In an article by the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), Phil Wilson discussed employers’ free speech rights in the workplace when discussing unions with their employees.
“If employers are opposed to unionization, they should exercise their free speech rights during an organizing campaign, said attorney Phillip Wilson, president of LRI Consulting Services Inc., in Broken Arrow, Okla.
He said, “A lot of employers are concerned about exercising their protected speech rights because they don’t want to be targeted” by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) general counsel, who is independent of the board and prosecutes unfair labor practice cases, or the NLRB itself. “In my view, this is the wrong approach.”
Once a union is voted in, “you’re basically stuck with it,” Wilson added. “Well over 90% of workers covered by unions today never had a chance to vote on whether they wish to remain represented.”