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Salting
Practical Law Glossary Item 8-504-4962 (Approx. 3 pages)
Glossary
Salting
A union organizing tactic that involves a union organizer or pro-union applicant who applies for a job at a targeted employer with the goal of unionizing the employer's workforce.
Although salting may be covert, the most common form of salting is when a paid union organizer applies for a job, openly revealing on the job application that he is:
- A union organizer.
- Seeking the job for the purpose of organizing the employer's workforce.
This tactic creates a no-win situation for the employer because:
- If the employer does not hire the applicant, the applicant can file an unfair labor practice charge with the National Labor Relations Board asserting that he was not hired because of his union affiliation and intent to organize employees.
- If the employer does hire the applicant, he has access to the target employer and its employees for union organizing purposes.
The individual who engages in salting is referred to as a "salt."
For more information, see Practice Notes, Labor Law: Overview: Salting and Responding to Union Organizing Campaigns: Operational Tactics.