What would you do if you found out that your employees were moving towards organization and union representation?

Thanks to new state legislation signed into state law this May, you might think twice about how your company needs to communicate about this situation.

Wisconsin employers are now restricted from responding to union organizing efforts through mandatory employee meetings. According to Robert Burns, a shareholder specializing in labor and employment at Davis & Kuelthau’s Green Bay office, the change in legislation is a reflection of the larger pro-labor agenda now in play by the majority party at both the state and federal levels.

“The state legislation now in place actually has three layers to it, and you have to look a little deeper to see exactly what is behind it,” he says.

As passed, SB-585 restricts employers from discriminating against employees who decline to attend a meeting or to participate in any communication about religious matters or political matters.

“So then the next layer addresses what qualifies under those matters, and if you read further into the law, it includes something defined as a ‘constituent group,’” explains Burns.

And what does the law define a constituent group as? The definition includes six categories, with the final one of “labor organization.”

“It’s there where the option for a mandatory meeting has been removed,” says Burns. “Since the 1950s, employers have had the ability to hold mandatory meetings on company time to communicate with their employees about issues. It’s a fairly typical scenario.”

Your company can still hold the meeting, however you can’t require employees to attend nor can you discriminate against those who don’t attend in any way.

The meetings have always had to abide by the labor laws. “You can’t say ‘If you organize, we’ll cut your pay’ or ‘If you don’t organize, we’ll give you a pay increase,’” he says, noting that threats of any kind are illegal. “You also have to be careful that the intent of your statements cannot be misconstrued in any manner.”

Lest you think your company could not be a target of an organizing effort, Burns says that such efforts occur with “reasonable frequency” in Wisconsin.

“I believe that unions now realize that their membership in the private sector is at an all-time low, and the emphasis is now on organizing for future sustainability. It’s not unusual to target a new employer, particularly in certain industries.”

Labor unions have their traditional industries – think the trades and transportation – but have more recently moved into other sectors, such as the service industries.

The good news is that you still can communicate with your employees in this situation.

“The first thing you can always do is maintain an open-door policy within your organization,” he says. “You want good communication so your employees don’t feel that they need union representation to be heard.”

Secondly, should an election campaign begin at your company, the new law does not prohibit other traditional forms of communication.

“Companies can still rely on mailings, posters and paycheck stuffers to provide employees with managements’ perspective,” he says. “It is harder to get the message out now.”

Management needs to take organization efforts seriously.

“I encourage employers to look beyond the short-term impact of what a labor contract can do,” says Burns. “There are significant costs from a competitive standpoint … you need to look no further than Detroit to see that. Unions can have a serious effect on your company’s operating performance and profitability.

“The unfortunate issue in regards to the Wisconsin legislation is that it is making the state less attractive to nationally based companies,” he concludes. “It could be one of the things that makes a company look elsewhere rather than opening a location in the state, because any facility that employs Wisconsin workers is affected by this change.”

By Laurie Arendt

Laurie Arendt is editor of CRW. She can be reached at crweditor@crwmag.com