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Law won’t shield your client from union organizers

DAN PECCIA
In Re: Public Relations

Published: May 5, 2015

Recent changes in labor laws have made it even harder for well-managed companies to dissuade their employees from joining labor unions that can drive up cost and weaken competitiveness.

The silver lining of the latest anti-business policy from the National Labor Relations Board is that it may reflect more light on other things companies can do to strengthen relationships with their people.

Near the top of that list is communication. Now more than ever, it’s critical that successful companies with good employee relations realize they need to communicate proactively to their people about the issues that affect them.

“Ambush election” rules take effect

The new NLRB rules that took effect in April dramatically weakening a company’s ability to oppose the unionization of its employees. Known in some circles as the “ambush election” rules, the new measures shorten the time between the filing of a union-certification petition and an election for union representation. (Google “ambush election rules” to learn more.)

The faster turnaround means company management has less time to educate employees about the impact a union could have on the company and, by extension, their employment.

Moreover, the new rules require employers to give union organizers more information about their employees, including their email addresses, home phone numbers, work locations, shifts and more. This will make it easier for unions to communicate with these individuals in ways employers may not notice.

Critics say these changes taken together will stimulate organizing activity by enabling unions to wage stealth campaigns and then spring quick elections. For employers that have relied on the law alone to keep their employees from joining or forming unions, this is horrific news.

Keys to effective employee communication?

For companies that enjoy healthy employee relations and want to keep unions away, now may be a good time to leverage the value of employee communication in a more formal, intentional manner. Here are some elements of effective communication to employees:

It’s based on an employee communications plan. A plan should include realistic objectives, key messages, a mix of strategies and tactics for conveying them and a timetable, all based on a solid assessment of the prevailing issues and the resources available.

It’s regular, not hit-and-miss. This adds credibility.

It allows for feedback and measurement. Response mechanisms, calls to action and surveys can help management measure the impact of communications and keep a good pulse on the workplace climate.

It conveys the right perspective. Communication to employees is most valuable when it addresses the issues employees need to understand to keep the company competitive.

It’s professional. Improvements in communications technology have raised the bar on communications. So information delivered to an important audience like employees has to meet the standards evident in other professional communication.

Like the law, communications alone won’t keep union organizers away from your client’s premises.

But communication that reliably delivers the right perspective in a planned, intentional fashion can go a long way toward helping employees make good decisions and avoid bad ones.

Dan Pecchia is president of Pecchia Communications, an Ohio public relations firm. Reach him at dan@pecchiacomm.com.


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