Much has been written in the news of late about the declining membership of labor unions in the United States. Unions and other pro labor organizations had hoped that the Employee Free Choice Act ("EFCA"), which had passed the U.S. House of Representatives with a 241 to 185 majority, would also be passed by the Senate. It missed passage by only nine votes. Senator Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass) had originally proposed such legislation in 2003 and again in 2005 and he has stated he will continue to propose the EFCA until it becomes law.

Employee Free Choice Act

Unions have already stepped up their efforts to increase union membership and if the EFCA had passed it would have made union organizing much easier. Under the EFCA, instead of a National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) supervised secret ballot election, employers would have to recognize a union when a majority of the company's employees in a representative unit signed union authorization cards. If a union was certified through a card check by the NLRB, then the employer and the union would have to begin bargaining within 10 days. If a contract was not reached in 90 days, either party could request assistance from the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service. If a contract was not reached within 30 days after that, the matter could be referred to binding arbitration and the results of the binding arbitration would be a two-year collective bargaining agreement. In effect, the EFCA would virtually end 70 years of NLRB supervised secret ballot elections and the right to bargain to impasse, and subject an employer to terms imposed by an arbitration panel. To discourage anti-union conduct, the EFCA imposes significant remedies for violations of the National Labor Relations Act.

Union Organizing Activities

Unions have earmarked millions of dollars for union organizing and are recruiting passionate individuals as organizers. New methods and ideas to organize workers, such as the internet and advertising, are being utilized in conjunction with political alliances. Unions recognize their survival is at stake and they are committed to return to power.

How Can Companies Prepare Now?

For many individuals and employers support for or against a union is a personal choice. Currently, the Senators from Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware all support the EFCA. Companies should consider talking to a congressional representative about their position on the EFCA and lending support to the various community and trade groups that advocate the company's point of view.

Pro-Active Labor Relations

Regardless of whether legislation makes it easier for a union to organize employees, it is evident that unions are aggressively trying new methods and ideas to organize workers. Employers who desire to remain union free should not wait and hope the EFCA does not pass the next time.

What successful strategies can a company utilize to defend itself against unions' new organizing efforts? In addition to expressing the company's position to Congressional representatives, implementing a pro-active/union avoidance labor relations strategy will enhance the company's quality and productivity and help keep its employees less receptive to a union's organizing efforts. The components of a pro-active labor strategy include:

  • employee recruitment and selection
  • company culture orientation
  • fair and competitive wages and benefits
  • best practices personnel policies and procedures
  • progressive, corrective discipline
  • educating and training supervision
  • effective two-way communications
  • employee involvement and identification
  • audit system/checks and balances

This article will focus on the communication and education components of a pro-active labor relations strategy.

Communication Is Critical

Communication is a key component of any pro-active labor relations strategy and it still ranks as one of the best methods to stay a union-organizing drive. Effective, credible, and timely two-way communications help keep employees satisfied, develop trust, and strengthen a commitment to organizational goals and philosophies. With effective communication systems, employees' issues, problems, concerns and complaints are heard by the persons with the power to address and/or resolve them. Perhaps more important, effective communication keeps employees abreast of what is going on in their company as a whole. When employees feel informed, especially about topics that are important to them and can affect them, they tend to identify more with the company. The "us vs. them" dichotomy is eliminated, and employees try to work with their supervisors and management as a team, which generally results in increased productivity and quality in a union-free environment.

Communication Programs

What programs can any company implement to build better communications with their employees? In addition to the company's website, bulletin boards, newsletters, etc., there is, of course, e-mail. While e-mail is a fast and efficient way to reach employees, it is difficult to communicate "emotion" in an e-mail and the reader may not interpret the message in the way it was intended. Other communication techniques that are more personal and two-way include focused employee surveys and feedback sessions, speak-up meetings, employee action committees, on-line quarterly management/employee meetings, etc. The ways to communicate are endless and it is important to implement a comprehensive program because communication styles, company culture, and the intended audience vary. Whether a company institutes one activity or 20, sound, trustworthy, and timely communications programs will help employees feel good about themselves and their jobs, making them proud to be part of a successful endeavor.

Education And Training

To maximize the effectiveness of such programs, those who will implement the programs - usually the first line supervisors - must have good communication and human resource management skills. Supervisory training can provide the communication, motivation and leadership skills a supervisor needs to develop an atmosphere in which employees work to improve productivity and quality and find union representation unnecessary. Educating supervisors to recognize the early warning signs of union activity and understand management's legal rights also are critical components of a company's effective labor relations strategy.

Building Trust And Credibility

There is no guarantee that the company that emphasizes communication will not be targeted for a union organizing campaign. However, the use of surveys and other communications systems will give an employer the edge of knowing what issues exist and how best to address them, as well as the capacity to better assess its vulnerability to a union organizing drive. Moreover, through effective communications and management education, an employer can build trust and credibility with its workforce that may make its employees far less receptive to a union campaign. Converseley, complacent employers should not be surprised if their employees give union organizers a warm welcome.

The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.