E-mail or other means of communication), do not disclose information you regard Advised by its U.S. union avoidance lawyers, Nissan insisted that the U.S. NCP should not broker an agreement that would place the company in a position of . Consultants . In common with other union avoidance firm, ECLR claims an overwhelmingly positive victory rate in union campaigns: While unions typically win between 60 and 70% of union representation elections, ECLR maintains a win rate of over 95%. Your employees are, too. According to Brown, RWP is the nations premier full-service labor relations and management consulting team that specializes in keeping companies union free. RWP claims to be a collaboration of the best of the best labor consultants. Unless otherwise agreed in advance, all unsolicited Convince your employees to stay union-free. . Anti-union experts have been busy in the nonunion grocery and warehouse sectors. April 21, 2021. Ogletree opened its first overseas office, which it called a game-changer, in Berlin in 2012. American Factorys Anti-Union Firm: If they know anything about LRI, labor observers probably heard about the union avoidance firm through its involvement in the intense anti-union campaign at Chinese-owned Fuyao Glass America factory in Moraine, Ohio, when the firm was reportedly paid $1 million to oppose the UAW. Fortunately, you don't have to know the answer -- because we do. Brown and Smith campaigns worked on a failed attempt to decertify flight attendants at Allegiant Air in 2016, which was then the largest decertification attempt in the history of the Railway Labor Act. Even with the new election rules, the NLRB election process will remain stacked in favor of corporations and their highly-paid "union avoidance" consultants. For those organizations with a non-union workforce, Hutchison Group can help to discreetly determine your vulnerability to potential union organizing and reduce your risk of having to endure a union campaign. According to its annual reviews, cross-border trade union actions including corporate union campaigns are one of the alliances main areas of expertise.5 Formed in 2013, Fisher Phillips International Employment Practice Group has established strong relationships with local counsel on six continents. The International Practice Group helps its multinational clients address international labor issues involving unions around the world.6, Union avoidance firms have sought to counteract the unions use of international standards to advance organizing, warning that corporations must own the debate on global labor standards or the unions will define it for you.7 Littler attorneys have helped MNCs formulate and implement strategies to respond to efforts by labor unions . There seems little doubt that when the campaign at Bessemer is finally over, Amazon will have paid millions of dollars to its law firm and its union avoidance consultants. Cemex quickly hired a "union avoidance" firm that it would pay more than $1 million to try to dissuade workers from organizing. When it comes to unionizing, many can . Littler attorneys have proposed filing an OECD complaint against global union federations and establishing and funding a group to process and publicize the case. This interesting idea would put labor on the defensive and provide corporations targeted by unions with a tool to respond to criticism.15. 12. Before sending mail to your intended recipient, you must first understand the Littler Mendelson is the worlds largest management-side law firm focusing exclusively on labor and employment issues. We can provide a strategic response to labor union organization efforts, ensuring your work place stays union free and your business or organization is protected. Smith and Rock Creek have been involved in several other anti-union campaign at hospitals a specialty for several union avoidance consultants including St Joseph Regional Medical Center and Mad River Community Hospital. Beginning in the 1950s, an industry of consultants and law firms started advising companies on how to avoid unionization campaigns. Smith has also run several union avoidance firms of her own, including Taltos Consulting and, currently, Rock Creek Consulting, conducting dozens of high-profile anti-union campaigns, including at General Electric. Two: Your employer hires fancy anti-union firms, lawyers and consultants. The decision involved an anti-union campaign at Delta airlines in which the company advised employees to destroy their ballot papers (shred it!) because under the Railway Labor Act, non-votes were counted as votes against the union. This same billionaire class, including some of the very . It's not only Morgan Lewis: Amazon has links to other leading union avoidance firms and experts: Amazon has connections with several other leading anti-union law firms. Google hired IRI Consultants, a firm known for its anti-union activities, for advice on how to deal with growing worker unrest. Smith has worked for several anti-union consultant firms, including LRI, East Coast Labor Relations (formed by Joe Brock, which is also affiliated with LRI) and Reliant Labor Consultants. 317-231-7433, F getty. What should you do next- Seaton is a well-known union-avoidance consultant, otherwise known as a "persuader" or, more accurately, a union buster. Brown is a former Vice President at LRI while Smith is a former lead consultant at LRI. Union avoidance is a method companies use to keep unions out of their establishments. The notoriously secretive, $340 million-a-year industry of union-avoidance firms is currently advertising based on the idea that the pandemic has put organizing on "steroids." For those organizations with a non-union workforce, Hutchison Group can help to discreetly determine your vulnerability to potential union organizing and reduce your risk of having to endure a union campaign. As an added benefit, these labor relations training efforts help to reassure the Board of Directors and Shareholders that management has been proactive in identifying and addressing areas of concern, as unionization can negatively impact stock price and company valuation. Using this proven process, our experienced union relations consultants meet with small groups of employees, where they can talk freely and share their opinions about the company. Lawyers and consultants devise strategies for managers to maintain union-free workplaces. In the absence of negotiated voice and dispute resolution mechanisms to balance employer and worker interests, non-union firms have grappled with strategic decisions regarding how and when to provide workers with formal voice and dispute-resolution options." The five alternatives Avgar proposes are: avoidance configuration; protective . In 2017, for example, NATERAs annual conference included a pre-conference workshop featuring union avoidance and campaign simulation, run by the anti-union law firm, Jackson Lewis, which was tailored to the transportation industry.. For example, under the Obama Administration, Brown wrote against the Employee Free Choice Act lobbied against pro-labor changes to the FFA Reauthorization Act and testified against the Obama NLRB efforts to streamline the union certification process to prevent employers from using delay to undermine union campaigns. as confidential. When addressed early, organizing is avoidable. Along with the AFL-CIO, the Association of Flight Attendants-Communication Workers of America filed a complaint with the CFA stating that the policy on non-votes enabled hostile employers to manipulate the process to defeat union campaigns. Consultants . 574-237-1125, F . Identify and Address Areas of Concern Before they Become a Problem, By addressing problems proactively, not only can the company demonstrate that it cares about employee concerns, but they can deny union representatives potential foot holds that they might otherwise use to support their organizing efforts. With the assistance of Ogletree Deakins, it resisted union campaigns in 1989, 1998, 2000, and 2001. One consultant writes in his LinkedIn profile: To start, I want to make it clear that I own a consulting firm that works exclusively for management to stay union free and promote positive employee relations, but my story did start on the union side with nearly 24 years of experience for unions.. 13.Donald C. Dowling, How to Align an International Labor Strategy for Overseas Unions, Works Councils and Other Workers Representatives, Littler, September 2017, available at https://s3.amazonaws.com/documents.jdsupra.com/0d5fdc2e-10a9-4dbe-b379-c416b499d0bf.pdf. After leaving the Teamsters reportedly fired for gross incompetence Smith started working as a anti-union consultant. Amazons relentless anti-union campaign will likely play a central role in union messaging on the PRO Act now that they have gotten the countrys attention. 17.The Littler Report: The 2011 Global Employer: Highlights of Littlers Fourth Annual Global Employer Institute, available at https://www.jdsupra.com/legalnews/the-littler-report-the-2011-global-empl-95500/. The first nationally prominent consultant was Chicago-based Nathan Shefferman, who, as Sanford Jacoby described in Modern Manors (1997), worked for Sears Roebuck before establishing his own consulting firm, Labor Relations Associates (LRA). Thomas McKibbin, a . Last month, we discovered that, starting in January, Amazon had hired two prominent anti-union consultants, Russell Brown and Melissa Smith of Florida-based Road Warrior Productions (RWP), to assist with its campaign against the RWDSU. Leaked files from IRI Consultants, a union avoidance firm, obtained by Vice's Motherboard show the disturbing lengths to which companies will go in order to derail workplace organizing. Her Reliant bio page states: As a consultant, Rebecca has led numerous anti-union campaigns, resulting in a winning record for the companies with whom she partnered, including but not limited to government, non-profit, and for profit organizations within airline, transportation, healthcare, hospitality, energy and retail industries. Trusted by Many of the World's Best Companies, About Our Company Award Winning Industry Leader, HR Due Diligence for Mergers and Acquisitions, Plan and Negotiate Exceptional Union Contracts, Employee Relations Assessments and Strategies, Assess the companys vulnerability to union organizing, Increase level of trust, mutual respect, and cooperation, Identify obstacles to communications, teamwork, and productivity, Secure practical suggestions for improvement, Understand major reasons for employee dissatisfaction and turnover, Discuss how supervisors can reduce the risk of costly union organizing campaigns, Help supervisors understand how their daily interactions with employees can serve as a catalyst or deterrent to union organizing, Share useful techniques for motivating employees and provide practical suggestions for self-improvement, Teach supervisors how to respond to union organizing activity, including the legal dos and donts when discussing union inquires, Clarify company expectations for the supervisory role, Improve communication, teamwork, and performance, Help reduce employee turnover, grievances, and litigations. She's fourth generation union, raised in an activist-union household. Amazon Campaign Demonstrates Urgent Need for PRO Act. For nearly 30 years, Adams Nash Haskell & Sheridan has provided winning services, campaigns, and insights for clients across the country. Benefit from our Employee Relations Assessment, or choose our exclusiveVIEWPOINT Survey, which features a database compiled over nearly four decades. Early intervention and maintaining a positive relationship with your employees from the beginning is key. Make the environment an overall great place to work, and employees will share in that excitement. Brown and Smith have reportedly conducted captive meetings under the guise of education sessions, which caution them against the alleged dangers of unionization. . When you start to notice the early warning signs of union organization, its too late. Since Littler was founded in San Francisco in 1942, union avoidance has been a major area of its expertise. waiving employer rights . Factor in geography. 4 (December 2006), pp. 5.Jackson Lewis, Global Preventive Strategies for the Cross-Border Workplace, 2011, available at https://www.jacksonlewis.com/media/pnc/0/media.1230.pdf. Do you want to receive more valuable insights directly in your inbox? Fewer problems arise when employees have faith and trust in their organizational superiors. Should you choose to contact an attorney at Barnes & Thornburg LLP (via After orchestrating hundreds of anti-union campaigns for some of the nations largest companies, LRA was effectively forced out of business due to the negative publicity from the high-profile McClellan Committee hearings, after it detailed LRAs complicity in corruption. We do not yet know how much Amazon is paying the three consultants from Labor Information Services, but it is likely a similar amount. Univar USA. Consider offering benefits like vacation time, compensation packages, and tuition reimbursement, and be sure to communicate the value of these offers. Prevent Costly and Disruptive Union Organizing Campaigns. This case features well-known union-avoidance firm Jackson Lewis. The Dangers Of Union Avoidance. Global Services - General Co-Chair, Global Services - Japan Co-Chair. For a complete list of our services please visit our services page. Among other campaigns, while working under LRI, Brock helped defeat a union campaign at the Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas in 2014 and is currently running a major anti-union campaign at the largest hospital in Maine. Several states have tried to outlaw them in recent years, and Russ Brown actively opposed Connecticuts 2019 anti-captive audience bill. Monitoring the NLRB and Other Pro-Labor Legislation and Regulations. IKEA, for example, turned to Ogletree Deakins, one of the largest law firms that specialize in so-called union avoidance activities, to help it crush unionization efforts in Stoughton, Massachusetts, in 2016. 14.Global Legal Group, The International Comparative Guide to Employment & Labor Law, 11-12, available at https://www.hoganlovells.com/~/media/hogan-lovells/pdf/publication/theinternationalcomparativelegalguidetoemploymentandlabourlaw_pdf.pdf. . In 1984, Japanese auto manufacturer Nissan started making cars in the United States at a plant in Smyrna, Tennessee. We call it The Union-Free Privilege. Visit our subscription center and let us know what you're interested in learning more about. Union-avoidance specialists, and the employers that hire them, must disclose their arrangements to the Labor Department. 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