What to Expect from Management

WHAT TO EXPECT FROM MANAGEMENT WHEN YOU FORM A UNION AT YOUR WORKPLACE…

Typically most employers (the"boss") will hire (for thousands of dollars!) an outside union-busting attorney or firm to help them wage their fight to keep workers from organizing.

Lots of letters: The "Union Busters" will write letters during the campaign. They will be signed not by the "Union busters," but most often by the company president or managers.

Love letters: Some letters will say how much the management really appreciates the work employees have done for the company. They may even tell you how sorry they are for not listening in the past or for past mistakes.

The scary union letter: Most letters will try and convince workers how terrible the Union is. They will try and convince people that the union only wants your money and that the union is corrupt and evil!

Supervisors: Your supervisors will be asked to help hand out the anti-union material and participate in anti-union meetings, especially if they are supervisors people like.

Private chats: The "Union busters" will have management call employees in for private chats. The supervisors will have been told exactly what to say by the "Union busters." You do not have to say anything about how you feel about the union! That is your right.

Mandatory meetings: These meetings will suddenly be commonplace. Maybe what used to be a normal safety meeting or general staff meeting, can turn into an all out anti-union meeting. Sometimes the company stacks the meetings with supervisors or "plants" to appear very "pro-company".

Divide and Conquer: The "Union busters" will try to play one group of employees against another –they may try and divide people on cultural differences, gender, job classification, anything that can pit one group against another. Remember the last thing your employer wants is for everyone to be united!

"VOTE NO" Committee: A committee of "concerned" and "informed" employees might be set up to spread the good word about the company and help convince people how "bad" the union is. They will say they are not sponsored by management.