So you’re an HR or facilities manager and you learn that your employees are organizing a union and, worse, demanding recognition and bargaining. What to do? Before you frantically contact your friendly but uber-expensive management labor lawyer, read this.
But first, what’s a labor union? You’d be surprised how few managers who should know better actually understand what a union is and what it does. So let me explain. In simplest terms, a union is an agent chosen by a majority of employees to represent them in collective bargaining over their wages, hours, and working conditions. That bargaining often leads to a collective bargaining agreement that specifies those terms. That’s essentially it.
Thus your employees are seeking an agent, the labor union, to collectively represent them regarding their work. The collective aspect makes it different than, say, one or more individual employees knocking on your door seeking a raise or more vacation. What a union seeks and obtains in any collective bargaining agreement generally applies to everyone covered by it. (That’s not to say the agreement cannot make distinctions amongst the covered employees, e.g. different wage rates, most do).
When presented with a demand to recognize and bargain, there’s a very simple rule adopted by the National Labor Relations Board, the government agency that deals with these things. If a majority of employees support the demand, you can either (1) agree to recognize and begin bargaining, or (2) file an election petition with the Board to test the claim of majority support. Assuming no quirky issues as to who should participate, the Board will quickly schedule an election. But if you fail to do either, or worse, commit what the Board considers an unfair labor practice such as threatening reprisals or firing the principal union supporters, the Board will order you to recognize and bargain with the union.
Sometimes, the union seeking recognition will file its own election petition. The same rule and choices apply, except now an employer that chooses to have an election doesn’t have to file a petition as the Board will process the union’s petition to an election. Again, beware of committing any unfair labor practices while the election is pending as that will result in dismissal of the petition and a bargaining order.
An enlightened employer, also including those desiring to avoid the absurdly high fees of those “union avoidance” labor lawyers, will practically choose to recognize the union. The wise employer will also seek proof that the union does, in fact, represent a majority. This is often accomplished by mutually choosing a neutral person, e.g. a member of the clergy, a professor, or any trusted person, to review the union’s proof, usually in the form of authorization cards or a petition signed by a majority of the employees. Once a majority is demonstrated, you’re good to go directly to bargaining.
If you’re still concerned or confused, just remember to hold on to your wallet when you make that call to the lawyers.