Introduction
Labor relations involve an ongoing relationship between an employer and a union member or groups of employees. Typically, labor relations involve interactions between the management of a company and unions who represent groups of employees. This is a memo to XYZ Company which is facing a union organizing campaign. The memo will be in two parts. The first part will focus on the fundamental elements of unionized workplaces. The second part will discuss how to deal with union-organizing campaigns and what management must and must not do.
Section A: Difference between Union-Free Environment and Unionized Environment
Many employers view unionization as a threat. This is because the simplistic conclusion is that unions cause workers to get a voice and bargaining power. Through this, they can force the employer to pay them more and cut down on profits in the process. However, there are some fundamental pointers worth noting which creates major differences.
The background of unionizing goes back to efforts to protect workers from exploitation by their employers as the case was during the Industrial Revolution. Thus, the National Labor Relations Act 1935 gave workers the right to unionize . This caused workers’ unions to increase after World War II into the 1990s when international outsourcing significantly reduced the levels of unions.
An employer gets to make all the rules and regulations in a company without unions. Thus, in a union-free environment, the employer has the power and authority to fix the rules and this include setting wages and defining the main scope through which work will be done and the employees have to work within those parameters.
The employer has more power in non-unionized environments because the employer deals with each employee individually. This means the employer remains with the power and authority to hire and fire individual employees. Each employee who does not agree with the employer in a non-unionized environment will have to get a lawyer and take on the employer. This could be intimidating and difficult especially if the employer is large and powerful. This means the employer can get the employee to do a lot without questioning.
On the other hand, unions collectivize the bargaining power of workers. This means that in any situation where the employer wants to force something on one employer, the union will stand up to the employer with the backing of all employees. This therefore makes it difficult and complicated for an employer to maintain the unilateral power and authority it wields on employees in a unionized environment.
Unions often bargains with employers for contracts. This creates an authoritative document that simplifies the rights of workers. Thus, workers will have to ensure that their best interests are integrated into their demands in the contract negotiation process. All groups and all interests are to be put together, compiled and presented to the employer and their representative. This must be used as the basis for conducting labor relations. In cases of disputes or what employees believe to be breaches, there are internal and external dispute resolution outlets. This could range from internal meetings to external tribunals to other court settlements. This is to be done within the contract negotiated by the employer and union. In cases where a resolution seem to be inappropriate, unions have various tools like strikes to force employers to respect their rights.
However, there are some limits to what unions can do. For instance, in some countries like Australia and Canada, unions have the right to demand a “closed-shop” policy whereby all workers must belong to a union to be hired and must stay in the union to remain employed. This was outlawed by the Taft-Hartley Act which made it possible for employers to employ either unionized or non-union workers.
In the case of XYZ, workers have been non-unionized till now. Being non-unionized, XYZ had the power to determine salaries, procedures and disciplinary actions without much of a resistance from employees. However, with the workers’ demand for unionization, they have they are going to gain more power to demand certain terms are inserted into a contract that would regulate the conduct and activities that occur in XYZ. This might appear to be threatening to the authority of the managers of XYZ. However, the workers are protected by law and can join and form any union they deem fit.
The main areas that are going to be affected significantly by this move by workers like XYZ include:
The Lack of Flexibility: The management of XYZ cannot take decisions on how and when and how to work. This is because every changes in schedule or extra hours has to be paid for or it must be agreed upon with the unions;
Rigid Job Roles: In the non-unionized work environment, workers can be authorized by management to do certain jobs that are not within their employment contract. This helps to make workers more versatile and can promote career progression. In the move to a unionized workforce, the management cannot get workers to easily do other jobs. This means the workers will have to stay within the work they do since the union contract will usually forbid getting workers to do other jobs without major arrangements and rigid paperwork.
Communication Problems: In most unionized work environment, simple instructions and simple demands that could be made to employees will have to go through the union. There is a general attitude of “don’t talk to me, talk to the union”. This leads to bureaucracy and some unpleasant processes of having to wait and respect protocols. This will inevitably slow down decision-making and work processes.
Adversarial System and Problem Employees: There is a general sense of tension that comes up where some employees could be labelled as “problem-employees”. This is due to people taking advantage of the system and having issues with the management from time to time. This is a reflection of a high level of adversarial interaction between the employers and employees.
However, these processes and systems are often signs of tension and difficulties in the company after the workers unionize. There are some things that are often put in place that can help employers to cope with changes in a unionized workplace. This includes amongst other things, the following pointers:
Focus on Cooperation: There is the need for employers to view workers as partners rather than subordinates. There is the need for them to work by being sensitive to each other as this eliminates conflicts and issues.
Focus on Positive Ends: Employers do better if they focus on what must be achieved and put it ahead of how they treat or get response from workers. This prevents tensions and there is the channeling of the energy of workers towards the attainment of goals in the best form possible.
Intimate Knowledge of Laws and Contracts: Employers will do themselves a lot of good if they learn about the laws, regulations and contracts. This helps them to understand the limits that are placed upon them and allow them to work for the attainment of better results as opposed to conflicts and tensions that could cause lawsuits and other major halts in the production process.
Respect and Sensitivity: There must be a movement of respect from the top to the bottom of the organization. Tensions are often a result of situations where employees in a unionized work environment feel they are not being taken seriously. To avert this, it is necessary for employers like XYZ to show respect to workers and listen to their needs and provide them to the best of their ability.
What is permitted to be said in the Campaign and what is not permitted
Since workers are permitted by law to unionize, there are some things that are considered to be harassment and limitation of their rights to forming and joining unions. These things are often encapsulated in the words or the implied conduct of employers in reaction to union campaign negotiations.
The essence of union campaigning is to identify targets, determine interest and build interests between employer and employees . This is about negotiations and discussions that are meant to provide important information about what is going to happen in the future and how it is going to be discharged. These actions are to be carried out within the scope of the regulations of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). In this process, there are some things that the employer can say without any limitations and this includes:
Stating their position on what they think of the union mobilization drive;
Remind employees they do not really need to sign union forms and they had the right to choose not to join the union;
Present information about the benefits they currently enjoy without being members of the unions and what they will enjoy under the union and the differences and shortfalls they could face;
Remind employees that they would have to work with a union leader rather than their supervisor;
Present the view that unions cannot guarantee anything and in spite of their promises, most things they will do will depend on constraints and final authorization by the employer;
Disclosing information about the criminal records of union leaders;
Encourage employees to vote against the union and its activities and urge them to encourage others to do the same
This means that they can say the objective things about the areas and aspects that are going to lead to problems and future issues with the unionization process. This is to be done within a logical scope and must be done according to the presentation of general and universal facts. However, this comes with the tendency for the employer like XYZ to get emotional and go overboard. That is where limiting rules and regulations are relevant.
The NLRB had their rulings upheld by US Courts of Appeal in September 2015 on matters which barred employees from partaking in certain acts and processes that were viewed as inimical to members’ choice to join unions. This includes amongst other things:
Threats that the organization of the union will be futile. This is because it suggests that the employers are going to sabotage the effort of the union and this means they are prejudiced and biased against the union and this is considered to be illegal;
Promises that there will be pay rises to specific employees if they rejected the offer to join the union. This is seen as some form of manipulation and hence illegal;
Implied threats of demotion by saying the employer cannot guarantee the future of workers if they join the unions. This is seen as a sabotage of the union.
Threatening blacklisting by suggesting that if they join the union and lose their jobs, they are going to live their lives as people who joined unions and were dismissed for that.
In conclusion, it is necessary for all communications to be in good faith. Nothing must be done or said in ways that will make the employees feel threatened. There should be no direct or indirect manipulation to show that the employer wants workers not to be unionized. Rather, employers are to give general information about implications and refrain from manipulating workers.
References
Cary, N. (2014, August 27). New Limits On Employers During Union Organizing Efforts. Retrieved from Vorys: http://www.vorys.com/publications-1304.html
Holley, W. H., Ross, W. H., & Wolters, R. S. (2016). The Labor Relations Process. Mason, OH: Cengage.
Richards-Gustafson, F. (2015, December 8). Difference Between a Unionized Vs. a Non-Unionized Workforce. Retrieved from Small Businesses Chron: http://smallbusiness.chron.com/difference-between-unionized-vs-nonunionized-workforce-22350.html
Scott, A. (2015, September 14). Be Careful What You Say During a Union Organizing Campaign. Retrieved from Labor and Employment Law Perspectives: https://www.laboremploymentperspectives.com/2015/09/14/be-careful-what-you-say-during-a-union-organizing-campaign/
Society for Human Resource Management. (2013, June 1). Union Organizing: What can management do during a union campaign? Retrieved from https://www.shrm.org/resourcesandtools/tools-and-samples/hr-qa/pages/unioncampaigns.aspx
