"Push Back" from Projections

With the proposed Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA), salary reductions, benefit cutbacks, and unemployment increasing, employees are under more pressure than ever to join unions. In fact, in 2008, after a 20-year decline in membership, the Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported that the number of workers belonging to a union rose by 428,000 to 16.1 million. And while the percentage of private-sector workers who are union members remained relatively steady (up one-tenth of a percentage point in 2008, to 7.6%), this increase in membership demonstrates that now is the time to make sure employees understand their rights as workers and the possibly undesirable consequences that can come with unionization.

While unions are often touted as vehicles that give workers a voice within organizations, the opposite is often closer to reality. Facing what looked like an imminent strike in February of 2009, AT&T Mobility employees filed Federal charges against their union (CWA), for threats and intimidation suffered when members tried to resign their union membership. Reuters reported that union officials misinformed and threatened AT&T members by telling them that resignation from the union was prohibited; that they would be subject to financial penalties or other disciplinary action. The National Right To Work Foundation, who assisted the employees in their effort to push back against the union, pointed out that the union's actions violate a Supreme Court decision that guarantees union members the legal right to resign from "formal, full-dues paying membership at any time."

According to the AFL-CIO, unions help workers by giving them "respect on the job, better wages and benefits, more flexibility for work and family needs, a counterbalance to the unchecked powers of employers, and a voice in improving the quality of their products and services." Although these may be the overall goals of unions, many employees and organization leaders can attest to being compromised by the strong-arm tactics of union organizers. Members of Los Angeles-based UNITE HERE Local 11 recently spoke out about their own leaders' heavy-handed tactics to push through a dues increase against the wishes of union members. Members reported being called "traitors," as well as being denied any common-sense interpretation of the meeting discussions about the dues increase issue.

In these tumultuous economic times, and in the face of a powerful legislative agenda by organized labor, both companies and workers are looking for ways to protect themselves from union organizing tactics and the possibility of a strike. One of the primary ways to keep employers and employees safe from union organization is to make sure employees understand that the same laws that protect their right to organize also protects their right not to organize. Without that knowledge, employees will not have the knowledge they need to push back against unions when necessary.

When an organizing drive began at her company, one employee took matters into her own hands. A flyer distributed to employees by the union provided a comparison of wage rates at local unionized companies, but the rates were inaccurate, providing a false basis for unionization. Instead of allowing the misinformation to spread, the woman applied for work at each of the other companies listed on the flyer to find out the true wage rates. Having collected the truth, and with her employer's permission, she created and distributed her own flyer, and opened her co-worker's eyes to the ways in which they were being misled.

Atlanta-based Projections, Inc. worked closely with a Fortune 500 client to develop a video program called Push Back, which focuses on innovative union avoidance tactics, used directly by employees. The client had witnessed similar scenes of employees pushing back - from simple signs by the roadside to offering their co-workers a garbage bag in which to place the union's flyers immediately after receiving them. Working from the standpoint that some of the most powerful union avoidance campaigns are run by employees, the Push Back programs give management and employees the tools they need to stay union-free.

Projections offers this Push Back program in a DVD series, which includes an employee video in both Spanish and English. The Push Back videos teach employees to stand up for themselves, using tactics such as:
- Speaking out against union organization
- Educating other employees about union authorization cards
- Organizing union-free drives
- Circulating union opposition petitions Wearing buttons, t-shirts, or other items to express their feelings
- Running local advertisements
- Creating employee-driven web sites or blogs against unionization
- Saying "no" to union organizers

The Push Back DVD series also includes a video to help managers and supervisors effectively and legally support employees. It includes helpful communication tips, such as:
- Educating employees that the same laws that protect their right to organize also protect their right to push back against unionization
- How to discuss union authorization cards with employees
- Strategies to ensure supervisors and managers are communicating with employees within the legal limits
- Ideas for educating employees on the benefits of remaining union free and the risks that can come with unionization

Unions today are incredibly eager to organize new members. After two decades of decline, union membership is again on the rise. While the Employee Free Choice Act may or may not pass in its current form, most expert insiders agree that most, if not all, of the concepts it puts forth will become law in the near future. Today's unions are developing new organizing strategies and communicating in a huge variety of ways with employees. Once an organizing drive begins, the energy and excitement of the drive can overshadow employees who might be less-than-thrilled with the prospect of unionization. Even more disturbing is the idea that employees might be bullied, harassed, or threatened into signing an authorization card.

By making employees aware of their rights, and aware of what they can do to fight unwanted unionization, companies are helping employees push back and protect their futures.

Projections has been helping companies communicate with employees for more than 3 decades. CEO Walter Orechwa believes in working with the Human Resources and Labor Relations experts that help those companies maintain positive employee relations. For more information on the video, web, and eLearning resources Projections offers, please visit their website at www.ProjectionsInc.com.

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