Labor Relations Insight by Phil Wilson

Have you ever heard a union campaign is like a chess match? My guess is you've probably said it at some point. Today is round 9 of the World Chess Championship. For the first time since the famous Fisher-Spassky match of 1972 an American, Fabiano Caruana, is competing for the title of World Champion against Magnus Carlson from Norway. After 8 rounds in London the match is tied at 4 points each. Every game so far has ended in a draw.

I'm going to go out on a limb and predict that you're NOT a big chess fan. Not many people are. If you're like most people you probably can think of about a million things you'd rather watch than two guys staring at a chess board for hours, only to watch them agree to a tie at the end. And then to watch them do that 8 times in a row. I get it.

Not every one of these games was exciting, but most were. Each player has had winning chances. Each time their opponent managed to claw back and draw the game. Every draw increases the pressure on both players. If they remain tied after 12 games they go into a series of fast tie-breaker games. If they remain tied after the fast time control games they play one "Armageddon" game (seriously). In this sudden-death game the player with white pieces gets the advantage of the first move and an extra minute on the clock, but a draw is a victory for the player with the black pieces.

As I've watched the championship games it reminds me how much chess does mirror life, especially business strategy. This is especially true in labor relations strategy. Here are a few of the ways that stand out to me.

1. Preparation pays off: Heading into this match the current world champion was considered a formidable favorite to retain the title he's won 3 times in a row. He is the highest rated player in the world. Many top experts believe he is unbeatable even by world number 2 Caruana (who is just 3 points lower than Carlsen at this point). But Caruana showed up more prepared than the champion. He's only been in serious trouble once (in the first game) and has had chances coming out of the opening phase of the game several times. This is just as true for labor strategy. If you spend time preparing for all the likely outcomes you are in the best position to defend yourself when needed and to take advantage of opportunities that present themselves. In labor strategy this means things like preparing response teams (and preparing them to deal with the conversations and presentations you expect them to handle). It means preparing campaign communications and websites in advance. It also means preparing leaders to understand the early warning signs of problems.
2. Stay calm under pressure: As each game in the match grows in intensity you can see the stress mount on each player. And at moments in each game you can see the players wonder whether they've just made a move that might cost them the championship. This is especially true of the champion, Carlsen, who is much more expressive during games (one of Caruana's strengths is his "poker face" even when his position is unpleasant). It is important to remember this, especially during labor campaigns. Your opposition during a campaign will make "good moves" and put your team in a tough spot multiple times. The key to winning, however, is to stay calm and not overreact to these moves. Don't let your strategy get dictated by what the union is doing, and remember you don't have to respond to every move they make. Instead, stay focused on your own strategy and tactics. This doesn't mean that you ignore your opposition, only that you respond in a way that furthers your strategy instead of theirs.
3. Use data to identify strengths and weaknesses: The world of chess has changed dramatically over the last few years as chess computers (called engines) are now much better than any human (the top chess engine would have no problem crushing both Carlsen and Caruana). These days anyone has access to the smartest chess player on the planet on their cell phone or laptop. After each game the engine helps evaluate how you did, where you could do better in the future, and where you and your opponent are vulnerable. The world of labor strategy today is also rich with data. It is important to use all of the internal and external data you have available to identify and manage risks throughout your organization. This helps you dedicate resources to your most vulnerable locations and avoid problems long before they spin out of control.
4. Defense is often the best offense: In today's game Caruana had a chance to grab a defenseless piece but instead moved his queen into a defensive position. The chess engines revealed that his move was the right one - had he grabbed the extra piece he would have been in a very unpleasant position a few moves later and at risk of losing the game and perhaps the match. Good defense is also the best labor strategy. You want to focus your organization "Left of Boom" and make sure that you are a hard target for union organizers. This is a much stronger strategy than having a strong response to events that happen. Obviously you need to have both, but you'll never lose a campaign that doesn't happen. That should be your goal.

I hope that Fabiano Caruana is able to win one of the last 3 games (game 9 was drawn while writing today's article) and the world championship. If he does, it will be because of his strong preparation (including the use of great data), his calm demeanor, and superior strategy. My hope for you is that you put those same tools to use in your labor strategy.

Link & Comments

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Union Bailout Update

As the DOL considers new rules designed to force financial disclosure for union affiliated “intermediate bodies,” Big Labor is already positioning to fight the move, claiming that such rules would create a financial hardship for such entities, especially in light of Janus.

In a message to the American Bar Association’s Labor and Employment Law Conference, NLRB Chairman John Ring affirmed his intent to see more rule-making from the NLRB, including on issues of joint employer, ambush elections, and union access to employer property. Turning back the ambush elections rule is probably of greatest import to most employers, but the telegraphed approach appears to be bit-by-bit rather than taking on the entire rule at once. Joint employer appears to be the top priority at the NLRB.

Related to joint employer, William Emanuel has been cleared by the NLRB ethics officer to participate in any rule making around joint employer. Although last year the NLRB inspector general determined Emanuel should have recused himself from a case involving joint employer, the recusals rules are different for cases versus rule-making, since rule-making applies to all companies across the country rather than a single enterprise.

Now that the Democrats control the House, labor legislation coming from that side of Congress will likely focus on codifying the Obama’s legislative agenda, including the Workplace Democracy Act (WDA), Workers’ Freedom to Negotiate Act (WFNA), and Public Service Freedom to Negotiate Act of 2018 (PSFNA). The first two are basically a rehash of the Employee Free Choice Act, and the PSFNA is designed to undermine the Janus decision.

With the Senate controlled by Republicans, it is unlikely these will go anywhere. Since the NLRB is still employer/worker friendly, most of the action of the next couple of years portends to be in favor of workers and their employers.

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Union Membership Plummets in Northwest Post-Janus

According to a report from The Freedom Foundation, the decline in union membership in the northwest since the Janus decision totals around 25,000 members. The report also attributes the loss of 27 million in annual revenue to the drop in membership. The Freedom Foundation created a website with the downloadable forms necessary for employees to leave their unions, focusing on Washington, Oregon and California.

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Tech Worker Dissent To Open A Pandora’s Box?

Those workers who sign on at obvious defense contractors, such as Lockheed Martin or Raytheon, have no compunction about working on products that are designed for military use. However, when employees go to work for Google, Amazon or other tech industry giants, building products of military value isn’t on their radar screens. That is now changing as the industry’s cone of silence is crumbling in the face of employee petitions. Whether it’s AI development or facial recognition software, employees of companies like Google, Amazon, Salesforce and IBM are calling on their CEO’s to cancel contracts with ICE, Customs, the military and other government agencies.

In a highly-charged and growingly partisan environment, such action doesn’t come as a surprise, and in the tech industry in particular, has been growing for a while. One wonders when the activity may spill over the levee into other business sectors.

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SEIU Watch

Ballot shenanigans seemed to prevail in a contest for SEIU Local 73 leadership, as it emerged from a 2-year trusteeship imposed by SEIU International President Mary Kay Henry. Members of the Local, running on a “members leading members” slate, appealed the election and plan to file charges with the DOL against the International.

Janus (and right-to-work laws in general) are always validated during campaign season. Just in the last week prior to the mid-term elections, an SEIU Local (District 1199) sunk another $450,000 in the last month of the campaign, bringing their total for this campaign season to over $1 million.

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SCORE BOARD 

The DOL hasn’t updated their strikes database yet, so we’ll have to send the Scoreboard out late again.  As soon as we have it we’ll send it out!

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Corruption Runs Rampant in IATSE

Every month, we list the newly indicted union officials who have been caught with their hand in the cookie jar (our Sticky Fingers section). We’ve also covered huge scandals like the recent Fiat Chrysler/UAW Training Center fiasco. For another perspective of the rampant nature of union corruption, take a look at the recently history of embezzlement and theft within a single union - in this case within the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE).

In just the last couple of years, former local IATSE officials in Alabama, Alaska, Virginia and Michigan have either been indicted, pleaded guilty or been sentenced for stealing funds from their local unions. In the last ten years, the states of California, New York, Florida, Rhode Island, Wisconsin, Tennessee and South Dakota must be added to the roster. The ten-year total of pilferage comes in at around $900,000 in union funds.

• Benjamin Wisecarver of Local 264 in Virginia accounted for $57,310. 
  
• David Hendricks of Local 900 in Alabama, $13,987. 
  
• Anne Reddig of Local 918 in Anchorage, $193,275. 
  
• Bernadine Bell of Local 757 in Detroit, $73,000 
  
• Ira Alper of District 9 in Wisconsin, $76,768 
  
• John J. Brennan of Local 23 in Rhode Island, $74,056 
  
• John McNamee, Jr of Local 829 in New York City, $150,000 
  
• Paul Wyatt of Local 220 in Sioux Falls, $35,023 
  
• Stephen J. Pfeiffer of Local 60 in Pensacola, $12,000 
  
• Carl White of Local 251 in Madison, WI, $85,969 
  
• Teresa Cora Luna of Local 504 in Anaheim, $67,416 
  
• Darrell Pendergrass of Local 699 in Tennessee, $70,336 
  

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It’s All Academic

Graduate students at Georgetown, Brown, and Illinois State University voted to unionize this month.

At Columbia, things are heating up. The college’s graduate student union is planning a strike, beginning December 4th, the week before finals, to last indefinitely. This comes one year after the group organized and is in protest to the university’s decision not to bargain with the union.

We can expect another strike to begin on December 4th, on this front, by Acero Charter School employees. More here.

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Union Pension Turmoil

Millions of Americans’ pension plans are still hanging in the balance, with Teamsters members – from UPS to Giant Eagle workers –  making up quite a large majority, and unfortunately for taxpayers, a bailout of some sort seems to be looming in the pipeline.

Congress has instituted a bipartisan Joint Select Committee on the Solvency of Multiemployer Pension Plans. At the end of November, the Committee is expected to tell Congress and the public what their plan is for avoiding the bankruptcy of hundreds of MPPs. Read more about how we got into this mess here.

We’re not the only ones with pension problems though. “Puerto Rico violated a law meant to safeguard the pensions of its public-sector workers who have been unable to invest the more than $300 million they contributed to a new retirement plan.”

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Fight for $15

Voters in Arkansas and Missouri both approved big minimum wage increases during the midterms this month. Arkansas will increase to $11/hour by 2021. Missouri will make a gradual increase to $12 over the next 5 years.

In other midterm news, after flipping at least 38 seats in the House, one of the top things on Democrats todo list is “passing legislation mandating a $15 minimum wage hike by 2025.” Democratic Representative Bobby Scott of Virginia, is expected to lead the charge.

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Auto Workers

It’s always a little hard to process when a union hires non-union workers. But on the other hand, a bottom line is one thing every business understands, and it appears that line is exactly where union solidarity stops – at least for the UAW.

In particular, we’re seeing this in Michigan at the union’s three-bedroom, three-and-a-half bath, 1,885-square-foot stone home next to the Walter and May Reuther UAW Family Education Center. UAW leadership often vacation here with their families. So what’s going on? Well, “instead of using more expensive union laborers, the UAW has hired a non-union electrician, a non-union excavation company and is in talks to hire a non-union plumber to work on the home.” I guess you could argue that the UAW is only just on the other side of the UAW’s big financial scandal, but our stories about union “do as I say, not as I do” actions seem to be getting old-hat.

Meanwhile, in Fort Wayne, Indiana, one UAW member reached out to her representative to request a transfer to a new job within the same facility (General Motors). She did not get relocated to a new position. Instead, she got terminated. But not before she received a text from her union rep, apparently meant for someone else, presumably management at the plant, that said, “are you going to fire her or what you’re killing me lol.” More details here. Link & Comments

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Labor Around the World

Nigeria has a new minimum wage in progress – 30,000 naira (or $82.64) a month. This is up from the country’s previous minimum wage of 18,000 naira. However, it is important to note that the value of the naira has decreased by half in recent years. Even though workers may need the rise in minimum wage, the increase will certainly also have an impact on inflation in the country.

Israelis are planning a protest in response to the country’s high rate of death on construction sites. So far in 2018, there have been approximately 40 deaths and 200 serious injuries.

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Sticky Fingers

Current charges or sentences of embezzling union officials:

• Benjamin Wisecarver - IATSE:  $57,310 
  
• Susan Kyle - AFSCME:  $490,338 

http://nlpc.org/index.php?q=union-corruption-update