Explain what a boycott is and discuss the limitations of the boycott as a tactic to pressure employers to agree to a union's terms in contract negotiations.

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

Boycotts are campaigns aimed at getting customers to stop doing business with a particular company as a way of pressuring that company to concede to the union's contract terms. Boycotts can be very effective if the union is successful in getting customers to withdraw there business but this can be difficult to do. Unions are only allowed to encourage the boycott the primary target of their labor dispute and are not allowed to apply pressure through other employers by conducting a secondary boycott (or boycott against an employer who is not the primary target.) This greatly limits the potential effectiveness of the boycott. The legal doctrine regarding boycotts is complicated and can make it difficult for both the employer and the union to know what is considered a "fair" boycott. The law can limit the boycott in such a way as to reduce its overall effectiveness (e.g., by treating separate businesses of a parent company as individual businesses.) In addition, as boycotts generally involve picketing, the law regarding picketing also limits the effectiveness of boycotts by restricting both the content and location of the picket.