Unions’ rise stems from disaffected employees
Acouple of high-profile stories hit the news recently that involved the employees of companies such as Starbucks and Amazon voting to unionize. Both companies advertise good pay, benefits and work environments. Recent events contradict that, and it is surprising since unionization in private sector companies has steadily declined for decades.
The National Labor Relations Act, or NLRA, guarantees employees’ right to join unions without fear of reprisal. The American Federation of Labor tracks union trends in the U.S. They report several reasons why private-sector employees are moving away from unions:
A Deregulation in typically unionized industries where competition and globalization have led to large-scale layoffs and economic insecurity. Employees didn’t want to rock an already shaky boat.
A Immigrant workers tend to shy away from protests and groups of any kind due to fear of deportation. Women with children, parttime employees, etc. feel difficulty in dedicating time to unions.
A The shift in the nature of work — many jobs moving to remote jobs on computers. These jobs were never a good target for unions.
An increase in the federal and state employment laws that focus on protecting employees against workplace discrimination, establishing health and safety mandates, providing basics in health care, mandated forms of leave with job protections reduced the need for unions.
The current generation comes from families with no union members. This resulted in the lack of knowledge and interest in unions among the next-generation employees.
The pandemic has led to opportunities for people to prefer cooperating with management rather than protesting against it.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the manufacturing industry has seen a huge drop. Since manufacturing had the highest number of unions, this shift led to a decrease in the overall number of members.
So why are these companies experiencing union activity? I’ve even seen local nonprofits dealing with union activity. If we look at reasons why workers do not unionize, it may give us a clue to why they would. According to the AFL-CIO, there are a number of reasons why employees decide not to join a union. Nonunion companies report good relations between employees and management.
Employees report management as treating them fairly and not taking advantage of them. There’s pride in their organization and the work performed. The performance evaluation process recognizes their efforts. Discipline is fair and consistent. Above all, supervisors are well trained, effective and have good relationships with employees. Supervisors don’t openly talk badly about their work.
The unions representing Starbucks and Amazon workers have made their goals clear — higher wages, longer breaks and elimination of mandatory overtime. Studies show pay is a symptom. Reports are coming out describing working with high pressure and no effective, organizational reporting system.
Many companies are seeing these events as a wake-up call to implement legal methods to avoid becoming unionized. There are many legal ways to prevent unionization:
Maintaining good employee relations and good communication involves the exchange of information and building personal rapport between management and employees.
Effective communication involves keeping employees informed about the current state of the organization, such as goals and objectives, business strategies, challenges the organization faces, new services and products, and upcoming changes in the workplace or in employee benefits.
Participation and recognition help employees feel that they have a stake in the organization, understanding its goals and objectives, and when they believe that their efforts directly contribute to the organization’s success.
Inclusion in training programs on all levels, when employees are well trained, supervisors understand the organization’s rules and employment laws are enforced fairly, consistently and uniformly.
Wages, benefits and conditions of employment are competitive. If you’re not, not only will you have a harder time attracting quality employees, but it may be a good reason to consider courting and joining a union.
How you handle employee complaints on working conditions. Health and safety programs must be followed. A workplace where problems are not handled effectively and complaints are allowed to fester, makes that workplace ripe for unionization.
If all your efforts to avoid union organizing fail, and a union gets enough authorization cards from employees to file a petition, you’ll still have some time before the election to conduct a campaign to defeat the union election. Be sure your campaign is pro-management, not anti-union. Remember that you cannot interfere with employees’ right to organize and join unions. The easiest way to avoid trouble during this challenging time is to close any gaps on what employees are seeking and how your company responds to their needs.