MANAGING TO AVOID UNIONS

Transcription

1 MANAGING TO AVOID UNIONS KANSAS ASSOCIATION OF HOMES AND SERVICES FOR THE AGING CONFERENCE Presented by Don Hill 8415 E. 21 st North, Suite 210 Wichita, KS All information presented in the seminar, including the following, is for discussion purposes only. If you want to take specific action in response to this information or have any questions, please contact your supervisor or us.

2 Kansas Association of Homes and Services for the Aging Page 1 I. WHY TALK ABOUT UNIONS? Why are we talking about unions? Union membership has declined from 35% in the 1950's to about 12% today, and in private industry, it is about 8%. More importantly, in Kansas there is about 7% union representation, mainly in companies in the Kansas City and Topeka areas and in the aircraft industry in the Wichita area. This lack of union membership is so serious for unions that they are seeking implementation of a new and very controversial change -- to deny employees the right to have a secret ballot election to determine whether they want to be represented by a union! II. WHAT IS A UNION? A quick background concerning the nature of unions may be helpful. A union's fundamental philosophy is collectivism. An employee represented by a union gives up his or her right to deal individually with the employer concerning the employee's "wages, hours and working conditions," which includes virtually every aspect of employment. Instead, these matters are handled "collectively" through the union. This means employees may no longer even talk to their bosses about any changes in their "wages, hours or working conditions," but instead, all of these matters are settled for all employees through the union representatives and shop stewards. III. UNION REPRESENTATION TODAY. A. Initial Union Representation at an Employer. Today, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) secret ballot election is the primary procedure for a union to seek representation at an employer. To be entitled to an election, the union files a petition with the NLRB supported by at least 30% of the employees who would be eligible to vote in the "bargaining unit" the union seeks to represent. Important initial determinations are made before the vote, including which employees should be excluded from the bargaining unit, such as guards, and primarily those who are the "supervisors." Sometimes, if agreement on those issues cannot be reached, a hearing is necessary. Within five to seven weeks, the NLRB will then conduct and supervise an election on the premises of the employer, where employees can vote by secret ballot concerning union representation. Between the time the initial support may have been given by the employee for a vote, employees have the chance to listen to additional information, change their mind and vote against the union if they have decided to do so. A union can also gain representation by showing it is supported by a majority of the employees in the bargaining unit, usually by signed union authorization cards (an example is

3 Kansas Association of Homes and Services for the Aging Page 2 attached). If this occurs, the employer may decide to accept union representation without an election, but it is not required to do so. This would be termed a "card check" recognition. B. Union Negotiations. Once a union is either elected by secret ballot or voluntarily recognized, the employer is then required to bargain in good faith with the union concerning wages, benefits, hours and working conditions for all employees in the bargaining unit. During the time of negotiations, the employer cannot make any changes until first reaching an agreement with the union or bargaining to impasse. The law is clear that the employer is not required to agree to any proposal the union may make or make any concession, and there is no deadline for completing the negotiation process, which can go on for months and even years. If agreement cannot be reached, the federal mediation service can be used, but it is voluntary. There is no requirement for "binding" arbitration of the union contract. IV. UNION REPRESENTATION UNDER THE PROPOSED NEW LAW. As is often the case, the supporters of this new law have given it a deceptively inappropriate name--it is called the "Employee Free Choice Act." However, what it really seeks to do is to remove free choice by eliminating the opportunity for the employees to have a secret ballot election to determine union representation. The Act is more accurately called the "Card Check Forced Unionism Bill." It is big labor unions' plan to obtain coercive union organizing power by way of this law. Under the proposed Card Check Bill, union organizers can get employees (through pressure or otherwise) to sign union cards and when a majority sign, the union can legally require the employer to bargain with the union as "exclusive representative" of everyone in the bargaining unit which the union seeks to represent. In this situation, employees would never hear their employers' information concerning the downside of unionization and what it could really mean to employees and their employer. Instead, virtually overnight, employees could end up being represented by a union that they know little or nothing about, without having a vote by secret ballot. But the law does not stop here; perhaps an equally or even more detrimental part of the law deals with contract negotiations once the union gets in, such as: The employer has only 90 days to negotiate the first union contract. If this does not occur, the employer is then required to go to mediation over the contract. The employer then has to engage in 30 days of mandatory mediation by the Federal Mediation Service. If this does not result in an agreement, the employer is then required to participate in binding arbitration.

4 Kansas Association of Homes and Services for the Aging Page 3 When the binding arbitration stage is reached, the employer then is required to arbitrate for a contract. The terms of the contract will be decided by an outside arbitrator who probably has very little experience with the employer, its business, and the competitive conditions in the marketplace. This agreement would be binding for two years. For employers, the initial contract is the most important aspect of negotiations. Once things are given away in a contract, such as union dues checkoff and a weak management rights clause without the right to subcontract, it is very difficult to insert such language at a later date. A final change in the new law is to increase employer penalties for violation of the law, including tripling of lost wages and a civil penalty up to $20,000. The purpose of these changes is to "chill" employer opposition to unions. V. WHAT ARE SOME OF THE IMPLICATIONS THAT THIS NEW LAW COULD BRING? A. Implications to Employees. It is almost certain that some employees will sign a union authorization card based upon pressure to sign, or inaccurate or incomplete explanations of what the card means. Employees will lose the opportunity to hear "both sides" of the story before being bound by union representation, and will not have the chance to change their minds by voting in a secret ballot election. The practical implication is that in most instances, the employees would be making the decision based only on what the union organizers tell them, without hearing information from the employer. Some employees may not even be aware that union cards are being signed, or may refuse to sign; however, if over 50% of the employees sign a card, then everyone is saddled with union representation. A very important implication is that employees lose their ability to vote on whether they want to accept the union contract that is arbitrated. If a contract is not reached, the arbitrator will impose contract terms without the employees having a chance to vote to accept or reject the contract. Employees will also lose the right to vote out (decertify) the union after one year, but will probably have to wait at least 28 months to do so, when the first contract should expire.

5 Kansas Association of Homes and Services for the Aging Page 4 B. Implications to Employers. There will be little or no opportunity for the employer to communicate facts about unions to employees (unless it is done prior to any union effort). There is little or no reason for the unions to not make unreasonable or excessive contract demands, since they have little or nothing to lose by doing so. Probably one of the most important points is that unions will no longer have to strike to attempt to force an employer to agree to its bargaining demands. Currently, the only weapon the union has to enforce its position is by going out on strike; during a strike, the employer can hire permanent replacements and the strikers lose income in order to enforce their demands. However, with the forced arbitration provisions, there is little or no risk of a strike and the employer has lost its main leverage in negotiations. There is no legal limitation on what an arbitrator can impose in a contract, including any increase in labor costs which could make the employer unprofitable. When an employer becomes a target of the union, and ends up with an arbitratorimposed contract, the employer could be at a clear competitive disadvantage with the conditions the arbitrator imposes on the union employer, but not on other companies. The card check forced unionism issue would be an ongoing threat to companies. To remain union-free, an employer may have to constantly communicate with employees concerning the union issue. C. Implications to Supervisors Supervisors stand to lose the most when their employees are represented by a union. For example: Supervisors will be precluded from discussing changes in wages, hours and working conditions with individual employees; instead, this must be handled exclusively through union representatives. Supervisors must deal with such things as seniority restrictions on job assignments and restrictions on work employees can perform.

6 Kansas Association of Homes and Services for the Aging Page 5 Supervisors will need to know the provisions of an extensive collective bargaining agreement in attempting to maintain discipline and in the performance of work. The most damaging aspect of unionization from a supervisor=s standpoint is the union=s philosophy of problem solving. Unions attempt to impress on their members that day to day problems of the workplace can only be solved by the union, so employees are urged to take their problems to their shop stewards, rather than their boss. Every decision of the supervisor would then be policed by union stewards. The consequence of this may be gradual erosion of the most important aspect of supervision -- his or her authority. VI. UNFAIR LABOR PRACTICES. A. Employer Unfair Labor Practices An employer cannot interfere with, restrain or coerce the employee's rights. Typical unfair labor practices by an employer: a. Spying on union activities b. Promising employees what will happen if they do or do not join a union c. Interrogating an employee about the union d. Threatening, disciplining, firing an employee for union activity (Do not ASPIT@) A supervisor is not neutral. He or she can tell the employees whether or not the company would prefer to continue dealing with them individually on all matters involving changes in wages, hours and working conditions. This would not be possible if the employees give up their bargaining rights to a union. A supervisor must not threaten discrimination nor promise rewards because employees do, or do not, join a union effort. A supervisor must not question employees about the union, solicitation of union cards, identity of union instigators, or any other matters relating to the union. However, a supervisor can listen to information that the employee voluntarily provides. A supervisor must not predict or prophesy what the company will do if a union becomes the employees' bargaining agent.

7 Kansas Association of Homes and Services for the Aging Page 6 B. Union Unfair Labor Practices A union is prohibited only from restraining and coercing employees, but not interfering, so the union can do many things that an employer cannot do during a union effort. C. Why Employees Join Unions 1. Improper Supervision a. Intimidating style b. Favoritism c. Inconsistent treatment d. Too close to employees or too detached from employees e. ATwo-headed@ supervision (two people in charge) f. Front-office syndrome (no one is out with employees) 2. Change or the Fear of Change a. Merging organizations b. New facilities c. New supervisor d. New policies, methods or procedures 3. Dishonest or Incompetent Employees a. Poor skills b. Poor productivity c. Poor attendance d. Poor attitude

8 Kansas Association of Homes and Services for the Aging Page 7 4. Wages, Hours and Working Conditions a. Wages of organization are below those of similar jobs in the community b. Wages of individual employees are not appropriate 5. Benefits 6. Nepotism 7. Unsolved Problems 8. No Response to Employee Complaints 9. Lack of Recognition of Effort 10. Lack of Communication 11. Lack of Opportunity to Advance 12. Promises by Outsiders; i.e., Grass is Greener 13. Not Dealing with Employees Honestly and Fairly VII. Managing to Avoid Unions A. Proper Employee Selection B. Good Supervision Good supervision by supervisors who are genuinely interested in their employees is the key to avoiding union organizational efforts and to promoting good employee relations. Good supervision includes: 1. Genuine interest in helping employees do the best job possible. 2. A reasonable understanding of what is expected of employees and what they can expect from their employer. 3. Recognition as an individual person--not as a payroll number. 4. Fair treatment. Everyone wants to feel secure in his or her job.

9 Kansas Association of Homes and Services for the Aging Page 8 5. A chance for self-expression. Everyone wants to have pride in his or her work and know they are doing something important. 6. A feeling of belonging. Being accepted by the group in which they work. 7. Assurance that they are making a contribution. 8. Consideration and respect for employees= feelings. 9. Being an example to employees, both on-duty and off-duty. 10. Consistent, considerate, and positive in exercising employee discipline. 11. Consistent in the treatment of all employees. 12. Honestly representing employees to management when necessary. 13. Interpreting the employer=s policies to employees when necessary. 14. Assuming responsibility for the work of your employees. 15. Knowing your employees= strengths, areas that need improvement, and personal characteristics. C. Communication It is vitally important to listen to your employees daily. Show genuine interest in their concerns, and take the time to talk to them daily. They key to surviving change in an organization is good communication with employees. Employees deserve information concerning changes which will affect them or their jobs. Employ many methods and strategies for communication, including employee handbooks, name tags, bulletins, newspapers, letters, employee suggestion procedures, evaluations by supervisors, individual interviews, dispute resolution procedures, group meetings, properly structured employee committees, and social functions. D. Evaluate Employees Regularly, Consistently and Honestly E. Discipline Employees Consistently, Firmly and Honestly F. Competitive Wages and Benefits Your wage and benefit package should not lag far behind the competition in your area. Put into effect any plans for improvements in wages or benefits as soon as

10 Kansas Association of Homes and Services for the Aging Page 9 possible after the need arises. Carefully consider what mix of benefits and employer payments best suits the current needs of employees. Review the wages and benefits of individual employees to be sure they are appropriate. Review job responsibilities and job descriptions to see if they should be upgraded due to changing conditions or new responsibilities. G. Appropriate Working Conditions Make sure employee working conditions are safe, clean and efficient. Review any problems with equipment or facilities that may be a source of irritation for employees. H. Proper Personnel Policies Be familiar with the important policies concerning solicitation and distribution of literature, individual relationships and bulletin boards. I. AFL-CIO Handbook VIII. Conclusion The AFL-CIO, in its Union Handbook for Organizers, lists the following six factors which are most likely to lower the chances of unionizing employees: 1. A conviction by the employees that the boss is not taking advantage of them. 2. Employees who have pride in their work. 3. Good performance records kept by the employer (employees feel more secure when they know their efforts are recognized and appreciated). 4. No claims of Ahigh-handed@ treatment (employees respect firm but fair discipline). 5. No claims of favoritism that is not earned through work performance. 6. Supervisors who have good relationships with subordinates (this, above all, stifles union organizing attempts). The best personnel policies in the world can be only as good - and will be as poor - as the supervisor who is administering them. Specifically, this means that each supervisor should:

11 Kansas Association of Homes and Services for the Aging Page Clear up all complaints promptly and equitably. 2. Be sure any areas of potential discrimination are corrected - job assignments, overtime possibilities, scheduling, etc. 3. Look for working conditions which create daily irritations and correct them. 4. Have regular meetings with your employees; establish an atmosphere where questions and problems can be presented and be resolved. Employees will show no interest in unions so long as employers maintain genuine interest in their individual progress, recognizing their individual ambitions, their abilities, their problems, and their contributions. In essence, they will continue to show no interest in outside representation only so long as we continue to practice good HUMAN RELATIONS. It's up to you to do just that!