The National Labor Relations Board. Corporate Campaigns. Neutrality Agreements. Authorization Cards. If your company is union-free and hopes to remain that way, these words and phrases have probably been part of your everyday conversations. But the real question is, have you communicated these things well with employees and staff members?

The truth is, in any organization that works to promote positive employee relations, the threat of unionization can easily be overlooked. Unions today are taking much more subtle tactics to gain new dues-paying members. From bad press, crafted to damage employers, all the way to public pressure to sign faf orders, unions are no longer simply waiting for employees to ask to organize. They’re using any and all means necessary to gain members.

What’s a smart company to do? Research the problem, find out if you’re a target (the unions often post their organizing targets online). If not, now is the time to establish and maintain excellent employee communications. If you are, it’s even more vital to address issues and reinforce your employer brand.

We’ve taken the strategic planning we offer our clients and crafted an email newsletter that will help you craft an effective communication plan. It’s completely complimentary, and can help you communicate your company’s union-free philosophy. Sign up for free here.

Here is what you will learn:

1) The one CRITICAL factor in creating an effective union avoidance strategy

2) How a simple (and easy!) change in timing can make a huge difference in the effectiveness of your labor relations strategy

3) The difference that supervisors make for your strategy

4) The fastest and easiest way to get employees to embrace your union-free philosophy

5) How the most important thing you are going to do has NOTHING to do with unions (and what it has everything to do)

We’ve collected tips on how you can best undermine your positive employee relations strategy and came up with the top (bottom) 11 pieces of advice.

With any well-thought out union avoidance strategy, there are certain “do’s” and “don’ts” we’ve all heard before. But it’s also easy to sabotage your own efforts without even trying. Over the past 30 years, we’ve heard some of the best – and worst – advice out there. So, we thought we’d share some of the most memorable nuggets we’ve heard over the years… if you’re looking to destroy any hope of remaining union-free, look no further than this stack of advice:

1) “Don’t Use the “U” Word”

2) “Find a boxed solution”

3) “Stick to What Worked in the Past”

4) “Hold your powerful stuff until right before the vote”

5) “Go Around Your Supervisors – they’re not equipped to deal”

6) “Focus your resources on your primary union adversary”

7) “A few employee complaints aren’t as important as your overall campaign”

8 ) “Rumors don’t matter; employees are smarter than that”

9) “It’s “to hell and back” and then you’re done – just get through a campaign and it’s

over”

10) “Families? Just focus on your employees”

11) “Consistency is key – pick something and stick with it”

If you want more details on what we’re talking about and on how to correctly develop and manage your union avoidance strategy, read our new article, “The Worst-Ever Union Avoidance Strategies.”

Companies should understand that their isn’t a “one size fits all” union prevention strategy. Rather, there are many factors – internal as well as external – that are used to gauge a “union threat” level. Understanding these factors and their individual impact will give management a better idea of what type of union prevention place needs to be in place.

Here are five key areas that all union-free companies need to keep an eye on:

1) Employee concerns: Position your company as an “employer of choice”

2) Location, location, location: Geographic diversity and number of locations are also factors to consider

3) Wisdom of the industry: Certain industries are more prone to unionization than others

4) The local level: Know which unions are most prevalent locally

5) Corporate vulnerabilities: In launching corporate campaigns, unions will utilize any weakness your company may have

For details on what this means to you and how you can ‘test’ your company, along with feedback on the proper course of action, download our free whitepaper, “Union Vulnerability Assessment: Strategies for evaluating and addressing your company’s potential for union organization.”

We get a wide range of people who come across our website. Some are specifically looking for us, somethimes a specific topics, and then there are some who just seem to stumble upon our site. But one thing we are able to notice are trends. A couple years ago, the Employee Free Choice Act drew a lot of traffic and interest. That died down when the legislation never saw the light of day.

But lately, we have seen hundreds of people find our site when they googled the phrase “union avoidance.” And this is being driven in large part by some recent decisions by the National Labor Relations Board and the Department of Labor.

What this shows us is that employers are crafting proactive strategies and they’re communicating with employees. Here’s why: Companies have good reason to believe that union election rules are/ will be titled toward labor. You can see which direction we are going. Because of that, the time to begin communicating is now rather than waiting for a petition to be in your hands.

Companies are looking for highly effective communication resources that will help your employees understand the reasons behind the company’s desire to avoid unions and maintain a direct relationship.

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