Lawyers are not Superheroes
“We need a lawyer.”
How many times have you heard a member say that when your local is dealing with the latest case of bad behavior by the employer? Thanks to movies, TV, and advertising by lawyers themselves, Americans have an inflated view of what lawyers can and will do for workers. The reality is that the laws of our country were mostly written by and for employers and heavily tilted against working people, and lawyers can’t perform miracles. What workers need is not more lawyers, but strong unions.
INA is a rank-and-file union — an organization built by workers and operating on the idea that workers themselves, through collective action, can fight and win battles to improve their conditions of work. The union exists to coordinate those struggles, share information, and give members the tools they need — including training and other assistance — to succeed.
Consistent with our philosophy of rank-and-file unionism, INA relies less on lawyers than do many other unions. Bargaining is led by elected local union leaders with assistance from the INA field staff who service the locals, on the basis of contract proposals that come from the members, and with membership involvement during negotiations to keep the heat on management.
FIGHTING FOR OURSELVES
In INA, we train shop stewards and local union officers to handle grievances, and we try to resolve grievances close to the source – in the workplace where the problem arose, and whenever possible by mobilizing workers to put pressure on their supervisors. In general, the further a grievance is removed from the work site, the less power the union has to solve it. We try to avoid going to arbitration, but when we must, we’ve found it’s best for the union to be represented by the INA staff person who services the local, with help from the local union officers. Together they know the workplace, the workers, the issues, the bargaining history and past practices. These are advantages that an outside lawyer does not have. INA field staff are trained in arbitration procedures and they consult with INA’s legal staff, and INA’s record in winning grievance arbitrations is as good or better than those of other unions.
Sometimes people think that because the employer is using a lawyer in negotiations or arbitration, we’re at a disadvantage if we don’t bring a lawyer too. Our union has successfully negotiated hundreds of contracts, and won hundreds of arbitrations and labor board cases, in which the employer used a lawyer but the union was represented by an INA field representative and elected local leaders. In many cases we’ve faced a team of two or more lawyers, and the union still came out on top.
Because INA is a rank-and-file union, we guard against the tendency of some lawyers to play the role of the hero whose brilliant legal skills are all that’s needed to save their clients. Over-reliance on lawyers can undermine the union’s most basic strength, membership involvement, if members begin to see the union as something external to which they just passively pay a fee to receive a service. It can also undercut the elected union leadership, with the members and with management, if it appears that the union leaders can’t act or make decisions without first asking a lawyer. And most bosses would much rather deal with an outside professional than deal with the workers’ elected committee.
INA local leaders should regularly communicate with the staff representatives about grievances and other issues the local is dealing with. If a problem your local is facing might require help from the INA legal department, your staff rep will raise the issue to get you the assistance that’s needed.
The materials on this page were adapted from the United Electrical, Radio & Machine Workers of America, who ask that we share a link to this notice in exchange for recirculating this information.
