These Companies Respect Their Employees' Right to Organize

While the U.S. Labor Day holiday honors the contribution of all workers, its roots trace back to the organized labor movement of the late 1800s. Turn-of-the-century organizers fought to restrict child labor, ensure vital safety and healthcare provisions for workers, and establish a five-day workweek, among other objectives.

At the time, most people worked for more than 10 hours a day, six days a week, and companies were under no obligation to pay fairly or provide benefits. The movement to change that was fiercely opposed by employers. Workers who organized strikes and formed unions were met with deadly crackdowns in a period often called the Labor Wars. While fewer of their successors in the mid 20th century faced violence, many were fired or lost their benefits for trying to join a union. 

Fast forward to today: The U.S. minimum wage hasn't increased in 15 years, and labor organizing is reaching new peaks across the nation, with more than 450,000 workers going on strike last year. Most employers fought the push toward unionization among their employees, and experts blasted several top companies for what they called "old-school union busting" tactics like retaliating against or firing workers who attempted to organize. 

Many companies oppose unionization by default, even through more subdued means such as distributing anti-union material to employees or holding mandatory meetings where leaders discourage their teams from joining a union. U.S. employers break federal law in around 40 percent of all union elections, according to the Economic Policy Institute. But not all employers take this approach, and research suggests that unions can actually be good for business by reducing turnover and improving worker safety. 

The U.S. Department of Labor encourages companies to respect their employees' right to organize by committing to stay neutral in union campaigns or voluntarily recognize a budding union among their workers. The following companies did just that. 

Microsoft opts to accept unions among subsidiary companies

When Microsoft purchased the video game company Activision Blizzard in 2022, employees at one of its subsidiaries called Raven were in the midst of a heated union battle. After the nearly $70 billion deal, Microsoft said it would stay neutral if any of Activision's eligible employees wanted to unionize, and many have already moved to do so. Autumn Mitchell, a quality assurance worker who was part of the organizing campaign, called Microsoft's neutrality stance "an absolute gift" in an interview with workplace reporter Noam Scheiber of The New York Times. His analysis of why Microsoft, once notorious for ruthlessness in overcoming competitors, moved to accept unions is a fascinating read that's well worth a look. 

Patagonia stays neutral as Nevada employees vote to unionize 

When workers at a Patagonia outlet store in Reno, Nevada, organized a campaign to unionize earlier this year, the company committed to stay neutral and stuck with it, leaders at the United Food and Commercial Workers union told the Huffington Post. Employees ultimately voted to unionize, a first for the company. “So far, it’s encouraging to see Patagonia stay neutral," Nick Helmreich, a worker at the Reno store, told HuffPost in March. “We’re only starting out, but it’s an optimistic sign that they’re letting us, the workers, decide our future.”

Major League Baseball voluntarily recognizes union among minor-leaguers 

In 2022, a group of minor league players started a campaign to unionize with the MLB Players Association, and rather than fight it, the Major League organization opted to voluntarily recognize their efforts and push union negotiations through. The 5,000 minor leaguers in the union said they often spent up to 80 percent of their paychecks on the team hotel alone and that a seat at the bargaining table will help them to push for better pay and benefits.