E-Organizing, the Next Frontier? Labor Unions Seek Access to Company E-mail Systems

Abstract

When organizing new employee groups, unions have relied on traditional, “low tech” means of communication to spread their message. Although these methods remain the core avenues for communication, unions have been exploring other options in recent years. One prime avenue is e-mail. Until recently, no National Labor Relations Board judge had addressed the legal standard governing the use of e-mail during a union organizing campaign in the face of an employer's nondiscriminatory, “business-only” e-mail policy. In November 2002, in The Prudential Insurance Company of America, an administrative law judge addressed that very issue. He held that the company's e-mail policy, which prohibited employees from using the company e-mail system for union-related communications, was an overly broad prohibition that unlawfully infringed on the employees' rights to choose whether to be represented by a union. Furthermore, the administrative law judge held that the company's e-mail policy gave it a substantial advantage in winning a representation election and recommended that the election be set aside.