This Dept. of Labor Wants To Stop Employers From Scaring Employees

Politico goes right to the heart of the labor movement in A Top Federal Labor Official Declares “War” On Employer “Captive Audience” Meetings.

NLRB General Counsel Jennifer Abruzzo called the meetings “inherently coercive” during union organizing efforts.

In a message to NLRB field offices across the country, Abruzzo argued that these types of mandatory meetings — during which employers present arguments against forming a union — “inherently involve an unlawful threat that employees will be disciplined or suffer other reprisals if they exercise their protected right not to listen to such speech.”

She said she intends to ask the board to overturn decades of precedent by outlawing mandatory attendance for such meetings — which critics call “captive audience” gatherings — and ensuring that workers’ participation is “truly voluntary.”

In addition to larger gatherings, the memo also seeks to outlaw instances where employees are “cornered by management” while performing their jobs to talk to them about unionization.

(graphic via srwc.org)