Can you please show us anti union tactics part 1

Can you please show us anti union tactics Part 1

Ask Away

I understand that Con-way is using some illegal tactics. I would like to know what they are if they use it at my station. Do you have any information on the subject.

Watch Dogs Response:

Con-way appears to be using some standard material at some locations. Here is some information on union-busting that I pulled off the internet.

Union busting is a practice, considered by some to be unethical, undertaken by an employer when employees are attempting to join a union. It is the process which some employers may use to prevent their employees from joining a labor union. Another form of union busting is firing an already organized workforce and hiring non-union labor.

During a union busting operation, usually a highly paid Labor Relations consultant or a "union buster" as they are informally called, is brought in during a union organizing drive to try and convince workers not to join the union.

Union busting tactics

The following tactics are sometimes used:

Supervisors and managers can deliver letters, speeches, and informal chats, sometimes prepared by a union-buster.

Employees may be asked to attend one-on-one discussions, group meetings, or lectures about the union, during which they will be paid. Employers must be careful not to intimidate their employees, because employees can appeal to the Teamsters, usually resulting in charges and penalties being upheld against the company, and in some cases resulting in the employer being automatically required to recognize the union as the bargaining unit representing employees. At these meetings, employers discuss the negative aspects of a union and try to convince employees not to join.

In some cases, supervisors and managers will walk the floors more frequently and arrange impromptu chats and meetings to find out what their workers are up to. However, this can also be interpreted as intimidation and can get the employer in trouble.

The union-busters may prepare many letters to be signed by administrators, employees, and well-liked supervisors and managers. They may express appreciation for what the employees have done for the company, admit having made mistakes in the past and express an intention to do a better job in the future. They may also paint an ugly picture of the union or suggest that the union is hiding something. Lying to employees however, is strictly forbidden.

To convince employees that they don't need a union to obtain improvements, a company may provide unexpected increases in wages or benefits, although they cannot condition said benefits or wages on union participation or threaten wage cuts.

In extreme cases the union-buster may direct management to play one group of employees against another to generate disunity (e.g. "disloyal" union supporters versus "loyal" union opponents, one department against another, etc.). This would likely result in harsh penalties for the company.