So, can we please stop blaming unions for poor management decisions? A union is a group of working people coming together to achieve collectively what they cannot achieve individually in the workplace. They certainly have the right to terminate. Because it divides and gives management the ability to blame the union: 'Your union wouldn't let us dismiss the employee! Look, world! These unions are horrible!.”Įvery business out there has the right to manage. 'But why would a company do this?” you ask. The employee returns to the job and other employees are upset. In many of these cases the union could never think about taking the case to arbitration, because it would not have any defense based on contract language or law. I have witnessed cases when a company purposely ignores immediate termination language and has allowed employees in violation to return to work. But, it is much easier to place the blame on the union then to take responsibility for management's lackluster performance. I have witnessed cases in which management failed to manage effectively (and companies always have the right to manage). Labor laws require unions to defend all employees to the best of their ability or that union faces potential litigation. If you do not have a union contract you are considered an at-will employee and subject to dismissal for pretty much any reason under the sun. Just as you are entitled to your day in court when you are charged with a crime in the United States, so also are union members when they have been accused of wrongdoing in the workplace (hence the phrase, due process). The labor agreement lists offenses that call for immediate termination and lesser offense, giving a step-by-step process for discipline leading up to discharge. Simply put, in a union facility, the company still has a right to terminate an employee for just cause. At the end of the due legal process, an outside party - not the union - makes the ruling. The only power a union has to keep members and (in right-to-work states) non-dues paying individuals on the job when the employer wants to get rid of them is through due process, period. Whenever an employee with a questionable work record does something wrong, it's been the same story year after year: 'It's the union's fault bad employees were retained.” ![]() It's a never-ending theme from management teams who have failed to manage or lead.
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