Transparency, accountability, honesty. Federal labor law requires that businesses uphold these basic principles out of respect for workers. But labor unions have no such obligation, and they use this opening to their unfair advantage. They can secretly place union organizers at companies, deceiving workers and employers alike, while businesses must publicly disclose their attempts to discuss unionization with employees.
Thankfully, Rep. Burgess Owens (R-UT) introduced a federal bill last month to close this loophole — the Start Applying Labor Transparency Act.
The SALT Act would require labor unions to disclose the identity of so-called salts — paid union organizers who apply to work at a company the union is trying to organize. But these workers often don’t disclose their union affiliation either to their new employers or their fellow employees. Once hired, they can stir the pot by complaining about management and working conditions. They try to convince their colleagues to believe that unionization is in their best interests when, in fact, unionization may be more in the interests of the salt and the union that quietly pays them.
Businesses are held to a higher standard. When they hire labor relations consultants to talk to employees about unionization, companies are required by law to disclose the consultants’ identities, pay, and other key information. Such transparency helps workers make more informed decisions. When a company’s labor consultants are holding an employee meeting or sitting across the lunch table, a worker can weigh the merits of their arguments against the fact that the business is paying them.
But workers aren’t guaranteed full information with salts because they don’t know the salts are really union agents. Unions have used this underhanded strategy for decades, with a nationwide resurgence underway. For example, salts pushed workers at Starbucks to organize in 2022 and 2023, with several hundred stores unionizing during that time. Labor activists have said salts are present at Chipotle Mexican Grill. Nationwide, it seems likely that dozens of companies, at least, have salts working behind the scenes.
Workers themselves have made clear that salting is manipulative. In Buffalo, New York, many Starbucks employees became upset after learning that their supposedly neutral coworkers were union salts. One employee called salts “very scheme-y,” saying they were “unsettling” because “some of these people I thought were my friends.” Another Starbucks employee lamented that salts were more interested in their job with the union than their fellow baristas. At least 25 Starbucks stores have begun the process of decertifying their unions, possibly reflecting employee anger at having been tricked by salts.
But workers aren’t the only ones being tricked. So are companies, which are unwittingly hiring and paying union activists to organize the business from within. In a 2022 hearing in the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, a key witness was a Starbucks employee who failed to state that she also worked for the labor union targeting the company. She had been paid nearly $50,000 by the union. If unions won’t be transparent with Congress, they won’t be transparent with workers.
Yet workers want this transparency — and so does the public. A recent poll commissioned by the Institute for the American Worker found that 75% of people support requiring union salts to make the same disclosures as the labor consultants hired by businesses. Nearly 60% want unionization elections with hidden salts to be thrown out. They recognize it’s wrong to fool workers and that being open and honest is the right thing to do.
Since unions won’t make these disclosures on their own, Congress must intervene. The SALT Act would require unions to do exactly what businesses do, filing detailed public reports within 30 days of hiring or otherwise entering into an agreement with a salt.
Labor unions say they respect workers, but their continued use of undisclosed salts shows profound disrespect for the men and women who make our economy run. Workers deserve better than union manipulation. They deserve the transparency, accountability, and honesty that help them make a fully informed decision about whether unionization is right for them.
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F. Vincent Vernuccio is president of the Institute for the American Worker.