LaborLab, a workers' rights watchdog, has launched two free online tools designed to give workers a clearer view of the anti-union forces they face when organizing: a union-buster search tool and a cost calculator. The tools, which went live on September 8, aim to expose the $1.7 billion union-avoidance industry in the United States. Many employers hire anti-union consultants and law firms to discourage organizing, paying specialists more than $400 per hour to coach supervisors, track union support, and craft messages that sow fear and doubt. While the law requires disclosure of many of these activities, the information has been scattered across federal databases that are difficult to search. LaborLab's search tool compiles data from National Labor Relations Board and Department of Labor filings, covering more than 800 consultants, 8,000 law firms, and 21,000 attorneys. Users can research the attorneys and consultants their employer has hired, see how much they are paid when available, and identify patterns in their activity. The companion cost calculator estimates up to seven costs employers bear by fighting a union rather than voluntarily recognizing one, including direct expenditures on attorneys and consultants and hidden internal costs like paid employee time spent in anti-union meetings. It also estimates the wage increase that could have been provided with those resources instead.
These tools matter because they directly address a long-standing information gap that has hindered workers' ability to push back against employer opposition. As LaborLab executive director Bob Funk explained, "These tools advance LaborLab's vision of providing resources that can help directly empower workers to organize their workplaces. We envision worker-organizers, union staffers and labor attorneys using the search tool to identify unions that have previously dealt with a particular anti-union attorney or consultant, learn from their experience and share that information with other workers." By democratizing access to data on union-busting tactics and costs, the tools could shift the balance of power in organizing campaigns, enabling workers to anticipate and counter employer strategies. The cost calculator, for instance, has already been presented to the Minnesota Senate and cited in coverage of organizing campaigns by nurses, therapists, and mechanics, demonstrating its practical impact. An in-depth explanation of the calculator's cost categories and default assumptions is available here.
The launch comes amid stalled efforts to reform federal disclosure rules. In 1959, Congress required union-avoidance consultants and employers to disclose many of their activities and related payments, concluding that such activity "should be exposed to public view." However, reporting loopholes, weak enforcement, and fragmented databases have long made that information inaccessible. As the Department of Labor and Congress fail to implement long-needed reforms, LaborLab's new tools are an important step toward closing the information gap for workers—a gap detailed in a new LaborLab report. The search tool is available here, and the cost calculator can be accessed here. Founded in 2021, LaborLab is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that tracks, exposes, and counters the employer opposition industry through LMRDA compliance monitoring, investigative research, and real-time campaign intelligence, helping workers organize and win strong first contracts.
