The lengthy NLRB election procedure gives employers lots of time to harass workers. They often receive veiled threats of demotion or lousy job assignments or are badgered by supervisors who even are followed to the restroom by their supervisors. Studies have shown that 78% of private-sector employers require supervisors deliver anti-union messages to workers they oversee (Why won't workers join unions, 2009).
If the employees of Wegmans would choose to form a union it would affect more than just the employees and the store, it would affect all the stakeholders. These key stakeholders would include the customers and the community along with the employees and administrators. The formation of a union most always involves a long drawn out battle between both sides which end up not being any good for the customers or the community in which the union is trying to be formed. Customers end up taking sides between the employees and the store. This may have long-term affects in that the store may end up loosing business which would not be good for the community as a whole.
Wegmans has been involved in lawsuits in regards to issues surrounding a union. In 2007, there was a complaint filed by Edwin R. Melhorn that he was unlawfully terminated by Wegmans because he engaged in concerted activity protected by the National Labors Relations Act and because it mistakenly believed that he was involved in activity in support of a union. It also alleges that Melhorn was unlawfully interrogated by supervisors concerning his union and protected concerted activities. This case was ultimately dismissed because it was not found that Melhorn did engage in any union or concerted activity protected by the Act. The evidence failed to establish that Wegmans had...
It also fails to establish that it had a mistaken belief that he had done so, which led it to terminate him (Decision, 2007).
The employees at Wegmans appear to be happy with the way that things are done within their company. The company has over many years been voted as one the best places to work. If at some point in time though the employee would want to unionize they have been given that right under the National Labor Relations Act. Despite this laws that are in place many employees who try to form unions find themselves up against a lot of harassment and push back from their employees. Although the union may in the end be a good thing for the employees that want to form it, it is often not a good thing for all stakeholders in the end.
References
Decision. (2007). Retrieved March 23, 2010, from Web site:
http://www.nlrb.gov/shared_files/ALJ%20Decisions/2007/JD-53-07.pdf
Grossman, Robert J. (2008). Reorganized Labor. Retrieved March 23, 2010, from Web site:
http://www.jacksonlewis.com/articles/ReorganizeLaborHRMagazine.pdf
How to Form a Labor Union Q & a. (n.d.). Retrieved March 23, 2010, from Labor Union
Resources Web site:
http://www.laborunionresources.org/HOWTOFORMALABORUNION.html
Wegmans Food Markets. (2010). Retrieved March 23, 2010, from Answers.com Web site:
http://www.answers.com/topic/wegmans-food-markets
Why won't workers join unions? (2009). Retrieved March 23, 2010, from the Institute for Southern Studies Web site: http://southernstudies.org/2006/09/why-wont-workers-join-unions.html
