What were tactics used by unions?

37b. Labor vs. Management

ILGWU Archives. Kheel Center. Cornell University

"Holding the Door Shut," a political cartoon depicting the cruelty of management in the 1911 Triangle Shirtwaist fire, in New York City.

The battle lines were clearly drawn. People were either workers or bosses, and with that strong identity often came an equally strong dislike for those who were on the other side. As the number of self-employed Americans dwindled in the Gilded Age, workers began to feel strength in their numbers and ask greater and greater demands of their bosses. When those demands were rejected, they plotted schemes to win their cases.

Those who managed factories developed strategies to counteract those of labor. At times the relationship between the camps was as intellectual and tense as a tough chess match. Other times it was as ugly as a schoolyard fight.

Strikes, Boycotts, and Sabotage

The most frequently employed technique of workers was the strike. Withholding labor from management would, in theory, force the company to suffer great enough financial losses that they would agree to worker terms. Strikes have been known in America since the colonial age, but their numbers grew larger in the Gilded Age.

Most 19th century strikes were not successful, so unions thought of other means. If the workers at a shoe factory could garner enough sympathy from the local townspeople, a boycott could achieve desirable results. The union would make its case to the town in the hope that no one would buy any shoes from the factory until the owners agreed to a pay raise. Boycotts could be successful in a small community where the factory was dependent upon the business of a group of people in close proximity

In desperate times, workers would also resort to illegal means if necessary. For example, sabotage of factory equipment was not unknown. Occasionally, the foreman or the owner might even be the victims of worker-sponsored violence.

Management Strikes Back

Owners had strategies of their own. If a company found itself with a high inventory, the boss might afford to enact a lockout, which is a reverse strike. In this case, the owner tells the employees not to bother showing up until they agree to a pay cut. Sometimes when a new worker was hired the employee was forced to sign a yellow-dog contract, or an ironclad oath swearing that the employee would never join a union.

Strikes could be countered in a variety of ways. The first measure was usually to hire strikebreakers, or scabs, to take the place of the regular labor force. Here things often turned violent. The crowded cities always seemed to have someone hopeless enough to "cross the picket line" during a strike. The striking workers often responded with fists, occasionally even leading to death.

Prior to the 20th century the government never sided with the union in a labor dispute. Bosses persuaded the courts to issue injunctions to declare a strike illegal. If the strike continued, the participants would be thrown into prison. When all these efforts failed to break a strike, the government at all levels would be willing to send a militia to regulate as in the case of the Great Upheaval.

What was at stake? Each side felt they were fighting literally for survival. The owners felt if they could not keep costs down to beat the competition, they would be forced to close the factory altogether. They said they could not meet the workers' unreasonable demands.

What were the employees demanding? In the entire history of labor strife, most goals of labor can be reduced to two overarching issues: higher wages and better working conditions. In the beginning, management would have the upper hand. But the sheer numbers of the American workforce was gaining momentum as the century neared its conclusion.

Over the past decade, we’ve seen media unions systematically establish a solid footprint in a rapidly developing industry. Looking at how they’ve done it offers a blueprint for would-be union organizers in other industries and is perhaps even an early sign that conditions are ripening for a labor comeback.

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Union membership as a share of the workforce in the United States has fallen to its lowest point in 80 years, but news media workers have bucked the trend, winning union recognition at roughly 30 digital news sites since 2015 and in numerous other traditional newsrooms. In total, the number of unionized workers in internet publishing has risen 20-fold since 2010. The unions representing media workers have achieved this through painstakingly old-fashioned union organizing: they have embraced the mantra of effective bargaining, though they have presented it in a new and technologically shiny package. For labor leaders in other industries, especially those where union membership is declining, the lesson is that union revival depends on aggressive representation.

As researchers in business and management who have studied labor movements across industries, we’ve learned that any successful union organizing requires overcoming three hurdles. First, workers must acquire a collective identity behind which they are willing to mobilize. Second, unions must convince workers that labor representation can improve working conditions. Third, workers must often take risks to win union representation.

Over the past decade, we’ve seen media unions systematically take these challenges on and, as a result, have established a solid footprint in a rapidly developing industry. Looking at how they’ve done it offers a blueprint for would-be union organizers in other industries and is perhaps even an early sign that conditions are ripening for a labor comeback.

How they’ve done it

The successful organizing drives at Gawker Media (2015), Vox Media (2017), Slate (2017), and The Root (2017), among others, reveal the compelling themes unions have marshaled: They listen to workers, develop adhesive organizing themes, communicate regularly, and give workers a sense of hope. This is not a secret recipe; these are tried-and-true tenets of organizing which have served unions well in the past. But in an industry that has undergone massive restructuring over the last 15 years — one in five newspapers has closed and one in three of the largest newspapers have shed staff — these tactics play directly to employees’ uncertainty about the industry and concerns that their pay is low, benefits few, and employment disposable.

But discontent is not enough to cause the leap in organizing that we’ve seen in the media industry. So how have organizers changed the equation? First, they have convinced workers that having a union as a bargaining representative will actually help workers do better. The news media unions have skillfully focused on keeping in constant touch with rank and file and aggressively using social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Flickr. When possible, they engage their employers to facilitate the organizing process. In the media industry, where many news outlets take a decidedly ideological slant, workers will exploit these leanings to encourage employers to facilitate an open discussion about the merits of union representation.

For example, before holding a vote on union recognition in 2015, Gawker Media and the local WGAE editorial staff jointly invited employees to post their views on the upcoming vote, stating that “All Gawker Media editorial employees are invited to share their thoughts on the upcoming vote in the comment section below. We like to do these things out in the open.”

Next, they have focused intensely on getting a first contract, even embedding their bargaining campaign into the organizing drive, as was done at Fast Company. In many cases, the contracts that have been negotiated are providing more than just baseline provisions: The contract at Thrillist includes merit-based raises, eight weeks paid parental leave, just cause for discipline and discharge, severance pay enhancements, and the elimination of “pre-existing non-compete agreements.” At The Intercept, the contract also includes just cause, four months of paid parental leave, and a diversity provision that ensures that “at least two candidates from groups traditionally underrepresented in journalism (i.e. women, people of color, or those identifying as LGBTQ+) will be interviewed for any vacant bargaining unit position.”

Finally, they’ve convinced media workers that organizing — and agitating — is a risk worth taking. Take, for example, workers at The Root who took their fight public by publishing a statement on “Why We’re Organizing.” Or at Thrillist, where employees staged a one-day strike to push management to reach a deal on a contract. Or, most recently, at Slate where employees voted 52 to 1 to authorize a strike over bargaining demands. Just how risky are these moves? Across the industry, owners and managers have strongly opposed union recognition, even opting to close companies like Gothamist and DNAinfo after employees voted to unionize.

A Tipping Point

Individually none of the strategies we’ve outlined above point to a new type of organizing. But taken together, and in the context of the gains that the labor movement has made among media workers, they signify to a broader renewal for organizing. There are other signs, too. First, a recent survey reveals that nearly 50% of the nonunion workers would support union representation. Public approval of unions stands at more than 60%, with younger people being even more supportive than other age groups.

Second, though the media industry may be leading the way, other industries are experiencing similarly growing protests. This year, teachers in several states as well as employees worldwide at Google drew attention by walking off the job.

Finally, it’s worth noting that unionized media workers posses the communication skills and followings necessary to constitute a mobile corps of labor ambassadors. As such, unionizing them may lead the way to the much wider unionization of creative professionals, millennials, lower-paid workers, and industrial workers threatened by technology, skill obsolescence, and shifting customer preferences.

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