While in theory U.S. law provides for workers to have freedom of association, the right to join trade unions and participate in collective bargaining is in practice denied to large segments of the American workforce in both the public and the private sectors. This includes active campaigning by employers among employees against union representation as well as participating in campaigns to eliminate union representation. At least one in 10 union supporters campaigning to form a union is illegally fired.
Employers engage in widespread harassment and intimidation against union supporters.
In some cases, court, medical and credit records of union activists are obtained and the family lives of activists are studied for possible weaknesses. Many government workers, the report notes, are denied the right to strike or bargain collectively over hours, wages and other critical issues. Nearly half of public workers suffer from full or partial denial of collective bargaining rights. If employers cannot get what they want through collective bargaining, they can unilaterally impose their terms, lock out their employees, and transfer work to another location, or even to another legal entity. An increasing number of employers have deliberately provoked strikes to get rid of trade unions.