Ask A Union Organizer: Are Middle Management Unions A Thing?

Dear Ask a Union Organizer,

I just heard that middle management unions were a thing but I am having trouble finding resources on how or who or what. There is a union organizing effort among junior staff and I want to apply pressure and support the existing negotiations by forming a middle management union. But how? Can we join the same union as junior staffers? Our leadership told us management was not allowed to even speak about the union.

- Looking for guidance

You’ve come to the right place to look for guidance! 

Middle management unions are definitely a thing– for example, the state of Minnesota & the City of Santa Cruz both bargain with unions specifically created for middle managers, and unions for supervisors are quite popular throughout Europe. 

You’re right, though; middle-management unions are sort of avant-garde here in the US. Middle management is regularly staffed with unprotected workers who are overworked and underpaid. Salaried supervisors in particular are expected to work limitless hours, shoulder immense pressure to perform, and are usually still powerless to change company policy or improve working conditions for themselves or others.

FINDING A MIDDLE MANAGER’S UNION

Your safest bet is to keep your support of the union as private as possible until you can find a union that is interested in representing you. With your leadership under pressure, they’ll be quick to fire anyone they suspect will cause problems for them.

Think about starting this process by contacting:

• the two Middle Management unions I linked above – ask for an informational interview

• the union representing your junior staff.

• other unions that represent workers in your industry.

• your local Central Labor Council.

• the AFL-CIO.

I don’t know if the union working to organize the junior staff will be willing to represent you– some may argue this could cause a conflict of interest in the case of grievances that may be filed in the future against a middle-manager. You would at the very least be in a separate bargaining unit than anyone you supervise. 

If the union representing junior staff can’t help you, they will likely to connect you with another organization. They also may be interested in leveraging your angst and gathering some of your institutional knowledge for strategizing. 

If you cannot find a union to support you immediately (everyone is flooded with unionization requests right now– be persistent!) then ask some of the junior staffers how you can best support their efforts. 

Within their collective bargaining agreement will be pieces that can impact your job, like non-discrimination ordinances and overtime policies. Unions raise the standard for all the workers, and even without a union, you can leverage junior staffers’ bargaining gains for your own benefit.

TALKING ABOUT THE UNION

It’s common for leadership to tell management they cannot talk about the union – if you were to disparage unionization efforts, an unfair labor complaint could be filed against the employer, and they definitely don’t want you encouraging the union! 

Your employer can tell you that “working time is for work” but they have no right to prohibit you from organizing on your own time, in parking lots, or in break rooms. Furthermore, the laws apply specifically to disparaging the union.

You have a right to support unionization efforts! The TIPS acronym can help you identify whether or not your conversation about the union is illegal. Threats, Interrogation, Promises, and Surveillance (TIPS) are specifically barred from management conversations with employees. The law allows employers to tell “Facts, Opinions, and Examples.” Here’s what that means:  it’s a fact that unionized workers earn 11% more than non-union workers in similar jobs, are more likely to have health insurance benefits, and are more likely to have paid time off. It’s also completely legal for supervisors to share why they think a union would be good for a workplace. You can also legally share stories of other workers who have organized and highlight examples of how the union helped others. If you support the union, this is your opinion and you’re allowed to share it with anyone you’d like – on or off the job.

That being said, unless you and your fellow supervisors also unionize, there's nothing to stop your boss from firing YOU for encouraging union activity. If you’re in an at-will-employment state (which is every state except Montana), they don’t have to prove cause when they fire you.

And unfortunately, the NLRB won’t protect your job if you’re fired for organizing efforts because you aren't a formal part of the bargaining unit. The union might offer you an organizing gig as a consolation prize if you’re sh*t-canned, and you may be able to hire an employment lawyer of your own and sue for wrongful termination, but the union (and the law) won’t have your back unless you have agreed to be represented by them in a bargaining unit.

WORKING TOGETHER

The struggle with unionizing middle-managers, I think, is that a lot of managers fancy themselves to be “a boss.” Working with your fellow supervisory staff members can be tricky for this reason. It’s easy for leadership to seduce middle managers with the facade of power over other employees. 

But if someone else is signing your paychecks, you’re not the boss.

So, until you find the union that wants to represent your bargaining unit, get organizing your peers. Search through past columns or listen to the Union Organizing 101 webinar (remember, not at work!) to learn how you can effectively coordinate your managerial coworkers into a transformative union. Being able to tell the union that you’ve already had initial organizing conversations with more than 50% of your coworkers will help them see you are serious and ready to sign union cards.

Your union won’t be successful if you don’t have a solidarity mindset, so while you’re shopping for a union to represent you and having (very secret) organizing conversations with your fellow supervisors, practice letting junior staffers lead. Give them the respect you expect. Be a good manager. Stand up for your junior staffers; protect them if leadership is looking for a reason to fire them. If they walk out, join them in solidarity. Who knows…you might need them to do the same for you someday.