The cafeteria workers who serve up soup and sandwiches in the glitzy Wall Street headquarters of Salomon Smith Barney decided more
than a year ago they wanted to form a union. Concerned about lack of job security and inadequate health insurance—the workers had to contribute roughly one-sixth of their take-home pay for family coverage—it didn't take
long for an overwhelming majority of the 56 employees to sign a petition asking for representation by Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees (HERE) Local 100. But as soon as they did, the cooks, cashiers, and
dishwashers instantly became the targets of harassment and intimidation by Aramark, Smith Barney's food service subcontractor. Workers who tried to exercise their right to organize a union were retaliated against,
transferred, and even fired.It's a familiar story. By law, employers may not interfere in a decision that belongs exclusively to employees. But, in practice, it happens all the time. Today's labor laws are slanted so
heavily in favor of employers that the right to form a union — which is recognized around the world as a basic human right — has all but disappeared from the American workplace. For the Smith Barney cafeteria workers,
as for millions of other workers who have endured daily punishment and pressure from their employers to prevent them from organizing, the National Labor Relations Board offered little protection.
This story doesn't
have a typical ending, however. Recognizing that the law wouldn't allow them a level playing field, the cafeteria workers enlarged the field. They turned to the larger community for help, and the community responded.
Local religious leaders wrote to the company asking for an explanation of their refusal to recognize the union. Community supporters staged demonstrations on behalf of the workers. Delegations visited Smith Barney
branch offices. And four members of the New York Workers' Rights Board—one of a dozen such community-run groups founded by Jobs with Justice coalitions around the country — convened a fact-finding hearing at a local
church.
Before an audience of 200 people, workers testified to illegal firings and transfers and other reprisals. The panel—which included New York City Council Member Kathryn Freed and several religious and
community leaders—also heard about an internal memo in which Aramark admitted that it would be ready for an NLRB election only after it had fired one outspoken union advocate and illegally transferred two others.
Experts explained also that even if workers were able to clear the hurdle of an NLRB election, Aramark could then drag out the legal process of bargaining for years.
The panel quickly concluded that workers' rights
had been violated and recommended a swift and fair procedure for verifying the workers' choice to unionize—a card check overseen by a neutral third party. Reeling from the public scrutiny, Smith Barney agreed.
Making Injustice Visible
The Smith Barney cafeteria workers are just one example of a growing movement to involve the community in union
organizing struggles. In Buffalo, after religious leaders participated in
worship services and picket lines and community leaders met with the CEO, workers at a hospital who had been fired for union activity were reinstated. In Wisconsin, after teachers at Waukesa Technical College convened a
community forum focusing on the college's use of public funds to block their efforts to form a union, the school dropped its high-priced anti-union consulting firm. In Los Angeles, after state senator Tom Hayden and
other elected officials oversaw a community hearing on the efforts to form a union by janitors at the University of Southern California, public support helped convince the university and its contractor to respect the
janitors' decision.
Such initiatives are at the heart of a broad new effort by the AFL-CIO to restore the right to organize by shining a light on the secret war happening in workplaces across America.
Our strategy
is threefold: First, at a time when most people know little about unions and what they do, we must reintroduce America to its union movement. We must demonstrate the role that unions play in addressing working families'
needs and in giving them a voice on the job and in the economy. Through media events, published reports, speakers' bureaus, and letters to the editor, we can generate positive publicity about unions and how they make
life better for working families.
Second, to make it easier for workers to join unions, we must make injustice visible. We must expose and stigmatize employers who refuse to respect the choices of their employees, and
make rabidly anti-union intimidation campaigns unacceptable in our communities. Around the country, we're holding hearings and other public forums, involving community leaders in fact-finding delegations, and staging
actions to draw attention to the war in the workplace. In Mississippi, for example, the Laborers union invited a reporter inside a campaign at a poultry plant, offering the public a first-hand view of the kind of war
workers face when they join together. At the fire station in Winslow, Maine, hundreds of members of the community attended a public speak-out in which workers from Crowe Rope told of being fired for attempting to join
together in a union. Their stories were carried to thousands of people through the news media and area congregations. And in Houston, workers and union leaders spent one full day traveling by bus to visit five employers
that ignored the choice of their employees to form a union and present them with No Justice Here awards. They also presented a Justice Is Here award to Kroger for supporting California's strawberry workers.
Finally,
we must mobilize current members and build new community alliances, with the moral and political strength necessary to restore America's freedoms and democracy to the workplace. In community after community, we're
asking people of good will to stand together with workers who are struggling to organize unions. As a result, elected officials and clergy members are forming fact-finding delegations and holding hearings. Civil rights,
women's, and community group leaders are participating in Workers' Rights Boards and monitoring community-run union elections. Friends and neighbors are writing letters and making phone calls asking employers to abide
by fair rules in the workplace. Consumers, parents, and community advocates are urging employers to abandon the war and respect the choices of their employees.
In the short term, with the above strategy, we can make
it easier for employees to form unions by curtailing employer interference in workers' decisions. When their misconduct is brought out into the open, many employers will back away from the worst of their shameful
tactics. But the strategy also is geared toward the long term.
When Americans can clearly see injustice, change happens. After pictures of Bull Conner's dogs attacking peaceful demonstrators were piped into living
rooms across the nation, civil rights legislation was passed. When students erected mock shanty towns on campuses nationwide, America protested apartheid. When the media publicized the huge barges loaded with trash
circling the Atlantic coast in search of dump sites, the environment became a top priority.
By throwing open the doors on what has traditionally been a secret—the intimidation campaigns, scare tactics, and legal
maneuvers used by employers to suppress organizing drives—we can draw attention to the fundamental flaws in our legal system and the violation of America's basic values and rights taking place every day and in every
community. And by reaching out to the community and mobilizing allies—neighbors, consumers, women's and civil rights groups, and political, religious and community leaders — we can build a foundation for enacting legal
reforms that will once again guarantee workers the right to freely organize unions to improve their lives.
Enlarging the Playing Field
In some ways, a strategy involving community outreach and publicity
represents a departure from conventional attitudes about organizing and what it takes to win.
For one thing, many unions traditionally have believed that organizing is a private matter, and that any publicity
surrounding employer scare tactics aimed at preventing workers from forming a union would make others more reluctant in the future. Why put a fired worker on TV? organizers would ask. Then no one else will sign a union
card.
Today, growing numbers of unions are breaking that pact of silence. When Charlie Remington, an active union supporter, was fired from his job at Rogers Foam in Somerville, Massachusetts, UNITE (Union of
Needletrades, Industrial, and Textile Employees) filed an unfair labor practice charge by having 40 people deliver the complaint and holding a press conference at the regional NLRB office. Immediately thereafter, 400
union members and community supporters turned out for a rally at the plant. As a result, Remington was offered his job back—a much-needed victory in the eyes of the other workers.
Many organizers also questioned
whether the community could have any bearing on the outcome of an election in which the workers are the ones who ultimately mark ballots yes or no. Organizers have long felt that precious time and resources should be
focused solely on solidifying strength among workers and preparing them to weather the vicious anti-union attacks.
But that opinion has changed radically in recent years. Union organizers have discovered that when
members of the community get involved, they help workers win unions in two ways. First, they help by reassuring workers—who often feel isolated and powerless—that the community stands behind them. That was the case in
Cincinnati, where Laidlaw schoolbus drivers and other employees who had tried to organize a union in the past had seen their efforts defeated by an intense intimidation campaign. This year, when they filed for another
union election, the Amalgamated Transit Union and the Cincinnati central labor council sought the help of the community. Teachers wrote a letter to the school board and encouraged drivers to vote for the union. Local
religious leaders and city council members wrote letters to the employer asking it to respect the workers' right to a free and fair election. And three days before the vote, hundreds of community supporters and union
members turned out for a massive rally outside one garage. "There were about 40 workers who wouldn't ever even take a leaflet because they were so scared," said Carolyn Hummins, an employee at the garage. "But they went
right up to the gate that day and listened to what all those people had to say." On election day, a majority of the workers voted for the union.
Community residents and leaders can also help by using their influence
to insist that employers respect the free choice to form a union. In New Haven, for example, an alliance of community groups intervened when the new Omni hotel tried to back out of an agreement to remain neutral while
employees considered forming a union. Last December, as the Omni was preparing for its grand opening, community leaders convinced the New Haven Municipal Services Committee to hold a hearing. There, religious
leaders—members of Elm City Churches Organized (ECCO)—spoke of the moral obligations of a company to a community. Workers described the war that occurs when employers refuse to abide by a neutrality agreement. The NAACP
testified that Omni hiring practices kept people of color in back of the house jobs. During the month that followed, students and supporters staged weekly picket lines. ECCO announced its intention to initiate a
boycott. Concerned groups canceled scheduled events at the hotel. Finally, the mayor agreed to mediate the dispute. It took one meeting: the Omni agreed to neutrality and card check recognition of HERE. As NAACP
President Roger Vann put it, the Omni "finally came to the table as a good neighbor."
Building Lasting Relationships
Why are communities willing to get involved in organizing struggles? One reason is that
unions are the best way to close the widening income gap between the very wealthy and the rest of us. Union wages and benefits lift living standards for everyone in a community. They make paychecks for women and people
of color more equal to those of white males. They create good jobs and generate purchasing power, which give local economies a boost and help develop a tax base to pay for public services, safety, libraries, and
schools. They also give working families a way to make corporations act more responsibly—by paying a living wage, providing adequate health care and retirement benefits, and abiding by equal pay, job safety, and
environmental laws.
As Joan Malone, a former nun who now directs the Coalition for Economic Justice/Jobs with Justice in Buffalo, put it: "What happens to workers happens to the community." That's a lesson Buffalo
religious, union, and community groups learned more than ten years ago, when they joined forces to keep a local employer and 1,100 jobs from moving to the Mexico-Texas border. Over time, the union and community groups
built permanent relationships, and the coalition grew in size and stature. Today, when the coalition shines a light on employer misconduct, elected leaders, the media, government agencies, and business groups take it
seriously.
When Angelica Laundry in New Haven resisted its employees' organizing efforts by launching a hostile anti-union campaign featuring threats and captive audience meetings, the community coalition questioned
and stigmatized the employer's behavior—so much so that community supporters turned out for a massive protest that shut down the plant. On election day, 95 percent of the workers voted for the Teamsters.
Active
labor-community coalitions such as those in New Haven and Buffalo are alive and well in dozens of cities all across America. These coalitions didn't develop overnight. Spawned by Jobs with Justice, the National
Interfaith Committee for Worker Justice, AFL-CIO central labor councils, and other community and labor organizations, the coalitions were built over time and over many campaigns. Building permanent, lasting
relationships is a long-term process, focusing on mutual goals and support. Such relationships grow from the recognition that workers who are union members are also part of a larger community—they are voters, parents,
neighbors, and members of congregations and other constituencies.
No two communities are alike. Some have large and active coalitions, civil rights groups, religious councils, and advocacy organizations, many of
which have a history of working with unions in the community. Others have a limited tradition of community organizing and mobilization. But every community has congregations, political leaders, organizations, and people
of good will—people who care about the quality of life for working families in their communities, and who can be brought into the fold if we ask them.
One such community is Greensboro, North Carolina, which rallied
behind the workers at the local K-mart distribution center who had voted for representation by UNITE in an NLRB election, but who were struggling to win a first contract. For these workers, the issues were equality and
economic justice. The African American workforce made an average of $4 an hour less than the workers at K-mart's mostly white facilities.
The workers formed a close alliance with the Pulpit Forum, a local ministerial
group, which brought a moral authority to their struggle. Standing in front of the same Woolworth's lunch counter where more than 30 years earlier black college students had staged a historic sit-in, the Pulpit Forum
announced a local boycott of the K-mart stores. "Whether it's harassment in the workplace or unfair wages, it is a community issue and the community must decide what its standards are," said Reverend Gregory Headen.
Several months later, on Martin Luther King, Jr.'s birthday, the ministers joined the workers and community in a nonviolent act of civil disobedience at a Super K-mart store.
After three years and many marches, town
forums, and arrests, the K-mart workers won their union contract and brought their pay up to par with their counterparts'. Yet the workers' relationship with the Pulpit Forum didn't end. Most recently, UNITE backed the
Pulpit Forum's attempt to get more resources for the public schools, and participated in a statewide march to protest racist prison sentences. In turn, the ministers supported the union's organizing efforts by speaking
to workers at a Serta mattress factory.
Reaching Out to Natural Allies
Because they have many working people within their congregations, and because they care deeply about issues of dignity and economic
justice, many religious leaders are actively involved in the struggle to restore the right to organize.
In Las Vegas, for instance, a group of ministers, priests, and rabbis formed the Interfaith Council for Worker
Justice, which recently sent a fact-finding delegation to look into poor working conditions in the building trades industries, and investigate allegations that workers who support unions are subject to threats and
retaliation. Their efforts helped give 70 workers at White Eagle Concrete a chance to form a union without interference from their employer. The council won a promise from the company that it would remain neutral and
respect the workers' decision when a majority had signed cards.
Increasingly, workers who are trying to organize are enlisting support from consumers as well. At Frances House, a home for the mentally disabled in
Illinois, caregivers who wanted to organize with AFSCME first reached out to the union's existing network of political and community supporters. The union also realized, however, that the workers' most effective allies
would be the families of residents in the home. "We knew there was a link between relatives of patients and caregivers that was stronger than any contact with or loyalty to the home owners", said Tracey Abman, Council
31's organizing director.
The families didn't know much about unions, and—keenly aware of the shortage of mental health care beds in Illinois—feared for their loved ones. But AFSCME was able to overcome the fear by
creating avenues for family members to air their concerns and speak out in support of the workers they knew and depended on to care for their loved ones. More importantly, the union gave workers a strong voice in
advocating for quality care in the home. When a Frances House worker who supported the union was later fired, relatives and community members were ready to publicly support the workers without fear. As a result, the
caregivers won the union election and a contract.
In stepping up efforts to restore the free choice to organize, unions also are calling on elected leaders to assume a leadership role in organizing campaigns. Their
word carries a lot of weight with businesses, government agencies, and the public at large. Elected leaders can help by passing resolutions and legislation protecting the right to organize and by intervening when
employers refuse to honor it.
In Minnesota's Hennepin County, for example, County Attorney Mike Freeman wrote a sharply worded letter to a county-funded private home for the disabled where workers were trying to
organize with the Steelworkers union—and where the employer had been charged with unfair labor practices. In the end, the workers were able to exercise their rights. They voted overwhelming to join the union.
Unfortunately, many of the legislators who are responsible for enacting labor laws are largely unfamiliar with the war workers face when they try to organize and the inadequacies of their legal protections. To lay the
groundwork for labor law reform, as well as to help on current organizing drives, members of Congress are being contacted—and asked to get involved—when workers in their districts are trying to form unions. Some members
of Congress are writing letters to the Department of Defense, for instance, urging the Secretary to insist that Avondale Shipyards, a major Navy contractor, honor its 5,000 workers' choice to be represented by a union.
A majority of the workers voted in favor of organizing five years ago, but Avondale still refuses to negotiate with the union. It has been charged with 400 labor law violations.
One of the most important groups of
allies in the struggle to restore the right to organize lies within the labor movement's own ranks. Union members often have the power to help unorganized co-workers win a free choice. Increasingly, they are bargaining
to organize by negotiating agreements with their employers to remain neutral during campaigns or to recognize the union after a card count.
By negotiating such an agreement with Southwestern Bell (SBC), for instance,
Communication Workers of America (CWA) members forged a more productive, cooperative relationship with management and helped more than 2,000 workers in SBC's Mobile Systems subsidiary win the benefits of union
representation. For the union, mobilizing members around the right to organize became a top priority in 1992, when Southwestern Bell reported to its shareholders that within a decade the majority of its revenues would
come from wireless rather than traditional telephone services. Wireless workers weren't represented by the union and, if nothing changed, thousands of CWA members and their families would see their wages and benefits
pushed down. After a five-year campaign to educate and mobilize union members, Southwestern Bell agreed to neutrality and card check recognition at its nonunion subsidiaries.
Many union members also are negotiating
with their employers to respect the rights of workers employed by subcontractors and suppliers. An agreement between Ford and the UAW (United Auto Workers), for instance, helped 500 newly organized workers at Johnson
Controls—an auto seat manufacturer with plants in Michigan and Ohio—while they were on strike for a first contract. Pointing to contract language negotiated in 1996, the UAW demanded that Ford behave as a responsible
corporate citizen by refusing to use parts manufactured by replacement workers. Some 2,000 UAW members and supporters drove home the point by joining Johnson Controls workers on the picket lines. In the end, the auto
seat workers won a contract with hefty raises and benefit improvements.
A Comprehensive Strategy
Of course, mobilizing community support is only part of a comprehensive organizing strategy. Effective
organizing requires an integrated campaign drawing from a variety of tactics that engage and activate workers and include legal, media, research, and other strategies.
The AFL-CIO's plan to restore the right to
organize is one of many initiatives designed to rebuild the American labor movement. As it stands, the union movement needs to organize 350,000 workers a year just to maintain the
current level of organization—and it
needs to organize 1.2 million workers a year to grow by
1 percent. The AFL-CIO is encouraging unions to make organizing, which several years ago accounted for only 5 percent of union resources, a top priority, and
many unions are striving to reach or exceed a goal of 30 percent of their budgets devoted to organizing. The federation also is training a new generation of union organizers through the Organizing Institute and Union
Summer programs, and providing support for large-scale, industry-wide and geographically centralized organizing efforts.
At the same time, the AFL-CIO's Union Cities initiative is helping local unions work with their
central labor councils to build community coalitions and develop a structure for mobilizing union members and allies. Through the Today's Unions campaign, which features free and paid media activities, the AFL-CIO is
helping to tell the stories of workers and the unions that have made their lives better.
But the lessons of the recent past are clear. With the odds heavily stacked against workers trying to form unions, successful
organizing today requires community mobilization. To balance the runaway power of corporations in our communities, America's unions need to bring natural allies into the struggle. To level the playing field for working
families, we need to enlarge the field. To overcome the fierce resistance of employers, we need more active participants on our side. And to build the foundation for labor law reform, we need to make injustice visible.
