Union Free: How to Lose A Union Election – Bonus TIPS

by | Apr 25, 2010 | Union Avoidance

Union free elections are lost for many reasons. As we discussed in Part 3, one reason companies lose elections is because they break the Labor Board rules. That’s why our number one rule for consultants and clients is don’t cheat. We have never committed an unfair labor practice in thousands of elections because we follow these rules. Here are some bonus tips on how to avoid these problems (by the way, the easy way to remember the rules is to remember the word TIPS). These slip-ups often lead to unfair labor practices and overturn elections. Threats: A common error is threatening employees. Any threat that a bad thing will happen if an employee votes for the union is unlawful. It’s also a bad campaign strategy. A manager who threatens an employee is making a terrible assumption. He assumes that the threatened employee will do what he wants. This often backfires. Threats often make employees feel like they have no other choice but to seek out the protection of a third party from a “bully” boss. That is the wrong approach. After all, you are asking employees to trust you with their future. They need to choose you. If you act like a bully they’ll look for protection. In this case a union. Firing: Unions claim that consultants always fire the union supporters. It’s not true. Our advice is to do everything you can to avoid firing an employee during a union election. The Labor Board looks very carefully at firings during an election. The union will charge that the firing is illegal, no matter the facts or whether the employee ever supported the union. The union will tell workers that the firing is proof they need protection. The fired employee will be a “poster child” for the union, even if they know that the company had a good reason for its decision. Just like threats, firing employees doesn’t help win an election. Here’s why. Even if you fire strong union supporters, you only improve your vote count by a vote or two. But elections are won or lost with the undecided voters. Those voters will look carefully at the firing and decide whether they need the protection of a union. So every firing, no matter how deserved, can cost you crucial undecided voters. You must continue to run your business during a union campaign. You can’t just let employees start breaking important rules that used to result in firing. But any firing decision should be difficult during a campaign. Firing employees almost never improves the chances of winning the election – it usually costs the company votes. This is why we do everything possible to avoid it during an organizing campaign. Promise of Benefit: Companies sometimes want to promise a benefit in exchange for their vote. This is unlawful. It is considered an illegal bribe. A lot of companies feel like that this rule is not fair. Once most companies uncover problems they want to fix them. It’s human nature.  But the Board does not want companies to influence the vote outcome by giving benefits just prior to the vote. In the end I think that the Board’s rule is fair, even though it is frustrating. There is a silver lining to this frustration. While it does tie the employer’s hands, it also forces the employer to focus on something that’s even more important. Instead of working on a to-do list of complaints, the company focuses on its communication and restoring its relationship with employees. Spying or Surveillance: Companies can also break the rules by trying to figure out who supports the union spying on union meetings or watching pro-union employees. Again, this is both illegal and faulty strategy. The problem with spying is that it is focused in the complete wrong direction. You should not worry much about what the other side is saying or doing. Union organizers are trained to mislead the company whenever possible, so even if you could get “inside” information it may be designed to divert your focus. It also puts you in a position where you are always reacting. It puts the union in control of the message. Instead of worrying about what the union is doing you should focus on your own message. This forces the union to respond to you and it lets you control the campaign more effectively. Again, the easiest way to avoid that whole problem is simply to not worry about what the union is doing and to focus instead on your own message. If you follow these common-sense TIPS rules your company will avoid needless unfair labor practices. More important, your campaign strategy will be focused the right way, on re-building your connection to employees. That in the end is the key to winning an election.

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