A union can provide a stable workplace. Employees of a union generally enjoy greater job security in retrospect to non-union workers. They receive a lucrative compensation and fringe benefits. However, there is no such thing as job security with any contractor if it runs low on work (Cottongim, 2015). In a unionized workplace, it is essential that the labor union and human resource management work together to maintain a productive and engaged workforce. Many organizations make an effort of distinguishing between employee relations and labor relations. Several distinctions within labor relations require the attention of human resource practitioners.
Pros and Cons of HR in a Unionized Workplace
Although unions are more focused on labor relations whereas HR is focused on employee relations, there are some specific aspects where HR becomes useful to the unionized workplace.
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Pros
The pros of having an HR manager in a unionized workplace include arbitration. The handling and submission of disputes between employees and management to a collective agreement to a third party for resolving the dispute are handled by the HR. If the parties cannot resolve the dispute, then an interest dispute or a rights dispute is sought. The HR can deal with collective grievances at once instead of one by one.
The HR can act as a conciliator or mediator between the two parties if need be. The HR acts as a third party and aid in solving disputes between the two parties. The HR is also useful in instances of rights management. It begins with a review by a supervisor, employee and HR staff member trained to resolve employee relations issues (Mayhew, 2011). It protects management rights clauses in the collective agreement. HR also upholds labor legislation. Labor legislation entails the relationship between an employer, its employees, and a trade union. It shows the penalties where a party breaches its obligations or unfair labor practice. The HR generally mediates the collective agreement between the parties more so in layoffs, health and safety, wages, hours of work, and term of the agreement. HR trains line managers on which actions are legal and those that are not, for instance, moving an employee to a difficult job due to their union sentiments may be illegal.
Cons
The presence of labor unions in a workplace can change human resource procedures. HR generally develops policies for hiring, compensation, and benefits. In a unionized workplace, this becomes a problem because an employee will seek employment backed by a union even if the terms of employment are conflicting with the HR policies on hiring. HR frequently interacts directly with employees to resolve grievances. In a unionized workplace, the HR may become irrelevant in negotiating grievances since the union of employees’ deals directly with the management. HR may be unproductive if a union determines employee hiring. Recruitment methods generally decline with the increase in the degree of unionization (Barrows. 2017). There will be a likelihood that a multitude of employees are hired as unions discourage individuality (Vitanna, 2017).
Having HR in a unionized workplace may become ambiguous when dealing with wages, for instance, if employees of an organization from manufacturing belong to unions and request pay rise whereas their assistants do not belong to a union, there arises a conflict, which may need the intervention of management. When employees wish to pay their union dues through their paychecks, the HR is liable for making the payments and deductions correctly. In non-union workplaces, the HR governs payment of wages as per the terms of the agreement.
Impact on an organization’s strategic direction
In a non-union workplace, the employer makes all the rules and sets the wages. The management is in charge of decisions on discipline hours of work and promotions. Here, the worker has no voice. However, in unionized workplaces, the union bargains a contract with potential employers and determines employee wages. These and other benefits are covered in the collective agreement in the contract. (Representing BC and the theories, 2018). Leveraging HR in a unionized workplace is an advantage for an organization in the sense that it is far easier to mobilize large numbers of workers when they are organized (Feldman, 2018). The HR would become the intermediary between union employees and management.
The organization's strategic decisions going forward will depend on how effective the HR will be able to manage union employees. Alternatively, the organization may not want an HR system in a unionized workplace due to the conflicting ideas surrounding union employees and management. The human resource may not be able to deliver positive and may have little impact on values and commitment thereby failing to deliver better working conditions as compared to unions (Daemane, 2014). Leveraging HR in a unionized workplace assures workers representation and promotion of interests. It aids in policy making, co-determination, and profits sharing justifying union participation
Impact on employees
Leveraging HR in a unionized work environment may be advantageous for union employees. Through HR they can voice their grievances on work to the management, wage and salary terms are determined through collective bargaining (Long, 2013). The HR aims at employee involvement or participation in work organization to increase work productivity and quality. Application of HR in unions, therefore, affects workers attitudes and performance. However, there is little evidence to suggest that HR increases workers committed to their work (Daemane, 2014).
Nonetheless, employees prefer a consultative approach to influence the decisions on issues that affect them. HR in a union may be felt needed since the communication between managers and workers has not improved primarily because employee ideas from union circles are not implemented. The interactive collaboration between unions and HR might provide employees with even more career development opportunities (Pavlovic et al., 2018). Unions play a significant role in securing legislated labor roles and employees’ rights such as overtime, safety and health and medical/family leave. Unionized works are better informed compared to the rest, and are more likely to benefit programs such as workers compensation and unemployment insurance. Unions work to raise the wages of low-skilled employees compared to that of high skilled employees. Through this, they are able to boost wages for low and middle class workers. The aim of the unions is to standardize wages by bridging the gaps with the job positions.
Impact on HR system
The HR system will have to make some changes seeing as dealing with unionized employees is different from the general work objectives. There may be a need to train staff in the HR department. HR needs unions to cultivate a conducive environment for promoting human capacity building and sustainable productivity. It is important to note that HR is not anti-union and its themes do not necessarily coincide with unionism. There may arise conflicting interests as HR does not focus on collective bargaining as a union would wish. The collective bargaining entails mechanisms brought forth to reach a consensus between employers and union employees.
The presence of a union changes the human resource procedures within the organization. In the absence of the union, the HR manager negotiates on behalf of the employees, settles disputes within the workforce and interacts directly with the employees. With unionized employees, HR has to work together with the union to establish policies. Unions also affect management practices such as training, retaining, placement and recruitment, and have a significant effect ton promotion (Soylu & Singh, 2017). Unions formalize procedures through writing, in contrast to nonunion firms. For instance, there is much formalization in the seniority rule, which is unproductive for the management but gives unions much power. However, the effect of a union on HR is dependent on the relationship between the two parties.
Measuring proposal
The proposal will be a success if it covers all aspects partaking the problem of the study. In this case, the proposal covers the pros and cons of leveraging HR in a unionized workplace; it focuses on the impacts on the organization's strategic decisions, its influences on the employees and HR departments. A proposal cannot ideally be a hundred percent successful as it gives a hypothetical expectation of the interactions of the variables in the problem of study which are yet to be tested. The output is only as good as the input; therefore the information should be readily available to update the proposal.
Real organization application
Fuji Xerox as part of its global HR transformation integrates HR in covering union employees to reduce the dependency on recruitment agencies. The transformation entails expanding hiring channels beyond the traditional approaches. The integration of HR is said to be important in seeking management support which is critical for successful outcomes. The HR aids in data management through job structure, grade, employee types and headcounts (Donaldson, 2017). There should be a healthy working relationship between the HR and the labor union since this is vital in solving disputes. One of the best practices that an organization can apply is training supervisors how to solve disputes sand grievances at the frontline. The training should be skill-based, and both parties should be expected to address issues without necessarily putting them into the conflict process that often leads o delays. The frontline interface should be effective to enable both the management and the union solve disputes in less time and resources.
References
Barrows, T. S. (2017). What Do Unions Do to the Workplace? Union Effects on Management and HRM Policies. In What Do Unions Do? (pp. 283-320). Routledge.
Craig Donaldson (May 15, 2017) 3 keys to the successful HR transformation of Fuji Xerox Retrieved from https://www.insidehr.com.au/inside-hr-transformation-fuji-xerox/
Cottongim, C. (2015, January 12). UNION VERSUS NONUNION. Retrieved from https://www.concreteconstruction.net/business/management/union-versus-nonunion_o
Daemane, M. Moses (2014). Human resources management (HRM) and trade unions' compatibility:'soft-hard'model digestion for human capacity building and sustainable productivity at workplace. Journal of Emerging Trends in Economics and Management Sciences , 5 (7), 121-130.
Feldman, N. (2018, February 1). Knowing the Benefits of Both Union and Non-Union Employees | Plumber Magazine. Retrieved from https://www.plumbermag.com/how-to-articles/marketing_general_employees_sales/knowing_the_benefits_of_both_union_and_non_union_employees
Long, G. (2013, April 23). Differences between the union and nonunion compensation, 2001–2011. Retrieved from https://www.bls.gov/opub/mlr/2013/04/art2full.pdf
Mayhew, R. (2011, September 8). Difference Between a Unionized Vs. A Nonunionized Workforce. Retrieved from https://smallbusiness.chron.com/difference-between-unionized-vs-nonunionized-workforce-22350.html
Hernaus T. Pavlovic, D. & Klindzic M. (2018). Organizational career management practices: The role of the relationship between HRM and trade unions. Employee Relations .
Representing BC and the Territories. (2018). The Difference Between a Union and a non-Union Workplace | IAMAW Northwest District 250. Retrieved from http://iamdistrict250.ca/why-join-us/the-difference-between-a-union-and-a-non-union-workplace/
Soylu, A., & Singh, P. (2017). Union Effects in Employee Performance and HRM Policies. Ergonomics International Journal , 1 (1). doi: 10.23880/eoij-16000105
Vittana. (2017, May 10). 13 Advantages and Disadvantages of Labor Unions | Vittana.org. Retrieved from https://vittana.org/13-advantages-and-disadvantages-of-labor-unions
