Legal Definitions - area-standards picketing

Area-standards picketing refers to a specific type of protest organized by a labor union. Its primary goal is to pressure an employer to maintain the prevailing wages, benefits, and working conditions that are standard for a particular industry or trade within a specific geographic area. Unions engage in this picketing when they believe a non-union employer is paying its workers significantly less or offering fewer benefits than the established local standards.

The union's aim in area-standards picketing is not necessarily to organize the non-union company's employees, but rather to prevent that company from gaining an unfair competitive advantage through lower labor costs. Such an advantage could ultimately depress wages and standards for all workers in the region, including union members, by creating a "race to the bottom" where companies feel pressured to lower costs by cutting employee compensation.

Here are some examples to illustrate area-standards picketing:

• Construction Industry: A local carpenters' union discovers that a new, non-union construction firm has won several bids for projects by offering significantly lower prices. The union investigates and finds that this firm pays its carpenters well below the average wage and benefits package established by union contracts for similar work in that city. The union then organizes picketing outside the non-union firm's job sites.

  Explanation: This illustrates area-standards picketing because the union is not trying to unionize the non-union firm's workers. Instead, it's protesting the firm's substandard labor costs, which could drive down wages and benefits for all carpenters in the area, including the union's members, by creating unfair competition for unionized contractors.

• Logistics and Delivery Services: A union representing warehouse workers and truck drivers in a major port city learns that a new logistics company is operating with a non-union workforce paid substantially less than the prevailing wages and benefits for similar roles in the region. This allows the new company to offer cheaper shipping rates to clients, potentially taking business away from unionized companies.

  Explanation: The union's action, if it sets up picket lines at the logistics company's main distribution center, would be area-standards picketing. Its aim is to protect the established labor standards for its members and other workers in the local logistics industry. By highlighting the non-union company's lower labor costs, the union seeks to prevent a downward pressure on wages and benefits across the entire sector, which could erode the living standards of its members.

• Retail and Grocery Stores: A union representing grocery store employees notices a new discount supermarket chain opening stores in the area. This new chain pays its cashiers and stockers significantly less than the wages and benefits negotiated in union contracts with other local grocery chains, allowing it to offer lower prices on goods. The union then organizes informational picketing outside the new supermarket locations.

  Explanation: This is an example of area-standards picketing because the union is not attempting to organize the new supermarket's employees. Instead, it is protesting the company's practice of undercutting the established labor standards for grocery workers in the community. The union's goal is to prevent this practice from creating a competitive disadvantage for unionized stores and ultimately lowering wages and benefits for all grocery workers in the region.