Deck 13: Contract Administration

Question 1

Case: New Production Equipment: Greater Efficiency with Less Effort or a Speedup?
Carolyn Foster had just returned to her office from the weekly plant IR representatives' meeting. Her secretary had left a note to call George Lowrey, the superintendent of the forklift assembly operation. She called back and immediately recognized from the seriousness of George's tone that a major problem must be brewing in his area. They both agreed she would come right over.
After George had welcomed her into his office, he leaned forward and, putting his chin in his hands, said, "Carolyn, I feel like I'm sitting on a powder keg here. Last year we put in the new Simplex Process assembly line for our forklifts. It had a rated capacity of 35 units an hour. When we installed it, we started up at 28 units, which is the same as the old line, to shake it down and get the bugs out. The new line automates more of the assembly, so each worker has less of a physical demand than before. Well, last week we figured we had all the bugs ironed out, so we raised the speed to 35. We figure each worker has to put out about the same amount of effort as under the old system.
"This morning, Steve Bonneville, the shop steward, and three of my general supervisors came in, all arguing. Bonneville had a fistful of grievances and was yelling about a 'speedup.' Anyway, the upshot is that he wants the employees to be advanced one skill level to compensate for the additional effort and more difficult working conditions under Section 7.03 of the contract.
"Carolyn, we can't give them a penny more and remain competitive. Besides that, if they get a raise, the whole plant will paper us with classification grievances. Bonneville is running for union president because Matt Duff is retiring, and if he's successful with this grievance, he's a shoo-in. All we need is a long strike over some penny-ante issue and a bunch of hotheads like him running the show. What can you do to help me?"
Carolyn had been busy taking notes about the problem. She asked, "Do you have the grievances?" George nodded and handed them to her. Then she said, "I'll study the grievances, the contract, and the union situation and get back to you in time for us to plan a Step 3 response. I'll be back to you this afternoon."
DIRECTIONS
Draft a strategy for the company to follow. Consider the immediate problem and the possibilities of precedents being set by your action. List the advantages and disadvantages of your chosen strategy.

Answer 1

Case summary:
Mc. CF is the industrial relations representative in a manufacturing plant and had faced with a serious issue when the superintendent of forklift operations Mr. GL informed her that the new assembly line installed by the company last year is giving ineffective results and the amount of physical work that employees had to deliver in earlier operations has not decreased to any amount. And, this is making a great issue for the employees as they are not being paid a penny more for undertaking more physical work but their work has not been reduced to any proportion with the installation of the new assembly line. The shop steward Mr. SB was shouting at his employees for increasing the speed of production and increasing the number of units which could not be achieved very soon. SB is also trying get a position of union representatives after Mr. MD's retirement. Over this, CF took the grievances list from GL and promised to meet him at the afternoon.
Solution:
1. The strategy that the company has to follow in this is that there is an immediate need for the changes in the assembly line that produces forklifts so that the newer machines could provide large work with minimal employee physical work in making the work done. The advantage of this solution would be that the employees will feel concerned and valued when the management will focus upon reducing their work by introducing more advanced machines for increasing production.
2. The response that could be given to Mr. SB is that the management has given an answer to his major issues related to the slow speed of the forklift operations by introducing efficiently faster machines using which SB could increase the productivity in his work area and get recognition for the same. It is expected that SB will respond quite positively to this, and this way the dispute will result optimistically favoring both management and the union members.
3. The conditions that are necessary for the resolving of the grievances at Step 3 are that the management and the employees should be positive enough to take active part in the discussion and resolving of the dispute and redressal of their grievances at all levels. By doing this, both the parties could expect favorable situations providing relief to them from their issues.

Question 2

Should management be required to consult with the union about discipline before it is imposed rather than simply providing for grievance processing after its imposition?

Answer 2

Grievance is a concern or complaint elevated by an employee against the management stating that he or she has been treated unfairly in violation of the labor contract.
In the present business organizations unions plays a vital role in the business operations like maintaining the employee relations, protecting the employee rights etc. They act as the representatives of the employees and in some situations union plays a vital role which is mutually beneficial to the employees as well as the employers.
While considering the disciplinary actions the employers are supposed to consult with the unions so that the future issues can be avoided. By way of doing this the organizations can be considered as implementing the disciplinary actions in a systematic way. Hence, it is considered as an responsibility of the organization to inform the unions about the disciplinary actions rather than simply providing for grievance processing.

Question 3

Should unions be allowed to drop an employee's grievance if the employee desires arbitration?

Answer 3

A Grievance is a concern or complaint elevated by an employee against the management stating that he or she has been treated unfairly in violation of the labor contract.
In the present business organizations, unions plays a vital role in the business operations like maintaining the employee relations, protecting the employee rights, etc. They act as the representatives of the employees and in some situations union plays a vital role which is mutually beneficial to the employees as well as the employers.
One can say that unions should not be allowed to involve in the organization in employee issues, as they may influence the employees and mislead them for carrying out unethical acts, which may impact the organization and at the same time it will also impact the employees also. Hence,for the betterment of the organization and employee fate, the organization should have the effective process for employee grievance resolution.On the other end, If the employee requires on a resolution for the dispute outside the court then the unions should certainly consider it. The willingness of the employee is relevant for filing the employee grievance. Hence, the union should not be allowed to drop employee grievance without his or her desire.

Question 4

How does the grievance procedure make subtle changes in the meaning of the contract possible over time?

Question 5

What are the advantages and disadvantages of a program for reducing the number of written grievances?