Promises, Promises…

Sort out the truth from the lies, the facts from the fiction, and protect yourself from being taken for a company propaganda ride.

Don’t kid yourself.

No one is more interested in labor unions than the boss—especially when he gets wind of his employees’ starting any kind of unionizing campaign.

His interest is understandable. His actions, however, are often close to unbelievable! He knows that his employees should be allowed to use their own judgment, BUT SOMEHOW HE DOESN’T QUITE TRUST THEIR JUDGEMENT, at least to do what he wants.

He knows he’d blow his stack if the workers ever stuck their noses in his “union” affairs – The Chamber of Commerce, Manufacturers’ Association, or Merchants group—BUT THAT’S A DIFFERENT MATTER!

He knows there is a law protecting the workers’ right to organize, BUT AFTER ALL, MAYBE THE WORKERS DON’T KNOW THEIR RIGHTS—and besides, THERE ARE EXPERTS TO HELP HIM “BEND” THE LAW A LITTLE AS HE TRIES TO “INFLUENCE” HIS EMPLOYEES.

In recent years, the pattern of company interference in union campaigns has become very common—common because it happens frequently, and common because it takes much the same form each time.

Since it could happen here… since it will happen here if your employer has decided to go all-out in fighting your intent to organize…you might be interested in knowing something about the ways anti-union employers attempt to “influence” their employees’ judgment concerning union membership. You should know what sort of anti-union propaganda blockbuster the boss may start dropping in his campaign to convince you that you don’t want, or need, the union.

Watch Out. Listen Up.

FOR “LOVE LETTERS” From the boss. All of a sudden you may be favored by a burst of affection from the boss. For the very first time since you began to work for the company, the boss may start sending letters to your home. From these letters, designated to be read both by you and your family, you will learn for the first time how “deeply concerned” he is about your welfare.

You may not have suspected it before, from the size of your paycheck, but these letters will reveal that the boss worried about your economic well-being, at least to the point of being concerned about the way you spend your paycheck. He dreads the thought that you may waste your money—by paying union dues, for instance!

You’ll discover another phase of his interest in your welfare. He is anxious that you not get mixed up with any “shady characters”—like union representatives, for instance! He may even describe them as crooks, mobsters or racketeers in his effort to convince you that they are “shady characters.”

Furthermore, he has a great fear that you might lose your independence…become a slave to some labor “boss” who can order you out on strike at any moment even against your will!

Perhaps you hadn’t realized it, as you and your fellow workers have been melting and talking about the union, that the minute you become union member you’ll change into a strike-happy, irresponsible and violent individual. But the love letters will educate you on that score. They’ll point out this tendency to strikes and violence that you hadn’t noticed in your fellow workers and friends before.

The letters, of course, will forget to inform you that there are more than 100,000 union contracts governing labor-management relations and that 97% of them are signed after normal negotiations. They’ll forget to mention that more workers miss work because of colds than because of strikes, and that strikes have to be authorized by the workers themselves before they can be conducted.

You will learn, however, from the love letters the boss sends, that you are all part of a happy family at work, and you will read this fervent hope that no foreign influence like the union will ever break up that wonderful, intimate relationship he says you’ve always enjoyed.

Did you know that the boss has always maintained an “open door” policy?  Did you know that any time you had a grievance or felt any dissatisfaction about wages, hours, or any other part of your working conditions, all you had to do was pay him a little visit to talk it over? Well, if you haven’t been aware of all this, the love letters will make it clear to you.

There are many, many more things the love letter will tell you. You’ll enjoy reading them. You can tie them up with the blue ribbon and put them in your hope chest. Hopes are about all you’ll get, without a union.

Watch Out. Listen Up.

FOR RUMORS spread by foremen and supervisors. You may hear that raises are coming, “if only that union doesn’t get in.” You’ll hear that the boss knows who he can “trust” and who Is a “union-sympathizer.” You will hear that those who are backing the union have always been trouble-makers who have never carried their share of the work.

You may hear that the boss “Has his eye on you”—that he has been thinking about giving you a raise or promotion. Or  you may hear that he is “wondering” about you and just can’t believe that you would be “disloyal.”

You may hear that the boss is thinking of moving the company to another city or state if the workers vote for the union – or that he has told a close business friend that he just will not be able to get along with the union and will probably have to shut down!

You may hear that the union will demand “industry-wide seniority… What if a union place “up north” or “down south”, or “out west” has a layoff, the union will shift those works here and bump you out of a job!

You may hear that unions don’t permit more than one member of a family to work in the same place—actually make the boss fire wives whose husbands work for the company, and that children, parents or other relatives of workers can be thrown out of their jobs because of such union rulings!

Such rumors may sound ridiculous and outrageous to you, and they are, but they’ve been used by many a company in many anti-union campaigns.

Watch Out. Listen Up.

FOR “COMMITTEES OF LOYAL EMPLOYEES” that suddenly come into existence, and start issuing letters and leaflets urging you to “stick with the boss.” You will notice that these employees speak openly during working hours, use their names on handbills, and appear to be conducting their own campaign. They will deny that they have any connection with the boss and will be “amazed” that anyone should think such a thing. They are just interested workers who don’t like unions and who are willing to pay the cost of leaflets, and mailings, to help keep the union out— so they say!

Watch Out. Listen Up.

FOR “SPECIAL COMMITTEES” of local business and civic leaders. These special committees also spring up overnight, like the special committee of loyal employees described above. Such new-born committees will claim they are interested only in your welfare when they urge you to help keep “those dirty unions” out of the community. Again, like the committee of loyal employees, this group will insist it has no connection with the company. Naturally, it will be a pure coincidence when the committee’s newspaper stories and advertisements are identical with statements printed by similar “committees” in other communities.

And don’t be surprised if some members of this special committee of interested citizens call upon members of your family, to urge them to ask you not to vote for the union. You may not be accustomed to having the town banker, the editor of the newspaper, or the credit manager of the finance company from which you borrowed some money, call upon you in your home. But they might just do that. It’s happened in other places, why not here?

Watch Out. Listen Up.

FOR SPECIAL MEETINGS CALLED BY THE BOSS.  The best name of these meetings is “captive audience meetings.” They’ll be held on company time and will feature a little homey chat from the boss himself. It may be the first time he’s ever felt moved to call you together that way—at his expense—but he’ll do it now because he feels that it is so important that you know the “facts of life” or “understand” his problems. He’ll remind you of all he and the company have done for you and your community; he’ll tell you that you and the company are partners in a great enterprise and that you will make progress together. But he’ll sadly inform you that there won’t be any more “togetherness” if you decide to join that “outside” union.

He may read from a printed statement to be sure that he doesn’t get too excited – say what he really means, and thus violate the law. If you listen to the words of the speech carefully, you will realize that he isn’t actually saying that he will fire anyone, or close down the company if the union wins, but you and your fellow workers won’t have any trouble getting his “message.”

The boss may use this captive meeting to call for an “open vote.” He may ask all “loyal” employees to raise their hands and then declare that those who are for the union don’t have the courage of their convictions.

If he follows the pattern, he’ll suggest that a vote for the union is a vote to destroy the company and your job. He won’t attempt to explain how that fits in with the fact that over 14 million American workers belong to AFL-CIO unions, such as the Sheet Metal Workers’ International Association, and the companies for which they work seem to be flourishing!

Vote Union Yes

Your employer may use any, or all, of these various devices—letters, rumors, threats, phony committees, captive meetings—and others not mentioned here, in his attempt to convince you that you don’t want or don’t need a union. All of these methods are contained in standard propaganda packages developed and sold by professional union-busting specialists who are paid and paid well, to confuse workers and get them to vote against their own best interest.

Don’t let some highly paid “specialists” tell you how to think. Don’t be tricked into voting against yourself.

Neither the boss nor the anti-union specialist he hires will belong to, or run your union. They have their own “unions.” This union is different—it’s yours; you run it!

The final decision must be, and is, up to you!

While you’re waiting for election day, the day you make a truly smart decision, keep looking out for the unionbusters. They’re almost bound to come.

Then, on election day, look for the union YES box on the ballot to mark your choice—a vote for the Sheet Metal Workers’ International Association Local Union.