We don't yet know how VICE management will respond to our efforts to organize. We do, though, know what resistance other groups of employees have encountered when they've attempted to organize their employers.

In our industry and others, when employees in a non-union workplace are interested in organizing, management will often try to discourage them from doing so. It is illegal for a company to threaten retaliation or to promise rewards in order to thwart an organizing effort. The right to organize is enshrined in the National Labor Relations Act, and it is a violation of federal law for employers to interfere with employees’ exercise of that right.

But management has the legal ability to argue that unionization is a bad idea, and often they make such arguments in mandatory meetings all employees are forced to attend. The anti-union arguments management makes tend to cluster around three major themes: (1) employees should trust management to do what’s best for everyone, without management having to formally negotiate with employees; (2) the union can’t be trusted; and (3) sticking with the status quo is better than the uncertainty of trying to make change in the workplace.

Here are some of the typical talking points that you are likely to hear from management (or even, perhaps, some anti-union coworkers) as they try to raise employees’ anxieties and discourage organizing efforts:

• “Trust management.”

  • “Management is already looking out for its employees’ best interests.”

  • “Management has new plans to address longstanding grievances.”

  • “There’s an open door policy that allows employees to address their concerns outside of formal negotiations.”

  • “The company is a family.”

• “Be suspicious of the union.”

  • “The union is a business, rather than as a democratic organization advocating for employees.”

  • “The union is a third-party or outsider interfering with the company’s family.”

  • “Distrust union promises and guarantees.”

  • “Look at the high salaries of union bosses.”

  • “You will be forced pay the high cost of union dues, fees, and fines.”

• “Worry about uncertainty.”

  • “Restrictive union rules will result in a lack of flexibility or competitiveness.”

  • “Unionizing raises the prospect of layoffs or closure.”

  • “It’s possible that contract negotiations could make terms of employment worse than they are now.”

  • “Unionizing means you would have to go on strike.”

  • “You would lose the ability to speak for yourself once you’re a union member.”

Sometimes this barrage of talking points works, and employees lose confidence in their ability to stand together to negotiate better terms with their employer. Defying one’s boss takes a lot of courage, and it’s always easier just to accept the status quo.

But, more often than not, when employees have the chance to vote in a free and fair election, they prefer to have a voice in their workplace rather than relying solely on management to represent their best interests. Employees who take the time to educate themselves realize that, across professions and industries, people do better when they bargain collectively.

In our industry, we can point to a long and proud history of post-production professionals working prosperously and harmoniously under union contracts at many of the most successful companies in the business. Since 1937, Editors Guild members have demonstrated that we are stronger together than we are as individuals.