Aftertastes

Union officials and many academics say it is extremely hard to organize private-sector workers because the playing field is in many ways tilted in favor of management. As I said earlier, when unionization elections are held, it is easy for employers to flood the field during the 40-day or 60-day campaign that precedes the election. Companies often require workers to attend one-on-one sessions, group sessions, watch videos, meet with their direct manager –- all to hear an antiunion message again and again. Generally union organizers are not allowed to set foot on company property, and often have to contact workers by phone or visiting their homes, putting them at a disadvantage in getting their message out. Many union officials see the playing field as so tilted that they have largely given up on unionizing private-sector workers, concluding that it is not worth the investment of energy or money. Union officials say companies too often intimidate workers into voting against the union by threatening to close the plant or by firing the two or three most active, most outspoken union supporters at the plant. In Chapter 13 of my book, “The Big Squeeze,” I write about the challenges unions face and I focus on a Florida nursing home worker, Marie Sylvain, who was fired (illegally, the courts ultimately ruled) after she took the lead in pushing for a union. It took four-and-a-half year for the courts to reinstate her, but by then the unionization drive was dead, the workers long ago intimidated. (via Answers About the Nation’s Labor Laws and Unions, Part 1 - NYTimes.com)