Workers gain tools to track union-busting efforts
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LaborLab, a workers’ rights group, launched online tools to help employees understand how companies respond to union organizing drives.
The organization created a search tool that compiles data from government filings, revealing information about over 800 consultants and law firms that employers hire to discourage unionization. This tool shows which companies these firms represent and how much they charge for their services, as well as their history with prior union campaigns.
LaborLab also developed a cost calculator that estimates how much money companies spend fighting unions instead of recognizing them voluntarily. The group notes that companies are legally required to report these expenses, but often fail to do so or use loopholes to underreport the total cost. In 2024, over half of employers who hired union avoidance consultants did not file the required financial disclosures by the deadline. Workers are already using these tools to gain insight into their employers’ tactics.
Sam Doyle, a healthcare worker in Seattle, discovered that Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center may have spent close to half a million dollars opposing unionization efforts. Zachary Gelnaw-Rubin, a bartender in New York, used the tool to share information about his bar’s legal representation with colleagues, strengthening their organizing campaign. Approximately 16.5 million workers in the United States are currently represented by a union, while 50 million more say they would like to join one.
