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Price of repression · Calculator

Estimate the cost of an anti-union campaign.

Employers have a choice when faced with a union organizing drive. They can take the high road by agreeing to voluntarily recognize the union upon proof of majority support. Or they can take the low road and invest what is typically thousands of dollars per worker in an anti-union campaign. Fill in campaign details below for an estimate of the cost that your employer is choosing to incur by mounting an anti-union campaign. Save your estimate and click the “Copy share link” to share it with coworkers.

Request an official LaborLab cost estimate

LaborLab can provide official estimates in collaboration with organizers. Our estimates have served as the basis of reports presented to state representatives and been repeatedly cited in news coverage of anti-union campaigns. No employers have publicly questioned our estimates to date, though LaborLab will revise estimates and issue corrections if provided with evidence of inaccuracy.

01 · Filing

Campaign details

Used in the PDF report header. Optional, but the report reads better with the employer name. The PDF is automatically stamped with its generation date.

e.g. Rogers Behavioral Health
Short internal label, e.g. RBH 2026

02 · Bargaining unit

Workers

Enter the number of eligible voters, their average pay rate and average daily hours worked. Collect this info from your coworkers or use ZipRecruiter, Salary.com or BLS for average wage data.

$/hr
hrs

03 · Window

Campaign dates

Petition filing and consultant start drive the default windows for every line below.

Off

04 · External · Counsel

Attorneys (Third-Party)

Attorney/s hired by employer to provide representation and campaign services aimed at preventing unionization. Campaign services include campaign management, personnel changes, supervisor coaching and preparing anti-union literature and speeches.

No attorneys on this campaign.

05 · External · Persuaders

Consultants (Third-party non-attorney)

Consultants hired to provide campaign services, such as campaign management, opposition research, personnel change recommendations, scripting anti-union speeches and (sometimes) directly persuading workers.

No consultants on this campaign.

06 · Internal · Campaign team

In-House Campaign Leaders (e.g. HR manager)

Managers, HR, comms etc. dedicated to running the anti-union campaign.

No in-house staff assigned.

Off

07 · Internal · Supervisors

Other Supervisors & Managers

All supervisors are typically enlisted to engage in anti-union campaign activities, such as holding one-on-one meetings, distributing literature, and reporting the perceived union support of each subordinate to the campaign leaders.

$
hrs
%
Off

Days worked: 0 · Total cost (estimate): $0

08 · Internal · Worker time

Worker paid time lost

Paid time workers spend in group and one-on-one anti-union meetings with supervisors and anti-union workers.

hrs
%

0 workers × 0 hrs/day

Off

Total cost (estimate): $0

09 · Internal · Productivity loss

Productivity loss

Estimated drop in output per hour worked by employees (excludes paid time lost entirely to anti-union meetings).

%

Total cost (estimate): $0

10 · Overhead & uncertainty

Fees & Materials

Administrative fees and the cost of anti-union materials.

%

Base: $0

F&M (estimate): $0

Estimate band

Multipliers applied per line for the lower and upper estimates. Defaults: ×0.85 lower / ×1.15 upper.

×Default 0.85 (= 85% of estimate)
×Default 1.15 (= 115% of estimate)
No data-quality warnings.

Figure 1 · Composition

Estimated campaign cost

Wedges and rows below reflect the band selected in the summary panel — values are already inflated / deflated.

Total campaign cost · Mid

$0

$0 – $0 range

0-day campaign

Per-worker cost · Mid

$0

$0 – $0 range

Across 0 workers

Raise equivalent · Mid

Set workers + pay rate to compute

0-day campaign · 0 workers · annual payroll basis

Total · mid$0

    Estimate range

    $0$0

    Total Campaign Cost · Mid: $0

    Exhibit A · Cost breakdown

    Cost breakdown table

    Anti-union campaign cost breakdown · Mid estimate

    NameWeekly costWeeksTotal · Mid
    External
    Consultants
    Total Consultants$0
    Attorneys
    Total Attorneys$0
    Total External Cost$0
    Internal
    In-house team
    Total In-house$0
    0 Supervisors$00$0
    Worker time lost$00$0
    0% productivity loss$00$0
    Total Internal Cost$0
    Fees & Materials
    2.5% × $0 base$0
    Total Fees & Materials$0
    Total Campaign Cost$0

    Request an official LaborLab cost estimate. LaborLab can provide official estimates in collaboration with organizers. Our estimates have served as the basis of reports presented to state representatives and been repeatedly cited in news coverage of anti-union campaigns. No employers have publicly questioned our estimates to date, though LaborLab will revise estimates and issue corrections if provided with evidence of inaccuracy.

    Untitled draft