- What is the best way to organize my location?
Try to create an organizing committee of your coworkers and peers. This will have a dual purpose: it involves your coworkers in the union organizing drive, while also helping everyone understand their shared vision of what a union should fight for. Members of an organizing committee can also help deal with misinformation once the unionization drive commences as they will have already built the relationships necessary to earn trust from co-workers and peers. It’s possible to organize without a committee, but as they effectively create a union before a vote has even been held, they are foundational to the success of the actual union vote.
See here for some additional ideas about how an organizing committee can help. - What are my rights around promoting the union at work?
The National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) and cases/decisions enforced by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) provide a number of protections for workers attempting to organize their workplace. See here for the source of the text below, but we’ve annotated this to include things relevant for Best Buy (annotations are in brackets and also italics/green):
You have the right to form, join or assist a union.
You have the right to organize a union to negotiate with your employer over your terms and conditions of employment. This includes your right to distribute union literature, wear union buttons t-shirts, or other insignia (except in unusual "special circumstances") [This means you could wear a Best Buy Labor Union button on your uniform for example and the company/management could not prohibit it], solicit coworkers to sign union authorization cards, and discuss the union with coworkers. Supervisors and managers cannot spy on you (or make it appear that they are doing so), coercively question you, threaten you or bribe you regarding your union activity or the union activities of your co-workers. You can't be fired, disciplined, demoted, or penalized in any way for engaging in these activities [This couldn’t be stated any more plainly, but it also cannot be overstated: document, document, document! If you feel you are being discriminated against or penalized: take photos, make notes with names of witnesses, dates and times, and if possible, get signed/dated witness statements! Then make an unfair labor practice complaint to the NLRB. The company counts on apathy and inaction.]
Working time is for work, so your employer may maintain and enforce non-discriminatory rules limiting solicitation and distribution, except that your employer cannot prohibit you from talking about or soliciting for a union during non-work time, such as before or after work or during break times; or from distributing union literature during non-work time, in non-work areas, such as parking lots or break rooms [Yes, this means exactly what it says: you can leave leaflets and flyers promoting the union in the hub/break room]. Also, restrictions on your efforts to communicate with co-workers cannot be discriminatory. For example, your employer cannot prohibit you from talking about the union during working time if it permits you to talk about other non-work-related matters during working time [We all know that when things slow down, employees will gather and talk about things such as sports or videogames, prohibiting union discussions would be considered discriminatory].
- Can't they just close a store/DC that is trying to unionize?
First, this is completely illegal. Specifically, employers "may not ... [t]hreaten employees with adverse consequences, such as closing the workplace, loss of benefits, or more onerous working conditions, if they support a union, engage in union activity, or select a union to represent them." In the case of the Starbucks union drive, they actually did close some locations back east, and the NLRB is in the process of not only forcing them to reopen the closed locations, but also forcing them to "make whole" employees who were laid off or fired (that is, provide backpay back to their layoff date through today) and also re-hire or offer comparable roles to the impacted employees.
That being said, the punishment is definitely not enough for habitual offenders.
In the case of Best Buy, we imagine closing a retail location carries significantly more risk than closing down a coffee shop. There are logistical concerns, and we suspect the leases are negotiated significantly longer for a big box store like Best Buy. That's not to say they couldn't pull out if they really wanted to, but it could prove costly long-term and the likely penalties should be an effective deterrant. And in all actuality, studies have shown that threats or "predictions" of closures are often empty.
"With great sophistication and lots of money, many companies turned up the heat against unions. Kate Bronfenbrenner of Cornell University found that 75 percent of companies facing organizing drives hired anti-union consultants. Ninety-two percent forced employees to attend meetings to hear anti-union propaganda, while 78 percent required workers to attend one-on-one meetings in which managers force-fed them the company’s anti-union message. The study found that 51 percent of companies threatened to close plants if unions won, while just 1 percent actually closed operations after a union victory.10"
Greenhouse, Steven (2008). The Big Squeeze: Tough Times for the American Worker (emphasis added)
As you can see, it is very unlikely a store would be closed. - Can I be fired/demoted/scheduled fewer hours/etc. (retaliated against) for attempting to unionize my store?
As discussed in the prior question, this is completely illegal. However, unlike closing a store, this is far more common of an occurrence. If you choose to spearhead organizing your store, there are two things you must understand: 1) you’re free to do so, and direct retaliation is illegal, and 2) attempts to retaliate will likely never directly reference your attempt to unionize. For this reason, it’s imperative that you document any form of discipline or changes in how you are treated. If possible, document uneven treatment (such as being held accountable for being tardy while other employees are also tardy and not disciplined; likewise for performance, if you are suddenly the only person being put on an “action plan” but it’s clear that others are performing similar to you, that should be documented). If you believe you’re being singled out, you should contact the NLRB and file a complaint. Any documentation you have or statements from witnesses are invaluable for this. Part of unionizing is “mutual aid and protection”, and there is no bigger opportunity for that than pushing back against unfair treatment from management.
