Employers can now easily access federal guidance on how to interact with and support workers who are interested in forming or joining a labor union, the Department of Labor (DOL) announced last week.
The "first-of-its-kind digital tool kit" provides resources to businesses navigating union integration, according to a Sept. 7 announcement by the DOL. Information includes respecting the rights of workers who choose to unionize, small-business concerns, creating management-labor partnerships, and the benefits of collective bargaining to both employers and workers, the announcement reports.
The tool kit, a collaboration between the DOL, the Small Business Administration (SBA), the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) and the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Services (FMCS), "will help small businesses learn about, evaluate and manage the growing worker-driven and market-based trends in employee organizing,” SBA Administrator Isabella Casillas Guzman said in the announcement.
Workers' interest in forming or joining union is the highest its been in decades, according to DOL Sec. Marty Walsh.
| AFL-CIO/Wikimedia Commons
DOL Sec. Marty Walsh called the toolkit "an invaluable resource" for employers seeking instruction or advice on unions and collective bargaining, according to the statement.
“Worker interest in forming unions is higher than we’ve seen in decades," Walsh said in the announcement, "and this resource will be an important tool in helping employers respond positively to worker organizing campaigns.”
