Union leaders — with the help of the White House — say they plan to increase membership by 15 million over the next 10 years. They’ll do it by hitting employers who make five crucial mistakes in employee relations.
Labor attorneys from the firm Fisher & Phillips have identified the five major mistakes, usually committed by companies who think, “It’ll never happen here”:
1. Favoritism. It’s the No. 1 reason employees cite for joining a union. The term can mean a lot of things, but here’s what it amounts to: inconsistent disciplinary action. When some employees feel they’ve been hit with discipline they didn’t deserve, while other employees got a break in the past, expect to seen union sign-up cards floating around.
The solution is twofold: (a) clear policies and (b) managers who follow the policies. One without the other will lead to trouble.
2. Ignored complaints. A main union selling point is “giving employees a stronger voice.” Employees feel they need that voice when they perceive that no one is listening to them. The opposite of ignoring complaints: listening to them and acting on them. That doesn’t mean every complaint is valid, of course. Still, you have to give employees the feeling that at least someone is looking into it and taking some action if needed.
3. Lack of respect. Here’s the recipe for giving employees the idea they’re not respected: Disciplining them in front of others, assigning blame before reviewing the facts and playing favorites. Those traits give employees the feeling that their managers are enemies, not advocates.
4. Lack of concern about safety. Another weak spot that unions probe: “Your employer only cares about making money, even if it puts you in danger.” The employers’ antidote: safety training, appropriate equipment and clear, uncomplicated guidelines and procedures for responding to and reporting workplace accidents. An extra gold star for employers: Willingness to help employees through the complicated workers-comp process.
5. Noncompetitive pay and benefits. Many are aware of the union promise to “put more money in workers’ pockets.” True or not, it attracts workers who feel they’re being shortchanged.
Now, that doesn’t mean opening up the wallet to every employee who complains about pay and benefits. What you can do:
- Participate in wage-benefit surveys where you can and make sure you are competitive in your industry and your location.
- Be prepared to explain why you’re not at the top of the scale, including the tradeoffs of the other nonmonetary advantages of working at your company — flexible schedules and so on — which employees may not always focus on.
- Be honest with your employees. For instance, if business is down, explain that as the reason for flat wages. The first place a union will attack is perceived dishonesty about pay and benefits.
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Tags: benefits, Fisher & Phillips, pay, union
November 12th, 2009 at 4:26 pm
Let’s see, Obama uses SEIU thugs to rough up taxpayers at Town Hall meetings, has passed the ‘Free Choice Act’ forcing employees to make open, visible choices about whether they ‘want’ to belong to the union, they’ve stolen GM from the rightful shareholders and given it to the autoworkers union…. what’s not to like?
The unions are partially responsible for the colapse of the US economy, of course they will be supported by this administration. It’s all part of George Sorros’ plan to short sell US currency and become ‘king of the world’. Why else would he have given those hundreds of millions of ‘mystery international donations’ to Obama?
Take the advice in this email to heart. Stop the unions locally and help stop the march towards socialism nationally.
November 12th, 2009 at 4:39 pm
Obviously Gary gets his news only from Fox because he has swallowed the Fox/Republican lie about marching to socialism. President Obama is and always has been a political moderate. But when your federal government is trying to recover from tilting so far to the radical right, even something moderate will seem leftish to paranoids like Gary,
Unions need to exist because all too many employers treat workers like chattel. If employers were fair with their employees, paid a proper wage and benefits, then nobody would have had to form a union. The workers at my father’s company never sought to unionize while was President because he treated them with the respect and dignity they were due. But once the MBAs took over and started imposing their exploitative practices, the need for a union became palpable.
Why should anybody be surprised that some unions have gone too far when so many employers have gone too far in the other direction? Employers have only their own greedy, short-sighted, and insulting practices to blame for the existence of unions. And it seems like the owners will just never learn.
November 12th, 2009 at 4:49 pm
The tragedy of the unions is that they purport to be in the court of the worker, in fact they are in the court of the marxists they truly represent.
November 12th, 2009 at 4:50 pm
All of the stimulus money or the ARRA money is only helping the union contractors in the construction market. Due to the Davis Bacon act and the inflated prevailing wage orders.
Non-union contractors usually cannot compete against a union contractor on a project that has Davis Bacon attached or prevailing wages.
I have yet to see wage survey sent to a non union contractor.
November 12th, 2009 at 4:56 pm
NObama a moderate? That’s the biggest joke i’ve heard in a long time. He’s always had socialist and marxist friends and family – from his far left parents to his marxist friends in college to his socialist ACORN community organizers, to Bill (Pentagon Bomber) Ayers to Saul Alinsky to his current cronies such as Van Jones, Anita Dunn, ad nauseam. Add to this his catering to Chavez and Castro and others – he’s the leftist-most leaning occupant of the office EVER!
The very fact he’s trying to pass the EFCA for unions tells me where his “moderate” heart is.
Unions are an anachronism. The only area unions have gained members in the past 20 years has been in government (surprise! Dan). And for good reason. It’s the most inefficient, overloaded, wasteful entity in existence.
Dan if workers are mistreated – they can go elsewhere. Besides – whose jobs are they? Are the workers entitled to the jobs? No, they belong to the company. Get your head out of the sand or go to Russia and enjoy your union.
November 12th, 2009 at 5:05 pm
I agreed with both comments from Gary and Dan. However, I think that Dan probably never had a management position where he had to deal with the union. Union is a good concept when it was built but it never was and has been carried out correctly. Union has created an image in each of their member that they can protect them against anything from stealing money to other offenses. This will work against them at the end because what the Union Members do not know, behind closing door, their favorite Business Agent is negotiating for his/her own respect, not the Union Members’ respect. Again, this can be debated on and on, never said that Labor Union is a bd thing but most of its members do not understand the true meaning behind the Union they joined. It will be far from them to realize it but one day when thing turns around, minus political interest, they will see.
November 12th, 2009 at 5:05 pm
NEWSFLASH Dan; Obama was the most far left voting person in the US Senate. NUMBER ONE! Further to the left then the only admitted socialist in the Senate. Did you miss that? He only masqueraded as a moderate to get elected. Try to switch away from CNBC once in a while. (BTW: “radical right’? Are you talking about the ‘spend like a drunken sailor’, George Bush??)
November 12th, 2009 at 5:12 pm
Maybe it is me, but if a company does indeed use some of those practices their employees truly do need a union.
November 12th, 2009 at 5:13 pm
Socialism is a philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance, and the gospel of envy, its inherent virtue is the equal sharing of misery. – Winston Churchill
November 12th, 2009 at 5:18 pm
TVA is a perfect example of a perfect company. TVA is government owned. TVA has an employees’ union for all employees including professionals and managers. After a lifetime at TVA an engineer retires and gets paid $400 per month for life. Thanks to TVA employees union, retirees get automatic raises without even asking. This year, for example, no government employee retiree will get a raise. There was no inflation so who needs a raise if already socking in $4800 per year. Just look at the great lifestyle one has on a retirement pay of $400 per month. Imagine, that’s a tax free grand total of $4800 per year, no questions asked. Why, my union dues added up to more than that. This year my daughter graduated from school so she is no longer covered by my union obtain TVA medical coverage. Have no fear. TVA medical has offered to continue full medical coverage for my daughter at only $500 per month. Now that’s a great government deal. If she refuses to accept the offer, the government will provide free medical for her, free housing for five years, free meals for five years, and only charge her $250,000 to obtain freedom after the five years government incarceration. I guess since there are no jobs available for graduates this year, why not dig into my social security payments and pay the $500 per month for my daughter until she finds a job. Well, my wife needs medical too and the government wants to make sure the medical covers me too. Wanna know the total monthly bill for my wife, me, and daughter as bargained by the TVA union over many years of service to the federal government. Lucky for me that TVA employees also get to pay into the social security system which provides medicaid at on $100 per month, now that I been paying into the system for a lifetime.
Any questions? True, sorry, one does need at least a four year BSME (a $100,000 up front investment) to gain employment into the TVA to qualify to join the TVA union. Jusk ask TVA customers, TVA electricity only cost $0.10 per kwh as compared to $0.03/kwh in Washington state. Good bargain for customers of the federal government.
November 12th, 2009 at 5:47 pm
Dan, Like Leu said pull your head out of the sand and do some of your own investigation about Obama and his socialist stance. He backs the Unions because they backed him. You say fair pay, how about $37.80 per hour in Kansas City for a guy to push a broom. Thats what a laborer gets, That’s $78,624.00 a year. Most employers treat their employees fair. You talk about greedy employers, who is taking the risk, who looses their money if things don’t work out not the employee. I own a small business that employes 6-8 people thus supporting over 25 people if you count their families. My folks get a fair wage and in turn I expect a fair days worth of work. I pay on ability the unions pay on title. I am so tired of the you owe me attitude. I worked for every penny I have and then some.
November 12th, 2009 at 10:57 pm
For all of you who are listening to the national media, understand that it is all someone’s spin on someone else’s story. So choose your poison: CNBC or Fox or CNN or Comedy Central (much more credible by the way); we’re all going down the same path of social dependence on government.
Once upon a time, there was a good reason for the unions. That reason is long since gone. But the momentum has moved them into the modern day where there are pockets in this wonderful country that still support the concept that unions are necessary to equalize the abuses of the corporate world. And I’m sure there are still businesses that do not treat their employees well. I am a small business owner that realizes that if it weren’t for my employees, I wouldn’t be in business; so I pay for their insurance, pay them three times the minimum wage, and many more benefits without a union or a government telling me I have to. That’s the way it should be.
Thomas Jefferson said “The price of freedom is eternal vigilance.” That’s fine if our sources are credible, which they are not. Another quote from TJ: “I predict future happiness for Americans if they can prevent the government from wasting the labors of the people under the pretense of taking care of them.”
The government needs to support personal freedom by advocating personal responsibility; and then stay out of our personal affairs.
November 13th, 2009 at 8:20 am
Nearing my sixties, I can confirm what an older and wiser gentlemen told me years ago. Only the young can afford to be liberal. Take heart Dan L. and beware!
November 13th, 2009 at 8:35 am
Steve – and that is why Fox is eating the lunch of ABC-All Barack Channel, CBS – Clinton Broadcasting Service, NBC, CNN – Communist News Network, et al. That’s precisely why the newspapers are failing also.
A few points: You say there would be no need for unions if companies did the right thing. Well that is precisely why union membership is at its lowest point since the 1920′s (except in government). Companies ARE doing the right thing and unions aren’t needed any more. If unions were so good for workers, then why the need for the EFCA – people would be climbing all over each other to join.
Why does Toyota, Nissan, etc. sell more cars than GM, Chrysler with better quality. NO UNIONS! Over 30% of the price of a GM car goes to unioin benefits – that’s more than the price of steel in the car itself.
And Churchill was one of the greatest leaders of our time – we need more of his type today.
November 13th, 2009 at 8:54 am
Here’s anothe Churchill gem – Steve:
“History shows that the greater threat to prosperity is not too little government involvement, but too much.”
November 13th, 2009 at 11:28 am
Credible sources like CNBC Steve?
You can stop trying to spin the truth. We all know better. It is clear to any bright and rational person that the traditional media is guilty of omission, and that left-facing networks (like GE-owned NBC properties) are completely ‘owned’ by this administration.
There are many sources still willing to expose the elements this administration doesn’t want exposed. Fox is the only major source, hence the administration’s need to silence them. I wonder from your perspective whether you support Hugo Chavez’s ‘democratization’ of Venezuela’s airwaves by shutting down opposing voices? I wonder if you would have supported Bush & Cheney if they expressed similar interests in silencing opposing voices?
November 13th, 2009 at 12:44 pm
Lets not forget one of the key pillars that made this country great – Capitalism. It is built on supply and demand, flexibility and freedom, and choice of employment as well as choice of who to employ. Liberals tend to forget that business owners have rights as well. They also forget that business owners are the ones that generate jobs and feed families, and so what if some make a lot of money. I have never seen a poor person create jobs!. The problem with the union is it is one sided – all the power shifts to the unions and ties the hands of the employer to make the best decisions, keep the company profitable and growing, and keep people employed! Taft-Hartley did a great job at evening that out, and if you look at the statistics of employement/jobs right now the states that are consistetly doing the best are those who adopted it. So the big question is, what is best for society as a whole? I am sticking with facts that all point to freedom in the marketplace and not socialistic styles. I saw a comment above about unions being a part of all great societies. Feel free to move to Europe if you think they are great. I am staying here in the best Country that has ever existed and will continue to fight for freedom for ALL and not just some. To the hard core union people, if you don’t like how you are treated at a company go find another place of employment. That is the beauty of our society. If you want to make more money, either work harder or better yourself in an area where earning potential is higher.
November 13th, 2009 at 1:44 pm
DAN L, You have your head buried in the sand or stuck up somewhere else. Obama is a moderate alright – a moderate Marxist/socialist. You gotta be kidding….
I agree that every company has the union it deserves – good, bad, or indifferent. The labor movement arose out of the workers bing abused. However, I have worked in several union and non-union plants and non-union is definitely better FOR EVERYONE.
November 13th, 2009 at 2:59 pm
Dan L. I am a small business owner with 14 employees and their families that I work for. I have an MBA to be a better steward of my business and my employees. My employees have very good wages, better than those comprible to their counterparts in Atlanta, Seattle, Jacksonville, Fl. and they know this because I show them. Your stereotyping business owners and MBA is insulting yourself as you have not done your research. If you listen to Fox news, you should for once gain a fair perspective of what the truth is for the economy and small businesses. There are some who are manipulative, yet almost all small business would not be or will not be in business if they do not take care of employees through either pay, medical or other benefits. The employees are the front line to success. Unions once needed, are antiquated, obsolete, expensive and ultimately the members by paying for the uinon dues, have to pay the union leaders wages.
Good luck in watching Fox and learning what it takes to run a business.
November 13th, 2009 at 3:01 pm
Dan L. I am a small business owner with 14 employees and their families that I work for. I have an MBA to be a better steward of my business and my employees. My employees have very good wages, better than those compriable to their counterparts in Atlanta, Seattle, Jacksonville, Fl. and they know this because I show them. Your stereotyping business owners and MBA is insulting yourself as you have not done your research. If you listen to Fox news, you should for once gain a fair perspective of what the truth is for the economy and small businesses. There are some who are manipulative, yet almost all small business would not be or will not be in business if they do not take care of employees through either pay, medical or other benefits. The employees are the front line to success. Unions once needed, are antiquated, obsolete, expensive and ultimately the members by paying for the uinon dues, have to pay the union leaders wages.
Good luck in watching Fox and learning what it takes to run a business.
November 18th, 2009 at 8:19 am
I believe that companies should be fair with their employees and not be abusive. Isn’t that why we have labor laws, to protect people from abusive practices? One comment that I would especially like to make is that for all the good unions may provide, the violence aspect that occurs within union membership disturbs me the most. It almost seems like a form of terrorism if you don’t believe they way they do.
November 18th, 2009 at 9:28 am
Dan L is in HR? Would that be for a private employer or something else? I’ve lived through thirty years as an HR professional and dealt with unions half that time, kept them out the other other half. Had a great day when our people decertified the UAW.
If you (Dan) feels that companies treat their people like chattel–suggest strongly that you seek out more education in business and organizaitonal behavior. My God.
There are some bad ones out there but the market usually takes care of them buit no union can impact these renegades any way. Unions live off the risk and work of others and some live quite nicely.
November 18th, 2009 at 10:08 am
To Dan L. – I thank God everyday for Fox News. At least we have one news media who is willing to tell us the truth. Big Government is what this administration is all about. The march to socialism is alive and we must stop it. Unions are just an avenue for a few higher ups to make a “good” living.
If they cared so much about their members why is it when a member nears his retire time all of a sudden there is no work for this individual. Now they are inelible to receive their pension. The unions are more crooked then most employers, no one watches them.
November 18th, 2009 at 10:16 am
When unions were organized it appeared a good idea due to the abuse in the past. In these day we have so many other protections and laws, the unions have no value at all. We see them simply barking for power at the expense of the employees. They are no different than the empoyers of the past.
November 18th, 2009 at 10:48 am
Chris, your words would make a great billboard for union organizers: “if you don’t like how you are treated at a company go find another place of employment.” Yeah, that’s one way. Or you could do what grownups do when their self-respect is at stake: get together with your coworkers to even the playing field and then confront management with your concerns.
November 18th, 2009 at 1:15 pm
Unions at their early stage in last century did fulfill their roles. Time has changed now and the unions have become the next biggest bureaucracy to the government. They have been standing in the way to success in so many businesses and agencies. In private sector, like automobile industry and in public sector, like schools. Let’s take a look at a ‘teachers union’, you can hardly fire a bad teacher because of the union contract, the teachers get pay increase regardless of their performance, regardless of economic situation, and unions are asking for more and better…They really need to go somewhere else to organize their unions before they ruin the lives for all here.
November 18th, 2009 at 3:02 pm
All politics aside, unions have outlived their usefulness. Even as little as 40 years ago, employees might have needed unions for “protection” and as an advocate for their rights. But in the past twenty years there have been enough other laws set in place – ADA, EEOC, AA, FMLA – the alphabetic soup goes on and on – that unions have become archaic. If those government policies and programs are followed as they should be, there would be no need for unions.
I am HR at a company that has had 2 union drives in the past. Those drives were brought about by an operations manager who didn’t listen and did not respect the workers under him. The union drives were wake-up calls for Corporate, who replaced the manager & put in his place someone who rose up through the ranks – he listens, respects the workers, and is not afraid to get in there & get dirty alongside the rest of them because “he’s been there”. We have competitive wages & benefits with a sister plant who IS union, & we have much, much less trouble with our workforce. It’s obvious, watching their struggles, that the union protects the marginal worker. Every time something happens that someone doesn’t like, they go running to their union rep & whine. Here, we have an open-door policy & if there’s something someone doesn’t like, they feel free to come in and have a dialog with either our operations manager or myself. And we listen. And then act.
I realize our company is unusual . . . but there ARE companies out there that are not just looking at the bottom dollar and out to screw the employee. There are a lot of companies out there (ours included) who realize that our employees ARE our company. I think a great deal of it is just plain attitude. And if more companies had that attitude, then unions would become totally obsolete.
January 22nd, 2010 at 5:33 pm
Obviously most of you haven’t been involved with Unions nor have you worked with them.
I have worked with Unions and there are good and bad things about Unions. However, the same can be said about corporations/employers there are good and bad things about corporations.
Keep in mind, in the history of our country, the work place of today is what it is because union employees marched, paraded, negotiated for decent work rules, pay and benefits. Everyone of us,
no matter where we work, Union or Non-Union, are benefactors of these commitments.
It is easy to blame the unions for all of the problems in the automobile industry for example. But keep in mind it was management that designed the automobiles that were offered and the workers
put the automobilies together as they were designed by management.
Management and Labor contracts were jointly negotiated. The tragedy is that management should have stood up against excessive demands rather than give into them. In the Automobile Industry as an example, management agreed to contracts and then did not fund the liabilities as they were incurred. Manage left and the ultimate responsibility finally rested with successive management.
The Airlines, Railroads, Steel etc. etc. all are living with managements failure to be management.
While I personally am happy that I was not a union employee, I feel the pendeleum has moved too far to the right and we need to bring back checks and balances.
In my experience, companies that are well run do not have unions. Companies that have bad management have unions.