I work at a non profit and we just won union recognition and are slowly moving towards first contract negotiations and I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT I'M DOING. Would love to chat with some folks about their experiences, especially if you've negotiated around contracts/grants/etc.
How do you manage ULPs in such a way that people don't become focused on them?
I've seen so many organizing campaigns lose power because of some BS legal strategy. ULPs take like 2 years to go through the system so the fact that they are bound to fail won't be clear for some time. But they kind of let people procrastinate doing challenging, scary organizing/action because that ULP is on the back burner.
It is the case especially with people who have some sort of deep down belief that that state will protect them. Even if you know in your brain that's fake shit it is sooo tempting to relax into it. Because of how egregiously unfair the practices of the boss really are. This time even the pigs at the NLRB will see through the lies!!
Also I think union staffers like them because they have all the expertise so it kind of makes the workers reliant. The boss likes them because they know they will win.
With really good inoculation it's possible. I've seen it too, once in a long while. Where ineffective tactics are pursued on purpose just to let people get it out of their systems and teach about power. Not easy to pull off and requires knowing the situation backwards and forwards.
A lot of times a ULP is just a legal justification to go on strike. That's where they're most useful imo