A new U.S. Department of Labor rule requires employers to disclose behind-the-scenes work that consultants and lawyers perform for them to help persuade workers not to form a union or support a union's collective bargaining position.
Labor Secretary Thomas Perez said in a call with reporters "In many organizing campaigns, decisions that workers make about whether to choose to stand together are often influenced by paid consultants, or persuaders, who are hired by employers to craft the management message being delivered to workers."
The U.S. Department of Labor estimates that between 71 percent and 87 percent of employers facing union organizing drives hire consultants to help fight them. Officials said the rule will result in better information for workers who are making a decision on whether or not to form a union.
"This rule is about disclosure, and more disclosure here means more peaceful and stable labor-management relations," Michael Hayes, director of the federal Office of Labor-Management Standards, said in a statement. "With workers having a better understanding of the true source of persuader communications, worker-supervisor, and other workplace relationships are likely to proceed more smoothly no matter what is decided regarding union representation."
Michael Carrouth, a Columbia lawyer who consults with businesses on how to avoid unions, said the rule is an attempt by the Obama administration to give organized labor the upper hand in elections.
"They hope it will discourage companies from getting the legal guidance they need to make sure what they do is lawful," he said, adding the rule - which takes effect July 1 - is an attack "on one of the core tenets of the attorney-client relationship."
The rule ultimately won't have much impact, Carrouth said, because companies will still seek legal advice in running anti-union campaigns.
"They'll just have to report it now," he said.
The new rule will be published on Thursday and apply to agreements made after July 1, 2016.
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