STRIKE PLAN
(and dealing with protests and demonstrations)

(1) Prepare a memo for distribution to all supervisory and managerial employees. The memo should detail each person’s specific responsibilities.

(2) Train supervisory and security personnel as to their responsibilities and duties for maintaining the security of the business, the safety of customers -- (and, of the safety your loyal employees who are not on strike or part of the protest).

(3) Have maps of the premises and surrounding property. This is important for establishing checkpoints and to protect all entrances and exits to your property.

(4) Photograph entrances to company property before, during, and after the “event”.

(5) Have advance contacts with the police and explain what situations you expect so they will be know how to assist if needed.

(6) Contact your phone company (IT&E, iConnect, GTA, etc.) to arrange for extra services or take preventive measures in case of sabotage.

(7) Contact all suppliers and other persons who will have to cross the lines. Establish alternative methods of obtaining supplies (neutral drops or direct pickups).

(8) To monitor events arrange for photographs, videotape equipment, and long-distance microphones. (Be careful about photographing strikers -- the NLRB can be touchy about that.)

(9) Set up a communications center. This can be a room with nothing more than a set of secure phone lines and an Internet-capable computer. The space should be able to accommodate people involved in the decision-making process. It should also give you access to necessary files and clericalelp.

(10) Prepare a list of contact numbers e-mail address with the home and office contact info of all supervisors and managerial employees, emergency contacts for police, fire, ambulance, your attorney and other people whose services may be required. The list should be distributed to people on your management team and should be posted ONLY in the communication center.

(11) If there is a strikes, notify the Guam Employment Service (at the Guam Department of Labor) that you expect to be hiring a number of replacement workers and provide them with a list of jobs you may need to fillt.

(12) Instruct all supervisors and managers on procedures for the investigation and gathering evidence about any violence that may take place.

(13) Pay all wages owed to striking employees as soon as a strike or walk-out begins. Advise the insurance carriers who provide your life, health, medical-dental benefits that a number of employees have joined a walk-out and that you will not be paying your normal premiums for the strikers. (Then notify strikers by registered mail that they will have to arrange for their own health, medical, dental and life insurance.) Make sure all replacements are covered immediately.

Any money normally withheld from pay period-to-pay period (savings plans, allotments, etc.) should be paid on the first day of the strike. Notify court officials about the non-work status of strikers whose pay may be under a garnishment. Take steps to immediately collect on all loans you may have made to employees -- if you still do that. (If you have co-signed loans for employees, ask your attorney to explore your rights under those loan agreements.

These actions can shorten a strike. If the strikers get all wages owed to them at the start of a strike, they tend is to spend it all right away. When their next scheduled payday comes around and there is no check, they may start thinking.

(14) Determine what information is to be communicated to your non-striking employees and to customers. You may decide to respond to inquiries only. A standard response should be prepared and rehearsed. All inquiries should be handled immediately in a reassuring fashion. Statements must not raise an alarm or negotiate in public or give the union any ammunition they can use against you with the NLRB.

(15) Secure all property and facilities. Supervisors should be on the alert for strangers on the premises. Access through all doors and entrances should be strictly controlled.

(16) Prepare alternative shift assignments in case non-striking employees experience difficulty in crossing the picket line. This will permit employees to be at the facility before the appearance of the morning picketers.

(17) Arrange for employees inside your buildings to stay there overnight if necessary. Arrangements for employee meals should also be made.

(18) Avoid personal or individual contact with demonstrators or strikers. Ignoring them will show that the company is unaffected by their action. This will increase confusion among their ranks because they will not know what arrangements are being made to replace them -- until you announce it.

19) Direct all inquiries to a single company official. A formal policy about media contacts should be made and understood in advance. Any statement to the press should be through your designated representative (the CEO or your attorney) . Statements should be designed to build confidence in your position and to allay any fears of the community.

(20) To provide evidence you will need for legal proceedings, make sure you maintain detailed notes -- for written reports -- on these things:

(a) Names of participants.

(b) Times, dates and locations of picket/protest lines.

(c) All facts about violence, threats, or blocking of entrances and exits.

(d) The number of strikers or protestors.

(e) Wording on every sign carried by a picket/protestor.

(f) Their demeanor and manner (serious, laughing, emotional).

(g) The words spoken by pickets/protestor.

(h) Conversations between pickets/protestor and other persons.

(i) Descriptions or photos of participants, vehicles and license numbers

(j) Names of persons who are turned away from the facility.

(k) Full and accurate descriptions of any violence.

(l) Full and accurate descriptions of any property damage.

(m) Documentation of police response to requests for assistance.

Please contact Bill Gibson at the Council office if you need additional information or assistance in putting your plan into effect.