The UAW has turned to controversial labor consultant Richard Bensinger for help with its organizing strategy.
Bensinger, known in labor circles as a shrewd, unconventional union organizer, is expected to be on hand Monday when the UAW holds a rally at Hyundai's technical center near Ann Arbor in support of workers on strike against Hyundai in Korea, said a person familiar with the planning for the event.
"If I were representing a company that he was trying to organize, I would be concerned," said Dennis Cuneo, managing partner of Fisher & Phillips in Washington, D.C.
The UAW's total membership sank to 355,191 in 2009 -- down from a high of around 1.5 million workers in the 1970s, making it critical for the union to organize more workers.
While the union has been unsuccessful at organizing Asian automaker plants in the U.S., UAW President Bob King has talked about reviving those efforts. Bensinger's involvement with the union may be connected to that strategy.
In August, Bensinger was listed as a senior adviser to UAW President Bob King at an automotive conference held in August in Traverse City.
The UAW did not confirm Bensinger's role, and he did not respond to e-mails and phone calls.
Bensinger is the co-founder of a consulting company called the Institute for Employee Choice. From 1996 to 1997 he served as organizing director of the AFL-CIO.
"He is one of the most gifted organizers in American labor," said Harley Shaiken, a professor of labor relations at the University of California at Berkeley. Bensinger has even earned the respect of Rick Berman, an adviser companies turn to for advice when they battle unions.
"He's probably got a better sense of morality than a lot of guys I have run into in the labor movement," said Berman, president of Berman and Co. "He's not one of these guys who thinks people should be pushed into a labor union whether they want to be in one or not."
Common principles
Bensinger is best known for developing a set of principles very similar to those discussed by Bob King during a speech to the auto industry in August.
"The UAW principles ban any threats or pressure by either the union or management," King said that day.
No on card check
Bensinger has said legislation known as "card check," or the Employee Free Choice Act, would be an improvement over current law. However, he advocates using the set of principles that he developed as an alternative, according to a 2009 story in Fortune.
Labor advocates say card check would help to create a more even playing field between unions and corporations during union elections. Democrats made passage of card check a priority after Barack Obama was elected president.
But the legislation stalled in Congress and has little chance of being revived following the advances made by Republicans in November's mid-term elections, making Bensinger's approach more relevant.
Bensinger's principles would bind unions and companies to a code of conduct free from lying, threats and coercion during a union vote. But labor unions and corporations are reluctant to adopt them and the idea remains largely untested, Berman said.
"There is a lot at risk when you move out of the comfort zone in this area because the results can be devastating," Berman said.
Editor's note: An earlier edition of this story mis-identified Rick Berman, owner of Berman and Co. The correct version is above.
