An Analysis of the UFCW/UNI Comprehensive Union Campaign Against Wal-Mart and Potential RICO Civil Liability for Global Union Federations

Abstract

As Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) civil litigation becomes an increasingly popular tactic of corporations to challenge comprehensive union organizing campaigns, its applicability to international solidarity campaigns and global union federations has not yet been explored by the courts. Additionally, although the contours of the current trend of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) litigation against Comprehensive Union Campaigns (CUCs) have been fairly well delineated in recent literature, the potential liability of Global Labor Union Federations (GUFs) under the RICO statute has not been analyzed. As GUFs become more integral to the effective development and implementation of CUCs, the likelihood that targeted corporations will utilize RICO civil suits against the GUFs is greatly increased. This note analyzes the specific aspects of GUFs which may open GUFs to RICO litigation. Section I provides background information regarding civil RICO litigation and the “points of attack” most frequently used by corporations to allege violations by labor unions. Section II discusses the application of these points of attack to GUFs. Section III proposes solutions to limit GUFs’ potential RICO civil liability as well as counterarguments as to why these solutions may not work.