Seyfarth Synopsis: Union organizers are increasingly embracing the #MeToo movement as an organizing tool, claiming that unions are the key to eliminating gender inequity and sexual harassment in the workplace.
Employers across the country are examining their corporate culture and taking steps to avoid being the next sexual harassment headline in response to the #MeToo movement. While employers already have plenty of reason to eliminate sexual harassment in the workplace, the #MeToo movement has also created an uptick in unions claiming that joining their ranks is the key to preventing sexual harassment.
Female union organizers are openly embracing this strategy, publicly forecasting plans to collaborate with the Women’s March and use political action committees to promote unions aimed at protecting women. Given the current focus on sexual harassment, employers can also expect to see unions increasingly target companies with high-profile sexual-harassment or gender-discrimination claims, including employers facing collective actions.
Female union leaders are not only using #MeToo as an organizing tool but to call out organized labor on its own gender issues. For example, in a recent article entitled “What #MeToo Can Teach the Labor Movement,” union organizer Jane McAlevey bemoans the “sexist male leadership inside the labor movement” and calls on women to embrace the idea of a female-led labor movement focused on obtaining free childcare, schedule control, and family leave, including in areas such as education and healthcare where women employees comprise the majority.
Employers should expect that the #MeToo movement’s substantial momentum will spur increased organizing efforts aimed specifically at women and quite possibly result in a significant shakeup of union leadership or the formation of new female-focused unions. As such, female-driven union campaigns are likely on the rise, creating unique issues for employers and an increased need for well-trained female members of management who can persuasively assure female employees that a union is not necessary to stopping harassment, achieving pay equity, and otherwise improving the workplace for women.
