General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsWave of union victories suggests union-busting consultants may have lost their sway
The nations anti-union consultants and lawyers who have made millions of dollars fighting against union drives have just been through some of their worst weeks ever as unions racked up wins at Amazon, Starbucks, REI, the New York Times, MIT and other places.
These consultants and lawyers often called union busters have done so poorly that John Logan, a professor who has studied union avoidance efforts for two decades, says their anti-union kryptonite seems to have suddenly lost much of its power. For decades, the consultants have seemed almost invincible. Many firms have boasted victory rates of over 95%, said Logan, a professor at San Francisco State. But in Staten Island, the Amazon Labor Union turned the tables on the companys anti-union consultants and showed they may have been more of a liability than an asset.
Logan said anti-union consultants are often no longer as effective because workers and their attitudes have changed: workers, especially younger workers, are braver about speaking out, theyre using social media to outmaneuver the consultants, and theyre embracing highly effective strategies, like worker-to-worker organizing and interrupting so-called captive audience meetings, where consultants discuss the supposed evils of unions. Logan said workers often used to be far more scared to stand up to anti-union consultants, and one reason workers are less frightened is that the low jobless rate makes it easier for workers to find another job if they get fired for supporting a union.
They survived the pandemic, and theyre no longer so fearful, Logan said. The pandemic was such a frightening experience that workers have recalibrated their sense of risk about what theyre prepared to do in their lives. Theyre more prepared to join a union campaign. They feel theyve repeatedly been disrespected while their employers were making billions of dollars.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/apr/13/union-victories-busting-consultants-amazon-tactics
SCantiGOP
(13,871 posts)Prior to the extreme labor shortage we have now, advocating union activity could cost you not only your job, but could jeopardize your chances of finding a new one.
With employers now desperate to find and keep employees, they simply can't take retribution against union advocates in their workforce.
lagomorph777
(30,613 posts)Happy to see labor exploiting the market, for a change.
SCantiGOP
(13,871 posts)You have nothing to lose but your damned unlivable wage.