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Speaker 1

00:00

-♪ ♪ -♪ ♪ Our main story tonight concerns unions, the institutions that brought us The Weeknd, The Middle Class, and in the case of the International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union, an absolute banger of a song. And before we play this, I have a favourite singer here. See if they're yours too.

Speaker 2

00:20

Look for the union label When you are buying A cool dress of love Remember somewhere Our union's soaring Our wage is going To be the UC And run the house We work hard But who's complaining? Thanks to the ILG

Speaker 1

00:55

I mean, they look so happy. It's a video so uplifting, You barely pause to wonder how many of them are dead now. And by the way, yes, my favorite singer is the And Run the House Lady.

Speaker 1

01:09

She's the only 1 who gets to have a dramatic entrance. Also, she's got a fabulous mushroom haircut, wide lapels, and the voice of an angel. Every singer in that song is a star, but she is the brightest in the galaxy. Now, that ad, if it weren't obvious from every single thing about it, is from the early 1980s.

Speaker 1

01:27

And unfortunately, since then, union membership has declined considerably. Today, just over 10% of American workers belong to a union. That is just half the rate it was in 1983. Meaning, we're currently living in 1 of the worst times for organized labor in our country's history.

Speaker 1

01:43

And it's not like the demand isn't there. Nearly half of non-union workers say they would like to be in a union. And a lot of workplaces do seem like a natural fit for 1. Take Amazon.

Speaker 1

01:54

You've likely heard the infamous stories of drivers for the company being forced to pee in bottles in order to make quotas. Stories that Amazon initially denied, then apologized for denying, finally admitting that, yeah, okay, their drivers do sometimes have to piss in bottles. It's like the old adage, "'Tis better to seek forgiveness than permission." Unless this is about piss bottles, in which case, take a look at yourself, man. What are you even doing?

Speaker 1

02:16

Mahatma Gandhi." And yet, despite that and other reports of abysmal working conditions, earlier this year, an organizing drive for Amazon warehouse workers in Bessemer, Alabama was voted down by more than 2 to 1, which may seem like a clear-cut case of workers deciding for themselves to reject a union. But the truth is, it's a lot more complicated than that. Because if you have never been through a union organizing drive yourself, you might assume that a union vote is a completely free and fair election. That is an illusion fed by executives like Jeff Bezos, America's least inspiring astronaut, through statements like this.

Speaker 3

02:53

We don't believe that we need a union to be an intermediary between us and our employees. But of course, at the end of the day, it's always the employee's choice. And that's how it should be.

Speaker 1

03:05

Yeah, I don't know about you, but I'm personally not comforted by hearing 1 of the richest men on Earth say, it's your choice. No matter the context, all I can hear is, spear or arrow, how would you prefer to be hunted? It's your choice.

Speaker 1

03:18

But it is worth knowing just how many ways Amazon and many other companies try to influence their employees' choice, because they can exert a huge amount of pressure. So tonight, let's take a look at union busting. What it is, how it works, and how few consequences companies face for doing it. And let's start with a very basic breakdown of how a union drive works.

Speaker 1

03:40

The first thing to know is that any employer may recognize a union based solely on majority support. So, they can let employees unionize immediately, but they are not required to do that unless it's been chosen through a secret ballot vote. So unsurprisingly, that is how most unions end up getting recognized. And the first key step in union busting is preventing things from ever reaching that point.

Speaker 1

04:04

Because for an election to happen at all, 30 percent of workers must sign a union card, expressing an initial interest in union representation. But Amazon, for instance, has instructed its managers to be on high alert for the slightest sign that that might happen, as this leaked internal video shows.

Speaker 4

04:21

If you see warning signs of potential organizing, notify your building HRM and GM site leader immediately. The most obvious signs would include use of words associated with unions or union-led movements like living wage or steward.

Speaker 1

04:36

Wow. I mean, set aside how completely mask-off it is to treat the phrase living wage like the first warning sign of a stroke, You would also think a nearly 2000000000000 dollar company like Amazon could spring for better animation than JibJab. But if enough workers do sign cards, the election process is then underway. And in that process, companies have some pretty huge advantages, because obviously, when you're on their premises, they have unfettered access to you, while also having the ability to keep union reps out.

Speaker 1

05:07

And many companies take full advantage of that access. Amazon, for instance, inundated workers with anti-union signs all over their workplace, even putting them inside bathroom stalls. They also used workers' contact info to send multiple anti-union text messages to them per day, and held mandatory meetings that seemed designed to spread fear.

Speaker 5

05:28

They had somebody who was like their... The captain of the union busting, who would come down and teach, like...

Speaker 6

05:35

What was the official title of the class?

Speaker 5

05:37

They just called it, like, union training. That's it. Which is funny because it's not union training.

Speaker 5

05:43

It's anti... It's union busting 101. Right.

Speaker 1

05:46

It's not union training if the explicit goal is to kill the union. It'd be like taking a dog training class from Cruella de Vil. Although, no, not the 1 that's a misunderstood bohemian or whatever.

Speaker 1

05:58

I'm talking about the real Cruella. Yeah, that 1. The original dogicidal bad bitch. Now, these mandatory propaganda sessions are called captive audience meetings.

Speaker 1

06:09

And most Amazon workers at Bessemer were having to attend at least 2 per week. And that is not uncommon. Nearly 90% of employers facing union campaigns hold captive audience meetings. Right now, Starbucks is facing a union drive at 6 of its stores in Buffalo, and it has been doing everything that you've seen so far.

Speaker 1

06:27

Sending anti-union text messages, putting up signs, and holding captive audience meetings. And it may be no coincidence that Amazon's and Starbucks' tactics are pretty similar because both hired union-busting law firms and consultants to help them with their campaigns, which is not unusual. Union-busting is a whole industry. There are now about 2,000 of these firms, some of which have euphemistic names, like the Labor Relations Institute.

Speaker 1

06:53

And 75% of companies facing organizing drives hire 1, spending nearly $340 million on them per year. And these firms offer different levels of services for companies on a budget. Some offer mass-produced anti-union videos. You can even buy this 1, featuring a cartoonishly overbearing union organizer shot against a green screen so that you can customize it based on your workplace.

Speaker 1

07:16

They even produced samples of what that could look like.

Speaker 7

07:20

Listen, just sign the card. Once a union gets in, you want to be on the good side. Listen, just sign the card.

Speaker 7

07:28

Once a union gets in, you want to be on the good side. Listen, just sign the card. Once a

Speaker 2

07:33

union gets in, you want to be on the good side. Listen, just sign the card.

Speaker 7

07:34

Once a union gets in, you want to be on the good side.

Speaker 1

07:36

Well, I'll say this, at least they chose outfits that would fit in any workplace, because we all know employees in both corporate offices and warehouses dress like a college football coach whose wife just left him, and an America's Next Top Model contestant before the makeover. Although, the backdrops could clearly have been more creative there. You've got a green screen.

Speaker 1

07:55

The world is your oyster. Why not show evil unionizers mobilizing on a roller coaster? Or on a tropical getaway? Or on the desert planet of Arrakis.

Speaker 1

08:05

If you're gonna force employees to watch your bullshit, at least take them on a cosmic journey with Sandy Softboy Space Jesus. -♪ ♪ -♪ But whether it is coming directly from a company or through an outside firm. Anti-union campaigns tend to follow a pretty basic playbook. And a go-to tactic is to highlight that unions collect dues.

Speaker 1

08:26

It's a point that Delta Airlines made when its employees were considering unionizing, and they did it in a pretty dickish way. Delta Airlines causing a lot of turbulence on

Speaker 8

08:35

the ground after it told employees to buy video games instead of unionizing. 1 poster, here it is, says union dues cost around $700 a year and then tells employees to put their money towards a video game system with the latest hits.

Speaker 1

08:48

Ooh! The latest hits, you say? Telling your workers to play video games instead of unionizing is incredibly condescending, and doubly so when you consider video game characters are the ultimate example of exploited labor. Think about it.

Speaker 1

09:02

They take orders all day, usually get paid in coins, and not once in 36 years of playing Mario have I ever seen him get to take a bathroom break. Not once! The Mushroom Kingdom has to be absolutely littered with piss bottles at this point. And you might say, well, of course a union collects dues.

Speaker 1

09:21

How else are they gonna have the resources to fight for their members? But these consulting firms will insist that unions simply take money and offer nothing in return. Here is how the Labor Relations Institute puts it in 1 of its union-busting videos.

Speaker 9

09:35

Unions are in trouble. Their membership is shrinking, which means they're in danger of going out of business. They send out high-pressure salespeople to sell a bill of goods that most people believe is either of no real value or is highly overpriced.

Speaker 1

09:50

Okay, so just to be clear, that is a for-profit consulting firm being paid by a for-profit company arguing that unions are only in it for the money. That is pretty fantastic. It's not even the pot calling the kettle black, it's the pot calling the kettle a pot.

Speaker 1

10:06

It's like being called a bad first date by Ted Bundy. Now, LRI consultants have also told employees that joining a union might get them a contract with less wages and less benefits than they currently have. But think about how ridiculous that argument is. If companies genuinely thought unions would negotiate worse terms for their employees, they'd be welcoming them in with open arms.

Speaker 1

10:31

Jeff Bezos would have shown up to that interview in a Che Guevara T-shirt if he thought it would help him pay people less. Because the truth here is, unionized workers in the private sector have wages about 25 percent higher than their non-union counterparts. That is why companies want to keep unions out. That is why they are willing to pay LRI $3,000 per consultant per day.

Speaker 1

10:54

But the anti-union argument isn't just that they are useless, it's that they'll destroy the beautiful workplace culture that companies have created. Here is how Target framed it in 1 of their union-busting videos.

Speaker 10

11:07

If the unions did try to organize Target team members, they could also try and bring along their way of doing business, an old-fashioned rigid structure. No 1 knows exactly what could happen, but there are lots of examples of how rigid grocery store union contracts could hurt our store's ability to serve guests.

Speaker 11

11:25

Here's what we mean. Let's say you're working in stationery, but you're walking through Domestik's on your way to check on something. A guest stops you and asks for help.

Speaker 11

11:36

What would you do? Without even thinking about it, you stop and give them any assistance they required. But what if union work rules say You can't work outside of your department. What do you tell the guest?

Speaker 11

11:49

Sorry I can't help you? That makes you look bad, but more importantly, it means our guest doesn't get immediate attention. And they might not come back. So everyone gets hurt.

Speaker 11

12:00

Everyone except the union.

Speaker 2

12:02

Ooh! I

Speaker 1

12:03

like how they put that last part in black and white so we know it's bad. We're talking can't open a jar bad. There's got to be a better way!

Speaker 1

12:12

But if I could just give the target executives 1 quick note. Have you ever worked retail? Because if you had, you would know that telling your floor workers they'd be able to tell a customer, -"Fuck off, this isn't my department." -$1,000. Is a pretty good argument to vote yes on that union.

Speaker 1

12:28

Honestly, That might be worth it on its own. And fun side note, those aren't just actors, they're union actors, members of the Screen Actors Guild. In fact, that man later actually stressed in an interview that he's very much pro-union, defending his appearance in the video by saying, if someone hires me to play a rapist, does it make me a rapist? To which I'd have to respond, what?

Speaker 1

12:52

And... I guess not, but, What? But the most frightening and effective argument companies make against unions isn't just that they'll keep you from helping customers in other departments, it's that they'll cost you your job. Now, thankfully, it is against the law for companies to threaten workers that if they unionize, their workplace will close.

Speaker 1

13:14

However, hilariously, it is legal for them to predict that it'll shut down, which is obviously not a real distinction. When a loan shark threatens to break your legs, that's not meaningfully different from a loan shark predicting that legs will be broken as a result of market forces relating to lack of payment. And that prediction loophole can let a lot through. For instance, Columbia Sportswear brought in a consultant who freestyled to a captive meeting of workers about what could happen if they unionize.

Speaker 12

13:44

I've seen the worst of it. Doesn't always end up going so badly, but I mean, I've seen people, you know, just completely bankrupted. Marriage is lost, home's lost.

Speaker 12

13:54

Company closing. Yeah, sometimes that happens too. I mean, look at Detroit. I mean, all the auto workers there, I mean, tens of thousands of employees lost their jobs overnight.

Speaker 1

14:09

Wow. That is a level of fear-mongering rarely seen outside an abstinence-only sex-ed class. Don't join a union unless you want to end up pregnant, divorced, homeless, and Detroit. And it's not just Columbia sportswear.

Speaker 1

14:23

When workers at a tire company called Kumho tried to unionize a few years back, 12 different managers issued threats to close the plant if the union won, which is undeniably scary. And the thing is, it worked. Because even though 80% of Kumho workers had initially signed cards supporting unionization, when the vote happened less than a month later, only 43% voted to organize. And that is the thing.

Speaker 1

14:48

Threats that a workplace will close are effective, despite being overwhelmingly bullshit. 1 study found 51 percent of companies threatened to close plants if unions won, while just 1 percent actually closed operations after a union victory. It is the same story again and again and again, and it can be dispiriting for those who know just how much good a union could do for their coworkers. Listen to a woman who tried to organize her Nissan plant, talk about how it felt watching her union drive fall apart.

Speaker 11

15:21

When we started this, I mean, my whole line was just... They were just, yes. But when Nissan started bringing in those anti-union videos, I seen my co-workers just...

Speaker 11

15:33

They look on their face in this bed, I just can't do it.

Speaker 1

15:36

Yeah, and that is heartbreaking. And frustratingly, even on the rare occasion workers managed to overcome everything that you have seen tonight and win their election, the fight still might not be over. As a study found, in a quarter of all successful union elections, getting a contract can take 3 years or longer.

Speaker 1

15:55

And while companies are supposed to bargain in good faith, they can legally draw things out to a ridiculous degree. In 2009, some Texas employees at Dish Network voted to unionize. But over a decade later, they still have no contract. And think about how long ago 2009 was.

Speaker 1

16:13

Back then, the kids on Modern Family looked like actual children, And at that point, none of them were engaged to the bartender from the Bachelor franchise. In 2009, the question on everyone's lips was, is the guy from Degrassi really rapping now? Is he really doing that? And you really want me to transport you back to that time?

Speaker 1

16:31

I've got 2 words for you. Susan Boyle. Remember how her whole thing was, we didn't expect someone who looked normal could sing good. The point here is, 2009 was a long time ago, and that is how ridiculously long the employees of Dish network have been waiting for a fair union contract.

Speaker 1

16:48

And that actually brings us to the final problem here, because far too often, the consequences for anti-union actions by companies are minimal to none. For instance, companies aren't supposed to retaliate against workers who unionize, but it happens all the time. Take Cynthia Harper, who worked at a factory that made windshields. After she spoke up in favor of a union, she had a pretty sudden and pretty suspicious change to her job.

Speaker 13

17:13

Every since they started this job, it's been a two-man job. When they put me out here on it, they decided they wanted it to be a one-person job. When we talked to HR, I told them they were targeting me.

Speaker 13

17:28

Put me on a job to set me up, to write me up for performance issues and fire me.

Speaker 1

17:35

♪♪ Okay, That's pretty brazen, isn't it? They took a job clearly for 2 people and made her do it on her own. And if you're gonna set her up for failure, why stop there?

Speaker 1

17:53

Why not just give her everyone's job? Why not send the entire factory home with a note saying, -"Relax, everyone. Cynthia's got this." -$1,000,000. And the thing is, she was right.

Speaker 1

18:01

Soon after that, she was fired, along with 2 other pro-union coworkers. But the consequences for a company doing that are just pathetic. A company that wrongfully terminates a worker for supporting a union might be forced to provide back pay, but that on its own is a pretty small price for them to pay if it helps them crush a union. And other punishments are even weaker, like the fact that, and this is true, a company can be ordered to post a notice on the bulletin board in which it admits that it violated the law, but also, and this is crucial, promises not to do it again.

Speaker 1

18:32

And, come on! A company should probably face more consequences for illegally union-busting than this dog who clearly likes to hump this cat. And honestly, in both cases, I doubt the sign is gonna change the underlying problematic behavior. So it is no wonder that U.S.

Speaker 1

18:49

Employers are charged with violating federal law in over 40 percent of all union election campaigns, because why wouldn't they? Even when those charges are proven, the consequences are laughable. 1 anti-union consultant has flat out stated, what happens if you violate the law? The probability is you will never get caught.

Speaker 1

19:07

If you do get caught, the worst thing that can happen to you is you get a second election, and the employer wins 96% of second elections. And it's not great that union-busting firms are telling companies that, but it's even worse that it's fucking true. So, what can we do here? Well, Congress could step in to help rebalance the playing field.

Speaker 1

19:27

The Protecting the Right to Organize Act, or PRO Act, would outlaw captive audience meetings and enable successfully unionized workforces to seek arbitration to settle a first contract, meaning that companies like Dish can't give them the middle finger for decades. Also, and perhaps most importantly, it'll put real financial penalties in place to prevent companies from violating workers' rights without consequence. But until that law is passed, and it should pass, 1 of the most important things for workers to do is to try not to get disheartened during a campaign, which I know isn't easy. But union busting is all about killing momentum, splintering unity, and exhausting worker's spirits.

Speaker 1

20:04

So to the extent that it helps, if you're in a workplace that's unionizing right now and you're feeling pressured or personally attacked, remember, the company is almost certainly following a script, and you don't have to play the part that they want you to. And if by some chance, you're a corporate executive who's made it this far into the show, first, I'm almost impressed that you're still here. But second, please stop wasting money on these anti-union consulting firms. Instead, just use this video that we made for you.

Speaker 1

20:32

It's a lot cheaper, and it says exactly what you really mean. -♪ ♪ -♪ ♪ -♪ ♪

Speaker 14

20:41

Hello. Thanks for joining us today and watching this mandatory company video.

Speaker 6

20:45

You're here because someone may have approached you about unionizing.

Speaker 14

20:49

Or asked you to sign a union card.

Speaker 6

20:51

Or simply said the words, living wage, out loud, anywhere on company grounds.

Speaker 14

20:56

Look, a union may work for a lot of places, but the thing is, here, We're a family, and you employees are children.

Speaker 6

21:03

So let's listen in on some worker conversations.

Speaker 14

21:06

Something we definitely don't do in real life.

Speaker 15

21:10

Hey, Bob, did you know if we brought on a union, it'd be illegal for us to talk to our bosses anymore?

Speaker 2

21:17

No way.

Speaker 16

21:17

There's 2 things I love in this world. Talking directly to my shift supervisor and helping customers who are in departments I don't work in.

Speaker 15

21:22

Well, bad news, Bob. If the union came in, you couldn't do that. Yeah, if a customer who's outside of your department asks you a question, you're legally required to tell them to go fuck themselves.

Speaker 15

21:34

And if they ask you a follow-up question, you'd have to slap them with an open hand. So everyone gets hurt. Everyone except the union.

Speaker 16

21:44

Wait, how could the union possibly benefit from some...

Speaker 6

21:47

We don't think a union is right for our workplace, but ultimately, the choice is always up to our employees.

Speaker 14

21:54

We promise no 1 will be fired for wanting to unionize. Although there is

Speaker 10

21:58

a chance you might be fired for poor attendance.

Speaker 6

22:00

A pretty good chance, actually.

Speaker 2

22:02

Yeah,

Speaker 14

22:02

but you won't be fired explicitly for the union thing. That's how we do it. For the next few weeks, you might notice a few extra posters around the workplace.

Speaker 14

22:10

In break rooms, stock rooms, bathrooms. Or glued to the back of a co-worker. You already went to the bathroom, Ted. These are just there to tell you things.

Speaker 14

22:20

Like how expensive union dues are. $700? Think of what else you could buy with that. Like a Nintendo Wii with all the latest hits.

Speaker 2

22:30

Or,

Speaker 14

22:32

I don't know. What else do poor people like? Poor people, poor people, poor people.

Speaker 14

22:39

I know I've seen poor people. Duh. Drugs. Buy and eat drugs.

Speaker 15

22:46

Did you know when a union enters a negotiation, our wages could go up or they could go down?

Speaker 16

22:52

Wait, our wages could go up?

Speaker 15

22:53

But they could go down.

Speaker 16

22:55

Realistically, they'll go up.

Speaker 15

22:56

But they could go down.

Speaker 16

22:57

Okay, but without a union, what's stopping them from going down now?

Speaker 15

23:00

But they could go down. Right,

Speaker 16

23:02

just technically speaking.

Speaker 14

23:04

Hey, I wanna talk to you about your attendance. Just remember, when it comes to unions,

Speaker 10

23:11

the choice is yours.

Speaker 14

23:12

When it comes to watching videos like this about unions, the choice is very much ours. Did I say stop waving?!

Speaker 1

23:20

♪♪ -♪♪

Speaker 2

23:35

you