Aligning Your Values With Your Labor Management Consultants

The Biden administration is expected to make substantial changes to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) and the Department of Labor (DOL). We can expect the unions and their allies to begin an all-out assault on companies, their law firms, and labor consulting firms.  

This assault has already started. Alleged recordings of captive audience meetings and notes created by members of labor consulting firms have emerged and are attracting attention in the media. They are being used to cast our industry in a poor light. In the coming months and years, we will see the NLRB and DOL use these and other revelations to justify inflicting additional administrative burdens on labor consulting firms to diminish the effectiveness of management educational campaigns in organizing drives.

Because of these attacks, it will be even more important for law firms and companies to take every opportunity to ensure that the labor consulting firms they work with have values that align with their values. In the consulting industry, there are multitudes of firms offering their services. So, it is crucial that you choose the right firm. You should not only look at a consulting firm’s success rate, but instead, you must probe deeper to ensure that they know and follow the law, and perhaps more importantly, that they share your values as well. I have worked with many clients that chose to engage multiple firms on the same campaign only to watch them later fire consultants from my competitors who had backgrounds, behaviors, and values that did not align with their own.  

At Diverse Workforce Consultants (DWC), we have found the best way to run a union avoidance campaign is by following some simple rules:

• First, always be entirely truthful when communicating with all levels of management and the workforce;

• Second, when you are educating employees about unions, refrain from utilizing incendiary language about the union that is attempting to organize the company;

• Third, assume you are always being recorded and never say anything that is 1) unlawful or, 2) that you would be ashamed of if it later surfaced outside of the campaign; and

• Lastly, if you respect even the hardcore union employees, you will earn the respect of all employees. 

You will find if you engage a firm that shares your values and runs lawful and respectful union-avoidance campaigns that you will have few to no Unfair Labor Practice (ULP) charges. You will also decrease the animosity between and among employees during the campaign, making it easier to move forward and bring the company together after a successful result. Additionally, your front-line leadership team is far more likely to engage in the campaign because it will maintain and oftentimes strengthen their relationships with the employees. Finally, you will significantly increase your chance of successfully winning the campaign. 

Unfortunately, there are many firms that do not share our values. Beware of the firms that lead with winning at any cost and immediately talk of win rates in organizing drives. While prior experience working with unions or work as a union organizer can be a plus, probe to see what else they would utilize in the campaign. You will be surprised at how many firms rely almost exclusively on this experience in educating employees. These firms use their prior experiences working inside unions to persuade employees that they do not need a union. This can be an effective part of a campaign but by itself, it is rarely enough to be successful in an organizing drive.

With the new rules and scrutiny that we can expect from the Biden administration, it will be even more important for your labor consultant to be lawful and able to connect with employees. It is also good practice to hire labor consultants that come from a corporate background, like Human Resources, Legal or Operations. Consultants with this background know the price paid with employers and the NLRB when consultants deviate from the corporate culture in exchange for a short-term edge in a campaign. The long-term costs always outweigh the short-term benefits. 

To help you determine whether a labor consulting firm shares your values, you should always look for these attributes: 

• Avoid firms that lead with how many campaigns they have won;

• Avoid firms that do not have material for you to review for content and tone;

• Avoid firms that want to run campaigns without your input and buy-in; and

• Look for firms that talk collaboration and development of leadership and           employees with the client

DWC is here to help, call or email us to discuss how we can assist you.