We met my freshman year of college. I met my future roommate and one of my best friends early on, because we were both in band and trombone choir together, and lived in the same dorm building. I met my other best friend during freshman J term, because we all worked the same shift in the cafeteria. We started hanging out, and then had a big bonding moment with a few other people that made up our entire friend group for the rest of college: an all nighter working on a paper.
I also consider my cousin to be one of my best friends. I've known him since he was born, and I'm just a little less than a year older than him.
Asking for recognition is considered a courtesy. It's a symbolic act to establish that management will be the ones standing in the way of the workers, not your union
If this is their attempt at stoking fear, they should do it more