The Facts:
Unions are legally allowed to promise anything to influence votes, even if it’s not true.
When it comes to union campaigns, employers and unions play by different rules.
Unions are allowed to promise everything from wage increases to better benefits, different working conditions, and more—even when they can’t guarantee they can achieve those promises in collective bargaining.
For example, NYSNA can claim it’s responsible for recent Northwell-wide enhancements to your retiree health benefits, co-pays, and wage increases, when in reality, NYSNA had nothing to do with them.
with them.
Unlike NYSNA, LIJ is legally prevented from making promises to win your vote. The law permits LIJ to share:
- Facts about unions, union organizing, and the collective bargaining process.
- Leaders’ opinions and experiences with unions.
- Real examples of how NYSNA has— or hasn’t—represented its members.
- The hospital’s perspective on union representation.
Unions can make campaign promises. LIJ cannot.
The National Labor Relations Board – the federal agency which oversees labor law – has ruled:
- Unions can promise wage increases and better benefits during an election campaign, even though they have no actual power to guarantee those things, because those promises are considered mere “preelection propaganda.” - Shirlington Supermarket, Inc., 106 NLRB 666.
- The NLRB will permit unions to issue “misleading campaign propaganda” because the NLRB does not think employees are “naïve” enough to believe all that they are told in the course of a union election. - Shopping Kart Food Market, Inc., 228 NLRB 1311.
- Unions can tell employees that if the union wins the election, they can make more money, even if that is not necessarily true, because “employees generally understand that a union cannot automatically obtain benefits by winning an election, but must attempt to achieve them through the collective-bargaining process.” - Wolfrich Corporation d/b/a Thrifty Rent-A-Car, 234 NLRB 525.
