Researching
a Corporation
Sample
Questions
(search
terms will either be in bold or in brackets at the end of
each question)
*
What is the labor relations history of the firm? What worker
issues have emerged? [contract negotiations, wage disputes]
*
What unions are involved
at the worksite, locally or at other facilities?
*
Have the workers ever gone on strike?
What were the issues? How did the company respond (look for
similar tactics to be used against you)?
*
Has the company used union-busting
legal firms?
*
Has the company laid off large numbers of workers? [layoff,
downsize, workforce reduction, job cuts]
*
Have there been significant worker
safety issues (OSHA
violations)? [violation]
*
Has the company been sued for discrimination?
[eeoc, sexual harassment, hostile work environment]
*
Does the company use sweatshop
labor? [maquiladora, offshore]
Information
Sources
Labor
Related Websites
Occupational
Health and Safety Administration
http://www.osha.gov
This government web site provides full reports of OSHA inspections.
These include regular inspections and those filed due to
complaints or accidents. Violation, fines and descriptions
of incidents are available. You can get a nation-wide record
of a company or focus your search to specific plant. Click
on LIBRARY, then ESTABLISHMENT SEARCH. Be sure to check
off Exact Match or you will get irrelevant information.
AFL-CIO
http://www.aflcio.org
Labor news, policy statements, and public document; economic
research library with essays on selected economic issues;
and extensive links to other union sites.
Contact
local union, if workers have representation at the facility.
OSHA reports indicate union or non-union sites. News searches
may also bring up the union name and local if there has
been coverage of contract negotiations or strikes. When
all else fails, try contacting the international or local
of the union that seems most likely to cover the industry.
AFL-CIO
Corporate Affairs Department
They
maintain many databases, including: NLRB Unfair Labor Practices,
Union Buster Reports, Federal Mediation & Conciliation
Services Database (elections), UNICORE (parent company,
subsidiaries and union representation at each facility).
If you have good relations with the union involved, have
them obtain reports from these databases on your company.
General
Press
Search
for news coverage of a company's activities via the following
websites (both are searchable for free or a nominal yearly
membership, but you pay a per document fee for every article
you look at full text):
Northern
Light http://www.northernlight.com
Search over 130 Million Web pages and articles
of more than 5,400 full text sources. Sources include some
alternative press. Service is free, but a charge from $1 -
$4 for articles from "Special Collection". Also
has Investext (stock market analysts reports).
DowJones
News Retrieval http://www.djinteractive.com
Available on the web for a $69 yearly fee
and a document charge to view anything more than a headline.
Document charges range from $2.95 for articles to over $100
for some reports. Only source for the Wall Street Journal
full text.
Lexis-Nexis
http://www.nexis.com
You can
gain access to Lexis-Nexis through your local university
(if you have a member, staff, volunteer, or intern who is
a student there) or you may consider setting up an account
with Lexis-Nexis, if your organization will be doing extensive
research (with negotiating you can get an account for as
low as $250 per month). Databases of primary importance
are News and Company.
General
Web Searching (via search engines such as Google,
Yahoo,
Dogpile,
etc.) When all else fails, try doing a general web search.
Profile
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