Labor Relations
Union Environment
There are several differences between a union environment and a non-union environment. The most striking distance is that the workers are organized, and that has significant implications for the relationship between management and the workers. With respect to most issues, including pay and working conditions, negotiation on these issues is with the union, in the form of a collective bargaining agreement, rather than individually with each employee. Most things will be more formalized, which will affect processes for just about everything, and that includes critical issues like discipline. The union will be the face of the workers, and thus there will be limited interaction between management and workers in most cases. The division will be fairly cultural -- the organization itself will change. So the unionized shop is a more formalized environment, often more antagonistic but even when it is not, it is more mechanistic. Management has limits on its controls, for example, and this will affect how and when management seeks to affect change on the organization. It is likely that the organization will become less responsive, as it must partner with the union to get any changes through. What use to be simple processes will now be subject to negotiation and political trade-offs. In essence, the company is going to change a lot if the workers unionize (Gustafson, 2015).
Over time, the employees will extract more pay and benefits. They have this ability because a union is a collective, and in this it has much more bargaining power than any one employee would have had individually. The organization needs to consider that this will affect its cost structure, and may need to think about how that will affect strategic overall. It is not just that, but unions are also protected by specific rights, including the right of free association. Management should be aware of the...
Unionized Workplace A dispute occurred in a unionized workplace involving John and Eric who were both hourly employees in the finishing department. Jack has been complaining that Eric is trying to get him to quit so that Eric's friend can be employed in Jack's job. He says Eric has bullied and harassed him because he helped in union organizing activities last year while Eric is anti-union. He also states that
Hostile Work Environment The term "hostile work environment" has a wide range of meanings and definitions. Obviously, how precisely it is defined would vary based on the role or position of the person involved, their opinion about things employer rights, employee rights and unions and one's general feeling about what is and is not acceptable when it comes to general or work-based interactions with others. Others still may cast too wide
Case Study: SGA Industries 1. The impetus for the Amalgamated Clothing and textiles Workers union (ACTWU) to organize an effort to create worker protection at SGA industries was provoked via a variety of reasons. SGA industries had always been a workplace where they invested a lot of money to protect and elevate workers. SGA made a concerted organizational and financial effort to ensure that their employees and their families had a very
AF of LThe American Federation of Labor (AFL) was one of the most influential labor organizations in United States history. Established in 1886, it represented a new era in organized labor that was less radical than other movements of its time, yet still offered workers and those who supported their cause an opportunity to voice their grievances and fight for better wages and conditions (Gildemeister, 1981). The AFL focused more
OSHA According to the General Guidelines regarding Employee Heath and Safety, every employer "shall furnish to each of his employees employment and a place of employment which are free from recognized hazards that are causing or are likely to cause death or serious physical harm to his employees." (OSHA, 2005) In this particular case the employer General Dynamics did technically follow these guidelines as set forth by OSHA, even though the
Economics Growth The retailer sector was lately affected by the back-to-school shopping season, which did not start so well, as midprice department stores, discounters and specialty-apparel retailers announced disappointing sales results during August, which reinforced the already much debated concerns that consumers are not comfortable with the current state of the economy and are reluctant to consume, considering the shaky and uneven economic recovery. However, luxury department-store chains managed to post significant
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