The Labor Relations Readiness System
Labor Relations Readiness System
Your Strategic Plan For Positive Employee Relations
What Is The Labor Relations Readiness System?
The Labor Relations Readiness System™ (LRRS) was developed by IRI Consultants to help companies proactively identify and address potential employee relations vulnerabilities – instead of simply reacting to a petition for election.
The Labor Relations Readiness System has prepared companies to avert union organizing campaigns in settings ranging from healthcare to manufacturing to entertainment. With the results of the LRRS, we’ve helped some of the nation’s largest corporations avoid new unions while containing their existing bargaining units.
INCREASED POTENTIAL FOR UNION ORGANIZING
Today, many organizations are concerned about the potential for increased union organizing activity, and with good reason. The aftermath of the pandemic, changing legislation such as the shifting public sentiment toward unions, and employee concerns about balancing work and life have created a perfect storm of potential union organizing.
A Labor-Friendly Administration
The odds of your company having to deal with a union corporate campaign and/or union organizing campaign continue to go up. The Democratic House of Representatives is determined to make the PRO Act provisions the law, even if they can’t get the PRO Act passed.
Just last year, the White House Task Force on Worker Organizing and Empowerment released a strikingly pro-union report with 70 recommendations “that, when implemented, will promote worker organizing and collective bargaining for federal employees and workers employed by public and private-sector employers.” The Task Force, chaired by Vice President Kamala Harris and U.S. Secretary of Labor Martin Walsh, was created by President Joe Biden in April 2021. Its members include more than 20 Cabinet members and heads of other federal agencies.
Language from the PRO Act is also buried in a committee recommendation called Title II-Committee on Education and Labor. On page 120 and in Subtitle B-Labor Matters, starting at Sec. 21001-Penalties, the PRO Act language breathes new life, with the promise of:
Making it easier for employees to file unfair labor charges against employers
Unions to gain more power over employers
Making it more difficult for employers to manage their workforce
START PREPARING NOW
Be proactive with IRI's The Art of Labor Relations Readiness System
LABOR LAW: TODAY'S CHALLENGES
President Biden has spent considerable time praising labor unions for helping to grow wages and the middle class. He has declared numerous times that he intends on being the most pro-union president in history. Labor unions couldn’t ask for more effective free national marketing.
It’s all intended to help grow union membership once again, impacting your positive employee relations strategy in significant ways.
Quickly, some, but not all, of the provisions revived in the committee language, include the following:
SIX STEPS TO LABOR RELATIONS READINESS
Step 1 - PLAN
During the planning stage, there are interviews conducted with leaders at different management levels to identify what they see as critical issues and get their take on the current labor environment.
In a holistic approach, leaders are asked about the strengths and weaknesses of things like communications, employee engagement, leadership development status, and whether they have seen any signs of union organizing.
Step 2 - EDUCATE
Are your executives, Human Resources team members, and other designated leaders fully trained on union issues? Do they understand concepts like:
- The NLRA and employee and employee rights
- Union organizing tactics, both virtual and in-person (tech-based and traditional)
- The cost of unionization
- Importance of educating employees on things like card signing and their rights
Step 3 - ASSESS VULNERABILITIES
What are your real vulnerabilities to unionizing? A good place to start is by asking your leaders the issues they believe most concern employees. These issues will likely include the very issues that unions target, like wages, promotions, workloads and lack of employee voice or access to their managers and supervisors, safety, and working conditions. There may also be issues like a lack of diversity in the workplace and leadership pipeline, not enough job training opportunities to keep skills current, and bias in the workplace.
Step 4 - COMMUNICATE
Your communication system should enable reaching all employees in a way that best fits your organization. Consider external communication sources, like public social media posts, that should be monitored for union organizing activities. However, two-way communication needs to be used as an engagement tool at all levels of the organization. Your employees need the ability to communicate with their direct managers and supervisors, but that means your leaders must be fully informed about critical issues and understand effective communication. Your communication efforts need to align with employee needs.
Step 5 - DEVELOP LEADERS
The importance of labor relations training in order to stay prepared for union organizing can’t be overstated. It’s management at every level, including supervisors, that determine whether your organization stays union-free. They must:
- Know employee rights per the NLRA
- Know TIPS-D and FLOP rules
- Be comfortable sharing the company’s philosophy on unions
- Have confidence in answering employee questions about unions
Plus a wide variety of additional skills such as building trust and conflict management that help maintain a direct connection with employees.
Step 6 - ENGAGE EMPLOYEES
Building a culture of engagement means that your teams understand and support the challenges the company faces. A direct connection with employees means they have a voice in the workplace. They know that their ideas and concerns are heard, that they are included in decision-making, are safe in expressing concerns or problems, and their managers care about their health, safety, and general well-being. Employee engagement sometimes seems like an ethereal concept, but through good people analytics, it’s a measurable and critical path to staying union-free.
The items and activities mentioned are only examples of each of the six areas of labor readiness and not a complete list. It’s important to understand that each organization is unique and at a different stage of readiness. Your organization has vulnerabilities likely not mentioned here.
Develop Your Proactive Employee Relations Strategy
Start working on your Positive Employee Relations Strategy now. Your Labor Relations Readiness training provides a strong foundation in labor law, employee rights, and teaches managers how to discuss union organizing in real-world settings.