Home Depot is an American retailer that started as a hardware store to provide simple houseware commodities. Still, it has, over time, diversified to include all sorts of home improvement materials. With over 400,000 employees in all its stores, home depot its presence in over seven countries commanding over 1200 outlets globally. The company has its headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia. The national labor relations act protects employees from their employers' hostility if they intend to form a labor union. There is no provision prohibiting employees from forming a union, but many private companies in the United States, including home depot and Walmart, do not have unionized employees. The purpose of this paper is to illustrate how the employees of home depot in Atlanta can join hands to form a union that will bargain for better wages, conditions, and pensions.
Need for a Union
The employment rate at home depot is always at a high, regardless of the season. However, the nature of employment fluctuates depending on the prevailing market conditions. There is barely enough job safety at home depot. The employees can be fired anytime since there is nobody to fight against unlawful dismissal. Human resource management has not taken time to evaluate employees, hence determining who needs a promotion or who requires further training (Mullenix, 2017). The company instead focuses on hiring more employees than retaining the existing ones.
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Consequently, the turnover rate is high, the pay is low, and the working conditions unbearable. The employees do not have a consistent schedule of endless work hours. Also, there is poor communication from management, which has made things more difficult for the employees. Furthermore, the threat of being fired for trying to form a union has made the employees put up with intolerable conditions.
The national labor relations act protects employees from being summarily dismissed on the grounds of belonging to a union or wanting to form one (Hatcher, 2017). Nonetheless, private companies with anti-union notions still fire the same employees for different reasons to hide the fact that they are being sacked for aligning themselves to labor unions.
Steps of Forming a Union
Getting Employees with Similar Interest
The workforce should agree about the union's need to form a union for the home depot employees. The working hour is barely flexible enough to allow part-time employees to take another job. Moreover, the company regards part-time workers as completely expendable hence, it does not make any attempts to alleviate their working standards (Legree et al., 2017). The idea for getting employees with similar problems is because the union needs support at its early stages. Therefore, getting many employees to gang together for the common cause of getting better pay and working conditions is a prerequisite by the labor regulations (Hatcher, 2017). Moreover, the employees need to be harmonized about union formation since it is expected that the company will put a lot of resistance and opposition. Having a large group will ensure that union formation has a larger chance of success.
Having a Union Organizer for Strategy Formation
It is imperative to ensure that the union has an adviser who is experienced in employee relations. Such a party will enable the union committee to formulate proper strategies to ensure the maximum benefits for the union members. The purpose of forming a union is to improve the lives of workers (Mullenix, 2017). An experienced labor officer will help the employees determine which demands are more likely to be met with lesser opposition and take more effort. The labor officer who is the adviser to the union will also act as the overseer of the activities leading to the union's formation. The officer will enable the members to determine when necessary to take a mass industrial action and when it is not appropriate to strike.
Soliciting for Support
The proposed union cannot work unless the worker supports the move to form the union. Since there is a possibility that the management will oppose the move, it is vital to ensure that all workers are on the same page as much as standing in solidarity is concerned. The concept of support is to ensure that the voting process will succeed as planned. This process includes finding answers to many questions that the co-workers may have (Mullenix, 2017). It is imperative to ensure that the employees willing to join the union do not doubt the union's possibility of dealing with their problems. Home depot has not strived to offer the best conditions for its workers. Assuring the workers that the requirements will change if the workers join the union is essential.
Preparing for Elections
The labor union has to verify the approved employees' numbers that are registered with the employment agency. The national labor relations board monitors the elections and the results vetted. A union's elections are mandatory in the united states and an expectation by law (Trivedi, 2018). After the elections, the newly formed union should negotiate the contract on behalf of the union members. The idea is not just to negotiate an agreement but also to win an intense negotiation. The home depot employees need to have work conditions improved, understaffing checked, and pay raise. Negotiating such a proposition will build the workers' confidence in their union while also ensuring that the employers maintain the best conditions for work.
Timeline and Rationale
The formation of the union has to be carried out in the proper timeline. The union formation's execution should coincide with when the employees renegotiate their employment contracts with their employers (Hatcher, 2017). Such a time is prime because the employees are willing to take what the employers are giving them. It is crucial to forming a union at such a time because the employees are desperate and uncertain as to the employment at home depot is mostly contractual (Legree et al., 2017). The timing will enable the employees to have an improved bargaining agreement on their contract. Employers are usually unwilling to give in to employees' demands when renewing the contracts. Therefore, the labor union will enable the employees to get better working conditions.
Managerial Objections
The management of the home depot has a history of being anti-union at all means. The management of the company has a strict policy on forming unions. Although home depot does not necessarily fire employees to form a union, there are excuses for firing the outspoken employees who are championing better working conditions. The company is committed to trimming employees' numbers to reduce the number of benefits owed to them. The idea of giving workers vacations that are paid is an additional cost that the company is unwilling to incur (Trivedi, 2018).
Moreover, the company is unwilling to increase the minimum wages for non-permanent employees. The company intends to offer salaries below the prevailing market rate. A union's involvement will push the company into giving the employees more benefits and better wages, a thing they are not prepared to give.
The obvious objection may occur in the form of delay tactics by the company to slow union formation. Employees' bargaining power in a union is significantly increased; hence, home depot must resist its employees' unionization. The other management opposition could arise from the responsibilities that employees owe to the union. Such obligations are a source of conflict of interest (Trivedi, 2018). The employer may be unwilling to let the employees perform their duties owed to the union. However, such a course of action could lead to membership termination; hence it is a complicated gamble for the employee. The biggest concern for the home depot in Georgia is that if the union formation goes on as planned, the other employees in its international outlets will form similar unions, resulting in holding the company hostage. For instance, if all the 400,000 employees were to issue an industrial action notice and take it, the company's activities would be paralyzed, leading to a complete standstill (Mullenix, 2017). On such grounds, it is understandable why the company has been reluctant to allow its employees to be part of a union.
Defense to Management Opposition
It is clear that if home depot human resource management could do its job well by ensuring that the employee's rights are protected, there would be no need for a union. Concurrently, it is also true that if the company maintained open communication and conducted performance evaluations and appraisals, it would be easy to identify the employees who deserve promotion and those in need of further training Zubiashvili & Veshapidze , 2019). However, the company has been ignorant of the problems afflicting its workforce, making it imperative to form a union. The company has also failed to indicate any goodwill in negotiating wage increment for its workers ( Mullenix, 2017). Instead of raising the wages, the company has made a habit of dismissing employees and hiring new ones who will not raise any objections. To this effect, it is necessary to have a body to protect employees from unfair dismissal.
Conclusion
Employees at Home Depot need to join hands to form a union that will uphold their rights as workers and dignity as human beings. The union will also act as the check mechanism for the company to ensure it delivers its mandate to Georgia's people. Moreover, the union will ensure that the employees perform their duties as directed by the employment contract provisions without fail.
References
Hatcher, N. W. (2017). Retention strategies of labor union membership.
Legree, S., Schirle, T., & Skuterud, M. (2017). The Effect of Labor Relations Laws on Unionization Rates within the Labor Force: Evidence from the Canadian Provinces. Industrial Relations: A Journal of Economy and Society , 56 (4), 605-639.
Mullenix, L. S. (2017). Class Action Waivers in Employment Contracts: The Clash between the National Labor Relations Act and the Federal Arbitration Act.
Trivedi, R. (2018). What to Do When Reinstatement Falls Short of the Ideal: Considering Front Pay as an Alternative Legal Remedy under the National Labor Relations Act. Emp. Rts. & Emp. Pol'y J. , 22 , 59.
Zubiashvili, T., & Veshapidze, S. (2019). Labour Emigration and Employment in Georgia. Humanities and Social Sciences Review , 9 (01), 127-136.
