AFL-CIO President, Richard Trumka’s union initiative to revamp their public image and rebuild theirmembership levels is starting to pay off for the unions who are riding the current wave of activism that are exploding throughout the U.S. (andthe world). Read More “Public Angst – The Perfect Climate for Union Growth”

Introduction

As a former high-ranking union official, I know first hand that union’s have many tactics, which they use in their attempts to organize new members. Salting, as a practice, is a fundamental tactic used by theunions, which haven’t changed much over the years. Union’s do adapt to different situations based on campaign needs. Depending on the circumstances and the “terrain” of the camping, operating a clandestine organizing drive (undercover) will usually be the best way to infiltratethe workforce with little to no resistance from management. After all, this is an extremely effective way to insert a “spy”, agitate issues andpull workers towards the union organizer. The Salt is someone implantedinto an organization to create issues (or exasperate existing issues). Remember, the Salt is not looking for possible solutions to issues. The Salt is seeking to cause chaos and dissention within the workforce. Thisis their true purpose Read More “Overview of Union Salting Tactics”

William Samuel, Government Affairs Director of the AFL-CIO, said heis certain that organized labor’s top priority, the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA), that would make it much easier for unions to organizebusinesses both large and small, will pass Congress and be signed by President Elect Barack Obama within the first 100 days of the new administration. Samuel also said that the more than $300 million spent by labor unions to educate workers was crucial to the Democrats’ successin key battleground states. Obama was a co-sponsor of last year’s version of the bill and has vowed to sign it when the incoming Congress finally passes it. Read More “Organized Labor’s Top Priority”

For unions, strategizing and moving forward with an attack against atargeted company is an exercise that is very time consuming. A corporate campaign launched by a union, takes copious amounts of time and enormous sums of their member’s money. The goal is complex, the union needs to research every aspect of the target’s operation and its competitors in order to expose whatever weaknesses may exist. The targetis most likely within its core industrial makeup. Setting earmarks, assigning regional responsibilities, financing, manning the project and setting the base targets to be attacked are some of the first things that need to be completed. Unions will attack the public image of its target. The union campaign will usually have the following goals: Read More “November 2007”

Evolution of Protests, Strikes, and Mass Movements into Riots

Protests, labor strikes and mass movements have been cropping up around the globe recently, and regularly devolve into social unrest.

What drives these events and how (and why) do they proliferate? What do they share in common? Do they each derive from individual sparks, or are they somehow intertwined? Can these social phenomena be contained and extinguished, or are they destined to disrupt our daily routines? Read More “Lighting the Fuse”

For months I have been speaking about the dangers of the HR800 bill that passed through the House of Representative on a very fast track. I testified to the Kennedy Miller committee on the pressure and harassment to sign cards that will surely happen if the unions don’t have to go through an NLRB supervised election, I have warned companies of the dangers that will occur if you don’t agree to a union’s unreasonable demands; within 3 months, a mediator will be appointed, and a month later… an arbitrator will imposeterms on you. Read More “June 2007”

Union organizing campaigns are all about discovering the opponent’s weaknesses. Once the union has delved their vulnerabilities, they then use them again their target in every possible way. Read More “Insurgent Organizing”

In this issue, Rick provides companies with an insight into why they are failing with their immigrant/Hispanic workforce, and how they can fix these issues in orderto hinder organizing campaigns. Read More “Immigration Gamble”

A New Chapter in the Union Movement

I remember back in 2008, when the Democrats had a big year on Capitol Hill, hearing Andy Stern on TV raising Hell. He stated “If they (elected politicians) don’t pass the Employee Free Choice Act then they need to know that we (Unions) put them in office and we will take them out of office”.

Stern had been an advocate for spending less money on political puppets and more on grass roots organizing efforts for many years. In 1984, when AFL-CIO President John Sweeney appointed Stern as the head ofthe organizing department, they were already showing signs of internal conflict when discussing the best way to use union resources. Read More “How a Changing of the Guard Has Changed Unions and Politics”

Fixing a Broken Weapon

House Calls are simply not the same as they were when I was a National Organizing Director. Don’t get me wrong. Organizers still make house calls but when my team made them, they had a different mindset (and skillset) than many organizers out there today. But unions have identified this flaw and are working on strategies to fix a broken weapon.
Read More “House Calls”