Union Campaign Research Articles

Nineteen Eighty-Four in 1974: the surveillance imaginary of the New Mexico Civil Liberties Union Campaign for privacy awareness

ABSTRACT This article maps the surveillance imaginary of a unique public awareness initiative by the New Mexico Civil Liberties Union and Godfrey Reggio’s Institute for Regional Education in 1974 that consisted of two parts: a situationist-inspired campaign using and surrealistically subverting popular media to raise awareness of surveillance, paired with a newspaper supplement documenting detailed intrusions on the privacy and liberty of citizens on a number of fronts, representing an encroaching society of social control. Taken as a whole, the surveillance imaginary of the campaign combined images of eyes, computers, and rats in mazes with detailed discussions of databases, militarized policing, and direct behavioral control justified by stories of rising violence in society to critique both state surveillance and the growing corporatization of the public sphere.

Regulating Union Propaganda

As part of the organizing process, an employer is very likely to run across written union campaign materials. Sometimes these materials are passed out on the sidewalk, and other times they are left behind in a breakroom. Union materials may also be posted on bulletin boards, as was recently the case in an NLRB decision involving Starbucks (Starbucks Corporation, 373 NLRB No. 44 [2024]). The decision serves as a timely reminder that employers are limited in their ability to regulate union propaganda in cases where they already tolerate other similar forms of written communication.

What Not to Do: Get Distracted by Union Use of Company Trademarks

When you are involved in your next union campaign, you can expect to see tried‐and‐true union propaganda such as flyers, newsletters, and similar printed materials. With increasing frequency, these materials visibly feature targeted employers' trademarks, such as company logos. In such instances, a manager who sees this co‐opted use of company intellectual property is likely to be upset.

Toward a Green Jobs Alternative: Examining the Politics of Internationalism and Labour Environmentalism in a Local Union Campaign

Industrial workers and their organizations are faced with two interrelated crises as the continued reorganization of production shutters plants and devastates communities while the existential threat of climate change grows. Addressing both crises at once often seems impossible. This article offers a critical analysis of a campaign by unionists and community allies to confront both crises at once, to see their shuttering auto plant taken over and retooled for socially useful production. The failure of the campaign to win its demands or build a critical mass of support within the union emphasizes the importance and difficulty of inspiring workers to imagine radical alternatives during times of crisis.

Using Union Materials to One's Advantage

In a union campaign, communications are essential. Some of the most formidable communications involve documents published by the union itself, as the union is unable to refute what it itself has authored. One of the most potentially useful publications to union‐free employers is the union's constitution. Such constitutions frequently contain rules and obligations that employees never become aware of. The constitutions also at times contradict what employees are being told by their union organizers. Many union constitutions are available for free through the U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Labor Management Standards website.

(Not) On Your Bike

Laos is a country of seven million people in Southeast Asia, with its largest urban centre having a population of just under one million people. At a time of rising inflation and growing awareness of climate change, this article investigates how urban residents travel, why people do and do not cycle in urban Laos, and how cycling is promoted and crucially, by whom. Drawing on interviews, survey data, and other participant observation, this paper notes that the number of bikes in Laos is increasing, and cycling for fitness is becoming more widespread, which can be linked to aspiration and conspicuous consumption, but that promotion of cycling is driven largely by outsiders as part of broader attempts to develop Laos according to their own agendas. This is demonstrated by a European Union campaign which encouraged people to commute by bike, which was largely unsuccessful in Laos. Keywords: cycling, Laos, mobilities, development, infrastructure, commuting

Discourses that undermine union movements: a multimodal analysis of union-busting videos

ABSTRACT Labor unions in the United States have experienced decades of decline, but recent years have seen a rebirth of union campaigns and successes. Because unions are once again becoming a threat to large companies, it is reasonable to assume that efforts to discourage organizing efforts will increase and become even more robust in the near future. Although traditionally, companies have worked to suspend union organizing through captive audience meetings in which unions were discussed via verbal or written modes, more recent means of reaching workers with anti-union messages incorporate a variety of communication strategies to get the message across. As such, this paper examines union-busting videos from six major US companies in order to assess how employers are harnessing the new communication possibilities afforded through film. Findings show three main discourses found in the videos: Unions are a Business, Unions are Restrictive, and Unions are a Threat. The paper undertakes a multimodal analysis to examine the ways new affordances are utilized to communicate these themes and to enhance an affective response in employees. Findings reveal messaging that drew most heavily on the affect of fear, which was used primarily to push employees to dread and ultimately reject a unionized workplace.

Cemex's Death Penalty for Campaign Violations

The recent decision by the NLRB in Cemex Construction Materials, 372 NLRB No. 130 (2023), referenced earlier, has reverberated throughout employers who are seeking to maintain union‐free status. A recent memorandum issued by the NLRB General Counsel, Jennifer Abruzzo, gives rise to even greater concern. NLRB General Counsel Memorandum 24‐01 (November 2, 2023). The stakes for legal compliance during union campaigns have been heightened to unprecedented levels.

Cemex's Early Casualties: A Warning for Union Campaigns

As mentioned in this edition of Management Report, the decision in Cemex Construction Materials, 372 NLRB No. 130 (2023) is one of the more significant in recent times. Given its retroactive effect, the case can unwittingly ensnare employers into union recognition. One recent example is found in an administrative law judge's decision in I.N.S.A., Inc., JD‐60‐23 (September 21, 2023).

The potential impact of the Fair Work Amendment (Secure Jobs, Better Pay) Act 2022 on collective bargaining in Australia: Reviewing the new multi-employer bargaining provisions and other measures to promote bargaining

2022 was a year of major change in the legal framework for industrial relations in Australia. Newly elected in May 2022, the Albanese ALP Government immediately commenced an ambitious reform agenda for labour relations, convening a National Jobs and Skills Summit in September 2022, and shortly thereafter achieving the passage of the Fair Work Legislation Amendment ( Secure Jobs, Better Pay) Act 2022 (SJBP Act). One central aim of the SJBP Act was to address shortcomings in the legal framework for collective bargaining found in the Fair Work Act 2009 (FW Act), and to this end, the amendments introduced new provisions for multi-employer bargaining, made changes to the agreement approval provisions and changed the bargaining landscape around intractable disputes. This article examines key aspects of the SJBP Act impacting collective bargaining in Australia. In particular, we consider the new provisions for multi-employer bargaining in the ‘Single Interest Employer Bargaining’ stream along with amendments of the FW Act relating to the commencement of bargaining for single-enterprise agreements, agreement-making using small voting cohorts, the resolution of intractable bargaining disputes, applications to terminate enterprise agreements, and the sunsetting of the so-called ‘zombie’ agreements. This analysis of the new legal provisions is situated in the context of recent union campaigns and bargaining disputes at various Australian employers, enabling us to explain the rationale for the amendments and assess their practical utility and limitations.

Court Injunctions Plague Union‐Free Efforts

The recent case of National Labor Relations Board v. HSA Cleaning, Inc., Civil Action No. 23‐2994 (D.N.J. July 6, 2023), demonstrates how legal compliance during union campaigns is an inexact science. In HSA, it was alleged that in March 2022, the cleaning contractor's employee, Luis Varela, spoke as a representative of coworkers to voice management concerns about, among other things, mistreatment by management and threats of termination. A few months later, union representatives met with Varela and others in an organizing effort. Thereafter, Varela became more involved in organizing activities, including discussion about circulating a petition to gather employee support for union representation.

From Taylorism to teams: organisational and institutional experimentation at France Télécom

In this article we examine work reorganisation in technician units at France Télécom (FT/Orange) following the social crisis associated with employee suicides in 2007–2009. As a result of trade union campaigns and changes in leadership, the company moved to a more collaborative model, relying on broadened skills and enhanced worker participation in decision-making. Drawing on the framework of organisational and institutional experimentation, we argue that the crisis provided an opportunity to shift from top-down, Taylorised practices to a high-involvement model based on multi-skilled teams. This new model fostered mutual gains for workers in terms of increased autonomy and broadened skills, and for the employer through improved efficiency and customer service. It was underpinned, however, by the strengthening of labour’s countervailing power following the social crisis, which encouraged and supported managers in prioritising psychosocial health as a key organisational objective.

Treaties for "offshoring" hospital treatment of Asian patients from Christmas Island, 1963-1985: a racist chapter in the history of Australian medical care.

Treaties for "offshoring" hospital treatment of Asian patients from Christmas Island, 1963-1985: a racist chapter in the history of Australian medical care.

The Tax Man Cometh? Probably Not, But the Footsteps Are Cause for Concern

Management Report for Nonunion OrganizationsVolume 46, Issue 6 p. 1-1 News The Tax Man Cometh? Probably Not, But the Footsteps Are Cause for Concern First published: 10 May 2023 https://doi.org/10.1002/mare.30964Read the full textAboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Abstract Sen. Bob Casey (D-Penn) recently announced the introduction of the “No Tax Breaks for Union Busting Act” that would seek to make business expenses related to union campaign activity nondeductible. According to a press release from Senator Casey, employers spend at least $340 million annually on matters pertaining to union campaigns. The actual amount, he says, is likely much higher. A similar bill was introduced in 2022 but gained little traction. The new bill is likely to suffer a similar fate in the hands of a near-evenly divided Senate and a Republican-controlled House. Volume46, Issue6June 2023Pages 1-1 RelatedInformation

A Matter of Moral Justice: Black Women Laundry Workers and the Fight for Justice

A Matter of Moral Justice: Black Women Laundry Workers and the Fight for Justice

Medical science an undervalued profession: Strengthening professional identity through union strategy

This paper examines the factors that have led to the undervaluing of the medical science profession and how a union can take a strategic approach to strengthen the professional identity of its membership to overcome challenges. We draw on interviews with union officials and managers and focus groups with medical scientists in four health services in Victoria, Australia. Drawing on the union strategy literature, we argue that professional identity is related in a recursive way to the attitudinal context and the narrative capabilities of the union. We found that first, many medical scientists believed that medical science was invisible and undervalued contributing to a weak professional identity due to underlying structural and institutional factors. Second, this has been exacerbated by the attitudinal context in which the profession has been subordinated to the other stronger professions of doctors and nurses. Third, we report the union is attempting to strengthen the professional identity of medical scientists through developing union campaigns with a narrative around work intensification and the critical nature of medical science work. Union strategy underpinned by union campaigns seeks to transform medical scientists’ attitudinal context by harnessing their sense of associational power through narrative capabilities to strengthen professional identity.

The Importance of Prompt Disciplinary Action During Union Campaigns

Matters of employee discipline are an unfortunate but necessary part of every employer's business affairs. Such concerns do not disappear in the face of organizing activity. To the contrary, legitimate disciplinary concerns can and do increase during union campaigns. Pro‐union supporters are often falsely told by organizers that they are immune from disciplinary action and, in turn, the employees engage in behaviors they would not otherwise entertain. Employers in such situations are frequently presented with a difficult disciplinary decision: either discipline a known pro‐union employee and withstand the likely unfair labor practice charge to follow, or tolerate the behavior as part of a more risk‐averse approach to disciplinary action. In either case, it is imperative for employers to act promptly as any delay can render an otherwise legitimate basis for discipline to be unpersuasive, as recently noted by the NLRB in Starbucks Corporation d/b/a Starbucks Coffee Company, 372 NLRB No. 50 (2023).

The Evolution of a Unionized Workforce

A union campaign and election, given the frenzy of activity in a compressed timeline, can sometimes seem more revolutionary than evolutionary. Unprepared employers are frequently overwhelmed by complicated legal rules, immediate involvement in government agency oversight, and a seemingly imminent sea change to the relationship with their workers. In truth, the emergence of a unionized workforce is anything but revolutionary. It is evolutionary in the most complete sense of the word.

Teamsters Local Unlawfully Threaten Employee

As part of any union campaign, it is important for employees to be advised as to exactly who are the representatives that are being asked to speak for them. On occasion, those representatives may not necessarily have the best interests of the employees at heart. One such example is found in International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Local 70 (United Parcel Service), 372 NLRB No. 198 (2022), in which the NLRB recently found a union representative to have unlawfully threatened an employee.

He who laughs last laughs the loudest: the 2021 donchi-kubeba (don’t tell) elections in Zambia

ABSTRACT Most Africanist scholars stress the importance of clientelism in determining electoral outcomes and patrimonialism and the use of force in enabling ruling parties to prolong their stay in power. This article, which draws upon various instances of participant observation and interviews regarding the 2021 elections in Zambia, contributes to the few studies that emphasise the limits of clientelism and patrimonialism in African politics and the agency of voters or subordinate groups to hold their leaders accountable. It does so by showing how Zambian voters sought to secure benefits from clientelist campaigns, patrimonial rule and trade union campaigns to win changes in state policies, publicly promising reciprocity and loyalty when under the gaze of the ruling party actors, only to vote them out of power.