For most companies, unions are old news—a vestige of tattered and worn history books painted with black and white photos of FDR and type-written passages stressing the importance of the New Deal at the dawn of the 20th Century. Or are they?

Recently, the tech industry has come head-to-head with a seeming renaissance of the practice—not through formal unionization, but through a lesser known concept known as the "minority union." Although different in their iterations and impacts, minority unions still shroud themselves with certain notable powers and protections that should give pause to astute employers.