By Tim Lally

As a stand-alone tactic, today's strikes don't have the force they once did as a way to shift the balance of power in union organizing and contract negotiations.

Operating during strikes in not an new management concept; it's “business as usual,” especially in highly automated industries. Oil refineries and chemical plants have done so for decades. As automation took hold at electric, gas and telephone utilities, operating during strikes became commonplace. Even labor-intensive industries such as paper manufacturing, restaurants, retail stores, food processing and shipyards now opt to continue operating during a strike.

This generation of union busters often welcomes a strike because it offers the employer an opportunity to break the union. Laws governing strikes and strike-related activity, for the most part, clearly favor employers. In most states, there's a long list of strike-related violations of the law that can open the door for employers to obtain injunctive relief from the courts. Most unions, therefore, realize that mass picketing over a long period of time is just about out of the question.

One important lesson we should draw from this: Perhaps walking back and forth at the plant gate is not the best use of a union's human resources. Strikers and their union leaders need to look not only at their own readiness before hitting the bricks, but management's preparedness as well. In light of high management concentration and the ratio of salaried personnel to bargaining unit-represented workers, the boss doesn't need to look very far to find people who can keep his operation running, at least for the short term.

Strikebreaking…Not Just a Job

The laws in certain states that restrict hiring replacements for strikers shouldn't be taken too seriously. They've been challenged in federal courts on constitutional grounds and, for the most part, haven't held up. However, the intent of such laws generally is to prevent the use of professional strikebreakers. The federal law on this subject, the Byrnes Act, restricts employers from recruiting and transporting strikebreakers from outside the state in which the conflict is occurring.

One area of state regulation that is commonly overlooked by unions is state licensing laws that exist primarily for skilled trades and licensed technicians. The ramifications for employers attempting to operate during a strike are obvious. If an employer needs an electrician to maintain equipment, he must first find qualified personnel, licensed in that particular state. The same holds true for those who operate boilers and other equipment requiring maintenance. The trick is to catch someone using unlicensed personnel, then report it to proper authorities. In other words, if you can't keep them out, get them out.

If You Were a Fly on the Wall...

What factors does a corporation consider in determining whether it will operate during a strike? In basic manufacturing, companies will consider the following:

• Inventory position: how many months of supplies are available and in accessible places, and can finished products be moved around before or after the strike begins?

• Production capability: will it be possible or economically feasible to produce a product during a strike — in the struck plant, in other company facilities, or by other firms?

• Market position: what will be the economic consequences of having a product off the market, in the short or long term?

A few other factors unions should (and management often will) consider:

• What will be the attitude of state and local government officials?

• Will the company receive the protection it may need if it attempts to continue production? Can it get a court injunction in time to reduce and emotionally deplete the picketlines?

• How far will the local union go to prevent the plant from operating? To what extent will the union mobilize the larger labor movement to participate in shutting down the plant and disruption deliveries?

• Would the union be successful in calling for and promoting a boycott of the company's products or services?

Once the employer decides to operate during a strike, his preparations will usually be visible to the work force and union leaders. Most companies make no attempt to conceal their preparations or in any way mute the signal they send out.

Ultimately, the decision to operate during a strike is tactical. Companies will choose to operate if there is a reasonable probability they can gain the upper hand in negotiations and have a chance to eventually break the union. For many corporations, the decision to continue operations is less driven by sound economic advice than by conservative ideology.

Next month: How unions should prepare to strike.