Union Busting Tactics Exposed: LaborLab's Fight for Transparency

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Bob Funk

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Bob Funk, founder of LaborLab, joined the America's Work Force Union Podcast to discuss the rise in union-busting activities, the importance of transparency in labor relations and LaborLab's efforts to educate organizers about employer disclosure requirements.

Funk discussed a “significant increase in union-busting firms and their subcontractors,” with some charging exorbitant fees like $3,800 per day plus expenses. He emphasized the need for timely disclosure of union-busting agreements, as mandated by the Labor-Management Relations and Disclosure Act. However, Funk noted many employers and consultants fail to comply, often waiting until after union elections to reveal their activities, if at all.

LaborLab has worked to make union-busting information accessible to the public and the labor movement. In just five years, Funk said they have trained over 700 labor organizers on using employer disclosures to combat union-busting tactics. Funk stressed the importance of this knowledge, citing examples of workers using disclosure information to highlight the disparity between union-buster pay and their own wages.

To address the Department of Labor's lack of enforcement, LaborLab is building a grassroots network to identify and report union-busting activities using LM-20 reports known as Persuader Reports. Funk urged unions and organizers to contact LaborLab for training on leveraging transparency rules and filing complaints against non-compliant employers and consultants.

Listen to the full episode for more insights on combating union-busting tactics and promoting worker rights.

America’s Work Force is the only daily labor podcast in the US and has been on the air since 1993, supplying listeners with useful, relevant input into their daily lives through fact-finding features, in-depth interviews, informative news segments and practical consumer reports. America’s Work Force is committed to providing an accessible venue in which America's workers and their families can hear discussion on important, relevant topics such as employment, healthcare, legislative action, labor-management relations, corporate practices, finances, local and national politics, consumer reports and labor issues.

America’s Work Force Union Podcast is brought to you in part by our sponsors: AFL-CIO, American Federation of Government Employees, American Federation of Musicians Local 4, Alliance for American Manufacturing, Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield, Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employes-IBT, Boyd Watterson, Columbus/Central Ohio Building and Construction Trades Council, Communication Workers of America, Mechanical Insulators Labor Management Cooperative Trust, International Association of Heat and Frost Insulators and Allied Workers Local 50, International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers, International Union of Bricklayers and Allied Crafts, International Union of Painters and Allied Trades District Council 6, Ironworkers Great Lakes District Council, Melwood, The Labor Citizen newspaper, Laborers International Union of North America, The National Labor Office of Blue Cross and Blue Shield, North Coast Area Labor Federation, Ohio Federation of Teachers, United Labor Agency, United Steelworkers.

Union Busting Tactics Exposed: LaborLab's Fight for Transparency

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