As PR NEWS went to press this week, Verizon Communications was still plodding through bad press in the midst of its negotiations with more than 85,000 telephone
operators, customer service agents and technicians who went on strike Aug. 6. The work stoppage, which threatened service to roughly 25 million customers on the East Coast,
received considerable negative play in the media and on Wall Street, given that the new company (the progeny of the Bell Atlantic/GTE merger) is still getting its legs. And, in
typical strike fashion, Verizon workers had their own separate PR counsel: the Communications Workers of America and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers.
While some pundits contend that unions have lost their gusto in the wake of declining memberships over the past decade, labor communications experts are quick to add that what
unions now lack in sheer mass, they make up for with highly sophisticated PR strategies. "In contract disputes, the union will go directly to the public, through the press, to
exert pressure that they couldn't otherwise apply to the corporation," says Paul Furiga, a VP and head of the labor team in Ketchum's global workplace practice. "PR is now at the
leading edge of what unions do, and they have become extremely sophisticated in their approaches."
It was hardly a coincidence, Furiga says, that the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), which represents office cleaning crews, threatened to kick off its national
"Justice for Janitors" campaign earlier this summer with a series of rolling strikes starting in Los Angeles, just prior to the Democratic National Convention. The union's
willingness to drag immigration issues into the debate and make poster children of its multicultural members helped catapult its quest for wage increases into the spotlight.
Forging New Ties
Moreover, today's savvy union leaders are looking beyond the media as a sole target in garnering support for their causes. "They're also now addressing investors directly,"
Furiga says. He cites one instance in which the United Steelworkers of America (USWA) hired a Wall Street investment banker to trash Oregon Steel Mills' stock as a means of
weakening the corporation's position during labor disputes. A look at the USWA's Web site (http://www.uswa.org) also chronicles union efforts to
organize a boycott against Wells Fargo, a major lender to Oregon Steel. Supporters allegedly have pulled more than $1 billion worth of business out of the bank in solidarity.
While unions' PR savvy is easily on par with the communications programs of most major corporations, the two camps nevertheless are not equal when it comes to retribution.
Companies hit by work stoppages suffer immeasurable reputational damage in the eyes of inconvenienced customers, overworked, non-union employees and nervous investors. Even those
who "win" the battle still stand to lose the financial war. American Airlines, for example, took a $50 million loss in the wake of its pilot sickout last year. And although a
lawsuit later filed against the Allied Pilots Association resulted in a $50 million judgment against the union for illegal activity, the organization clearly didn't have the dough
to repay the air carrier.
"A couple weeks ago, they reached a settlement in which the union will give $1 million to Habitat for Humanity," Furiga says. A nice philanthropic plug, but American Airlines
communicators are stuck with the task of appeasing disgruntled customers and explaining the earnings loss to investors.
The irony is that labor disputes are rarely, if ever, "sudden crises" and usually can be anticipated well in advance. "It amazes me that organizations allow themselves to get
down to the wire and then lose the trust of their employees and suffer the damage to public perception that occurs during negotiations," says Larry Smith, president of the
Institute for Crisis Management in Louisville, Ky. "You know how much it's going to take to settle. How much of that are you willing to gamble?"
Common Ground
While the National Labor Relations Act of 1935 requires corporations to keep labor leaders apprised of business initiatives that may affect unionized workers, the smartest
corporations see this mandate as an opportunity, not a ball and chain. Smith names GE among those leveraging the PR expertise of unions to strengthen their own internal
communication programs. "The union leadership here [in Louisville] has worked closely with GE to find more efficient ways to manufacture appliances, recognizing that GE has to
remain competitive with other manufacturers. But when they have to make statements about downsizing, they make joint statements together," he says.
The big three U.S. automakers have even made it common practice to establish United Auto Workers offices in their headquarters buildings. "We keep [the UAW] in the loop about
central parts of our business plan, like what new products are coming and what the competition is doing," says Ed Miller, manager of corporate news at Ford Motor Co. "If we
change a production line from making one kind of engine to another, we want them to understand why. If you're open and honest, you're less likely to get people concerned about
job security," he says.
Strong union ties also keep Ford execs attuned to employee needs and concerns. In fact, a union presentation given during last year's labor negotiations gave Ford CEO Jacques
Nasser the idea of equipping Ford's 350,000 employees worldwide with home PCs and Internet access. "Our business plans were very e-business oriented and [the UAW] picked up on
that. They wanted to make sure their people would be computer literate heading into the future," Miller says. The computer program is now in rollout stage, and is set for
completion by next April.
The latest research from the Institute for Crisis Management shows a decline in negative news coverage stemming from labor disputes (strikes accounted for 10.3% of overall
negative print news in 1990, vs. only 8.8% in 1999). But we're guessing the trend is less a reflection of diminished union prowess than it is evidence that labor organizations
and corporations have improved diplomatic ties.
"If you're not unionized, you have to communicate effectively with your employees or they will want to unionize," Smith says. "If you are unionized, [labor organizations] will
play as much a role in the success of your business as shareholders."
(Furiga, 412/456-3766; Miller, 313/322-9211; Smith, 888/708-8351)
State of the Unions
- 65% of Americans support labor unions, while 28% disapprove.
- 45% say they've sided with unions in recent labor disputes, while nearly 37% have sided with corporations.
- 18% live in a household in which one or more worker is unionized.
- 13% report being members of labor unions.
- 30% would like to see unions' influence increase, while 32% would like to see their influence decrease. 36% would like to see unions' influence maintained at the current
level.
Source: Gallup Research
Tap Unions, Improve Radar
Crisis expert Larry Smith urges corporate communicators to use every available research tool to gauge employee concerns - including surveys, focus groups and team advisory
boards. If possible, launch such initiatives in partnership with union reps. In 1997, both Teamsters and UPS execs conducted separate focus groups with UPS drivers to gauge their
job satisfaction.
While respondents indicated they were satisfied with their pay scales and benefits, UPS officials failed to read between the lines (drivers were nevertheless concerned about
company plans to add more part-time jobs to the payroll). Teamsters leaders assessed worker sentiment more accurately. A 15-day strike ensued.