New Tool Shows Workers What Companies Spend Fighting Unions

When 50 million Americans say they want to join a union but only 16.5 million actually belong to one, something's blocking the path forward. Now workers have a powerful new way to see what's standing in their way.

LaborLab, a workers' rights nonprofit, just released two free tools that shine a light on the $1.7 billion union avoidance industry. The first is a searchable database covering 800 consultants and thousands of law firms that companies hire to fight organizing efforts. The second calculates what employers actually spend resisting unions instead of simply recognizing them.

The timing matters. Union membership just hit its highest level in 16 years, showing that workers are finding ways to organize despite the obstacles. These new tools could help that momentum grow.

Here's what makes this different: workers can now look up specific consultants and attorneys, see their track records, check their fees, and find out which companies they've worked for before. It's like having a playbook for what might happen next in their own workplace.

The cost calculator adds up everything from legal fees to lost productivity when companies choose to fight rather than negotiate. Companies legally have to disclose these expenses, but the information sits buried in hard-to-search federal databases that most workers don't know how to access.

There's another problem too. Loopholes let employers hide many costs entirely. Consultants don't have to report when they're just giving "advice" or not talking directly with workers. And even when disclosure is required, more than half of employers who hired union busters in 2024 never filed the paperwork, even three months past the deadline.

The Ripple Effect

These tools don't just help individual workplaces. They create transparency across an entire industry that has operated mostly in the shadows. When workers at one company see what another employer spent fighting a union campaign, they can make more informed decisions about their own organizing strategy.

The information also helps workers understand they're not alone. Seeing that major corporations like Amazon and 3M spend millions on union avoidance shows the scale of what organized workers are up against—and why sticking together matters so much.

As more workers use these tools, the data will grow richer and more useful. Each search and calculation adds to a growing picture of how the union avoidance industry really works.

For workers wondering whether to organize, knowledge is power—and now that power is finally in their hands.