Union organizing in the information age

✍ Scribed by Alfred T. DeMaria

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1999
• Weight: 236 KB
• Volume: 22
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0745-4880
• DOI: 10.1002/mare.4080220104

✦ Synopsis

The proliferation of computers in the workplace has given unions a new medium and new tools for organizing employees, well beyond the traditional handing out of leaflets at plant gates and oral solicitations during nonworking time. A recent organizing campaign raised issues surrounding the use of such methods and led to the issuance of an opinion by the NLRB General Counsel that considers issues raised by these new approaches to organizing. The union's use of these methods in the campaign considered by the General Counsel may become a prototype for high-tech campaigns that will be seen in the future, as computers become even more pervasive in the workplace.

The General Counsel of the NLRB is responsible for evaluating cases that arise in the various NLRB regions and making decisions on close cases and on situations involving strong public policy interests. The General Counsel decides whether or not to issue a complaint.