The union avoidance consulting industry generates approximately $1.5 billion in annual revenue.
Posted by Behind the Bastards, Checked
- Sources
- 4 contradict1 support
- Said
- 1 time·
- Confidence
- 55%
Behind the BastardsOct 3, 2026
The claim's $1.5 billion figure is close to the $1.7 billion annual estimate that EPI and LaborLab published in 2026, whose headline says employers spend 'more than $1.5 billion.' But that $1.7 billion includes law firms: consultants alone are estimated at about $442 million, and an earlier EPI estimate was about $340 million.
Our two reads of who says this, and how, disagree, so it counts as the post's own claim.
This claim is about the present, so it is judged as of the day it was checked.
What was said
… When you hear about captive audience meetings and things like that, these are the people that are parachuting into workplaces to try and convince workers that unions are actually a bad thing. That's their whole job. It's a very lucrative business that rakes in about $1.5 billion a year from anxious anti-union employers who somehow have not realized that they could simply pay the workers the wage increases that they're probably going to be looking for in their first union contract and save a bunch of dough. …
Behind the Bastards · · from the transcriptPost →What we found
Contradicts. EPI estimates only about $442 million a year on non-attorney anti-union consultants, so the consulting-only industry is well below $1.5 billion.[1][2]
Contradicts. An earlier EPI estimate put total union-busting spending at about $340 million a year, and that figure is still cited in 2023 and 2026 coverage, so the $1.5 billion figure depends on which estimate is used.[3][4]
Supports. EPI's 2026 report estimates employers spend roughly $1.7 billion a year on union avoidance consultants and law firms, and its page title says 'more than $1.5 billion annually,' which is directionally consistent with the claim's figure.[1]
Supports. Coverage of the same EPI/LaborLab report repeats the $1.7 billion total, which includes Littler Mendelson and other law firms, so the claim's $1.5 billion is within about 13% of that estimate.[2][5]
Context. The EPI and LaborLab sources are not independent of each other, and they note that LMRDA reporting loopholes make a full accounting of the industry impossible.[1][4][5]
Sources
5 sources: 5 not rated
- 1U.S. employers spend more than $1.5 billion annually on union avoidanceepi.org · not rated · cited for: contradicts, supports, context
- 2The ‘union avoidance’ industry is worth $1.7 billion. Florida union busters are cashing in.orlandoweekly.com · not rated · cited for: contradicts, supports
- 3Unlawful: U.S. employers are charged with violating federal law in 41.5% of all union election campaigns | Economic Policy Institutefiles.epi.org · not rated · cited for: contradicts
- 4$340 Million Anti-Labor Consulting Industry Is Behind Contemporary ...truthout.org · not rated · cited for: contradicts, context
- 5LaborLab's Bob Funk on the $1.7 Billion Union Busting Industryawf.labortools.com · not rated · cited for: supports, context
Where this claim was made
Said in 1 published post
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