Is your organization ready to fight off a union organizing drive? Some observers say the times haven’t been as ripe for organizing efforts in almost a century.

Recent research shows employee satisfaction’s at an all-time low. Workers’ wages are stagnant – far from keeping pace with inflation. Then there’s the threat of the pro-union Employee Free Choice Act pending in Congress.

So there’s a very real possibility many smaller companies could be facing what would have seemed impossible just a matter of months ago – a drive to unionize their workplaces.

And the news gets worse: The smallest things can get you in trouble when the union drive’s in full swing. Here’s a look at two recent court cases that illustrate how petty mistakes can have big consequences.

Little things mean a lot – of grief

In the first case, Cintas Corp., a national distributor of workplace uniforms, was fighting efforts to organize two of its facilities.

The company got in hot water over three actions:

• disciplining workers who wore pro-union stickers on their uniforms (a violation of the company’s dress code)
• confiscating union flyers employees had placed in the company break room, and
• interrogating an employee about her signature on a union-authored letter to a Cintas customer citing safety concerns about chemicals used to treat the customer’s uniforms.

The union filed an unfair labor practice complaint with the National Labor Relations Board.

The NLRB – and later, a federal appeals court judge – came down hard. The company had singled out union supporters for the dress code violation, the board said. Employees had regularly worn holiday and decorative pins on their uniforms, and no one had ever been disciplined.

The company admitted it made a mistake when it confiscated the flyers, and said it issued an apology in staff meetings. But the court ruled that wasn’t enough – a written apology hadn’t been posted in the workplace. Plus, the flyers were never returned.

Finally, the judge said, interrogating the employee about the customer letter amounted to forcing her to declare whether or not she supported the union. Another violation. Cite: Cintas Corp. v. NLRB

Bulletin boards and buttons

The second case involved a manufacturer with a plant in Wisconsin. Like the Cintas case, it centered on seemingly trivial moves on the part of the company.

Loparex LLC had allowed employees to use workplace bulletin boards for a number of non-work purposes.

Mistake No. 1: After union organizing efforts began, management issued a rule that all bulletin board material had to be approved by management.

Mistake No. 2: When employees tried to hand out union materials in the company parking lot, they were stopped by company officials.

Mistake No. 3: A supervisor warned organizers that “I don’t want to see you passing (pro-union) buttons out” in a non-work area.

The union filed suit, and the company was found to be in violation of labor laws on all three counts. Cite: Loparex LLC v. NLRB

In both cases, along with an order to halt unlawful practices, the NLRB required the companies to post public notices acknowledging their labor violations and guaranteeing employees their rights to unionize.