By Richard Hankins, Kilpatrick Stockton Labor Attorney

STATISTIC CITED:  32% of workers lack a collective bargaining agreement one year after voting for union representation, due to weak labor law enabling employers to avoid bargaining with employees.

Kate Bronfenbrenner, "Uneasy Terrain: The Impact of Capital Mobility on Workers, Wages and Union Organizing," U.S. Trade Deficit Review Commission, 2000.

RESPONSE: Even if this number is true, this suggests that 68% of workers do have a contract within a year. But the number cited by unions deals with the number of employees, not the percentage of newly certified units without a contract. One or two very large units could easily skew the unions’ numbers. Of course, the absence of a contract suggests that the unions may be making unreasonable proposals. The current laws contain remedies for circumstances where employers may fail to bargain in good faith.

STATISTIC CITED:  Every 23 minutes a U.S. worker is fired or retaliated against for their support of a union.

This figure was derived from the 1993-2003 NLRB Annual Reports, which indicate an average of 22,633 workers per year were ordered to receive backpay from their employers.

RESPONSE: This number does not mean that there was actually a finding by the NLRB or Courts that discrimination or retaliation has occurred. It merely means that a Charge was filed and that backpay was received. Many such Charges are settled without an admission of wrongdoing, even where there is a valid defense. It is inappropriate for unions to suggest that union activity was the actual reason for each of those instances. In any event, the data reveals that the current laws are effective in remedying unlawful employer action when it does occur.

STATISTIC CITED:  91% of employers force employees to attend one-on-one anti-union meetings with their supervisors during union organizing drives.

Chirag Mehta and Nik Theodore, Undermining the Right to Organize: Employer Behavior During Union Representation Campaigns, Center for Urban Economic Development, University of Illinois at Chicago, Dec. 2005.

RESPONSE: Even if this number is accurate, there is nothing unlawful or improper about an employer holding meetings with employees about matters that could impact the workforce. After all, the employer is paying the employee for their time at work. The current laws protect employees from coercion or threats during such meetings.

STATISTIC CITED:  51% of employers illegally coerce workers into opposing unions with bribes or special favors during union organizing drives.

Chirag Mehta and Nik Theodore, Undermining the Right to Organize: Employer Behavior During Union Representation Campaigns, Center for Urban Economic Development, University of Illinois at Chicago, Dec. 2005.

RESPONSE: This number does not mean that there was actually a finding by the NLRB or Courts that coercion has occurred. It merely means that a Charge was filed. In any event, the data reveals that the current laws are effective in remedying unlawful employer action when it does occur.

STATISTIC CITED:  30% of employers illegally fire pro-union workers during union organizing drives.

Chirag Mehta and Nik Theodore, Undermining the Right to Organize: Employer Behavior During Union Representation Campaigns, Center for Urban Economic Development, University of Illinois at Chicago, Dec. 2005.

STATISTIC CITED:  49% of employers illegally threaten to close a worksite during union organizing drives if workers choose to form a union.

Chirag Mehta and Nik Theodore, Undermining the Right to Organize: Employer Behavior During Union Representation Campaigns, Center for Urban Economic Development, University of Illinois at Chicago, Dec. 2005.

STATISTIC CITED:  $0.00 - the amount the NLRB can fine an employer for willfully bribing, threatening, assaulting, or firing pro-union employees.

National Labor Relations Act, 29 U.S.C. § 151 et seq. The NLRB does not have the authority to impose fines, revoke licenses, or impose prison time on those who violate the National Labor Relations Act.

STATISTIC CITED:  46% of workers report being pressured by management during NLRB elections.

Adrienne Eaton and Jill Kriesky, Fact Over Fiction: Opposition to Card Check Doesn’t Add Up, American Rights at Work, March 2006.

STATISTIC CITED:  80% of union workers in the U.S. have health benefits through their job, compared with 49% of non-union workers.

U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, National Compensation Survey: Employee Benefits in Private Industry in the United States, March 2006.

RESPONSE: The Bureau of Labor Statistics may have reported those numbers, but it has long cautioned against drawing the conclusions that unions would like to have drawn. In a June 1990 report, the Bureau stated:

Factors influencing pay levels. There are, of course, a number of factors that influence pay levels besides the presence or absence of a labor-management agreement. The Bureau’s occupational wage surveys typically report higher pay rates for workers employed in larger establishments than for those in smaller plants; for those working in metropolitan areas than for those in rural settings; and so on. Often, these factors are also associated with varying levels of unionization, making it difficult to isolate the effect of each factor.

http://www.bls.gov/opub/mlr/1990/06/art2full.pdf

STATISTIC CITED:  U.S. workers who belong to unions earn 30 percent more than non-union workers.

Bureau of Labor Statistics, "Union Members in 2006, Table 2. Median weekly earnings of full-time wage and salary workers by union affiliation and selected characteristics." Current Population Survey, January 2007.

RESPONSE: The Bureau of Labor Statistics may have reported those numbers, but it has long cautioned against drawing the conclusions that unions would like to have drawn. In a June 1990 report, the Bureau stated:

Factors influencing pay levels. There are, of course, a number of factors that influence pay levels besides the presence or absence of a labor-management agreement. The Bureau’s occupational wage surveys typically report higher pay rates for workers employed in larger establishments than for those in smaller plants; for those working in metropolitan areas than for those in rural settings; and so on. Often, these factors are also associated with varying levels of unionization, making it difficult to isolate the effect of each factor.

http://www.bls.gov/opub/mlr/1990/06/art2full.pdf

STATISTIC CITED:  12% of U.S. workers have a union in their workplace, but 53% of U.S. workers would like one.

U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, " Union Members in 2006 ," Current Population Survey, January 2007.

RESPONSE:  Nothing in the report cited says anything at all about the percentage of workers who might like a union.  However, even if that statistic were true, the law already provides mechanisms for them to obtain union representation.