“Union busting is disgusting,” goes the old refrain. Unfortunately, it’s also commonplace, and anyone who’s organizing their workplace should expect to face some level of resistance from management. Here at EWOC, we’re offering a primer on the basic anatomy of a union-busting campaign. When organizing workers know what to expect — and how to prepare — they can stand firm, foster solidarity and hope with their co-workers, and emerge victorious.
What is union busting?
Union busting is a collection of tactics that management deploys to undermine workers’ efforts to unionize. These tactics take many forms, which we’ve organized into a few major categories below. One thing they all share is plausible deniability. The boss will never say, “We’re doing this to destroy the union.” Instead, they’ll have a false pretext for doing and saying things that create division, scare people, and penalize pro-union workers. Part of what makes union busting so nasty is that it’s insidious. Management will frame it as looking out for their workers’ best interests, even though it’s precisely the opposite.
Is union busting illegal?
Some union-busting tactics are illegal while others aren’t (and what’s illegal has changed a lot over time), but all of them are deeply unethical and creepy as hell. The Wagner Act protects private-sector workers’ right to unionize. It explicitly states that it’s against the law to threaten, fire, or discriminate against workers for unionizing, and, on the flip side, it’s illegal to reward workers for opposing unions. Unfortunately, that doesn’t stop a lot of companies from doing it.
What are some examples of union busting?
Union busting is commonplace, but the silver lining here is that it’s also predictable. Employers are pulling from an old-school union-busting playbook that hasn’t changed much in the past century. Typically, as soon as management smells unions in the air, they’ll enlist a “union avoidance consultant,” a.k.a. a paid union buster, to advise them on how to fight the union drive. The union buster will give them a bunch of canned talking points, which means that workers can prepare for what’s coming.
EWOC’s video, “Inoculation and the Boss Campaign,” is a great way to get familiar with the union buster’s playbook. Led by seasoned organizers Terry Davis and Diego Ramirez, it explains the most common union-busting tactics, and, crucially, how to prepare. This process is called “inoculation.” Much like a vaccine, by exposing your co-workers to little doses of union-busting rhetoric in advance, you can help protect them from feeling misled, frightened, or discouraged once the union drive is underway. “Inoculation is your strongest tool against union busting,” says Ramirez. Think of it as putting on armor before wading into battle.
Union busting is often a mix of employers playing naughty and nice, good cop and bad cop. They’ll use a variety of tactics, which can escalate in severity as the union drive progresses and the election nears. So, let’s take a closer look at the ugly mug of the typical union-busting campaign. Here are some of the most common tactics to look out for, and how to prepare.
Union-Busting Tactic #1: Captive Audience Meetings
What it looks like
Management holds meetings in which they expose workers to anti-union talking points. Management can also prohibit pro-union employees from attending and present counter arguments, and they’ll accuse those who speak up of being “disruptive” or “negative.” The goal of these meetings is to turn people against unions, usually by scaring them or implying that unions are evil, but management won’t say that, of course. Instead, they’ll claim to be providing “all of the facts” so that workers can make “an informed decision.” These meetings used to be illegal, precisely because they are so effective at frightening employees and unfairly swaying the results of a union election.
What you might hear
- “A union is a third party.”
- “We’re not against unions, but we don’t need one.”
- “They’ll make you go on strike.”
- “You’ll get dues deducted from your paycheck.”
- “There’s no guarantee you’ll make more money.”
- “We might have to close.”
Real-world example
In a meeting for employees of a Google Fiber contractor, a paid union buster made the misleading claim that having a union means involving a third party. Workers immediately fired back, “We are the union.” Realizing that his “third party” talking point was going nowhere, the union buster pivoted to making thinly veiled threats that the company might have to close. Again, the workers called him out and made their support for the union clear. This story has a happy ending: these workers successfully unionized under the Alphabet Workers Union in 2022.
How to prepare
Don’t let management control the narrative, says Davis. Make sure that in every meeting, you have strong union supporters who are prepared to say something so that it’s not just the boss and the union busters talking. Remind people that the union is you, not an outsider. You might be surprised by how quickly you can derail their arguments just by being honest. “The boss really doesn’t know much about the union,” says Davis. “They’ve just gotten the talking points.” If you challenge them, they might struggle to formulate a response, revealing the hollowness of their claims.
One way to prepare for these meetings is by creating your own version of union-busting bingo. Get familiar with these messages in advance and how to respond. You can even have workers attend the meeting with their bingo cards in hand. It’s a great way to demonstrate just how calculated these talking points are. You’ll be amazed at how many people emerge from the meeting with full bingo cards.
Union-Busting Tactic 2: One-on-Ones
What it looks like
Management pulls people aside to speak to them one-on-one. Unlike the captive audience meeting, this gives the boss a chance to isolate individuals so they lose the backing of the group and feel less confident. Management often targets undecided workers in order to sway them against unions. They might engage in sweet talk, spread false rumors, or flat-out lie. Without witnesses, what’s to stop them? If they’re feeling bold and willing to break the law, they might dangle rewards for opposing the union (e.g., promotions and wage increases) or invoke scary consequences of unionization (e.g., strikes, job loss, and forced closing). Of course, it’s illegal to dispense rewards and punishments based on a worker’s position on unions, but it happens.
The goal of singling people out is simple: break apart the group and drain its collective power. “They’re trying to chip away at your majority, worker-by-worker,” says Davis. Sometimes just telling someone that they’re being watched is enough to scare them away from the organizing drive.
What you might hear
Sweet talk
- “I’m here for you.”
- “We’re a family.”
- “We’ve always gotten along. Don’t let a union come between us.”
- “We would give you benefits if we could, but we can’t afford it.”
- “We appreciate all the work you do.”
Scary stuff
- “If you get union benefits, we’re going to have to take away other things.”
- “There’s no guarantee that you’ll be able to hold onto the benefits you have.”
- “You won’t be able to [transfer/call out of work/do a thing you care about].”
- “We know it’s you who’s getting people worked up.”
- “You’re getting written up and could lose your job.”
Real-world example
Amazon has done all kinds of deplorable things to fight unionization, including one-on-ones. As one example, 11 Amazon workers reported to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) that their managers pulled them aside individually and told them they were writing them up for tabling to encourage union sign-ups. “I’m kind of scared I could lose my job,” said Jordan Quinn, one of the organizers who was reprimanded, in an interview with ABC News. “That’s the whole thing about intimidation. They want to scare us so we back down.”
How to prepare
Have responses ready, says Ramirez. If you see a management pull a co-worker into a one-on-one — for example, if a supervisor is hanging around their workstation and talking a lot — follow up with them afterward. Talk to them and bring them back to reality. Management often gives people misinformation, so this is a chance to dispel it and explain why it’s not true. Honesty is the best policy: show your co-workers that the union movement is about telling the truth, and management’s lies will be their undoing.
Through inoculation, you can prepare workers for these one-on-ones in advance. When you debrief with them afterwards, says Davis, you can remind them: “This is what we’re talking about. It’ll all be over shortly, but you have to be strong.”
The second thing you should do is document everything. For each shady thing management does, you can file an unfair labor practice (ULP) charge with the NLRB. The National Labor Relations Act allows employees to secretly record their conversations with managers when they relate to organizing activities, and these recordings can be used as proof of managers’ overreach. If the offense is severe enough, the NLRB might be willing to immediately issue a bargaining order, which requires the company to bargain with the union even without a union election. This is thanks to new legislation that emerged from the Cemex Decision.
Union-Busting Tactic 3: Weaponizing Feelings and Relationships
What it looks like
We all make friends at work, and sometimes we’re friendly with our managers, too. During a union-busting campaign, management can cynically weaponize these bonds to undermine the union drive. They might play nice and buy everyone gifts or throw a pizza party (“See? We’re all friends here!”). If you’re part of the organizing drive, they might suggest that you’re doing grave harm to your relationships by being “divisive” or “confrontational.” Management might accuse you of ruining the supposedly happy-go-lucky workplace culture, simply because you want to help make it better.
Additionally, if your line of work benefits society, such as teaching or social work, management might use your passion for the job as a reason why you shouldn’t expect more. They might invoke the need to “make sacrifices” or the fact that “no one gets into this line of work to get rich.” Of course, you can’t pay your bills with purpose and passion, but management will carry on as if you should.
What you might hear
- “I’m hurt that you’re doing this.” [Boss starts crying.]
- “We all have to work together when this is over.”
- “I thought we had a good thing going here.”
- “If you unionize, [your favorite co-worker] won’t get a promotion/raise. Think about your friends.”
- “We all have to make sacrifices for the good of the people we serve.”
- “No one gets into this business to become a millionaire.”
Real-world example
In 2021, during the run-up to a union election, billionaire Starbucks founder Howard Schultz stood before his workers and recounted a sob story about growing up poor. He described a scenario in which Holocaust prisoners elected to share their blankets, which he said he “threaded into” the essence of Starbucks. Meanwhile, under his leadership, Starbucks was union-busting the hell out of its stores while paying its workers just $14 per hour on average, less than the living wage. Through his tearjerker of a speech, Schultz hoped that telling workers to share their metaphorical blankets would dissuade them from unionizing, but he miscalculated. People thought it was ridiculous, and it’s bound to go down in history as one of the most bizarre union-busting speeches of all time.
How to prepare
It’s important to remind yourself — and your co-workers — that wanting a union doesn’t make you a big ol’ meanie pants or a selfish blanket-hogger. Nor does it mean you lack passion for your job. Quite the opposite — forming a union is a sign that you’re invested in your work and you care deeply about your co-workers. That’s the whole reason you’re pushing for improvements!
When management invokes feelings, touching anecdotes, and lofty ideals, remind your co-workers that this isn’t about them or their feelings. It’s about the issues. Bring it back to the problems that everyone agrees need to be solved, like better pay, more control over scheduling, a fair system for handling sexual harassment, a grievance procedure for when employees are disciplined, or a contract that enshrines these policies and holds management accountable. Keep it about the issues, and management’s touchy-feely techniques will lose much of their power.
Union-Busting Tactic 4: Concessions and Favors
What it looks like
Management starts making small, easy concessions to placate workers without changing the underlying power dynamic. For example, the boss performs a token gesture, like bringing employees ice water on a hot day instead of installing A/C or handing out gift cards instead of increasing wages. These concessions might also include increased time off, better scheduling, or solving the most urgent problem in the workplace that has employees agitated, such as a safety issue.
Another example is the formation of a quality assurance group, committee, or task force. “We’re listening,” is the message here. On its surface, this seems like a step forward, but it’s often just a stalling tactic. A task force is “where solutions go to die,” says Tristan Bock-Hughes, a veteran organizer and EWOC volunteer.
What you might hear
- “Our door is open.”
- “We’re listening.”
- “Let’s continue the conversation.”
- “We’re doing our best.”
- “Here’s a little gift to show you I care.”
- “We installed a new coffee maker.”
- “Surprise! Drinks are on us!”
Real-world example
Colleen Quilty, an organizer with UNITE HERE, tells a darkly hilarious story about organizing her workplace and seeing management give her co-workers a concession. This concession came in the form of — wait for it — a box of crayons. “It was like, ‘I don’t have a lot of money, but it’s the holiday season, so … we thought we could give you crayons.’ That happened all the time.”
How to prepare
Don’t let a box of crayons, a surprise happy hour, or a meaningless task force derail your attempts to exert collective power to solve genuine, longstanding problems in your workplace. Help your co-workers see through these empty gestures. The boss can build you up and make you feel warm and fuzzy, but at the end of the day, they’re still exploiting you. You don’t need a pat on the head; you need a say in how the workplace runs. And if crayons are actually important to you, you can always write them into your union contract.
Union-Busting Tactic 5: Down and Dirty Attacks
What it looks like
These direct attacks are perhaps the scariest of all union-busting tactics, which makes it even more important for your co-workers to prepare. These attacks involve isolating, disciplining, or firing union activists, always with a bullshit pretext. In many cases, management starts enforcing rules that they ignored before, cracking down on small infractions. Suddenly they strictly enforce the dress code or reprimand employees for being just a few minutes late. Workers who are openly pro-union bear the brunt of this crackdown. They feel surveilled and harassed, worried that management could fire them for the slightest mistake. In some cases, management makes up new rules or recasts behavior that it previously encouraged as misbehavior deserving of punishment.
In some extreme cases, the company might choose to close down stores with union activity, thereby dispersing union supporters. All of the activities described in this section are illegal. But because the fines for such behavior are minimal at best, some businesses feel emboldened to break the law.
What you might hear
- “We’re firing [union supporter] because they’re a bad worker.”
- “They’re being disciplined because they broke the rules.”
- “I don’t make the rules — I just enforce them.”
- “Pro-union employees are bullying people.”
- “If you hate it here so much, why don’t you go work somewhere else?”
Real-world example
Trader Joe’s United, the workers’ union, alleges that this kind of misbehavior is happening right now to its members. The union president, Jamie Edwards, says management disciplined them after they gave a customer an item for free, a common practice at Trader Joe’s stores. Instead of praising them for excellent customer service, they wrote up Edwards as if they had stolen from the store. The union is opposing this as a form of targeted harassment.
How to prepare
Since you can’t always predict how management will use the rules against you, as evidenced by the Trader Joe’s example, you need to prepare for this brutally unjust scenario. When bosses unfairly target your co-workers, or, in the worst case, fired, it’s important that you join forces to stand up for them. Create a public petition. Email your supporters. Picket the store. There are lots of ways to rally behind workers who are bullied. “The thing that will save you is your solidarity with your fellow workers,” says Davis. “You want to, at all times, keep your positive campaign front and center.”
Targeted harassment is awful, but it can also be galvanizing for the union drive. Spotlighting the injustice of these attacks could, in turn, encourage more of your co-workers to realize just why a union is necessary — it could help protect against these abuses of power.
For legal recourse, it’s smart to document all instances of these abuses and report them to the NLRB. They can get employees reinstated with back pay if they determine that the employees were illegally fired for union activity, though admittedly this process can take years.
Union-Busting Tactic 6: Sowing Fear and Division
What it looks like
As election day approaches, the atmosphere gets more frenzied, and management may accuse organizers of causing conflict, says Ramirez. In reality, management is the one heightening the tension. “They want there to be conflict, and that’s part of their overall union-busting scheme,” says Ramirez. This way, management can point to the union and say, “They’re causing this. Vote no, and you won’t have to deal with this anymore.”
Management will sow fear and division in a variety of ways. They might enlist employees to do their dirty work by spreading anti-union messages. They might make one person their “pet” and ask them to report back about where everyone stands. Through displays of favoritism, the boss can undercut the unity and power of the group. As the saying goes, “United we bargain. Divided we beg.”
Real-world example
Examples of sowing fear and division can range from the more obvious fearmongering to absurd claims that pit workers against each other. EWOC heard from one organizer of UAW workers who said that as election day approached, the boss said that “a vote for the union is a vote for Biden.” This was a shameless attempt to divide people along political lines, and luckily, it didn’t work.
How to prepare
Prepare people for the last-minute frenzy. Bring it back to the issues: fair treatment, wage increases, benefits, scheduling — whatever it is they’re fighting for. Help build a barrier between your co-workers and those who might try to dissuade them at the last minute, says Ramirez. The discomfort and heightened emotions can cloud their judgment and get in the way of what they really believe.
As an added confidence boost, get people together the day before the election. Have a pizza party and get people psyched up. “Fight fear with solidarity and fun,” says Ramirez. Tell them that whatever management is doing, they’re doing to beat the union, so everyone has to hold strong.
And when management says silly things like, “A vote for the union is a vote for Biden,” use it to rile up your co-workers. “Can you believe what they just said?” Point out the manipulation that’s baked into union busting, and you can turn management’s underhanded tactics against them, jiu jitsu-style.
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Photo: Amazon Workers at NLRB by Joe Piette • CC BY-SA 2.0
