Corporate campaigns: The perversion of the regulatory process

Journal of Labor Research

Volumn 17, Issue 3, 1996, Pages 345-358

  Northrup, Herbert R ^a,b,c,d  

^a UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA   (United States)

^b Department of Management ^*

^c Industrial Research Unit

^d Labor Relations Council

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

EID: 9744230764     PISSN: 01953613     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1007/bf02685852     Document Type: Article

References (56)

1. Dan La Botz, A Troublemaker's Handbook (Detroit: A Labor Notes Book, 1991), p. 127. (Emphasis in original.)
2. Ibid, pp. 127-28. (Emphasis in original.)
3. "USWA Widens Bayou Campaign," Steelabor, July/August, 1993, p. 9.
4. Quoted in La Botz, p. 134.
5. Ibid, p. 128.
6. SEIU, Contract Campaign Manual, (1988), p. 3-21.
7. The official union sourcebook for inside tactics is the publication by the Industrial Union Department, AFL-CIO, The Inside Game: Winning with Workplace Strategies (Washington, D.C.: IUD, 1986). For a description and analysis of inside game tactics, see Herbert R. Northrup, "Union Corporate Campaigns and Inside Games As a Strike Form," Employee Relations Law Journal 19 (Spring 1994): 507-49.
8. The official union sourcebook for inside tactics is the publication by the Industrial Union Department, AFL-CIO, The Inside Game: Winning with Workplace Strategies (Washington, D.C.: IUD, 1986). For a description and analysis of inside game tactics, see Herbert R. Northrup, "Union Corporate Campaigns and Inside Games As a Strike Form," Employee Relations Law Journal 19 (Spring 1994): 507-49.
9. Joe Crump, "The Pressure Is On: Organizing Without the NLRB," Labor Relations Review 18 (1991), p. 43. Parentheses are in original. Crump is secretary-treasurer, UFCW Local 951, Grand Rapids, Michigan.
10. "Boeing Talks Stall," Aviation Week & Space Technology, October 16, 1995, p. 59. Boeing has offered to provide more data to the IAM if the union agrees to a confidentiality pledge. Apparently, the union violated such a pledge earlier. See, " Boeing, IAM Await NLRB Ruling as SPEEA, Company Continue Talks,", Daily Labor Report, No. 209 (October 30, 1995), p. A-3; " Boeing to Provide Some Data Sought by Striking Machinists," Daily Labor Report, No. 211 (November 1, 1995), p. A-12; and " Striking Machinists Charge Boeing with More Unfair Labor Practices," Daily Labor Report, No. 219 (November 14, 1995), p. A-5. For a report sympathetic to the IAM, but actually confirming that the issue of more information on health costs was irrelevant as a strike cause, see " Now Departing for China: Boeing Jobs," Business Week, November 27, 1995, p. 46.
11. "Boeing Talks Stall," Aviation Week & Space Technology, October 16, 1995, p. 59. Boeing has offered to provide more data to the IAM if the union agrees to a confidentiality pledge. Apparently, the union violated such a pledge earlier. See, " Boeing, IAM Await NLRB Ruling as SPEEA, Company Continue Talks,", Daily Labor Report, No. 209 (October 30, 1995), p. A-3; " Boeing to Provide Some Data Sought by Striking Machinists," Daily Labor Report, No. 211 (November 1, 1995), p. A-12; and " Striking Machinists Charge Boeing with More Unfair Labor Practices," Daily Labor Report, No. 219 (November 14, 1995), p. A-5. For a report sympathetic to the IAM, but actually confirming that the issue of more information on health costs was irrelevant as a strike cause, see " Now Departing for China: Boeing Jobs," Business Week, November 27, 1995, p. 46.
12. "Boeing Talks Stall," Aviation Week & Space Technology, October 16, 1995, p. 59. Boeing has offered to provide more data to the IAM if the union agrees to a confidentiality pledge. Apparently, the union violated such a pledge earlier. See, " Boeing, IAM Await NLRB Ruling as SPEEA, Company Continue Talks,", Daily Labor Report, No. 209 (October 30, 1995), p. A-3; " Boeing to Provide Some Data Sought by Striking Machinists," Daily Labor Report, No. 211 (November 1, 1995), p. A-12; and " Striking Machinists Charge Boeing with More Unfair Labor Practices," Daily Labor Report, No. 219 (November 14, 1995), p. A-5. For a report sympathetic to the IAM, but actually confirming that the issue of more information on health costs was irrelevant as a strike cause, see " Now Departing for China: Boeing Jobs," Business Week, November 27, 1995, p. 46.
13. "Boeing Talks Stall," Aviation Week & Space Technology, October 16, 1995, p. 59. Boeing has offered to provide more data to the IAM if the union agrees to a confidentiality pledge. Apparently, the union violated such a pledge earlier. See, " Boeing, IAM Await NLRB Ruling as SPEEA, Company Continue Talks,", Daily Labor Report, No. 209 (October 30, 1995), p. A-3; " Boeing to Provide Some Data Sought by Striking Machinists," Daily Labor Report, No. 211 (November 1, 1995), p. A-12; and " Striking Machinists Charge Boeing with More Unfair Labor Practices," Daily Labor Report, No. 219 (November 14, 1995), p. A-5. For a report sympathetic to the IAM, but actually confirming that the issue of more information on health costs was irrelevant as a strike cause, see " Now Departing for China: Boeing Jobs," Business Week, November 27, 1995, p. 46.
14. "Boeing Talks Stall," Aviation Week & Space Technology, October 16, 1995, p. 59. Boeing has offered to provide more data to the IAM if the union agrees to a confidentiality pledge. Apparently, the union violated such a pledge earlier. See, " Boeing, IAM Await NLRB Ruling as SPEEA, Company Continue Talks,", Daily Labor Report, No. 209 (October 30, 1995), p. A-3; " Boeing to Provide Some Data Sought by Striking Machinists," Daily Labor Report, No. 211 (November 1, 1995), p. A-12; and " Striking Machinists Charge Boeing with More Unfair Labor Practices," Daily Labor Report, No. 219 (November 14, 1995), p. A-5. For a report sympathetic to the IAM, but actually confirming that the issue of more information on health costs was irrelevant as a strike cause, see " Now Departing for China: Boeing Jobs," Business Week, November 27, 1995, p. 46.
15. See, e.g., La Botz, note 1, above, p. 44.
16. Stephen Franklin, "Waiting for Earth to Move at Caterpillar," Chicago Tribune, October 9, 1995, pp. 1-2.
17. A complaint, issued October 19, 1995, and therefore additional to the 171 as of October 9, 1991, resulted from a company rule at the York, Pennsylvania, plant, which states: . . . (A)ny employee engaged in harassing fellow employees or visitors, yelling, screaming, chanting, displaying balloons or similar disruptive efforts, regardless of the message being conveyed, while in work areas or during work time, will be subject to immediate discharge without further notice. Likewise, similar conduct in nonworking areas designed to disrupt the efforts of working employees in working areas or their peaceful use of designated break and lunch areas will not be permitted. According to the NLRB, this rule is conduct "interfering with, restraining, and coercing employees in the exercise of the rights guaranteed in Section 7 of the Act in violation of Section 8(a)(1) of the Act." (Caterpillar and International Union United Automobile . . . Workers, Case 33-CA-10722, October 19, 1995.)
18. Zipp, NLRB Regional Director, v. Caterpillar, Inc., 858 F.Supp. 794 (U.S.Dis. Ct., Cent.Dis. Ill., 1994).
19. Caterpillar, Inc. and International Union, United Automobile, Aerospace and Agricultural Implement Workers of America and its Local 974, 1995 NLRB LEXIS 473 (May 18, 1995).
20. This account of the Caterpillar situation is based in part on my examination of the complaints filed and upon Herbert R. Northrup and H. Lane Dennard, Jr., "The Return of 'Government by Injunction?' Public Policy and the Expansive Use of Section 10(j) of the National Labor Relations Act," Employee Relations Law Journal 21 (Summer 1996): forthcoming.
21. For an analysis of salting, see Herbert R. Northrup, "'Salting' the Contractors' Labor Force: Construction Unions Organizing with NLRB Assistance," Journal of Labor Research 14 (Fall 1993): 469-92.
22. The figure for pending salting cases was provided by Fred Feinstein, NLRB General Counsel, at a meeting in Washington, D.C., November 9, 1995, at which this author was present. See National Labor Relations Board v. Town & Country Electric, Inc., et al., 116 S. Ct. 450 (1995).
23. Copies of the UAW document are in author's possession. One such pamphlet stated on the cover that "All Skilled Tradesmen, E- [executive] Board Members, Stewards, Safety Comm. Are Scheduled to Attend! (Bold in original). The OCAW materials are described in end note 33, below.
24. La Botz, note 1, above, Chapter 4.
25. Arthur B. Shostak, Robust Unionism (Ithaca, N.Y.: ILR Press, 1991), Chapter 3.
26. Michael Eisenscher, Creative Persistent Resistance (CPR) (the Author, 1990), n.p.
27. SEIU Manual, note 6, above, p. 3-21, in which safety and health is listed first among areas which "can be investigated."
28. See ALPA's account of the program, "Creating Awareness," Air Line Pilot, Special Issue, Summer 1989, p. 14; Laurie McGinley and Paulette Thomas, "U.S. Finds Eastern, Continental Safe, But Cautions Labor Conflict Poses Risks," Wall Street Journal, June 3, 1988, p. 3; Christopher P. Fotos, "FAA Officials Say Eastern Safety Matches That of Other Airlines," Aviation Week and Space Technology, August 7, 1989, p. 80; and " Reality Check," Business Week, October 25, 1993, p. 6, which points out that "Many of Eastern's safety violations occurred before he [Lorenzo] bought it in 1986."
29. See ALPA's account of the program, "Creating Awareness," Air Line Pilot, Special Issue, Summer 1989, p. 14; Laurie McGinley and Paulette Thomas, "U.S. Finds Eastern, Continental Safe, But Cautions Labor Conflict Poses Risks," Wall Street Journal, June 3, 1988, p. 3; Christopher P. Fotos, "FAA Officials Say Eastern Safety Matches That of Other Airlines," Aviation Week and Space Technology, August 7, 1989, p. 80; and " Reality Check," Business Week, October 25, 1993, p. 6, which points out that "Many of Eastern's safety violations occurred before he [Lorenzo] bought it in 1986."
30. See ALPA's account of the program, "Creating Awareness," Air Line Pilot, Special Issue, Summer 1989, p. 14; Laurie McGinley and Paulette Thomas, "U.S. Finds Eastern, Continental Safe, But Cautions Labor Conflict Poses Risks," Wall Street Journal, June 3, 1988, p. 3; Christopher P. Fotos, "FAA Officials Say Eastern Safety Matches That of Other Airlines," Aviation Week and Space Technology, August 7, 1989, p. 80; and " Reality Check," Business Week, October 25, 1993, p. 6, which points out that "Many of Eastern's safety violations occurred before he [Lorenzo] bought it in 1986."
31. See ALPA's account of the program, "Creating Awareness," Air Line Pilot, Special Issue, Summer 1989, p. 14; Laurie McGinley and Paulette Thomas, "U.S. Finds Eastern, Continental Safe, But Cautions Labor Conflict Poses Risks," Wall Street Journal, June 3, 1988, p. 3; Christopher P. Fotos, "FAA Officials Say Eastern Safety Matches That of Other Airlines," Aviation Week and Space Technology, August 7, 1989, p. 80; and " Reality Check," Business Week, October 25, 1993, p. 6, which points out that "Many of Eastern's safety violations occurred before he [Lorenzo] bought it in 1986."
32. "American Airlines Wins Injunction against Sickout, Job Actions by Pilots," Daily Labor Report, No. 250 (December 28, 1990), p. A-6.
33. American Airlines, Inc. v. Allied Pilots Association, et al., U.S. D.C., N.D. Texas, Fort Worth Div., Case No. CA-4-90-986E, (December 26, 1990).
34. Daily Labor Report, No. 250 (December 28, 1990), p. A-6.
35. "Transportation Secretary Urges American to Make Strike-Delay Information Available," Daily Labor Report, No. 223 (November 22, 1993), p. A-11.
36. "FedEx Pilots Warn of Possible Delays If New Contract Not Settled by Nov. 25," Daily Labor Report, No. 210 (October 31, 1995), p. A-2.
37. In Philadelphia, the former regional director of OSHA was more than sympathetic to union demands for inspections. He was convicted of ordering arbitrary inspections and citations against nonunion building contractors after accepting bribes from the also convicted head of the local roofers' union. See "Prison Sentence for Former OSHA Official in Philadelphia Upheld by Third Circuit," Daily Labor Report, No. 142 (July 25, 1988), p. A-3.
38. "OSHRC Judge Charges 'Exploitative' Use of Case, Proposes to Exclude Worker Group," Daily Labor Report, No. 51 (March 16, 1988), p. A-9.
39. "Gregory A. Patterson, "Nordstrom, Inc. Sets Back-Pay Accord on Suit Alleging Off the Clock' Work," Wall Street Journal, January 12, 1992, p. A2. More recently, Boeing likewise ran afoul of the Washington State agency. In a case brought by the Seattle Professional Engineering Employees Association (SPEEA), a state court judge ruled that Boeing must pay at least the minimum wage to about 15,000 technical employees for time spent in orientation sessions and sign-up activities scheduled just after they were hired. Seattle Professional Engineering Employees Association v. The Boeing Company, Wash. Super. Ct., Kings Co., No. 92-2-29005- 7, October 17, 1995; and " Aerospace. Court Rules Boeing Must Pay for New Hires' Orientation," Daily Labor Report, (No. 203), October 20, 1995, p. A-5.
40. "Gregory A. Patterson, "Nordstrom, Inc. Sets Back-Pay Accord on Suit Alleging Off the Clock' Work," Wall Street Journal, January 12, 1992, p. A2. More recently, Boeing likewise ran afoul of the Washington State agency. In a case brought by the Seattle Professional Engineering Employees Association (SPEEA), a state court judge ruled that Boeing must pay at least the minimum wage to about 15,000 technical employees for time spent in orientation sessions and sign-up activities scheduled just after they were hired. Seattle Professional Engineering Employees Association v. The Boeing Company, Wash. Super. Ct., Kings Co., No. 92-2-29005- 7, October 17, 1995; and " Aerospace. Court Rules Boeing Must Pay for New Hires' Orientation," Daily Labor Report, (No. 203), October 20, 1995, p. A-5.
41. "Seattle Area Nordstrom Employees Reject Continued Representation by UFCW," Daily Labor Report (BNA), No. 140 (July 22, 1991), p. A-11; and " UFCW Ends Nordstrom Campaign in Northwest," idem, No. 153 (August 7, 1992), p. A-14.
42. "Seattle Area Nordstrom Employees Reject Continued Representation by UFCW," Daily Labor Report (BNA), No. 140 (July 22, 1991), p. A-11; and " UFCW Ends Nordstrom Campaign in Northwest," idem, No. 153 (August 7, 1992), p. A-14.
43. Crump, note 11, above, p. 40.
44. Ibid, p. 34.
45. See also Lin Nelson and Anne Rabe, "A Matter of Time: Building a Labor-Environment Coalition in New York State," New Solutions 2 (Fall 1991), p. 25. This journal is advertised as one of "Environmental and Health Policy," and according to its declaration, the publisher is an officer of OCAW, and it is published "in association with" OCAW. It is believed to be funded by grants from the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration, which underwrite a considerable portion of union OSHA activities. The United Paperworkers International Union (UPIU) has also published a booklet entitled. Protecting Your Community's Environment: A Worker's Guide (n.d.) which also displays the slogan, "Union Solidarity," with a circle encompassing "Environment" and "Health & Safety" on the cover, and is devoted to the use of both for corporate campaign purposes.
46. See also Lin Nelson and Anne Rabe, "A Matter of Time: Building a Labor-Environment Coalition in New York State," New Solutions 2 (Fall 1991), p. 25. This journal is advertised as one of "Environmental and Health Policy," and according to its declaration, the publisher is an officer of OCAW, and it is published "in association with" OCAW. It is believed to be funded by grants from the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration, which underwrite a considerable portion of union OSHA activities. The United Paperworkers International Union (UPIU) has also published a booklet entitled. Protecting Your Community's Environment: A Worker's Guide (n.d.) which also displays the slogan, "Union Solidarity," with a circle encompassing "Environment" and "Health & Safety" on the cover, and is devoted to the use of both for corporate campaign purposes.
47. Complaints to the EPA have been widely utilized against International Paper Company as a result of strikes in 1987-1988, and because the company has utilized nonunion ("open shop") construction companies. See, e.g., "[Maine] Senate Puts Off Action Calling for IP Closing," Bangor Daily News, February 24, 1988, p. 1; " IP's Environmental Problems Stacking Up," Pulp & Paper Week, April 22, 1991, p. 4; and " Carpenters' Union Asks Labor Department to Take Tough Stand on International Paper," Daily Labor Report, No. 114 (June 16, 1993), p. A-1.
48. Complaints to the EPA have been widely utilized against International Paper Company as a result of strikes in 1987-1988, and because the company has utilized nonunion ("open shop") construction companies. See, e.g., "[Maine] Senate Puts Off Action Calling for IP Closing," Bangor Daily News, February 24, 1988, p. 1; " IP's Environmental Problems Stacking Up," Pulp & Paper Week, April 22, 1991, p. 4; and " Carpenters' Union Asks Labor Department to Take Tough Stand on International Paper," Daily Labor Report, No. 114 (June 16, 1993), p. A-1.
49. Complaints to the EPA have been widely utilized against International Paper Company as a result of strikes in 1987-1988, and because the company has utilized nonunion ("open shop") construction companies. See, e.g., "[Maine] Senate Puts Off Action Calling for IP Closing," Bangor Daily News, February 24, 1988, p. 1; " IP's Environmental Problems Stacking Up," Pulp & Paper Week, April 22, 1991, p. 4; and " Carpenters' Union Asks Labor Department to Take Tough Stand on International Paper," Daily Labor Report, No. 114 (June 16, 1993), p. A-1.
50. See, e.g., F. F. Marcus, "Labor Dispute Ends with Ecological Gain,""New York Times, January 3, 1990, p. A16. Although the OCAW claims, and this article accepts, that OCAW's stress on environmental actions finally won the union reinstatement of all employees who desired to return, the company notes that the strike was settled only after the NLRB decision that the lockout was legal was affirmed by the courts, and that it had previously offered reinstatement on the same terms that the union finally accepted.
51. Letter from Filmore P. Bordelson, III, Deputy secretary, Louisiana, Department of Environmental Quality, to Maurice Simoneaux, Chairman, Safety and Health, United Steelworkers, Local 9121, November 17, 1994.
52. Vicki Hyman, "Steel Mill Clean, EPA Probe Says,"Money, April 26, 1995, p. C-1.
53. The materials on this issue are taken from Herbert R. Northrup and Augustus T. White, "Construction Use of Environmental Regulation to Win Jobs: Cases, Impact, and Legal Challenges,"Harvard Journal of Law and Public Policy 19 (Fall 1995): 55-119.
54. A complete account of this case, with all citations to agency cases, letters, etc., is found in the Northrup-White article cited in note 40, above.
55. See, e.g., "Union Files SEC Complaint Alleging Misleading Report,"Wall Street Journal, December 15, 1996, p. B4.
56. Bayou Steel Corporation vs. United Steelworkers of America, et al., U.S. Dis. Ct., Dis. Del., Civil Action No. 95-496-RRM, Plaintiff's Second Amended Complaint, October 12, 1995), p. 19.