Union membership has declined from 30% to 10% during a time where more people expressed interest in a union. The numbers dont add up.
From a major company in the 1990's
UNIONS CANNOT:
• Guarantee higher wages
• Guarantee better benefits
• Guarantee employment
• Guarantee hours worked
• Prevent terminations
• Set job standards
UNIONS CAN:
• Collect dues, fees, fines and assessments
• Negotiate
• Strike
But most importantly, a salt has access to our associates! By being inside the facility, a salt can
...
• easily identify those associates vulnerable to union organizing tactics, and
• easily identify associates he/she wants to recruit as "internal organizers" to help obtain
signatures from co-workers in an attempt to organize the facility.
HOW “SALTS” CREATE
PROBLEMS for
Once inside the facility, a salt's primary objective is to convince associates of the "benefits" of unionization and ultimately obtain their signatures on union authorization cards.
Salts can be harmful to , not only because of their organizing activities, but also because they typically feel they are "above" company policies.
It would not be uncommon for salts to engage in destructive behavior to provoke management into a coaching and/or termination so they can file an unfair labor practice (ULP) charge against the facility.
HO CAN
COMBAT "SALTS"
1. Pre-screen as many applicants as possible to ensure you are
hiring the most qualified person for any opening you have available.
* The National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) prohibits an employer from refusing to hire an
applicant because of his/her union affiliation. However, the law does not prevent us from
selecting the most positive, dedicated, enthusiastic applicant available. We are under no
obligation to hire an applicant who is defiant or negative. Keep looking until you find the best
applicant to join our family.
3. An application says ... "List entire employment history, starting with present
employer. For any unemployed or self-employed periods, show dates and locations. (Attach
additional sheets when necessary)."
* * * There are only three spaces on the application to list existing or former employers.
Ask
applicants if they have completed their entire employment history. If they have not, ask them
to attach additional sheets.
* * * Ensure applications show entire work history with no gaps in employment. If you notice
gaps, question them. Then ask applicants to fill in those gaps.
4. Check references thoroughly. This is a must!
QUESTIONS & ANSWERS
ABOUT “SALTS”
Q - Can we ask job applicants about their union affiliation?
A - No. It is illegal to ask applicants their position on unions or whether they have ever been in
a union.
Q - What should I do if an applicant volunteers information he/she is a union member?
A - Explain to the applicant his/her union affiliation makes no difference in our hiring procedures. Then just continue to follow your usual hiring practices.
Q - Must we hire a pro-union or paid union organizer?
A - No. The law simply says you cannot discriminate against an applicant because of his/her
union affiliation.
Hire the best candidate for the position.
Q -Can we disqualify an applicant who falsifies his/her application?
A -Yes. Regardless of union affiliation, falsifying an application at Wal-Mart will result in
termination or being disqualified from obtaining employment with Wal-Mart.
Q -Can we terminate a salt who works in our facility?
A - Salts, like all other associates, must meet our expectations and are subject to performance
coachings, up to and including termination. We CANNOT terminate an associate because we
believe or have confirmed they are a salt.
Q -If we hire an applicant who is unproductive and also happens to be a salt, can we terminate
him/her?
A -Yes, as Iong as the reason for termination is based on job performance and not his/her
union affiliation. Be sure you have documentation to support the termination.
If you suspect there is a "salt" in your facility, contact
the Union Hotline at 501-273-8300.
EARLY WARNING SIGNS - CATEGORY 1
• An increase in associate phone calls in and out of the facility.
• Increased curiosity in benefits and policies.
• Associates receiving unusual attention from other associates.
• Abnormal amount of absenteeism.
• Excessive turnover.
• Slowdown in work productivity.
• An increase in errors in associates' work.
• Exit interviews indicating associates are in conflict.
• Surge of complaints by associates against management.
• Associates confront management.
• Associates "bait" management into discipline or termination.
• Abuse of restroom visits.
• Argumentative questions are asked in departmental/facility meetings.
EARLY WARNING SIGNS - CATEGORY 2
• Confidential information being misplaced or removed from files
• "Strangers" spending an unusual amount of time in the associates' parking areas at the
beginning or end of shifts
• Associates spending an abnormal amount of time in the parking lot before and after work
• Frequent meetings at associates' homes
• Associates coming back to the facility to talk to associates on other shifts
• Open talk about unions among associates
• Reports from associates of the union visiting their homes, calling them, or sending them
literature in the mail
• Union literature found around the facility
• Associates using union terms such as arbitration, grievance, and seniority
• Interest in obtaining names and addresses from schedules or associate listings
• Associates leaving work areas on a frequent basis to talk to other associates
• Associates who are never seen together start talking or associating with each other and begin
forming strange alliances
you can get more information
http://reclaimdemocracy.org
Workers in the private sector had used the strike as a tool of leverage in labor-management conflicts between World War II and 1981, repeatedly withholding their work to win fairer treatment from recalcitrant employers. But after Patco, that weapon was largely lost. Reagan’s unprecedented dismissal of skilled strikers encouraged private employers to do likewise. Phelps Dodge and International Paper were among the companies that imitated Reagan by replacing strikers rather than negotiating with them. Many other employers followed suit.
By 2010, the number of workers participating in walkouts was less than 2 percent of what it had been when Reagan led the actors’ strike in 1952. Lacking the leverage that strikes once provided, unions have been unable to pressure employers to increase wages as productivity rises. Inequality has ballooned to a level not seen since Reagan’s boyhood in the 1920s.
Although he opposed government strikes, Reagan supported government workers’ efforts to unionize and bargain collectively. As governor, he extended such rights in California. As president he was prepared to do the same. Not only did he court and win Patco’s endorsement during his 1980 campaign, he directed his negotiators to go beyond his legal authority to offer controllers a pay raise before their strike — the first time a president had ever offered so much to a federal employees’ union.
But the impact of the Patco strike on Reagan’s fellow Republicans has long since overshadowed his own professed beliefs regarding public sector unions. Over time the rightward-shifting Republican Party has come to view Reagan’s mass firings not as a focused effort to stop one union from breaking the law — as Reagan portrayed it — but rather as a blow against public sector unionism itself.
In the spring, Gov. Scott Walker of Wisconsin invoked Reagan’s handling of Patco as he prepared to “change history” by stripping public employees of collective bargaining rights in a party-line vote. “I’m not negotiating,” Mr. Walker said. By then the world had seemingly forgotten that unlike Mr. Walker, Reagan had not challenged public employees’ right to bargain — only their right to strike.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/03/opinion/reagan-vs-patco-the-strike-that-busted-unions.html?_r=0
public unions do however account for 30 of the public work force yet court decisions and management prerogative are sill used to limit union effectiveness.
when those jobs left new ones took their place and corporate america was ready.
there still a middle class out there with jobs. fending for themselves and getting bilked. Trade, labor or some type of representation for workers is needed along with with government and judicial support.
its no coincidence the inequality of wealth distribution in america coincides with the decline of unions.