Labor Relations 12th Edition by John Fossum

Exercise 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.