Another Reason to Take the Online Labor Movement Seriously

Puke Alert!

Have you heard of the Labor Relations Institute?  It's a very informative website.  If you're interested in finding out what the anti-worker clan is thinking and sharing with others who hold similar values, you should definitely spend some time reading the various articles and "reports" to keep abreast of their modus operandi. Just be sure to have some Pepto, wine, valium, beer - whatever works for you - close by, because trust me, you're gonna need it.

A very smart and covert union operative sent me the following email he received from LRI.  He signed up so he would get their email blasts and stay current with their latest diatribes. Knowing me very well, and having been harassed personally by me about his local's lacking website, he knew this one was worth sharing with me.

You'll notice there is no date or time included. Was this on purpose, or just a moronic mistake?  Sign up for their alerts if you want to receive these kinds of notices delivered straight to your inbox.  My contact signed up for them and clearly noted the union organization he represents. Oh, and by the way, the link doesn't work, either.

Dear *******,

We Must Have Struck A Nerve!

We ran an article in INK last week about recent social media use in union organizing strategies, and offered a free social media strategy call. The response has been tremendous, so we thought we should highlight the offer, just in case you missed it the first time around. 

Here’s what inspired our offer: 

Two weeks ago we had an interesting conversation with the HR director of a large company that recently defeated a union organizing drive. When we asked her about the use of social media and technology in the counter-organizing campaign, she laughed and described how her efforts were trounced by the union. Their internal email systems were constantly taken over by those working on behalf of the union, text messages and voice mails were left on employees cell phones at two o’clock in the morning, and web sites and social media pages in support of the union effort flourished. She had to adopt a strategy of simply conceding the social media/technology effort to the union, and apologizing to the employees for the unauthorized messaging they were receiving through supposedly protected, internal channels. 

In the couple of weeks prior to this, we had run two related stories: one involving the NLRB’s categorization of Facebook conversations as “protected concerted activity”, and another about the successful use of social media strategy against Dr. Pepper Snapple. In the latter article we pointed to the November convention of the International Labor Communications Association (ILCA), which will feature a special panel on “Winning Campaigns with Social Media.” 

We encourage you to seriously evaluate your social media strategy. A proper evaluation should include such questions as:

Am I familiar with all or most of the potential venues that could be used in a campaign against my company? 
Do I have people on staff that understand how to navigate in these venues? If not, have I identified resources who can help fill that gap? 
Have we developed a proactive strategy to engage ourworkforce using social media? 
Have we considered adefensive strategy for social media used against us? 

Again, LRI is offering a FREE SOCIAL MEDIA STRATEGY CALL for those wishing some expert help assessing their preparedness for social media campaigns. Phil Wilson, president of LRI, will conduct a 30-minute conference call to help you answer questions like those above. More important, Phil provides pointers on how to respond to social media attacks during an organizing campaign and even offers some surprising “old school” tactics that are very effective counter-attacks. Phil will take the mystery out of this new communications venue for you and your team. 

Some of what will be covered:

 • What is the original “killer app,” and how can you make it work for you? (hint: you don’t need to be a technology expert to use it effectively) 

• What is the surface vs. the “deep” web? 

• How do you automate “listening in” to the web? 

• Do you have a Twibe? Do those who are working against you? 

• Can social media policies backfire? How do you prevent it? 

• Where’s your social media leverage? 

Copy and paste the link below into your browser to sign up for your FREE 30-minute call. (We use the process to confirm you are a member of management. The call is not for union representatives!) http://www.1shoppingcart.com/SecureCart/SecureCart.aspx?mid=99BAC904-9C2D-4F57-94A0-BFAC05D1CC8F&pid=7986c0c442ca4d47a0e7383a47bc716e&bn=1 (If Link is broken, copy and paste to a word document to create a single line link.) 

If you have any difficulties, call Tammy at 918-455-9995. 

Labor Relations Institute 

7850 South Elm Place - Suite E 

Broken Arrow, OK 74011 US