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Union organizing has surged over the past couple years, and so has employer pushback. Through meetings, videos and text messages, employers have been pushing workers to reject unions. Now a growing number of states are passing laws protecting workers who choose not to listen. This week, Illinois will become the eighth state to do so. NPR's Andrea Hsu reports from Chicago.
ANDREA HSU, BYLINE: Hilario Becerra has spent about a decade working as a painter - recently, for a small business serving commercial clients in greater Chicago. One day this spring, his workday took a turn. Instead of heading to the job site, he and a bunch of others were called into a meeting. Management had gotten word that a union drive was underway. And so...
HILARIO BECERRA: (Speaking Spanish).
HSU: ...For about three hours, Becerra said, they were paid to listen to management's case for why unionizing was a bad idea.
BECERRA: (Speaking Spanish).
HSU: The union would rob them, they were told. The union wouldn't be good for them and they didn't need a third party to represent them. The message was delivered in Spanish by a hired consultant who also showed up at the job site...
BECERRA: (Speaking Spanish).
HSU: ...Pulling workers aside individually for an hour or two, continuing the pressure campaign. Now, before this spring, Becerra had never known that unionizing was even a thing, but he quickly became an advocate. He'd heard some union painters make double the $25 an hour he was making and that they get health insurance, which he never had. He thought most of his co-workers were on board with the union.
BECERRA: (Speaking Spanish).
HSU: "At the beginning," he says, "we had 75- to 80% in favor." But by the time the ballots were counted, it was 14-8 against the union. Half the workers didn't even vote. Those pressure tactics are familiar to labor organizers everywhere. At Starbucks, Amazon, the Mercedes-Benz plant in Alabama, pro-union workers report being forced to watch anti-union videos and sit through meetings with managers and consultants. Mercedes even brought in a local pastor just ahead of their election. In the end, the union lost by 600 votes. At the painting company in Chicago, Becerra says no doubt the company's campaign worked.
BECERRA: (Speaking Spanish).
HSU: "We couldn't win," he says. Since 2022, a half dozen states have made it illegal for employers to hold mandatory meetings to discuss company views on religion or politics and specifically unions. Already, in Minnesota and Connecticut, there are legal challenges. Business groups, including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, say the laws are a violation of the First Amendment, denying employers the right to share their perspective on unions. A lot of companies feel unions just bring more bureaucracy. They say employees deserve to hear both sides. But Tim Drea, president of the Illinois AFL-CIO, is unmoved. After all, employers can still hold meetings, as long as they're voluntary.
TIM DREA: If somebody wants to walk away from a meeting, they should have the right to do it without being retaliated against.
HSU: Alberto Barraza is hopeful the new law will help level the playing field for workers. He's organizing director for Painters District Council 14, the union vying for those painters in Chicago.
ALBERTO BARRAZA: I think it'll make a big difference. Yeah. I really do.
HSU: He knows that many workers may still be too scared to skip a company meeting. So between now and January 1, when the law takes effect, he's planning a full-on information campaign.
BARRAZA: Educating workers on saying, hey, listen, this is not something that you have to be a part of if you don't want to.
HSU: And Barraza's betting most will choose to opt out. Andrea Hsu, NPR News, Chicago.
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