There is a lot about this
article that would make it worth your time. The Human Resources (HR)
industry is highly concsious of even the slightest improvements for the
labor movement. They quote a bunch of managment-side attorneys saying the the
split from the AFL-CIO hasn't resulted in any substantive wins for workers.
'It's all sizzle, no steak,' says one.
But they’re still clearly worried.
They go on to say that the AFL-CIO and the new federation, (Change to Win) have been strengthened and
are borrowing heavily from each others' innovations. The unions have beefed up
their capacity to organize, hiring more staffers and convening
a global organizing summit last month. They have also developed strategic
research tools to create smart organizing campaigns in key geographic and
economic sectors.
Here’s another example of how the two have improved since
the split. The
Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers, an AFL-CIO union
scored a win against Dannon in its biggest
US plant. They secured a neutrality
pledge (where the employer promises not to threaten, harass, and demean
employees during the organizing process) by enlisting the aid of European
Dannon employees who are all unionized. The European unionists made it clear
that Dannon would face protests at home if it didn’t get its
US managers to
back down. They
did, and the workers now have a union.
This is a tactic that has often been publicly championed by
the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), who have been working with
British unions to put global pressure on security and janitorial firms. That
pressure made a difference the SEIU’s successful organizing drive to represent
custodians in Houston, Texas.
The United
Steelworkers assisted Liberian rubber workers in dumping their company union
in favor of an independent, worker-run union. The Liberians and Steelworkers,
share an employer—Firestone Tires—and are now working together across the ocean
to assist each other.
In addition, many unionists were concerned after the split about the prospect
that each federation would stop organizing the unorganized and focus on raiding
each others members. Thankfully, that has not materialized.
The article then goes on to bemoan the power that unions
wield when they engage in corporate campaigning—taking on a corporation
publicly over their treatment of workers.
"These corporate campaigns are consuming me," says
attorney Michael Lotito, SPHR, a partner in the
San Francisco office of Jackson Lewis LLP.
"They are all-encompassing; the multiple levels of attack that take place
require constant attention and anticipation. The union shows up at 70 percent
of your facilities located in 25 states, same time, same day, with handouts
that attack the company.
Well, that’s just tragic.
But to get a real feel for how HR people really feel about
the prospect of democracy breaking out the workplace, you need to skip to the
end of the article. Predicting a ‘political tsunami’ if Democrats are elected
to the White House and Congress, HR Magazine threatens that ‘ominous’ change is
on the way. ‘Ominous’ in this case means that if the Employee Free Choice Act
passes, then some companies will actually have to follow the law! Workers may have acutally meaningful rights! Gasp! The following is from a guy named Rick Berman:
"Currently, many employers engage in initiatives to
counter union campaigns they
wouldn't dare do under EFCA. Now, there's a minor
fine; under EFCA, every unfair
labor practice will be potentially a $20,000
fine. Now, even if management is not overtly
instigating it, the feeling is 'if
one of my supervisors is talking to people, it's not so bad.'
With EFCA, it
will be very costly."
Who is Rick Berman? Berman has had a distinguised career lobbying for tobacco giants, against the Americans with Disabilities Act, against drunk driving regulations and against Mothers Against Drunk Driving. He was also caught up in ethics violations with Newt Gingrich. Now, when Rick Berman says ‘initiatives’, he means,
threatening workers into voting no against the union. It’s also nice to see a
top anti-union consultant openly acknowledge that top management may not write
the script for worker harassment, but they’re certainly signing off on its
execution in the workplace. In the end, the magazine warns that union
membership could double if the EFCA becomes law. These are your rights as a citizen and employee, and Berman is blithely discussing the (non)consequences of violating those rights.
All in all, the split itself, and the possibility that
workers might actually get rules which will protect them seem to have been
positive. It must be true. Top managers say so!