I am a middle-aged man advocating for employees at a manufacturing facility being backed into a corner to strike or give up all leverage to a successful company who has lied to, taken advantage of, and consistently under-appreciates its workforce. This company has, in the past 15 years: taken away pensions, then taken away annual bonus 401K deposits given in lieu of pensions, and basically forced its most profitable plant in the Americas to accept a contract that afforded no increase in pay for the past two years. It seeks to dominate its workforce and bully them into either going on strke or submitting to surrendering their leverage as a union facility, giving the company the ability to reduce jobs and pay in an effort to further advance their own agenda based solely on greed for their executives and top shareholders.
Worker Value
- Thread starter Deeznutz
- Start date
"Carrot & stick" come to mind. A labor strike is one obvious approach, as you mention. You've considered and rejected it because ... ?
Specialized high-tech workers may be more difficult to replace than low tech production workers. The low unemployment rate doesn't provide any labor negotiation leverage?
Thanks R #3.
The contract D #1 mentions seems like a labor contract. Whether production contracts are also involved, not sure.
I'm sincerely not trying to annoy D #1 here. But one "outside the box" possibility with a public company: ownership. Minority equity may help provide some leverage, at least provide a place at the table. A majority stake, should enable them play both sides, labor, AND management.
The question there, can labor buy enough shares to achieve that result. A bank may be able to provide some help.
Additional info. D?
What the facility manufactures?
And finally, any relief from outside resources? S.N.A.P. (formerly known as Food Stamps) comes to mind. Have you consulted with other perhaps larger unions? They may be able to offer strategy suggestions.
We are a union shop located in a state that has no "Right to Work" laws. Therefore, workers are required to join the union upon completion of their probationary period. We make carbon black, the black powdery substance that goes in rubber, plastic, paint, inks, makeup, etc.
The company has made it clear that they want us to train salaried people (company) in supervisory roles to do our jobs. At the other facilities, they offered large raises for the ability and those facilities took the bait. This effectively transferred any leverage those union facilities had to bargain, being the workers were the only ones able to run the plant. Subsequently, those particular plants had a management rights clause inserted into their contracts allowing the compant to hire, fire, promote, and RETIRE employees almost at will, regardless of seniority. It also allows the company to eliminate jobs and/or whole departments and replace union workers with non-union workers as it sees fit.
Our plant resisted and got force-fed a contract with no raises for three years, while inflation has been high each year. Granted, the majority of the workforce voted in favor of that contract, but it was that or strike. Now we are approaching another contract negotiation in about a year and the company seems poised to force us into the same scenario. I fear that we will have no choice but to strike this time. We are their most profitable plant in the Americas and top 3 or 4 in the world for this ungrateful, greedy corporation! We have offered compromises and attempted to work with this unappreciative company only to be met with a "their way or the highway" type of response.
The company has made it clear that they want us to train salaried people (company) in supervisory roles to do our jobs. At the other facilities, they offered large raises for the ability and those facilities took the bait. This effectively transferred any leverage those union facilities had to bargain, being the workers were the only ones able to run the plant. Subsequently, those particular plants had a management rights clause inserted into their contracts allowing the compant to hire, fire, promote, and RETIRE employees almost at will, regardless of seniority. It also allows the company to eliminate jobs and/or whole departments and replace union workers with non-union workers as it sees fit.
Our plant resisted and got force-fed a contract with no raises for three years, while inflation has been high each year. Granted, the majority of the workforce voted in favor of that contract, but it was that or strike. Now we are approaching another contract negotiation in about a year and the company seems poised to force us into the same scenario. I fear that we will have no choice but to strike this time. We are their most profitable plant in the Americas and top 3 or 4 in the world for this ungrateful, greedy corporation! We have offered compromises and attempted to work with this unappreciative company only to be met with a "their way or the highway" type of response.
D #5
D,
We only just cyber-met. But you seem to me to be a rational, sensible correspondent. Please pardon me if I'm projecting my own ill-informed view, but I have the impression it's rather hopeless, "take it or leave it", or as you phrase it "their way or the highway". I gather for now for you it's "take it". You may wish to review the practicality of "leave it", aka a career change.
Or perhaps a promotion to management? Probably seems like a Devil's pact at this point. A nepotism barrier?
Not clear to me: whether your primary interest in introducing this topic is for you alone, personal. Or whether you'd intended it as a broader topic for your entire labor union. Those are two different issues, with differing solutions.
I'm not suggesting you become a mason. But a decade ago I saw a TV segment where masons, brick layers were in such short supply a worker could apply, receive training at company expense, and go right from training into construction. For me part of the problem with that is travel. Some consider travel a plus. I cite masonry not as a solution, but as an example. If the unemployment stats are correct, there may be options you didn't know were there. I've read a successful fast food restaurant manager can earn $75K / year.
I'm not trying to trap you in a kitchen. I just checked this site: https://jobs.tacobell.com/
At that site looks like the opportunities are categorized by location. I don't mean to suggest your two options are Carbon, or burritos. But spending 15 minutes at Internet sites like that may help you get a feel for the broader labor market, give you a more realistic (updated) idea of what is reasonable.
Other probably useless thoughts:
- I wonder if the labor union has been co-opted by management. I've never worked a union shop. I don't know if it's easy, or even possible to fire your union leadership. But if there's any silver lining in this very dark cloud it may be that given enough time to restore pro-labor principles to the labor union you may be able to begin to turn it around. That's not a panacea.
- If there is a labor strike, is there a set of realistic goal, achievable goals that may be within realistic reach? Are you stuck with whatever your possibly crooked union says?
- Does the union have legal council? Either way that might be more a problem than solution. I'm wondering about the utility of, OUTside union or company control, whether the workers could get a lawyer trusted to honestly and competently represent labor in this matter, particularly in the upcoming contract negotiations.
D,
We only just cyber-met. But you seem to me to be a rational, sensible correspondent. Please pardon me if I'm projecting my own ill-informed view, but I have the impression it's rather hopeless, "take it or leave it", or as you phrase it "their way or the highway". I gather for now for you it's "take it". You may wish to review the practicality of "leave it", aka a career change.
Or perhaps a promotion to management? Probably seems like a Devil's pact at this point. A nepotism barrier?
Not clear to me: whether your primary interest in introducing this topic is for you alone, personal. Or whether you'd intended it as a broader topic for your entire labor union. Those are two different issues, with differing solutions.
I'm not suggesting you become a mason. But a decade ago I saw a TV segment where masons, brick layers were in such short supply a worker could apply, receive training at company expense, and go right from training into construction. For me part of the problem with that is travel. Some consider travel a plus. I cite masonry not as a solution, but as an example. If the unemployment stats are correct, there may be options you didn't know were there. I've read a successful fast food restaurant manager can earn $75K / year.
I'm not trying to trap you in a kitchen. I just checked this site: https://jobs.tacobell.com/
At that site looks like the opportunities are categorized by location. I don't mean to suggest your two options are Carbon, or burritos. But spending 15 minutes at Internet sites like that may help you get a feel for the broader labor market, give you a more realistic (updated) idea of what is reasonable.
Other probably useless thoughts:
- I wonder if the labor union has been co-opted by management. I've never worked a union shop. I don't know if it's easy, or even possible to fire your union leadership. But if there's any silver lining in this very dark cloud it may be that given enough time to restore pro-labor principles to the labor union you may be able to begin to turn it around. That's not a panacea.
- If there is a labor strike, is there a set of realistic goal, achievable goals that may be within realistic reach? Are you stuck with whatever your possibly crooked union says?
- Does the union have legal council? Either way that might be more a problem than solution. I'm wondering about the utility of, OUTside union or company control, whether the workers could get a lawyer trusted to honestly and competently represent labor in this matter, particularly in the upcoming contract negotiations.
The union, while not completely blameless for some of our difficulties, is certainly not the bsd guy in this case. The company has it really good and making record profits. I guess they think the fastest way to bleed each plant drier is to further squeeze the workers to do more during their time at the plant for the same money and/or contract their jobs out so the company can pay less and avoid benefits altogether. The company feeld it is less expensive to push overtime than to hire the appropriate amount of workers. That further hurts morale, because it takes us away from our family and friends even more. This company has no appreciation for work/life balance unless you are mid or upper management or executives.
There are a few of varying peril. None that involve giving in to the bullying corporation. I guess it mostly depends on how willing they may be to settle for compromises that will never achieve their ultimate agenda. We can and may work with them to compromise on items that explain WHY they want what they want, but that never give them or that won't lead to what they really want. That's what negotiated compromise is all about, yes? Neither side gets what they want, but instead settle where they both can accept....
Certainly yes. BUT !!
That does not necessarily mean that every negotiation is populated by two equally constructive parties, each resolutely committed to bargaining in good faith. Some negotiators are ruthless bastards.
I only know what you've told me. Based on that I think your employer needs a wake-up call. Whether that's a labor strike, or mass resignation, not for me to say. But it's a pop. psychology axiom: "What you accept, you teach."
The employer has learned they've not reached the limit of their cruelty or parsimony, for it has cost them little if anything, and may actually have improved THEIR $bottom $line, albeit at the expense of their labor force.
You seem like a totally decent guy D #9. But I sense your current perspective is you're expecting them to change. From what you've told me, I'm fully confident that's not going to happen, until (if ever) they are forced to.
"Hope isn't a strategy."
PS
There are books written about negotiating.
I once glanced through a book written by Cohen titled: You Can Negotiate Anything.
I didn't read enough of it to recommend it. BUT !! If you're serious enough about the issue to introduce the topic here, you may wish to get thee to the local public library and borrow a book on the topic.