Supreme Court Gives Big Labor a Big Black Eye
Today the US Supreme Court found that the two member National Labor Relations Board did NOT have decision making authority over matters brought before them under the National Labor Relations Act. The decision handed down in the matter of NEW PROCESS STEEL, L.P., PETITIONER v.NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD gave Big Labor it’s biggest set back since Reagan was in the White House.
Because of partisan bickering that has been going on since the Clinton administration, the five person National Labor Relations Board has struggled to maintain three permanent members and hasn’t even come close to having the full five member board as designed by the National Labor Relations Act. Since the Obama administration has been in power, the NLRB has only had two members for the majority of the time. During the first year of the new administration, over 600 decisions were handed down that reversed many NLRB rulings and administrative directives that were put in place during the Bush years. As you might expect, these decisions were pro labor and anti business by a wide margin.
Today’s ruling by the Supreme Court seemed to nullify those decisions. These cases will now have to be reviewed once again, once three or more members are on the board. This increases an already growing case back log by a significant amount. The end result will probably be much like the world of labor was during the Bush administration. This decision will also empower the conservative, pro-business elements because they will now have to have a seat at the table if the Democrats and pro-labor folks ever want a decision to be made by the NLRB again.
Score one for business.
Free Download – How to Keep Warehouses Union Free
Click on the image or the link be
low to download the March 2010 issue of Warehousing Forum, published by The Ackerman Company. Warehousing Forum is a leading supply chain newsletter that is recognized around the world as a great resource for supply chain executives. This award winning publication is dedicated to helping warehouse managers and their bosses improve productivity and manage more profitably with tips, comments and articles written by practicing professionals. If you are in supply chain management at any level, you will want to subscribe to this publication.
The featured article in the March 2010 issue discusses critical components to keeping warehouses and distribution facilities union free, and was written by Curtis Greve. Enjoy your free download of this thought leading publication.
Brown Wins Senate Seat, EFCA Loses Key Vote
With REPUBLICAN Scott Brown winning the Senate seat formerly held by Ted Kennedy, will the person filling the seat kill EFCA, the pro-labor bill authored by his predecessor? Business people across America hope so. One thing is for sure; Senator Brown killed the filibuster-proof Democratic majority. How ironic!
Senator Brown’s election will have a huge impact on Washington and raises a lot of questions. Is this the final nail in Big Labor’s coffin? Is EFCA dead, this time for good? Is health care dead? Does this mean that Obama will have to learn to deal with Republicans this year and grid lock next year? The Democrats had a “full house”. They seem to have blown the opportunity they had. Obama and the Democrats seemed unstoppable but it is clear the tide is turning.
EFCA is not dead. There are a number regulations the Democrats could pass, without going to the floor, to pay labor back for their work in the campaign and with health care. These regulations would provide most of the benefits that labor is looking for. That is probably the safest route for the Democrats to take. It would pay their debt to Big Labor and it would keep them out of the headlines as supporting labor’s big payoff. The head of the AFL-CIO threatened the Democrats last week that they had better deliver in the first quarter if they want any help in November.
Today’s results clearly proves, they gonna need it!
How To Avoid Hiring a Union Plant
If your business is a target of a union, you could be hiring “union plants” or “seeds” and not even be aware of it. Many business owners are shocked when they find out that it is perfectly legal for a person who is on a union’s payroll to apply for and get hired by a target company, for the sole purpose of organizing that company’s employees. The fact is that it happens every day.
If you are a business owner, how can you avoid hiring a union plant?
The first thing you should look at is your application. Make sure that you have room for and require information, including wage rate, position, etc. for up to five previous employers. At the bottom of the application you should have appropriate language that states the applicant can be fired if they lie on the application. A good example of this would be:
Information to the applicant: References may be checked. If you have misrepresented or omitted any facts on this application, and are subsequently hired, you may be discharged from your job. You may make a written request for information derived from the checking of your references. If necessary for employment, you may be required to: supply your birth certificate or other proof of authorization to work in the US, have a physical examination and/or a drug test, or to sign a conflict of interest agreement and abide by its terms.
I understand and agree to the information shown above:
Signature:_________________________ Date:_________________
Once you have the completed application, you should do a background check to verify that the person was employed as stated on their application. As you go through the applications, after the background checks are completed, watch outfor people who have significant gaps in employment, have worked for companies that had organized workers, and people who’s wages were 15% or higher than the job for which they are applying.
If you hire temporary workers, make sure that you have a good discussion with the temp agency. The temp agency should use similar screening processes as well. Many companies us temps as a way to “screen” applicants for long term employment. If a temp is a “plant”, they won’t wait for full time status to get going on their real job of organizing and union card signing.
Even if you are the target of a union, there are things you are not allowed to ask an applicant, some of topics include:
- Age
- Sexual orientation
- Religious affiliation
- Race or nationality
You should have a working knowledge of the following federal laws:
- Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which covers the subject of discrimination or harassment on the basis of race, religion, sex or creed
- The Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967
- The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990
- The Family Medical Leave Act of 1993
Hiring is a critical part of every organization. Getting a union organizer hired is one of the most effective union tactic to literally get their foot in the door. You have to have good, prudent, hiring practices to ensure you don’t fan the flames of an aggressive union within your workforce.
AFL-CIO President Predicts EFCA Passage by Q1 2010
The AFL-CIO President, Richard Trumka, warned wavering Democrats to come through on the labor agenda—from EFCA to health care reform and a jobs bill. In addition to warning Democrats, he predicted EFCA passage by the end of the first quarter, in a speech he gave in Washington today.
Unions invested millions of dollars and thousands of hours of volunteer efforts to help the party increase its House and Senate margins and take the White House in 2008.
“One year into the Obama administration and one year into a Congress with strong Democratic majorities, we need leadership action that matches the urgency that is felt so deeply by working people,” Trumka said. “We will not vote for politicians who think they can push a few crumbs our way and then continue the failed economic policies of the last 30 years.”
“I think you’ll see the Employee Free Choice Act pass in the first quarter of 2010,” said Trumka at the National Press Club in Washington.
Trumka went on to say “The systematic silencing of American workers by denying our right to form unions is at the heart of the disappearance of good jobs in America,”
“We must pass the Employee Free Choice Act so that workers can have the chance to turn bad jobs into good jobs, and so we can reduce the inequality which is undermining our prospects for stable economic growth.”
A top legislative priority for unions, the bill has been stalled since its March introduction. The health care debate has sidelined EFCA and the unions have been supporting the Democratic position but want payback and soon.
Over the summer, EFCA negotiations centered on replacing the so-called card-check provision with one that would significantly speed up union elections, according to many sources. Campaigns could start as early as seven to 21 days after election petitions have been filed instead of the usual six weeks or longer.
It’s unclear whether a compromise exists that has the support of the entire 60-member Senate Democratic caucus, which is exactly large enough to squelch GOP delaying tactics like those that killed the bill in 2007.
Trumka’s comments seem to indicate that the Senate will turn to EFCA after it approves a final health care reform bill. Trumka is confident that unions can overcome Republican roadblocks.
“We’re going to have the Employee Free Choice Act despite the determined efforts of the Republican Party and a group of businesspeople who really don’t want any kind of labor law reform at all,” he said.
Answer Questions Timely and Avoid Unions
Every day, when an employee goes to work, they are asked to do a lot of things. They have their normal job but are often asked to help out someplace else in the operations or do some extraordinary task, like help with inventory or go to a safety meeting. When supervisors ask employees to follow through on their requests, supervisors expect a timely positive response followed up by action.
Employees expect the same thing. When one of your employees asks you a question, they expect a timely response. Workers are smart enough to know that they may not always get what the want but they do expect an answer.
One of the biggest mistakes a manager can make is to ignore or forget to get back with an employee on a question they have asked. When this happens the employee will feel like you don’t care and they aren’t really very important to the operation.
If this happens too many times, you can be sure that the employee will find somebody who will get them answers and who treats them like they are important. Unfortunately, it will either be another company, after you’ve trained them, or a union organizer who will make them feel very important.
If an employee asks you a question, tell them the answer to their question, if you know it. If you don’t, write down the employee’s name and the question they asked and then tell them when you will get back to them with an answer. The longest you should ever take to get them an answer is the next business day.
If you have to go up the ladder to get an answer, get back to the employee and give them a status update and a realistic estimated time when they can expect an answer. Then, stay on it. Your job is to champion the issue for the employee. They are depending on you.
You must establish an expectation that employee requests and questions will get answered in a timely manner.
Treat employee questions like you would treat questions from your boss or your most demanding customer. In other words, treat the employees like you would want them to treat you.
Union Decertification and The NLRB
Many business owners never hear of the National Labor Relations Board , until they get a letter notifying them that their employees have petitioned for a union election. So what is the NLRB? Simply put, the NLRB is an arm of the government that protects the rights of employees to either organize and join a union, remain union free, or decertify and effectively kick the union out. According to the NLRB Web Site:
The National Labor Relations Board is an independent federal agency created by Congress in 1935 to administer the National Labor Relations Act, the primary law governing relations between unions and employers in the private sector. The statute guarantees the right of employees to organize and to bargain collectively with their employers, and to engage in other protected concerted activity with or without a union, or to refrain from all such activity.
However, if you sit in any NLRB office for a few minutes you will quickly realize that the NLRB is NOT unbiased. In fact, they are very much PRO-UNION. As one official once told me, “We are in the business of making it easy to organize.” This bias comes as a surprise to many business people when they go to an NLRB hearing where a member of the NLRB sits as judge and jury on the issue of the day.
Employees too, can be surprised by the response of the NLRB. If employees want to organize, they will be rushed into an office and a friendly NLRB attorney will carefully walk them through the process. However, decerification is often met with cold response. They will answer your questions if you ask directly, but you have to ask. Employees must ask directly:
- What do I need to do to deceritify a union where I work?
- What forms must be completed to file for decertification?
- Will you give me a blank form and walk me through how to fill it out?
- Can I have extra copies of the form?
- What wording do I need to have on the “Decertification Petition”?
The answers the NLRB gives employees will be all they need to know to legally decertify the union. You can follow the this link to find the NLRB office nearest you. You can call or visit the office nearest you to get more information. The NLRB is there to protect employees. Everyone has a right to seek and receive their help. Quoting the NLRB web site says:
Employees have the right to form, join, support or assist unions, also known as labor organizations, who may bargain collectively with the employer on the employees’ behalf seeking to modify wages or working conditions. Employees also have the right to engage in other protected concerted activities without a union seeking to improve their wages and other working conditions.
Employees also have the right to refrain from engaging in these activities or to seek removal of a union from the workplace.
Teamsters See $7,600 In Added Health Care Taxes
According to a recent email sent to their members, Teamsters are asking their members to call their Senators and voice concerns over the “excise taxes” built into the current Health Care Bill being debated by the Senate. They write:
“It is important that Senators understand the damage that the excise tax provision could have on working Americans. This tax would fall on one-third of Americans in 10 years. The average affected household will pay $7,600 more in taxes between 2013 and 2019, according to a recent analysis of the proposal.
Please call and/or e-mail your Senators and inform them of the burden that the excise tax will put on working families and encourage them to work to have the excise tax provision removed from the final bill. Call 1-877-264-4226 to be connected to your Senators’ offices, or send an e-mail right now.”
It is interesting that they do not mention of $10 Billion bailout of underfunded union pension plans. They are happy to increase the deficit of the country while putting billions in their own pension fund lined pockets.
Students Targetted By Unions
Recently, big labor has started to target students to develop relationships that can be used later, after they graduate, to organize non-union employers. Unions are targeting student studying to be electricians, nurses, care aides, meat cutters and mechanics.
In an email to organizers the benefits of targeting students were outlined:
Here are a few reasons your organizing department should speak to your future members before they enter the workforce.
1. No fear of retaliation. At school, people are away from the prying eyes of employers. They can learn about the difference your union makes without worrying about job security.
2. Trust building. In a cold campaign, organizers have a short time to build trust. Approaching future members in school starts the slow process of building trust years before you might organize a workplace.
3. Incubate future leads. Collect contact information of students and give them a call after they enter the workforce.
There are two questions that come to mind. First, how will the schools react? There is a danger for schools that get a reputation of producing educated union organizers. Second, will businesses recruit from schools that are being actively and aggressively targeted by unions?
While this seems to be a new agressive tactic, I think it will be short lived and self defeating. Schools recruit students based on their ability to place them in good jobs after they graduate. Schools that get a reputation for producing union organizers will quickly face challenges getting businesses to hire their graduates.
The big question for educational institutions will be how are they going to address union organizers targeting their students.
Lose Union Election = Lose 10% Value or More
How does Wall Street react when the word gets out that a publicly traded company lost a union election?
The National Bureau of Economic Research found an estimated abnormal post-election returns of about negative 10% in companies where unions won certification elections, measured over the two-year period following the union’s victory.
The study analyzed all publicly traded firms that had NLRB union elections between 1961 and 1999. The data-set includes 6,114 elections gleaned from a database of nearly 200,000 certification elections.
The study’s authors analyzed stock market returns for each company for the 24 months prior to the certification election event, and for another 24 months following the election. The pre-election data were used to develop a predictive model for post-election returns for two panels of companies: those in which the union won; and those where the union lost the certification election. The predictive model accurately tracked actual returns in both panels in the 24 months before the election, and is viewed as an excellent predictor of what returns would have been during the next 24 months had an election not occurred.
The study firms’ average returns are quite close to the predicted returns every month leading up to the election, for both the panel of firms where unions were victorious, as well as those where unions ultimately lost.
But at precisely the time of the election, the actual and predicted returns diverge for companies that lost elections. The pace of the value adjustment is slow, but steady and significant over the 24 months following the election.
In contrast, companies that beat the union continued to exhibit positive returns that track closely with the predicted values.
The amount of decline in union victory firms is correlated with the union margin of victory. The largest negative returns were experienced in companies in which unions won their elections by large margins. When unions win with greater than 60% of the vote, the cumulative return is -20 to -30%.
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