New federal disclosures filed from early May through June 11 show employers across the country paying union avoidance consultants as much as $3,000 a day to fight organizing campaigns, from an aluminum producer in Pennsylvania to a chemical plant in Texas to medical centers in New York and California. In at least eight of these campaigns, workers voted to unionize regardless.
Here is the breakdown of the latest U.S. Department of Labor LM-20 filings and the related NLRB activity, covering 28 net-new disclosures from 18 different consulting firms.
The $3,000-a-Day Rate: Arconic
The highest rate disclosed in this batch belongs to Arconic (PA), which retained Cannon Labor Relations at $3,000 per day.
Not far behind, Huntsman Chemical (TX) is paying Nexgen Labor $2,200 per day across two elections that have both since been withdrawn, and Schnellecke Logistics (TN) paid Allee’s Transportation $2,000 per day in a campaign where workers won their election anyway.
LRI Consulting Services Collects Seven Paydays
No firm shows up more often in this stretch of filings than LRI Consulting Services, Inc, which landed seven separate contracts in six weeks, all at its standard rate of $425 per hour:
- Greif, Inc (TX) — election lost
- Hachette Book Group (NY) — election open
- Depot Connect International (FL)
- LynLake Centers for WellBeing (MN) — won both elections
- Orange County Global Medical Center, Inc (CA) — election won
- Tempus AI, Inc (IL)
- Growscape (OH)
Seven contracts spanning logistics, publishing, healthcare, and tech is a reminder of just how industrialized the union-busting industry has become. LRI does not just consult on individual campaigns, it runs a volume business, and it keeps winning work even in campaigns where its clients ultimately lose.
Workers Vote Union Anyway
Hiring a consultant did not stop workers from organizing in at least eight of the campaigns disclosed in this period:
- Schnellecke Logistics (TN) — won, despite paying Allee’s Transportation $2,000/day
- LynLake Centers for WellBeing (MN) — won twice, despite LRI Consulting Services
- Orange County Global Medical Center, Inc (CA) — won, despite LRI Consulting Services
- Vassar Brothers Medical Center (NY) — won, despite Bridge Labor Solutions
- Womanhaven (CA) — won, despite the Redd Group
- AC Hotel by Marriott Pasadena (CA) — won, despite East Coast Labor Relations
- Amrize (TN) — won, despite paying the Crossroads Group Labor Relations Consultants $475 an hour, the highest hourly rate disclosed in this batch
- Covestro, Inc (OH) — lost a first election, then won a second, despite Labor Management Associates
These employers spent real money trying to defeat organizing drives. The workers organized anyway.
GRCA Shows Up Three Times, Discloses a Rate Zero Times
Government Resources Consultants of America (GRCA) appears in three separate filings this period: Lennox (MI), Scholastic (TN), and Valtris Specialty Chemicals (NJ). None of the three disclosures lists a compensation rate. Scholastic’s election was withdrawn and Valtris’s was lost.
No Rate, No Transparency: Nearly Half of All Filings
GRCA was not alone in leaving the rate field blank. Of the 28 net-new filings in this period, 13 — nearly half — disclosed no compensation rate at all: Capital Region Medical Center (MD), ATI Materials Inc. (TX), Lennox (MI), Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Bristol (VA), Vassar Brothers Medical Center (NY), A&A Concrete Supply (CA), Scholastic (TN), C2 Steel dba Holly Steel (AZ), Womanhaven (CA), Valtris Specialty Chemicals (NJ), Sutter Care at Home Santa Rosa (CA), AC Hotel by Marriott Pasadena (CA), and Willowcreek Wellness & Rehabilitation LLC (MO).
The LMRDA requires persuader agreements to disclose the terms of compensation. Leaving that field blank does not mean the cost was low. It means workers and the public are being kept in the dark about how much employers are spending to shape the outcome of organizing campaigns.
Two More Repeat Players
Flores Labor Relations picked up two contracts at $425 per hour: Pye-Barker Fire & Safety (NJ), where the election was withdrawn, and GFX Solutions (MI).
The Redd Group also picked up two contracts, neither with a disclosed rate: C2 Steel dba Holly Steel (AZ), where the outcome still hinges on challenged ballots, and Womanhaven (CA), where workers won.
When companies hire consultants charging up to $3,000 a day to fight worker organizing, LaborLab makes sure workers know about it. Help us continue monitoring and publishing these disclosures by supporting our work today.