These workers wanted a union. Then men with fake names showed up.

Jack Black’s firm has brought in millions of dollars over the years by providing employers with “persuaders,” or, to use unions’ less charitable term, “union busters” — consultants who try to convince workers not to organize. Persuader work is big business these days. The number of union elections in the U.S. has surged amid an organizing wave over the last two years. Employers are now paying upwards of $3,000 a day, plus expenses, for each persuader. Amazon alone dished out more than $14 million to consultants last year.
But more often the employer is a little-known firm like MAC, which produces electric motors and battery chargers. The consulting work at MAC ultimately led to employee resignations and a hearing before the NLRB that shed new light on the opaque world of persuaders. This story is based primarily on testimony from that hearing, which was obtained through a public records request.