Submitted questions about "Card Checks"

Submitted comment- "I have a concern that I’m sure some others share. There are potential situations where during the organization process the names of those who signed authorization cards could be shared with the employer before the process is complete. This would happen if when the union were to approach the employer about recognition, the employer requested to do a “card check” and the union obliged. It could also happen if there was any potential for litigation during the process which required the authorization cards to be used as evidence made available to the employer by discovery. The latter I realize there is no crystal ball to prevent this situation, but can we get confirmation from the union that during the recognition process, a “card check” method will not be utilized to achieve recognition? Thanks"

Great question- but let me put your mind at easy- The 'card check' is not done by the employer EVER, not during card collection, not before a vote, not even if a vote fails. The cards are submitted directly to the Union server- they are then verified by the National Labor Relations Board which is legally obligated to keep the information confidential. If we get 50-99% percent of everyone to sign cards and ask the company to voluntarily recognize our union they could, as you stated, request a "card check". This card check is done by a third party that the union helps choose, and the personally identifiable information is not released in the report. The company only gets a report back outlining the number of eligible employees who submitted cards.- the company does not do the card check.

Regarding litigation and discovery- Yep, a company could certainly push that route- and it wouldn't be the first time. This is exactly what Starbucks did in 2022, and they got away with it in the lower courts but were heavily reprimanded during appeals. The courts aren't dummies and are now wise to cheap tricks like this. Additionally, massive international unions like the one we're dealing with have attorneys who are as well paid as our employer's lawyers and specialize in this stuff. Any attempt to 'sniff out' names using the courts violates about 10 different laws meant to protect our privacy and right to unionize; this is protected under Section 7 of the NLRA. They'd be immediately hit with fines, countersuits and legal cases from both the union and the NRLB.

Personally, I'd be thrilled if COP retaliated and fired me in the next few years- I'm a good employee with the record to prove it. If I suddenly ended up 'let go for underperformance' I'd have a slam dunk legal case on my hands with plenty of high octane lawyers from the union in my corner- this would be the situation regardless of winning or losing a union vote because the international union organizations definitely see the 'threat' to any future recruiting efforts if you or I got steamrolled.

Here's a news story about it if you'd like to read more- https://jacobin.com/2023/03/starbucks-union-busting-retaliation-employee-surveillance

This is the actual court case I was discussing if you'd like to read more- however the link won't work during the current federal shutdown. https://apps.nlrb.gov/link/document.aspx/09031d45839c9e8e