USA: HuffPost series explores the activities of labour consultants to reduce union membership, incl. threats & intimidation
In July 2023, the HuffPost released a series of articles on the role of US labour consultants, or ‘persuaders’, who earn considerably incomes to reduce union membership in companies across the country. The series analyses the labour consultancy industry, using data from various public record requests, including National Labor Board Hearing testimonies.
The first and second articles outline issues with two labour consultancy firms, the first focusing on the work of ‘Jack Black’s firm’ and the second on the ‘Labor Relations Institute’, a subcontracting firm that links employers with ‘persuaders’. The articles outline several unjust labour practices used by the firms, including:
- Concealing a ‘union-busting’ agenda between a façade of neutrality when speaking to workers;
- Threatening behaviour towards workers, such as ‘trailing’ employees as they work;
- Arbitrary dismissal and constructive discharges of pro-union workers, and threatening workers with layoffs;
- Rating workers on their union support and strategizing how best to make them anti-union;
- Holding mandatory anti-union ‘captive audience’ meetings with workers; and,
- Sharing and discussing personal details about workers’ lives.
The third article focuses specifically on the tactics used by labour consultants against migrant workers. The article notes organizing migrant workers is difficult due to language barriers, a lack of familiarity with US collective bargaining, and fear of deportation if migrant workers with undocumented status challenge their employer. The article alleges a number of problems with the labour consultants’ methods, including:
- Tailoring campaigns to specific demographic groups, such as creating flyers comparing unions with oppressive ‘dictators’ from Latin America;
- Naming some of the workers ‘illiterate’;
- Persuaders threatening migrant workers on their immigration status; and,
- Directly asking workers how they will vote.
[Unfair labor practice charges] are nice when you can actually get witnesses to come forward ... But when folks are being put in cages or deported regularly, they’re not going to come forward and give a statement on that stuff.Jeff Armstrong, Labour Organiser with the Service Employees International Union in California
The fourth article explores how union officials sometimes become labour consultants, suggesting this occurs due to a number of factors, including the better financial prospects. Finally, the fifth article explores how weak disclosure rules and compliance reduce the visibility of anti-union consulting. For example, consultants often fill their disclosure forms in late, or provide incomplete information. Employers also sometimes do not reveal how much employing the labour consultant cost them. This means workers often do not know whom their employer has hired or how much they have been paid.