global union federations and establishing and funding a group to process and publicize the case. This interesting idea would put labor on the defensive and provide corporations targeted by unions with a tool to respond to criticism.15. Over the past decade, the four largest management-side law firms specializing in union avoidance have internationalized their operations. John Logan is Professor and Director of Labor and Employment Studies at San Francisco State University and a visiting scholar at the University of California-Berkeley Labor Center. 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. Our team has also helped companies avoid hundreds of campaigns across the country, including UAW, Steelworkers, Teamsters, CWA, IBEW, UFCW, UNITE-HERE, IAM, AFTRA, SEIU, The Laborers, GMPP, Sheet Metal Workers, 1199, just to name a few. Between 2000-2009, he was an assistant and associate professor of comparative employment relations at the London School of Economics and Political Science. Littler Mendelson is the world's largest management-side law firm focusing exclusively on labor and employment issues. 7.Littler Mendelson, Labor Law Update, October 15, 2014, available at https://slideplayer.com/slide/6206656/. 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. implications of communicating with Barnes & Thornburg LLP and agree to the Money and decision-making power are the two primary reasons why companies want to avoid unionization. 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