remaining union free.ppt

Remaining Union Free

424 Church Street Suite 1401Nashville, TN 37219

James B. PerryDickinson Wright PLLC

[email protected]

Mary Neil PriceDickinson Wright PLLC

[email protected]

Bob GaskillTennessee Chamber of Commerce &

Industry615.256.5141

[email protected]

611 Commerce Street, Suite 3030Nashville, TN 37203

I. Unions in America Today

II. Ten Conditions Leading to Unionization

III. Six Stages of a Union Organizing Drive

IV. Campaign Themes

V. Tips to Maintain Union-Free Status

Remaining Union Free

National Labor Relations Act, 1935

Employees have the rights:• To organize themselves• To form, join or assist labor organizations• To bargain collectively• To engage in concerted activity for mutual

aid and protection• To withhold services and to strike• TO REFRAIN FROM UNION ACTIVITIES

AND REMAIN UNION FREE

Unions in America Today

Purposes of NLRA• Provide employees an opportunity to

choose a collective bargaining representative, if they want one

• Foster collective bargaining between employers and unions who represent their employees

• Remedy Unfair Labor Practices committed by employers and unions


• The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB)• The US Government Agency established to

administer the NLRA• Five member NLRB in Washington appointed by

President• Three Members of President’s party• Two members of other party

• NLRB Regional and Sub Regional Offices• 51 offices• Changes and Petitions are filed in the offices• Memphis and Nashville have offices


http://www.madisonct.org/images/democratic-donkey.gif

http://rwwcwaukesha.com/images/REPUBLICAN%20PARTY%20ELEPHANT.jpg

• President Obama is a strong supporter of unions.


• Unions contributed large amounts to his campaign and to most democrats

• He voted for the Employee Free Choice Act as a Senator and said:

"EFCA is a starting point but there is more to do. I will use the bully pulpit of the presidency to educate our country about the important role of Unions."

Union Membership Has Continued to Decline• The percentage of American workers belonging to a union

increased in 2008, the first statistically significant increase in the 25 years that the figure has been reported, but dropped again in 2009

• In 2008, union members represented 12.4% of employed workers, up from 12.1% a year earlier (according to BLS). In 2009, Union membership fell by 771,000 to 12.3%

• Union membership had been falling since the 1950s, when Union members constituted as much as a third of the U.S. workforce


• The gains in unionization were largely achieved by federal, state and city government workers - and not at private companies

• The rates of unionization between the private and public sector are starkly different

Union Membership: • 7.2% of private sector employees - 7.4 million• 37.4% of government employees - 7.9 million• There are 5 times as many employees in the private sector

than in the public sector


Union Membership Has Continued to Decline

• Manufacturing declined from 12.3% to 11.9%

• Construction declined from 16.2% to 15%• But unionization in "Service Industry" -

Social Services, Health Care, Hospitality has been rising for the past few years

• Among Occupational Groups, Education Training and Library employees had highest rate of 38.1% followed by Protective Services at 35.6%


Union Membership Has Continued to Decline

Unions in America Today Union Membership by State in 2009

20.2

17.0

17.2

13.9

6.3

15.7

6.9

6.5

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7.0

6.7

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17.5 10.6

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15.0

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13.94.7

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10.8

16.6

- 17.9

- 11.9

- 10.4

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Unions in America Today Union Membership by State in 2008 & 2009

2008 2009

1. California 2,740,000 2,453,000

2. New York 2,029,000 2,019,000

3. Illinois 939,000 951,000

4. Pennsylvania 847,000 782,000

5. New Jersey 703,000 721,000

6. Michigan 771,000 710,000

7. Ohio 716,000 685,000

8. Washington 578,000 574,000

9. Texas 449,000 508,000

10. Massachusetts 458,000 476,000

Unions in America Today Right to Work Laws

• The Taft Hartley Act of 1947 outlawed the Closed Shop. Unions could no longer require employees to become members as a condition of employment

• It allowed:

Union Shops – which require employees to become members of a union after at least 30 days

Agency Shops - which require employees who choose not to become union members to pay the equivalent of dues to the union, as an agency fee

• Sec 14(b) of the Taft Hartley Act authorizes individual states to outlaw the "union shop" for employees working in their jurisdictions

• Taft Hartley resulted in Right To Work Laws


• 22 states either have constitutional restrictions, or passed laws prohibiting employers and unions from negotiating "union shop" clauses into their collective bargaining contracts:

• Alabama• Arizona (c)• Arkansas (c)• Florida (c)• Georgia• Idaho• Iowa• Kansas

• Louisiana• Mississippi (c)• Nebraska• Nevada• North Carolina• North Dakota• Oklahoma (c)• South Carolina

• South Dakota• Tennessee• Texas• Utah• Virginia• Wyoming

• 28 states and the District of Columbia do not have right to work laws and allow union shops to be negotiated between employers and unions for employees within their jurisdiction


Unions in America Today What about the UAW?

UAW Membership has declined from almost 1.6 million members in 1979 to 427,521 members as of 6/30/09 and it is still dropping!

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Campaign ThemesUAW Plant Closings, Layoffs

UAW membership down 7 percentThe United Auto Workers union said membership fell 7 percent in 2008, as job losses in the automotive industry cut into its ranks.

In an annual financial report, the UAW said its membership fell to 431,037 last year, the Detroit Free Press reported Wednesday.

Published: April 1, 2009 at 8:24 AMUPI.com

UAW pours money into organizingUnion will use $110M from strike fund to bolster membership and its day-to-day operations.

LAS VEGAS – The United Auto Workers approved a measure Tuesday that will shift up to $110 million from the union's strike fund to support recruiting efforts and help pay for the union's day-to-day business operations.

The move addresses two key problems that have hit the UAW hard in recent years: a dramatic decline in membership from auto industry layoffs and weakened finances with the loss of thousands of dues-paying members.

- - -

GM and Ford Motor Co. are cutting 60,000 jobs as part of sweeping restructuring efforts at their struggling North American units. Delphi is axing another 20,000 factory jobs as part of its Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization, while other industries with UAW-represented workers, such as aerospace, are also shedding workers.

Wednesday, June 14, 2006

http://www.detnews.com/



What is Happening Here?

Chattanooga Times Free Press

December 10, 2009

Companies here should expect an uptick in union activity, citing recent charges aimed at Volkswagen by volunteers for local hire, a group supported by organized labor.

July 6, 2010The new president of the United Auto Workers union had some harsh words for automakers recently on his first day in office.

UAW head Bob King demanded protests against Toyota manufacturing facilities in the United States. He said Toyotas would be safer and of higher quality if they were built at a recently shut-down unionized plant in California rather than at a non-union plant in Mississippi.

He said he would try to unionize the U.S. facilities of Toyota and other "foreign" car companies that have lots of American workers on U.S. soil. (Volkswagen is building such a plant in Chattanooga, with the promise of thousands of jobs.)





Chattanooga Times Free Press

September 6, 2010Richard Ray, President of AFL-CIO in Georgia, said he is encouraged by three organizing drives at Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport and one of Atlanta's biggest employers, Delta Air Lines.

The American Federation of Government Employees is organizing security officers of the Transportation Security Administration; the International Association of Machinists is trying to organize Delta baggage handlers, and the Association of Flight Attendants will begin a unionization vote Sept. 29 for the two-thirds of Delta flight attendants not currently represented by a union.





The Tennessean

August 22, 2010

Even as Unions have lost power with the decline in manufacturing, they have found much-needed success in the government sector through influence in government contracts and unionized employee groups, such as teachers and city and state workers.

Union workers will play key roles in building the $585 million Music City Center. Subcontractors that employ unions recently won $100 million in contracts on the project.

Unions also have been angling for a chance to build a nearby convention center hotel, even offering to help finance its construction with some of their pension funds.





Marcus Pohlmann, a political scientist at Rhodes College in Memphis, said he thinks unions actually are stronger than they used to be in the South, while they struggle to sustain their strength in the North.

The Tennessean

August 22, 2010 (cont.)

Unions have managed a few success stories, especially in heavily Democratic Nashville, where organized labor still wields business clout and political influence through large government employee unions and more than $100,000 in campaign contributions this election cycle.




Percentage of Union Membership by State

Alabama – 10.9

Arkansas – 4.2

Florida - 5.8

Georgia – 4.6

Kentucky - 8.6

Louisiana – 5.8

Mississippi – 4.8

North Carolina - 3.1

South Carolina – 4.5

Tennessee - 5.1

Virginia - 4.7

West Virginia - 13.9

II. 10 Conditions Leading to Unionization

Employees Want:

1. Fair Wages

• Fair means competitive with others in similar jobs

2. Fair Treatment

• Same rules apply to all

3. A Chance to Be Heard

• An opportunity to make suggestions, complaints or to raise issues.

Can these be provided by the employer WITHOUT a third party?

Ten Conditions Leading to Unionization

1. Lack of Ability or Care in Screening Applicants.

Avoid "Warm Body Syndrome"

• Check references

• Pre-Employment drug screen

• Detailed Application

Avoid Overqualified Applicants


2. Failure to Remove Misfits, Preferably during Probation or Introductory Period.

Problem employees rarely get better.

Do not lower the standards to meet an employee's performance.


3. Lack of Courtesy and Respect from Managers and Supervisors.

• Treat others as you want to be treated

• Supervisors must set an example – Not take advantage


4. Failure to LISTEN to and UNDERSTAND the employee.

• Active Listening

• Avoid Interrupting

• Schedule discussion to receive prime attention.

Offer a Private Meeting


5. Failure to Explain Wage and Benefit Terms.

• Emphasize competitive wages and benefits for the jobs we do.

• Point out value of benefits

6. Failure to Truthfully Communicate What Employees Need to Know about the Company and Their Jobs.

• Don't sugarcoat it.

• Explain why an unpleasant decision had to be made.


7. Poor Housekeeping.

• Employee facilities do not have to be elegant – but should be clean.


8. Inconsistent Discipline

• Inconsistent Enforcement of Rules or Policies

• Favoritism

• Unions always promise to end favoritism


9. Failure to Keep Promises

• Avoid making unrealistic promises

10.Failure to Give Good Employees a Sense of Security

• Express appreciation for a job well done

• Compliment extra effort

• Praise excellent performance


III. Six Stages of a Union Organizing Drive

Six Stages of a Union Organizing Drive

1. Union's Initial Secret Campaign

2. Request for Recognition/ Filing of Petition

3. Processing of Petition by NLRB

4. Employer and Union Campaign

5. Election

6. Post-election Objections/Challenges


• Passing out literature or leafletting company parking lot

• Hold meeting or rally at Union hall

• Selection of in-plant employee organizers to solicit signing of Authorization Cards

• Internet or social media communication

2. Request for Recognition/Filing of Petition

• Notice to employer of organizing activity and of employee organizing committee

• Offer to "show" Authorization Cards to employer in a formal letter or a visit to facility by union representative

DON'T LOOK AT THE CARDS!!

• File petition with NLRB if request for recognition is rejected or if it is obvious it will be rejected

Petition must be supported by 30% of employees in an appropriate bargaining unit to be processed by NLRB


• NLRB serves employer with petition

• NLRB checks legal sufficiency of petition

• Work out or litigate eligibility issues by describing the classifications of employees

in the voting unit

• Work out or litigate date, time and place for the election


Negotiation of a Stipulated Election AgreementDATE: FRIDAY, SEPT 3, 2010 (USUALLY A PAYDAY)

TIMES: 7-8 AM, 2-3 PM, 4:30-6 PM (COVER ALL SHIFTS)

SITE: An appropriate enclosed area on the employer's premises

ELIGIBLE VOTERS: All full-time and regular part-time production and maintenance employees including operators, assemblers, material handlers and inspectors, excluding managerial, confidential, administrative, office clerical, guards and supervisors

ELIGIBILITY DATE: SATURDAY, JULY 10, 2010

4. Campaign by Employer and Union

• Notices or handouts

• Letters to the home

• Small group meetings

• One-on-one conversations

• Large meetings or rallies

• 25th hour meetings by the employer at work

• Internet/E-mail

5. NLRB Election

• A list of names and addresses of eligible voters must be submitted to the NLRB by the employer (Excelsior List)

• Election is by Secret Ballot; there is one question on the ballot:

• The majority of eligible voters that vote decide the Election. But Unions lose TIES!!!

5. NLRB Election

• Election observers for each party

• Portable booth is set up by NLRB

• Ballot box is constructed by NLRB at the election site and sealed after each polling

period

• Votes are counted publicly after last polling period

6. Post-election Challenges and Objections

• Voters not on the list are automatically

challenged by NLRB

• Observers can challenge any voter

• Challenged ballots, if determinative, could result in a Hearing

• Objections can be filed within 7 days after the Election and could result

in a Hearing

IV. Campaign Themes

Campaign Themes

If a Union wins an NLRB Election, what does the Union win?

More money?

More benefits?

More time off?

No

No

No

Campaign Themes

If a Union wins an NLRB Election, what does it win?

Winning an NLRB Election only wins a union the right to be the exclusive representative in collective bargaining for the employees of the bargaining unit.

Obligation to Bargain

What does the right to bargain mean?

• It means everything goes to the bargaining table, even the current wages and benefits!

• The employer and the union each have the obligation to bargain in good faith but neither side is obligated to agree to a proposal or position it doesn't accept.


Can an employer bargain hard and still bargain in good faith?

ABSOLUTELY! Why? Based on business, economic or competitive conditions


Can employees get less than current wages and benefits as a result of bargaining?

YES! Why?

• There are no guarantees in collective bargaining

• Wages and benefits could go up, go down or stay the same


What if the union and employer can't reach an agreement?

• The union is free to strike to enforce its demands

• An employer can continue to run its business by:

Hiring temporary or permanent replacements to cross the picket line and work;Subcontracting the work to another company;

Transferring the work to another of its facilities;

Operating with management on a reduced basis;

Terminating operations

Campaign Themes

What do strikers get?

• No wages

• No benefits

• Economic strikers are not eligible for unemployment compensation in Kentucky, Tennessee, Michigan, Illinois, Missouri, or in most states

• May get strike benefits from the Union


What are the first 4 things a Union negotiates for?

The union's top priorities are:

• Wages?

• Benefits?

• Time off?

• Layoff protection?

No

No

No

No


What are the first 4 things a Union negotiates for?

The union's top priorities are:

• Union Security or Agency Shop Clause if legal

• Check off of dues

• Super seniority for union stewards

• Three year contract


Why does a Union want a three year contract?

• Business cycle?

• Economy?

• Automotive industry?

No

No

No


Why does a Union want a three year contract?

• Contract Bar Rule

• One Year Rule

Campaign Themes

What about job security?

• Produce a quality product or render quality service

• Appropriate prices

• Ability to deliver goods and services on time

How will a Union help a Company do any of those things?

Campaign Themes

What will the union cost?

• Dues:UAW - Two hours pay/month

• Initiation fees?

• Assessments – Covered in Union constitutions

• Fines – UAW and other Unions have gone to court to enforce the right to fine a member

Campaign Themes

What happens if the union loses?

• One Year Rule – another NLRB election can be held one year later in the same unit with this Union or any other Union

• Why not give the company a chance, especially now in such difficult business conditions?

• Multi facility employers can stress their good relationships with their non-Union employees

V. Tips to Maintain Union-Free Status

Maintaining Union-Free Status

Tips to Maintain Union-Free Status

1. Review policies and procedures

2. Analyze site access

3. Analyze employee roster at each site

4. Training programs for supervisors

5. Educate employees about unionization


Review Policies, Procedures, Manuals, Handbooks and Rules of Conduct

• Only lawful rules and policies can be enforced during an organizing drive or election campaign

• Beware of inconsistent enforcement

• Materials and practices need to be reviewed by Human Resources Department and possibly by outside Labor Counsel


Analyze Site to Determine whether Picketing, Handbilling or other Union Organizing Activity would be Allowed

• Assess each point of access to the facility

• Enforce rules restricting access to work sites

• Site should be reviewed by Human Resources Department and possibly with outside Labor Counsel


Analyze Employee Roster at Each Site to Determine Unit Issues

• Identify supervisors

• Part-time employees

• Dual-function employees

• Seasonal employees

• Laid-off employees


The National Labor Relations Act defines Supervisor as:

"The term 'Supervisor' means any individual having authority, in the interest of the employer, to hire, transfer, suspend, lay off, recall,

promote, discharge, assign, reward, or discipline other employees, or responsibly to direct them or to adjust their grievances, or effectively to recommend such action, if in connection with the foregoing the exercise of such authority is not of a merely routine or clerical nature, but requires the use of independent judgment."

This is a disjunctive test!


Training Programs for Supervisors

On the basis of Union activities, sympathies or beliefs, you cannot:

T

I

P

S




Threaten

I

P

S




Threaten

Interrogate

P

S




Threaten

Interrogate

Promise

S




Threaten

Interrogate

Promise

Spy




Threaten

Interrogate

Promise

Spy

You also cannot Discriminate or Change Conditions

When talking to employees,

Supervisors should provide:

F – Facts about unions

O – Opinions about unions

E – Experiences with unions

This will help employees to realize that unions often make Big Promises, but cannot deliver

© 2010 Dickinson Wright PLLCAll Rights Reserved



Educate Employees about Unionization

• Dues

• Strikes

• Job losses/layoffs in unionized industries

• Union constitutions and rules

• Union political contributions

remaining union free.ppt

Documents

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america todayten conditions

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unionizationsix stages

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