SmartPulse — our weekly reader poll in Smartbrief on Workforce — tracks feedback from leading managers and HR practitioners. We run the poll question each Wednesday in our e-newsletter.
Last week, we asked: With union activity and legislation like EFCA off the table nationally, what sorts of precautions [if any] are your business taking against unionization?
- We already have a union or we aren’t ever concerned about one forming, 41%
- We are continuing to be aggressive in fighting unionization, 24%
- We aren’t doing much, but we are still monitoring the situation, 22%
- Other business priorities have taken precedence over union prevention, 13%
With news breaking this week that Continental’s fleet service workers voted to join the Teamsters, I wonder what this poll would have looked like a week later? In any case, the 25% of people that are still fighting unionization may be vindicated after the news. With layoffs still not easing in certain sectors, many employees will see unions as an option for protection regardless of federal action on the Employee Free Choice Act or any other pro-union legislation.
Lance Haun is community director for ERE.net, the main guy over at Rehaul.com and a member of the SmartBrief on Workforce Advisory Board.