Trends in Union Corporate Campaigns - US Chamber of Commerce

INTRODUCTION
A corporate campaign is a multifaceted and often long-running
attack on the business relationships on which a corporation
(or an industry) depends for its well-being and success. It is a
highly sophisticated form of warfare in which a target company
is subjected to diverse attacks—legislative, regulatory, legal,
economic, psychological—the function of which is to so
thoroughly undermine confidence in the company that it is
no longer able to do business as usual. The union waging the
campaign then offers to withdraw the pressure in return for
substantial concessions. These concessions might include such
items as agreement upon otherwise unacceptable contract terms,
silence with respect to the company’s preferences regarding the
unionization of its workforce (what the unions term “neutrality”),
or even an agreement to recognize the union without a formal
vote by the employees. The more sensitive a company is to its
reputation, the more susceptible it is to public fears about the
safety or propriety of its operations, or the more highly regulated
its lines of business, the more vulnerable it is to such attacks.
In this briefing book, we will summarize the origins, strategies and
objectives of these campaigns, and will identify both long-term
and recent trends in their development.
Trends in Union Corporate Campaigns
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