Recently in Organizing Category

Source: Ben Sachs, Harvard Law Review, Vol. 123, 2010

From the abstract:
The proposed Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA) has led to fierce debate over how best to ensure employees a choice on the question of unionization. The debate goes to the core of our federal system of labor law. Each of the potential legislative designs under consideration -- including both "card check" and "rapid elections" -- aims to enhance employee choice by minimizing or eliminating managerial involvement in the unionization process. The central question raised by EFCA, therefore, is whether enabling employees to limit or avoid managerial intervention in union campaigns is an appropriate goal for federal law.

This Article answers this foundational question in the affirmative. It reaches this conclusion by conceptualizing federal labor law in terms of legal default rules, drawing in particular on the preference-eliciting default theory of statutory interpretation and the reversible default theory from corporate law. Doing so leads to the argument that card check, rapid elections, and similar mechanisms are best understood as "asymmetry-correcting altering rules" -- means of mitigating the impediments that block departure from the nonunion default. Understanding EFCA in this way also requires that we ask how such an altering rule should be constructed. This Article addresses this institutional design question by arguing that card check's open decisionmaking process is flawed and that rapid elections, while an improvement over the status quo, are an insufficient method of mitigating the relevant impediments to employee choice. Accordingly, this Article offers two new designs -- alternatives to both card check and rapid elections -- that would accomplish the legitimate function of minimizing managerial intervention while at the same time preserving secrecy in decisionmaking.

Source: Carl Finamore, Talking Union Blog, February 13, 2010

There are lots of colorful self-help gurus making a pretty good living preaching their gospel of new-age techniques that just might turn around even our worst failures. But the Teamsters Union February 12 election victory to represent 7600 ground workers at Continental Airlines shows that good old-fashioned hard work might be making a comeback.

Several hundred union organizers fanned out across the country and knocked on doors in 24 cities in preparation for the vote. This time, Teamster volunteers did not limit themselves to the large Continental hubs in Cleveland, Houston and Newark as other unions had done in failed organizing efforts over the last 12 years.

Source: Matt Ewing, Journal of New Organizing, December 16, 2009

Regardless of your opinion on war, peace and various types of industrial complexes, there is a lot organizers can learn from the military. After all, these are people who spend every waking hour trying to figure out how to coordinate and lead huge numbers of folks through life-and-death situations.

One of the staples of the Army's management approach is the troop leadership procedure. They basically boiled down the best practices in creating and implementing tactical plans to 8 relatively simple steps. I've got an example of the 8 steps below (and you can read a more official version here).

Source: Teamster, Vol. 107 no.1, January/February 2010
(scroll down)

Their goal was in sight and nothing was going to deter these workers from what was rightfully theirs. They had worked hard for it, and finally, it was their turn. They were going to become a part of labor history-- they were going to become Teamsters. More than 1,700 bus workers with the Baumann transportation companies on Long Island are now the newest members of Local 1205, headquartered in Farmingdale, New York. This is a truly historic election, as only 26 certification election victories have taken place for bargaining units of 1,700 or more employees through the National Labor Relations Board in the past 20 years. This is one of those victories.

Source: Mark Brenner, Labor Notes, no. 371, February 2010
(subscription required)

A few unions are forcing new types of pattern bargaining onto the table. While service sector unions usually have limited themselves to setting standards within local labor markets, UNITE HERE is using its Hotel Workers Rising campaign to push for a sort of pattern in the major chains it has organized.
Related:
A Pattern of Retreat: The Decline of Pattern Bargaining
Source: Kim Moody, Labor Notes, no. 371, February 2010
(subscription required)

Source: Adam Kader, Labor Notes, December 3, 2009

To combat a wave of staggering illegality in low-wage and poorly regulated industries, a Chicago worker center has collaborated with a local university to create a map of law-breaking employers against which they have organized, giving workers and activists a powerful visual tool to bring to politicians and the community.

Source: Jane Wills, Labor Studies Journal, Vol. 34 no. 4, December 2009
(subscription required)

From the abstract:
This article argues that subcontracted employment is becoming paradigmatic. This form of employment has stark consequences for traditional models of trade union organization that focus on collective bargaining with the employer. The article highlights the need for subcontracted workers to put pressure on the "real employer" at the top of any contracting chain. Drawing on the lessons from community-union organizing efforts and, particularly, living wage campaigns, the article suggests that trade unions can effectively work with other social movements and allies in the community to secure the political leverage needed to change the terms and conditions of subcontracted employment. The article illustrates these arguments by exploring recent experience of the living wage campaign in London. The article draws on original research material from the Homerton Hospital and Queen Mary, University of London, to explore the progress of these living wage campaigns and their wider significance for labor organization.
See also:
Cracking the Subcontracting Shell Game
Source: Mark Brenner, Labor Notes, November 30, 2009

Source: William A. Herbert, Deputy Chair of New York State Public Employment Relations
Board (PERB), September 27, 2009

From the abstract:
During the debate over proposals in the Employee Free Choice Act to modify United States federal labor policy to reestablish an administrative procedure for the certification of unions without an election, it has been notable that New York's 50 year history and experience in the use of non-electoral certification procedures have been ignored. This article seeks to fill a void in the literature by examining New York's development and administration of non-electoral labor certifications. It seeks to demonstrate how experiences under state labor and employment law can provide important and relevant information to be considered when discussing changes to federal labor law. The article begins with an overview of New York public sector labor relations history prior to the establishment of collective bargaining rights. As part of that historical overview, it examines the development of informal employee organization representation, the codification of a prohibition against public sector strikes and the establishment of formal grievance procedures by public employers which were the precursors of de jure representational rights and collective negotiations. It then describes the largely untold story behind the development of New York City's collective bargaining system for municipal employees in which included a non-electoral certification procedure similar to that which existed under the Wagner Act. It then turns to the subsequent development and administration of certification without election procedures under New York's Public Employees' Fair Employment Act, the New York City Collective Bargaining Law and New York Labor Law.
See also:
Certification Without An Election: The New York Experience
Source: William A. Herbert, New York University School of Law, 62nd Annual Conference on Labor, 2009

Source: International Labor Rights Forum, 2009

Workers around the world, however, face systematic barriers to organizing, including egregious acts of violence and intimidation. According to the International Trade Union Confederation's Annual Survey, at least 76 labor activists were killed as a result of their actions defending workers' rights worldwide in 2008. Thousands of workers were physically and verbally harassed, arrested and abducted for their involvement with unions as they continue to be denied their fundamental, internationally recognized right to freedom of association and collective bargaining. In light of the disturbing state of workplace rights worldwide, ILRF has created this guide to understanding one of the human rights most widely violated in the workplace: the right to associate freely around the world. Only when this right is in place can we say workers enjoy freedom at work.

The Freedom at Work toolkit is designed for audiences that may not be familiar with the global labor movement and organizing struggles. The first section outlines why defending the right to organize can help empower working women, end trafficking, curb forced and child labor, defend the rights of migrants, and protect consumers. The second section explains why worker rights are an essential component of human rights. The last section presents a series of case studies of violations of the right to organize from around the world. These case studies also include success stories of workers who have joined together despite facing many barriers. Finally, you will find a glossary, a web resource guide and a "what you can do" section that will allow you to translate what you have learned into concrete action in support of workers.

Source: Jane Slaughter, Labor Notes, no. 366, September 2009

Rumors circulated at the AFL-CIO convention about a possible deal on the Employee Free Choice Act. President Obama showed up to put delegates' fears to rest, but labor's cherished bill is still in limbo. One thing is for sure: organizing will go on whether EFCA passes or not. What do veteran organizers say needs to happen now?