Employer and Union Campaigning Process - Essay Example

Antony Antony Vimal Venmani 18th August 2008 Employer and Union Campaigning Process Talking about the employer and the employee rift has become a dime a dozen and there had been number of topics about that. Now, most of the time we fail to understand what kind of collusion keeps the employers together and what kind of collusion keeps the employees together to uphold there rights and responsibilities intact. This is where the conglomeration of workers as well as the employers under there respective entities were thought to provide all the basic protection and rights. First it would be apt to look at the ways the workers union influence their co-workers and campaign for setting up a good union and leadership and then comes the processes in which the employers involve in campaigning, followed by a comparative analysis. Union Campaigning Basically, we have a tendency to relate unions for public sector companies where in every company there are thousands of workers and unions are formed independently for each one of them. But then it wouldn’t be fair to shun the fate of small companies’ employees who are vulnerable to any inhumane actions taken by the employer. Thus the concept of “Minority Union” arises where a single union is formed which constitutes of workers from across an industry joining hands under one roof and fighting for their rights and protection. Antony 2 Usually if a Union election has to be conducted the workers need to approach the NLRB which then looks for the number of supporters proposing for the union. Thus the method of signing the card is involved where employees sign there interests for a union. Though the National Labour Relations Act says that even if 25% or less number of employees want to form an union, it should be facilitated provided it is to engage in mutually beneficial activities but the NLRB looks for 70% or more employees have signed the card will the board go forward with the conduction of election else it wouldn’t . As said before if the employees don’t have the required numbers to form an union then it is left with the choice to seek support from a general labor organisation or it can go to form a minority union as said before, where there is one organisation for an industry which has employees from across the plethora of stores of that industry. The latter option is a better one because the problem faced by the employees in a particular industry can well be understood and emphasized only by his counterpart in the same industry; else it would become a perfunctory support extended to the employees which wouldn’t be fruitful. Thus the minority union should have a national coordinator and forums to keep track of the current happenings in their respective industry and should also have an advising committee to advice them about the legalities present in the industry in case they have to face a problem. Above all a minority union fund has to be maintained which would be used as a strike fund to conduct strikes and moreover compensate the employees with money commensurate with their weekly wages during their period of strike. Antony 3 Rights involved in Union Campaigning: The American Labour relations act enshrines the right on an employee to form an organisation and indulge in collective bargaining if it is for mutual aid. This means that the employees are free to go about forming their unions, attend union meetings and gatherings and involve in the union activities. Now, any initiative by the employer to subvert the process of unions by the employer is punishable but the employers are given the right to persuade the employees through some legally allowed steps. These steps can also be construed to be a part of the Employers campaigning process because of the intention is to counter any union formation. The legally allowed “Dos” for the employer are as follows. The employer can talk to the working community one – one The employer can show case to the worker the bad effects of forming a union The employer can talk just to a specific group of workers to thwart the process of unionizing They can try their best to fix the workers grievances so that workers might drop the idea of union forming The employer can tap the above said permissible opportunities to influence the worker. Following are the “Don’ts” Any unbecoming actions like spying the union activities, trying to gather information about the union election through unethical means, intimidating the worker, firing a group of workers to set in a kind of fear amongst other workers etc should be avoided by the employer. Antony 4 The campaigning processes that has to be followed are as follows. First of all, a team of interested workers should join hands and start imparting the advantages about forming a union for collective bargaining to there co-workers, because not all the workers will be aware of the influence and the voice an union will have. Signing of Card:. As it was mentioned before, NLRB requires at- least 30% of the total employees to have signed the card of support. Though as per law 30% is enough most of the unions require a support of more than 70% of employees. Submission of the card: The support card is then submitted to the NLRB which then sits with the employees, employer to fix the election date. The Election: The election is conducted through secret ballots and the workers decision whether to be represented by the local organisation at the bargaining table is made. Framing of contract: The workers and the representatives frame a contract which elaborates on the right to bargaining and several other clauses that are amicable to both the workers as well as the employers. Ratification: Workers will be allowed to ratify the contract individually and they will be asked to sign, if majority fail to sign then once again negotiations take place and the cycle follows. These are the processes through which the union campaigning is made. Antony 5 Employers campaigning processes: All said about the workers campaigning, it is only fair to underscore the tools and process that the employers have to move without any friction with employees. It is all about treating them fairly and at the same time retaining there control over the organisation. Usually employers are proactive in dealing with the campaigning in which they strictly comply with the provisions of the agreement and at the same time foresee any hidden intentions against any clauses in the contract. They also see to it that a legally effective and efficient contract is framed with the workers. Some tools are as follows: Fundamentally employers are much bothered about there right to control the organisation and attempt to thwart it is taken as a sign of eroding leadership. Therefore clauses based on certain theories are framed to make a fair deal. One amongst them is the Contractual management right clause. Contractual Management right: This is the clause that states in a elaborate way, the controlling power of the management and draws a line beyond which the workers cannot act. This clause is based on the residual management theory which states that the management will retain all rights that are not specifically limited by any provision in the contract. Zipper clause: This clause is quiet similar to the previous clause but a small change is that any bargaining will be fore closed and will not be dealt with, if it is not mentioned in the contract and thus the management has the unilateral right to make a change in those areas. Antony 6 If a deadlock arises in implementing the above said procedures then as said before the employers might indulge in a plethora of legally permissible activities to dissuade the union formation process. It can tell the workers that if a particular union is being elected then that would set the flood gates open for violence by a different sect of workers. This is a subtle way of threatening the workers to refrain from voting. Laws are also in favourable to the employers. In 1977 the National Labour Relations Board announced that there would be no probing about the falsity or the truth pronounced during the representation campaign. Then ruling overturned the long standing policy of probing. Then within a year the very same policy was overturned and later again in 1982 once again it was decided that no probing will be done on campaigns. The point to be noted here is the ambiguity from a protectionist body like the NLRB itself. Such a vague policy which keeps changing every now and then wouldn’t really help the worker, rather it would only agonize them more. This can be taken as an advantage by the employer because no worker or union would take a concrete decision taking into confidence the NLRB’s policy. All this, despite the failure of any concrete punishments or penalties in that can be imposed on the employer, if he indulges in coercing the employee. The penalties aren’t really deterrent for a deep pocketed employer to thwart the process. All this melts down to one particular point where the management doesn’t want to lose control on its company and at the same time the workers want a powerful forum to voice out there protest in case the employer takes some unbearable and avaricious step that would deter there morale. Antony 7 A “No-Strike” clause may also be inducted by the employer in the contract to curb any loss in its productivity. Furthermore, the employer can with the entire contractual management clause, zipper clause and the no strike clause can make the worker a toothless tiger even after a union is formed. The workers might be happy that a union of there choice has been formed but the fact they really can’t voice out effectively is hidden and they are not aware of it either. Thus to make the workers know there rights and to go about with a union thoroughly just to voice there grievances and to protest for mutual aid the workers should be made aware of all his rights as an employee. This right shouldn’t be misused by them for their selfish gains and unreasonable proposals. Similarly, the only way to rein in on a faulting employer would be to make the rules stringent so that he would think twice before indulging in coercion. All said, ultimately in most of the cases the employers subtle campaign wins over the employees hue and cry because at the end of the day, the employer wants control over his establishment and expects the productivity to go flawlessly. Therefore, he is all ready to buy the workers to keep them tight lipped at a reasonable price. The giver always has an upper hand over the receiver. Works Cited Shaiken Harley. “Union, economy and the employee free choice”. Agenda for Shared Prosperity.< http://www.sharedprosperity.org/bp181.html> Union Info. “How Unions work”. Borders Union. http://www.bordersunion.org/organizing/how_unions_work/your_rights Read More