[lbo-talk] Getting Fired for Not Making Trouble (An Appeal to the U.S. Antiwar Movement)

[jthorn65 at sbcglobal.net]

> John Thornton asks:
> 
> > How many workers get fired shortly after they begin approaching
> > their co-workers and asking about possible union support?
> 
> This AFL-CIO factsheet gives some of the numbers:
> 
> http://www.aflcio.org/aboutunions/joinunions/howjoin/employerinterference.cfm
> 
> As noted, some 25% of private-sector employers illegally fire at least one
> worker for union activity during an organizing campaign. This number comes
> from Kate Bronfenbrenner, I believe. Note that the number of employers who
> hire anti-union consultants is the mirror image, 75%. I think that this is
> hardly an accident. The consultants have figured out all kinds of ways to
> intimidate workers without the employer having to resort to obvious
> illegality or to fire workers outright.
> 
> My sense is that Yoshie is right about the relative protective value of
> being vocally pro-union. It is my understanding that when they do fire
> workers, employers in these campaigns are especially likely to fire "3s"
> (i.e., fence-sitters) rather than vocally pro-union people, not only because
> it has the requisite terror-inducing effect but because it is so much more
> difficult in those cases to prove that the employer fired the worker because
> of the union drive. And of course, even in cases where workers can prove
> that they were fired because of union activity, it could be many months
> before the NLRB orders them reinstated (with unemployment and any other
> income deducted from the backpay to which workers would otherwise be
> entitled!). And then employers -- particularly if the union drive fails -- 
> can always find an excuse to fire that person again.
> 
> But it's also true that the people who are most likely to be fired during a
> union drive are supervisors, whether these be people who show insufficient
> zeal in campaigning against the union, or "problem supervisors" that the
> boss fires to try to demonstrate to the workers that he's "fixing your
> problems."
> 
> 
> - - - - - - - - - -
> John Lacny
> http://www.johnlacny.com

But this still only tells the numbers of people fired AFTER a union drive 
begins. When we approached union officials we were asked how great 
was support for unionizing our workplace? We answered that we did not 
know. They advised us to go and "using discretion" find out if at least 
30% would be interested. They would not get involved unless they had 
some idea the level of support. They were not going to spend their time 
on a "wild goose chase" (their words) trying to organize workers who 
might have no interest just because three employees asked them to. 
This was in spite of the fact that since, in our respective jobs, we would 
have been the ones upper management would have counted on to to 
undermine the union drive, we felt that the odds were with us. It was 
during the time spent "discreetly" ascertaining the level of support that 
people were fired. Since officially no union drive was ongoing we are not 
included in Bronfenbrenners stats. Everyone fired had a management or 
supervisory roll in the workplace. If the union had been directly involved 
at that stage I believe the company would have been less like to act as 
they did. If the union had acted quickly since we had local managers 
and supervisors on board we could have pushed it through before the 
corporate office would have realized how precarious their position was.

I thought we got shitty advice from the union organizer but I couldn't 
grab him by the throat and force him to get involved. I understand their 
concern but really, we were given the shaft, first by the union, then by 
upper management. This same scenario has played itself out twice, 
either to myself or a close friend so asking me to believe that it is 
something less than prevalent among those who approach union 
officials is asking a bit much. Maybe most unions jump at the chance to 
get involved when any employee asks them to but my gut feeling is that 
what happened to me happens a thousand times a year across the 
country. There is simply no way to ascertain how often this happens. 
When I applied for unemployment the reason for my termination was not 
listed as trying to unionize our workplace. If I sound bitter and angry at 
the union it is because I am. I still believe strong unions are probably the 
best route to a better workplace for most employees though. I am not 
anti-union in spite of my belief that they shafted me.

John Thornton