YesterdayMay 21 at 8:23pm
Manage Discussion EntryHi Marcus, great discussion focus! I must also say that the current global economic crisis has had a great impact on the workforce. Most organizations have been hit hard by the current recession to the point that they have accelerated cost-cutting measures on the voluntary benefits of employees to remain profitable. Employee benefits have played a big role in the motivation of the employees. According to Youssef-Morgan and Stark (2020), the benefits offered to the employees on top of their wages and salaries help to keep them motivated. The compensation and benefits act as a critical factor in the attraction and retaining of the employees in an organization. Organizations that can implement the most attractive compensation and benefit packages will get hold of the top talent in their respective industries (Hyden, 2009). The labor unions have also been instrumental in bargaining for better compensation and benefits for their employees. However, given the prevailing economic environment, it has become necessary for the unions to make concessions during the negotiation process in order to help the organizations stay afloat.
One area where labor unions should be willing to make concessions is in the area of voluntary benefits. The modern labor unions have grown in strength to the point that they even negotiate for voluntary benefits (Chow, Huang, & Li, 2008). Given the competitive advantage that employee incentives bring to an organization, most companies have been willing to meet the demands of the labor unions. However, the current environment has been altered by the economic crisis that has been caused by recession. The current workplace environment has also been altered as a result of increased diversity. Organizations have to therefore offer a wide range of benefits that matches the increased diversity. The increased range of benefits therefore acts as a cost driver in the human resource department. McNicholas et al., 2021) shares that public sector jobs represented over 7.9 million workers were represented by a union in 2020, an increase of 100,000.
Though the increase was mostly among state government workers, there was a decline of 38,000 unionized local government education workers that was roughly offset by an increase in unionized local government workers employed outside of education. One of the main reasons for this is that the number of unionized state and local government workers increased by 91,000 in 2020 was due to the concerted effort by state and local government unions to increase membership in the wake of theJanus v. AFSCME Council 31decision that unions could no longer collect mandatory ‘fair share’ fees to cover the costs of collective bargaining. Employees, managers, and the unions have long recognized the need to change or otherwise risk closing some of its businesses and outsourcing to other companies. This reminds me of the latest union news with Amazon, where some workers in the Amazon Alabama warehouse complained that the company’s aggressive performance expectations leave them little time to take bathroom breaks. (Greene, 2021) stated that Amazon is fighting the biggest labor battle in its history. After the ballots of the workers are counted, the decision could be the first Amazon warehouse in the United States to unionize. A battle for higher wages and improved working conditions in Bessemer and beyond could stall Amazon’s growth, forcing the company to negotiate expansion plans with the union. It would probably increase costs and could even hurt efficiency. If Amazon workers unionize, it would mark a major milestone for worker representation, which has long been in decline. As we have witnessed over the last decade, workers rights have been diminished and this may be a chance to set the balance again.
References
Chow, I. H., Huang, J. & Li, S. (2008). Strategic HRM in China: Configuration and competitive advantage. Human Resources Management, 47(4), 687-706. (Business Source Complete Database AN: 35387127)
Greene, J. (2021, February 2). Amazon’s anti-union blitz stalks Alabama warehouse workers everywhere, even the bathroom.The Washington Post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2021/02/02/amazon-union-warehouse-workers/
Hyden, H. (2009). Seven ways to fuel the fire in employee performance. Supervision, 70(1). (Business Source Complete Database AN: 35819580)
McNicholas, C., Shierholz, H., & Poydock, M. (2021).Union workers had more job security during the pandemic, but unionization remains historically low.Retrieved fromhttps://files.epi.org/pdf/218638.pdf
YesterdayMay 21 at 12:23am
Manage Discussion Entry
What concessions should a union be willing to make for the overall good of its union members?
The global economic crisis has greatly impacted the workforce; I believe that concessions that the union be willing to make for the overall for of its union members is providing overtime working hours and adjust pay rate. Frustrated employees are documenting record quantities of illegitimate release suits and occupation segregation and unreasonable work practice grievance. In the working environment, employees are requesting to challenge work, and more remarkable employer stability(Hoerr, 1991). While managers should offer complete reward that are competitive with other employer’s compensation and advantages, businesses should utilize all remunerations to inspire workers to accomplish explicit results that the organization needs to see. There are numerous viewpoints on inspiration, and every viewpoint has suggestions for how reward frameworks should be planned and carried out (Youssef-Morgan & Stark, 2020).
Unions are not really an obstruction to seriousness; in reality, under the correct conditions, they can make a significant commitment to it. Much as organizations are attempting to characterize better approaches for dealing with another model of unionism is arising that puts unions at the actual focal point of organizations effort to improve their intensity(Hoerr, 1991). Unions must develop a vision in order for the members to be active and stay motivated. The purpose of working overtime hours is more productivity to accomplish the goal by the end of the day. The adjustment of pay rate, some people do not deserve to get paid in the same rate as others. For example, people with skills, knowledge and degree holders deserve to get a pay raise, better than hiring someone else to do the work and going under trainings.
References:
Hoerr, J. (1991, June). International Business.What Should Unions Do?
Youssef-Morgan, C. M., & Stark, E. (2020). Compensation an Incentives. InStrategic Human Resource Management.