Deck Stacked Against Union Organizing!
When Martin Unzueto got involved in an organizing campaign at a local printing company, he saw it as a way to improve conditions for workers. But his pro-union stance put him on an unexpected path. "My hours were cut, and then I was fired," and workers voted against unionization, said Unzueto, who now works for the Chicago Workers Collaborative. His story isn't unique, according to a new report. When Chicago area employers faced union organizing campaigns, 30 percent of them fired workers involved, nearly half threatened to close or relocate their business and 82 percent hired consultants to help them fend off unions, the new study found.The report from the University of Illinois at Chicago's Center for Urban Economic Development is based on a survey of 62 organizing campaigns conducted in the Chicago metropolitan area during 2002. Download complete story, Press release and link to the full report, in PDF format.
