Arm Yourself With the Union-Busting Playbook

There is no tactic too low for employers desperate to stop workers from exercising their rights to unionize. The fight is always long and hard, but you can make it easier by being prepared.

Kenneth Quinnell at Crooks and Liars:

With the increase of union-busting tactics across the country since the 2010 midterm elections, Communications Workers of America are fighting back with a new website, 'Union Busting Playbook,' which catalogs and explains the tactics used to take away the rights of working families. The site has a great layout and is easy to use.

When employees try to organize a union for a better and more secure job, employers often fight back strong – in the form of union-busting.

Union-busting is any action by management to prevent employees from exercising their right to organize. Union busting attorneys train supervisors on what to say to persuade workers to vote down a union. The “script” doesn’t change much. Whether you are a bus driver, a nurse, a tech, or a call center worker, employers will hire union busters who will train supervisors in this anti-union script, or “playbook.”

In this Union-Busting Playbook, you can find out about common union-busting strategies and even read and hear examples from workers who have been through tough campaigns.

A highlight of the site is the "Eight Things Employers Do To Block Unions" section, which lists the following actions that union busters frequently take (and explains why they are wrong):

Hire a union-busting consultant
Tell you to wait and see
Get a few employees to campaign against the union
Send letters to you and your family
Hold meetings to sweet-talk — or browbeat — you
Deny your rights through delays and law-breaking
Spring a last-minute surprise on you
Pressure supervisors to pressure you

Among the many other features of the site are a "Common Bluffs" section explaining why some of the scare tactics used by employers are false, a "Fitness Test" quiz about union busting tactics, case studies, a glossary, social media links and a place where workers can share their own stories about union busting employers.