Assume that you are the proprietor of a well-established business that manufactu
ID: 418967 • Letter: A
Question
Assume that you are the proprietor of a well-established business that manufactures specialty castings for a variety of upstream customers. You employ a total of 250 full-time employees from different cultural and ethnic backgrounds. 215 of your employees are skilled blue-collar workers, and the remaining 35 employees are administrative and support. You average about 5% turnover each year and your employees are nonunionized. One morning upon arriving at your office you are approached by a trusted and loyal employee that informs you that union authorization cards are being distributed within your company by several other employees—one of which is an exempt (salaried) supervisor. Your position is ‘pro-company’; you do not want unionized labor within your company.
Based on what you know so far (above) what do you do next? What more would you want to know? How would you handle? What is your strategy?
Explanation / Answer
If an employer suddenly changes its policies and/or practices when a union campaign begins, it’s likely to be accused of an unfair labor practice, and that could be hard to defend against. For example, after a unionizing drive starts, you suddenly announce that you’re going to institute a grievance process. Suspicious timing to say the least. Institute your grievance process now and let it start working, Then there’s one less thing for the union to promise and no unfair labor practice charge. We all want to feel that our work is valued. Make sure that your company has competitive pay practices in place, and that you recognize employees for doing a good job.
To maintain a nonunionized workforce, employers should: