In recent years, unions trying to negotiate new contracts increasingly have turned to new ways of waging a broader fight outside the bargaining room. These fights on a second front are referred to as corporate campaigns. In a way, the “end game” in the bargaining  process used to be pretty straightforward. If the parties didn’t see eye to eye at the table, then economic pressure was brought to bear: either the union would strike or the employer would lock out the workers. The terms of the eventual contract settlement would be determined by how much each side felt the pain of the pocketbook. But recent years have brought us negative developments in the law, shifts in the American (and world) economy, and the new technology that sometimes takes control of production out of the workers’ hands. These have changed the union view of strikes. Now, unions often conclude that a strike is no longer necessarily the first resort, nor even the most powerful weapon in their arsenal.
—Adapted from The Union Member's Complete Guide, by Michael Mauer |
