Will Carpenters union’s social media tactics gain sympathy, or get lost in the mix?

The Carpenters union recently launched a website, Twitter account and Facebook page to help get the word out on its issues with the Pennsylvania Convention Center, where it has been barred from work since last May. But experts say the union's success with its new strategy will rely on creating a robust social media plan.

D.C. 47 approves 8-year labor agreement

With an overwhelming majority of ayes in a voice vote, the union representing the city's white-collar workforce accepted a new eight-year contract Wednesday night.

"They are very happy, they have money in their pockets," said Frederick Wright, president of AFSCME District Council 47, which represents 3,600 employees, including nurses, librarians, and social workers.

The agreement, signed by Mayor Nutter and Wright on Feb. 25, ends a five-year contract dry spell for D.C. 47 and is described by both sides as a win-win.

Although the pact covers 2009 to 2017, members won't receive any retroactive pay. They will, however, get a $2,000 ratification bonus and wage increases of 3.5 percent one month after ratification, 2.5 percent in mid-2015, and 3 percent in 2016.

"I'm so glad it's over. I just want to take a day off now," Wright said, his forehead glistening with sweat after going through the entire contract in the standing-room-only auditorium at Benjamin Franklin High School.

"I don't like it much, but at least we are getting something," Evelyn Matthis, a 20-year city veteran, said as she left with colleagues. She voted in favor of the contract, and her view was shared by many of the more than 1,000 members present for the closed-door vote.

Nutter, who is likely to tout the contract when he delivers Thursday's budget address, estimated the cost of the pact at $122 million over the next five years.

In 2016, current employees will have to chip in an extra 1 percent of their pay to their pensions, for a total contribution of 3 percent. New employees who opt for the old pension plan instead of the hybrid will have to contribute about 4 percent.

Still unresolved are on-and-off contract talks between the Nutter administration and the city's larger, blue-collar union, the 8,800-member District Council 33.

Source: Philly.com

Effective Social Media Campaigns in Labor Disputes & Organizing Campaigns and their impact on your Employer Associations and firms: Fast Food Workers organize – Social media sets the foundation for this highly effective campaign.

In the article below, we see how another effective social media campaign was used to broadcast a message and develop a strong base of support.  In this case, technology and social media elements were used to covertly establish a base of operations on which to launch an effective and broader social media campaign. 

Most noteworthy, the pre-campaign made use of social media by opening up a “secret” Facebook page before the drive went public.  That page was used to build “the most important aspect of the campaign,” “a strong, 27-member worker-led organizing committee that worked hard to recruit and train others.”

As is the case with many employers locked in an organizing campaign, most do not realize that a campaign is taking place until it is well underway and established.  This new strategy and method enables the organizing effort to take place without organizers ever stepping foot on the organization’s property and or directly engaging the workforce.  This is one strategy that we believe that we shall see more of going forward here in the Philadelphia region.  GMCS clients are advised to regularly monitor and review their online presence and foot print.  More importantly, as you are reading the article, take and moment and consider just how effective a strong Employee Relations program would have been if implemented by management well in advance of the campaign.

Want to take a look at how social media is being used to garner support on a multi-national level here in Philadelphia, go here…

Read more about this particular campaign and how social media was used to win an election in the article below.

Fast Food Workers Win a Union…through Zoolidarity

Union members have watched in awe as fast food workers struck over the last year, calling for “$15 and a union.” Despite the slogan, however, the prevailing wisdom has been that union recognition isn’t really the goal; that’s too hard against giant employers insulated by a layer of franchises, with a part-time and transient workforce.

Last month 142 mostly part-time food service workers, public employees at the Oregon Zoo, showed it could be done, winning a landslide election to join Laborers Local 483 in Portland. They join 137 already-union admissions and custodial employees at the zoo—about half of these are temps—doubling the size and power of the bargaining unit just in time for contract negotiations.

Like the rest of Fast Food Nation, these food service workers reflect a changing economy and a changing workforce. When I worked at the Oregon Zoo as a teenager making burgers and fries, the workforce was overwhelmingly high school- and college-aged. No more. Because of the ongoing jobs crisis, many zoo food workers have college degrees or are long-term employees. Because of the low wages and the zoo’s strategy of using temporary employees, many are forced to take multiple jobs.

The zoo uses the word “temporary” to refer to classifications under a cap of 1,040 hours per year. Some work 40 hours a week for up to six months. The food workforce swells in the summer, with food carts and cafés sprinkled across the zoo. Others work year-round, but part-time, some as little as one or two days a month. Many are “on call.”

“Did you know that during your whole last visit to the Zoo you probably encountered only us temporary workers?” said zoo worker Ellen Ino, testifying last year at a Portland Jobs with Justice event that highlighted the abuse of temporary and seasonal job classifications by local public employers.

Ino said zoo members are often “amazed that the person who sold them the membership in July, handled their membership questions throughout the high season, tore their tickets in October, ran around the campus in November and December during Zoolights… that those workers are not considered permanent employees with benefits.”

Strong Committee

Several ingredients made the nine-month campaign successful. Organizers from Local 483 were inspired by the techniques taught by Jason Mann, a Canadian organizer, educator, and founder of Strategic Organizing, which offers advice to unions about strategies and using technology and social media.

Mann’s organizing techniques were based on surveying unions that had carried out successful organizing drives, discovering their key strategies and tactics—such as a strong internal organizing committee, direct action at the workplace, a community campaign, and use of social media. (See A Troublemaker’s Handbook for similar advice.)

One of the tactics Mann suggests is using workplace surveys to agitate about working conditions. When a Local 483 organizer was surveying existing members at the zoo, a food service worker found the flyer on a bulletin board and filled out the survey, leading to contact with several other “foodies.”

The most important aspect of the campaign was, of course, a strong, 27-member worker-led organizing committee that worked hard to recruit and train others. “Their energy infected the rest of the workplace,” said Local 483 organizer Tobias Green—producing a cohesive workplace that began to think and act more united. Workers called their workplace culture “zoolidarity” throughout the campaign.

The campaign also made use of social media, opening up a “secret” Facebook page before the drive went public. This tactic is risky since published information can find its way back to management, but the zoo workers invited people they trusted into the Facebook group. Soon the page was used as an auxiliary tool to share information, support each other, and complain about work—i.e., to build solidarity.

“The Facebook page allowed us to answer questions about unions, address gossip at the zoo, announce organizing meetings, and later to respond to anti-union rumors that crept into the workplace,” member-organizer Matt Ellison said. Some of the scare tactics included the old favorites: “You’re all going to be laid off and will have to reapply,” “the 483 contract has a lower hours cap,” “they just want your dues,” “you are hurting the zoo.”

‘Quick Hits’

One characteristic of winning drives is that workers start acting like a union before the election. Zoo workers did “quick hits”—direct action to make popular worksite demands that immediately improved working conditions. These were demands that management would look either foolish or heartless to reject.

For example, zoo workers marched on the boss mid-campaign to deliver a petition that demanded cooler conditions for food workers, both those stationed outside during hot days and those inside the hot, stuffy restaurants. Management conceded and swapped out higher-wattage light bulbs for cooler ones, supplied bottles of water, and fixed a fan that had been broken for months. This victory strengthened the campaign at a critical juncture.

Workers now want to use their new union power to make the zoo a better place to work and to visit. They begin bargaining this month, joining (and significantly strengthening) an existing Local 483 bargaining unit that is entering negotiations. Temps will be the majority covered under the contract.

Priorities include higher wages, full-time jobs, and paid sick days, said worker-organizer Anne McDonnell.

Source: Labornotes.com

Are you interested in learning more about Social Media Campaigns and how they can impact your association or organization?  Are you interested in learning more about how Social Media Campaigns can be used to your association’s or organization’s benefit?  Contact Wayne Gregory at Gregory Management & Consulting Services, wegregory@gregorymcs.com to hear more about our in house presentations and or social media campaign management options?

LABOR DISPUTE: United Steel Workers / Crown Holdings - Striking Steelworkers to rally at Crown Holdings HQ in Northeast Philly

As reported on PhillyLabor.com’s Facebook page, a planned rally in support of striking workers from Canada will take place at the Crown Headquarters in Northeast Philadelphia, Wednesday, October 16, 2012. 

The rally will include local and Canadian supporters.  Congestion and delays should be expected in the immediate area during the rally.

See original post here…

AREA STANDARDS PICKET: Sheet Metal, Local#19 / Multiple Contractors:

We reported last week that social media is continually being utilized in creative ways to support the agendas of the parties involved.  Additionally, given the current state of labor relations in Philadelphia and the indifference and apathy displayed by many in the city as it relates to labor & industry relations, we should anticipate that labor will continue to hone and focus their campaigns to selectively achieve results as needed.  As we can see from the following two examples, social media is very effective in broadcasting to a larger marketplace, effectively extending the boundaries of the dispute beyond the worksite and out to the internet.  Additionally, we begin to see the use of social media to encourage worksite inspections and enforcement for alleged violations on disputed contractor’s projects. 

As reported on Sheet Metal Worker’s Union, Local#19 Facebook page, they continue to staff multiple Area Standards pickets throughout the five county region.  Additionally, social media resources are being utilized to broadcast these messages to a wider audience outside of the immediate area of the dispute. 

See Sheet Metal, Local Union #19 Facebook page here…

On a related note, social media resources are currently being utilized to document potential OSHA workplace violations at contactor work sites. The information is being posted to sites encouraging supporters to ”Share and contact OSHA” about the alleged violations.

See an example here….

Are you interested in learning more about Social Media Campaigns and how they can impact your association or organization?  Are you interested in learning more about how Social Media Campaigns can be used to your association’s or organization’s benefit?  Contact Wayne Gregory at Gregory Management & Consulting Services, wegregory@gregorymcs.com to hear more about our in house presentations and or social media campaign management options?

AREA STANDARDS DISPUTE: Post Brothers / Building Trades - Labor Documentary Exposes Goldtex Project

A motion picture showing many construction violations have been passed over by the City’s Dept. of Licenses & Inspections at the Post Brothers’ Goldtex Apartments, 12th & Wood Streets, was released yesterday to a huge audience of labor and political leaders and building-industry safety specialists.

Launched at IBEW Local 98, the film was titled Deconstructing Post Brothers: Exposing the Truth Behind the Cheap Façade.

The documentary exposes the economic abuse Post Brothers is heaping on its workers by paying them sub-standard wages with no benefits and knowingly misclassifying them as “1099″ workers —independent contractors — to avoid paying federal income and payroll taxes, as well as Workers Compensation, Unemployment Compensation and other city, state and federal taxes.

The documentary is being sent to city, state and federal elected officials and available to others involved in the financing of the Goldtex Apartments.

Post Brothers’ principals Michael and Matthew Pestronk appear in the documentary to have the support of the Nutter Administration, charging L&I inspectors allowed Post Brothers to operate at the Goldtex site for an entire year without any permits and with no inspections performed.

Source: PhillyRecord.com

AREA STANDARDS DISPUTE: Union-backed video slings allegations at Post Brothers' Philly apartment project

The feud between some Philadelphia construction unions and a developer has gone the way of many historic battles: It's been made into a movie. The 20-minute video from the Philadelphia Building Trades focuses on an apartment building near 12th and Vine streets.

The video, "Deconstructing Post Brothers: Exposing the Truth Behind the Cheap Façade," is the latest punch in the fight over the use of non-union labor at the Goldtex Apartments building. 

Alleged former workers speak anonymously in the video.

Among the allegations are that non-union construction works, lacking nearby toilets, frequently urinated in water bottles and then sealed those bottles in the walls of the building.  

One man's face is blacked out while he speaks.

Photos ― said to have come from the construction site -- roll by the screen while the alleged former Goldtex worker describes the scene: "You have piles of high-voltage cable exposed, piles of trash 5-, 6-foot wide blocking the hallway, blocking exists and entrances, blocking elevators. You have workers working in this building. No fire extinguishers on any of these floors. A fire alarm that's not installed. If a fire starts, God knows what would happen?"

"The tape is a piece of garbage," responded Matt Pestronk, founder of Post Brothers Apartments, which is developing the site.

Pestronk quickly disputed the claims about mold and other problems.

"It would be incredibly foolish for us to invest $40 million to build a building and allow those things to go on," he said. "If any of their allegations were true, we would have been shut down."

Union workers intimidate and even assault his workers at the site, Pestronk said. 

This is no small-time fight. The video includes prominent labor leaders and two city councilmen.

In one scene, Congressman Bob Brady describes the site of a fatal building collapse in Center City earlier this year. "You know hindsight is 100 percent at 22nd and Market. But on 12th Street, it's not hindsight, it's foresight," Brady says. "You certainly try to prevent something happening some place else."

Pestronk calls the attempt to compare his job site to what caused this summer's building collapse "pretty disgusting."

"Six people died there," he said. "I'm not looking to use what happened there as a reference to our situation other than we believe we're doing everything safely. Twenty-second and Market has nothing to do with this. The fear-mongering that these guys perpetrate is all these guys have."

Despite all the controversy, Pestronk said efforts to rent out apartments are going well.

Source: Newsworks.org

Effective Social Media Campaigns in Labor Disputes & Organizing Campaigns and their impact on your Employer Associations and firms:

Labor Relation’s professionals in Philadelphia have had a front row seat to multi-front social media campaigns being waged across multiple industries including, construction, manufacturing, entertainment, healthcare, education and more. In the past year we have witnessed social media campaigns successfully waged across multiple industries in the region and many with documentable success.  I recently engaged in a conversation with other national labor relations professionals at Cornell University’s Industry & Labor Relations School on the growing popularity of the social media campaign.  When discussing the tactics, methods and effectiveness with other industry professionals, Philadelphia, was far ahead of the curve in terms of deployment, industries impacted and documented success achieved.

The effort depicted in the “Deconstructing Post Brothers” video below rises to a new and heightened level in the Philadelphia region.  Yet still, many within management in Philadelphia often fail to recognize the effectiveness of these electronic and social media campaigns.  In the past, some in management have even joked about their effectiveness by saying, “what are they going to do, kill me with a Tweet?”  While they may not kill you, they can irreparably harm you and your businesses reputation. 

Despite the jovial and dismissive attitude by many in management as it relates to social media, the development team for the project noted in the “Deconstructing Post Brothers” video at least took the time initially to develop their own strategy and plan, which included their own web page as it related to this project and the events surrounding it. Unfortunately, management failed to monitor and maintain this potentially valuable resource throughout the project; the information contained within the electronic media source is simply not current and the page lacks relevance.  The last update was 8/12/12 according to the title page which can be found here.   While this team initially took the process seriously and responded with their own electronic media campaign, they failed to adequately and continually develop, monitor and maintain the resource.  Like many within management in the construction and other industries, they did not take this threat seriously and failed to allocate the necessary resources to the process for an effective defense.  

Given the current state of labor relations in Philadelphia and the indifference and apathy displayed by many in the city as it relates to labor & industry relations and this specific case, we should anticipate that labor will continue to hone and focus their campaigns to selectively achieve results as needed.  In the past, I have witnessed such tactics as anonymous letters sent to elected officials and newspapers defining the “fat cats” at the table as vacationing in their Italian villas in lieu of negotiating fair contracts; to be fair, this was met with limited success and was simply not true, but it did have an impact.  Without an effective plan and strategy in place, what happens when the letter writing campaign is converted to social media and other forms of electronic media?  What happens when the level and pace of a campaign is heightened and updated continually?  A management team that has failed to plan and adapt to this new tactic will quickly become overwhelmed and forced to continually respond to allegations in lieu of focusing on priorities. A well-planned social media strategy enables your organization to deal with negative issues as they develop.  A well-executed social media strategy enables an organization to craft the conversation continually as it evolves.  If executed properly, it incorporates a continual monitoring process enabling organizations to address issues as the topics are developing and evolving in a constant and continual conversation.

Take one moment and consider the reach of these popular, media outlets:

·         Facebook

·         LinkedIn

·         Twitter

·         YouTube

·         Tumblr

·         MySpace

·         Reddit

Every day there are:

·         More than 45 million status updates on Facebook

·         More than 23 million “tweets”

·         More than 1 billion views on YouTube

·         More than 900,000 new blog posts    

Consider the effectiveness of one well placed piece of electronic media.  Albeit, a piece of media that was posted from a witness to the event and not a part of any campaign.  Just last week we saw the effects of a viral video on Tesla’s stock price, a 6% drop in a day according to one source, when a video of a car fire involving one of their automobiles made YouTube.  Didn’t see it?  Go here… The social and electronic media campaign threat is real, its tangible and it’s here and now.

The professionally produced video, “Deconstructing Post Brothers”, could potentially be viewed by thousands or more  in the region and has a high probability of impacting the decision making process of end users as it relates to this specific building and others built or managed by this development team. Think about how it could potentially impact the decisions of legislators and local elected officials as it relates to future development projects, economic assistance subsidies and project approvals.  Like most things that hit the Internet, once it’s out there, it’s hard to contain it.

While I cannot attest to the validity of the allegations made or many of the images contained within the “Deconstructing Post Brothers” video, it certainly creates chaos and confusion in management’s camp as they are now forced to respond to each and every allegation.  Had management deployed and maintained their social and electronic media strategy and platform early on, a viable, accessible and recognized electronic resource would be standing at the ready, crafting the conversation and responding to allegations continually as they presented themselves. 

I present this video for your review, not to support this campaign, but for you to consider the impacts of a social media campaign on your association or organization.    

DECONSTRUCTING POST BROTHERS on Vimeo.  See the video here….

Are you interested in learning more about Social Media Campaigns and how they can impact your association or organization?  Are you interested in learning more about how Social Media Campaigns can be used to your association’s or organization’s benefit?  Contact Wayne Gregory at Gregory Management & Consulting Services, wegregory@gregorymcs.com to hear more about our in house presentations and or social media campaign management options?