Working conditions in Brooks Brothers - Coursework Example

Working conditions in Brooks Brothers Introduction The chosen organization is Brooks Brothers. It is a clothier line situated in Madison Avenue, Manhattan in New York City (Cooke, 2003). It initially dealt with men’s cloth line. It was founded in the early days that are 1818 originally as a family business. However it has now been owned by the retail brand alliance since the year 2001. Nowadays, it also deals with women cloth line. Working conditions. Some employees in this company are not unionized. Thus, I being part of the employees decided to start a worker’s union and persuade my colleagues to join. There are various reasons for this move. One, compensation program in this organization is very disgraceful. This is in the case of retirement or when one is retrenched from workplace. One has to follow long procedures to have the compensation processed (Gordon & Turner, 2004). This compensation is also not enough. Considering the case of retirement for instance, after working for many years in the company, at least a person requires a decent compensation. The management should bring back the old compensation program. Individual associates put our employees under a lot of pressure to make the required sales volumes during the period of economic recessions. An employee must make approximately 85% of all the net sales thus living no time for personal development. One has to work for a long number of hours with minimum overtime compensation. This is turning to be a problem because seem not to care about all the well being of the employees. There is also no room for employees to develop professionally. Once employed in a creation sector of the business, either making the clothes or marketing or sales, a person is likely to stagnate in one position for a long time. Upper management does not offer the employees the required support. It is the dream of any employee in any work station to climb up the ladder in the job market. However, this seems not to be an issue in this organization. The amount of time given for breaks is very little. All we do is work and work the more. The healthcare provided is also limited. The employees are so busy such work is available even during holidays and all this work is done while one is standing up. Thus, it is very tiresome and the pay is just okay Moreover, the management sometimes does not show up on time to open the retail stores. But when one is unable to make the required sales, then it proves to be a problem with the top management. Sometimes that required promotion from within is also very slow. The schedules are also unstable. One can be made to do something impromptu something that had not even been planned for. Benefits of organizing a union. Though only a few individuals are not unionized, they can now see the need of belonging to one. There are many benefits that a worker’s union has. When there is a union, worker’s pay is a bit higher. Considering that the work load here is very highly and the pay is just okay, we as employees wouldn’t mind a pay rise. This is because working in this organization makes it difficult for a person to have any other another business venture. Most of the time is spent working thus, a considerable pay is better. When one is involved in a worker’s union, then one’s retirement is more secure. This is because an individual contributes a certain amount of money monthly to the worker’s union. This money is saved up for an individual to pay as pension during retirement. The problem of compensation, when working in this company, will be settled once one joins a labor union. Union members are also able to access benefits more than non union members. The union officials are able to negotiate with the employers and reach a common ground on the benefits to offer the employees. This company has been known to offer limited benefits especially medical benefits. Access to health care provision by the organization is limited to a number of times an employee can have. However, with the help of the union, this can easily be settled. Members of a union cannot be fired for no valid reason. The employee has to commit a very serious offence for the organization to fire them. With the union's help, one can take the organization through a great procedure maybe even sue the organization in cases of job termination for invalid reasons. In addition, members of a union are able to air their grievances as a group. Group solidarity is very crucial. As a group and with an umbrella of top union officials protecting them, then they can be in a position to negotiate their grievances to the top management of the company. This is more effective than individual airing of grievances. Mission, purpose and objective statement. For a union group to work, then there must be a mission, purpose and objective statement for a strategic plan to organize it (Wagner, 2008). The mission for this is to educate and effectively negotiate all the collective agreements affecting individual members. With this in mind, then all employees who have not been able to join a union will immediately join. This is due to the problems we are faced with working for this company. The purpose for this organization is to ensure that all the grievances of the members are dealt with appropriately. The union strives to ensure that the participants are competent to operate in a safe work place, safe working environments and best pay for them. It will ensure that the needs of these workers are not taken for granted and no top official takes the members for granted. The objective statement is solidarity forever. This is because together, we can achieve everything we need to achieve. There is power in numbers. Steps of forming a union. Forming a union is a process. You just do not wake one day and decide that you and your colleagues should form a union and immediately form it. One has to go through various steps (Roth, 2010). Identify whether there exists a favorable union that can represent you and your colleagues’ grievances- there are various unions that represent workers in the United States. It is upon the people in need of a union to choose what union to join. This is considering the grievances they have and the reputation of the given union. The second step is to understand the legal requirements you need to follow in forming a union. The approval of a federal authority is very crucial. Failure to follow the required legal requirements can lead an individual into trouble. The other step is t coming up with an adequate bargaining unit- this is only possible if approximately 30% submit authorization cards to acknowledge the willingness to form a union. Failure to that, it is impossible to join a labor union. The fourth important step is to gain approval from the national labor relations board- once you have met all the prior requirements, then the federal authority at this stage issues a certificate of approval. This gives a go ahead to form a union. The fifth step is to organize union elections. This is to establish the required roles in your organization. The national labor and relations board presides over these elections. The next step is to appoint a union organizer. This will help the members in negotiating considerable wages. The organizer also deals with grievances that the employees have because they are the representative of the members. The seventh crucial step is to negotiate with a labor union lawyer. This is especially important when issues get complicated in the process of union formation. It is, however, important to consult one anyway due to the legal requirements essential in the formation of a union. Research your rights and formulate a very strong case to develop a union-it is very difficult to form a union. However, with adequate support and documentation, it becomes much easier. After all the steps have been followed, then the union is formed and is ready to start working for the members immediately. Timeline and rationale. It is not easy to form a labor union. But coming up with one is beneficial to involved members. The possible timeline to come up with a labor union using these steps I have put up in place is between one and a half to two months. This is because I have to consult with legal officials who are often busy. The best lawyers in the city are always busy with cases so booking an appointment with them is not easy. I also have to seek federal approval which might take some time. Moreover, plans have to be made to come up with union elections. This should be planned and not just an impromptu issue. Time is also required to stipulate the roles the union officials will play in the process. Thus, one and a half months to two months is enough. Management team objection. Not many organizations support the idea of their employees joining labor unions. This is because they know the members will start demanding more terms of work that they cannot refuse. Some top officials even threaten to suck all those employees who join a labor union. One of the objections the union is likely to face from the management is on the issue of long working hours. The management is likely to argue that the employees knew the conditions of the organization even before being employed. However, I would argue with them that working for long hours while standing up is not an easy thing. Even if they say that the pay is considerable, I will argue with them that we are not complaining so much about the pay though we would not mind an increase. However, the major biff we have with them is making us stand all day when working with very short breaks. Imagine a thirty minute lunch break and then get back to work. At least they should consider providing us with seats at least to ease that much tire. There have been reported cases of new workers fainting during the working hours. Thus, this is a major problem. In conclusion, working in this company also has some pros. We cannot complain a lot about working here. However, if the management could just hear our cries and settle our grievances, then this would be the best working place ever. References Cooke, J. W. (2003). Generations of style: it's all about the clothing. New York: Brooks Bros. Gordon, M. E., & Turner, L. (2004). Transnational cooperation among labor unions. Ithaca [u.a.]: ILR Press. Yates, M. (2009). Why unions matter. New York: Monthly Review Press. Asher, H. B. (2001). American labor unions in the electoral arena. Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield. Roth, I.-S. (2010). Labor Unions and their usefulness. New York: München GRIN Verlag GmbH. Wagner, V. (2008). Labor unions. Detroit: Greenhaven Press. Read More