Part 1: Problem Description and Analysis
Collective bargaining refers to the process of negotiation that takes place between an employer and a group of employees and seeks to resolve an issue of dispute between them. The employees in this collective bargaining process are often in worker’s unions and are represented by the union officials in this negotiation process (Johnson & Bilingsley, 2014). Some of the issues normally negotiated through a collective bargaining agreement include wages, working conditions, occupational safety, and layoffs among others. The resultant collective bargaining agreement binds both parties. The management of St. Anthony Medical Center in Minnesota can use the same strategy in resolving labor relations issues and ensuring the employees focus on service delivery because of the established favorable working environment
The collective bargaining process serves to advance improved working conditions for employees in healthcare in different ways. First, it gives the employees an opportunity to expresses their views concerning their working conditions (Satyadi, 2013). The expression enables the employer to identify genuine concerns in their employees’ demands and hence improve such conditions (Lindsey, King, McCausland, Jones, & Dunleavy 2013). At St. Antony Healthcare, healthcare workers may complain about long working hours, which hinders their productivity. The management will have to find ways of resolving the problem. Secondly, the collective bargaining agreement in a healthcare setting enables both the employer and the healthcare workers to agree on amicable solutions to their concerns (Fallon & McConnell, 2014). The agreed solution creates environmental ambiance since workers recognize that they are part of the solution.
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Collective bargaining processes can be used to establish organizational policies and practices. In most cases, the agreements resulting from the process binds both parties to observe the laid out terms. As such, they form the basis of developing practices that are in line with such agreements. Moreover, policies should be aligned with agreements resulting from the process of collective bargaining (Johnson & Bilingsley, 2014).
The major obstacles in collective bargaining agreements include cases where a section of the workers feel that their views were not adequately represented or may have been shortchanged. Such workers will often oppose the development of practice and policies resulting or even stall the entire process, which will make the workplace an avenue of labor disputes instead of focusing on service delivery. Secondly, such agreements are envisioned to last for a long time (Woodford & Woodford, 2015). However, business environments keep changing, and the organization may require changing its practices and policies in response to such changing environment. As such, collective bargaining becomes a challenge.
The National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) is important to St. Anthony Medical Center as it guides the management on ways of improving the workplace conditions in various ways. First, NLRA provisions define and prohibit unfair labor practices relating to employees safety, wages, and working hours among others (Woodford & Woodford, 2015). The prohibition is instrumental in the establishment of working conditions that prioritize the welfare of the employees. Moreover, the ability of collective bargain and the right to strike ensure that the employer provides good working conditions for the employees.
The Civil Rights Act that prohibits discrimination in the workplace equally plays a role in improving working conditions for employees. In essence, it gives all employees the right to be treated equally regardless of their gender or race. With the law in place, the management at St. Anthony Medical Center will strive to treat all employees equally irrespective of their unique differences. Eventually, employees will be able to focus on delivering their health care services and enhancing customer satisfaction (Johnson & Bilingsley, 2014).
Part 2: Recommendations: Action Plan
The following plan will help St. Antony Healthcare to reduce and eventually eliminate discriminatory practices within the healthcare setting.
Sexual Harassment
The management of the healthcare facility will establish an intersexual harassment policy with the unions such as the nurses via a collective bargaining process. The policy shall demonstrate the commitment of the entire organization to eliminate sexual harassment and the commitment of management to support the process. A policy agreed upon by workers will get their goodwill in execution (Lindsey, King, McCausland, Jones, & Dunleavy 2013).
The HR department together with the workers’ representatives will then develop a procedure for reporting sexual harassment. Moreover, the workers will nominate their sexual harassment champions who will be responsible for receiving all complaints regarding sexual harassments and reporting them. The strategy will involve workers and hence be effective (Fallon & McConnell, 2014).
Collaborative Working Arrangements
With the desire to establish a favorable working environment, the management of the will create teams among the employees in the various healthcare departments. They will execute their jobs in teams and be equally accountable within such teams (Schanake & Copeland, 2015). Secondly, there will be a clear line of communication between different teams and departments such as nursing department, information system departments, and the pharmacy departments among others. Moreover, the management will be able to address instances of job overload within a team and looking for ways to strike a balance.
Clear Communication
The management will allow employees to come up with clear channels of communication through with they will engage each other in their respective teams. Moreover, the management will set up channels of clear communications between teams such as emails, noticeboard memos, and letters among others. The well-structured flow of information from the management to all the healthcare workers within the facility will minimize conflicts and disagreements, which are recipes for industrial actions in workplaces (Moody, 2014).
Secure Working Environment
The employees will be involved in the development and implementation of security platforms. For instance, each team will have people who are responsible for ensuring mutual respect among the team members and that teams work without any intimidation. The employees will be provided with ways of securely reporting any actions that seem to be intimidating or discriminatory against any team members (Schanake & Copeland, 2015).
Part 3: External Stakeholder Analysis
The chosen plan will be reviewed and formulated in a way that takes appreciates the needs of other stakeholders including external union leaders, regulatory bodies, and communities that St. Antony Healthcare serves. First, the strategy on sexual harassment will be expanded to include structure for reporting to law enforcement officers in extreme cases such as rape (Fallon & McConnell, 2014). The facility must report any violation of law to the law enforcement officers. Therefore, the structure will include law enforcement authorities. Besides, the role of the police in creating a secure environment will also be outlined in the strategy.
Secondly, the collaboration strategy will also include a framework in which employees can cooperate with other external union officials when conducting collective bargaining or when they should be involved (Schanake & Copeland, 2015). Therefore, the channels of communication to external stakeholders will be well elaborate within this strategy.
References
Fallon, L.F & McConnell, C. R. (2014). Human resource management in healthcare: Principles and practices . Burlington, MA: Jones and Bartlett learning.
Johnson, J. E. & Bilingsley, M. (2014). Convergence: How nursing unions and Magnet are advancing nursing. Nursing Forum, 49 (4): 225-232.
Lindsey, A, King, E, McCausland, T, Jones, K, & Dunleavy, E. (2013). What we know and don’t: eradicating employment discrimination 50 years after the civil rights act. Industrial and Organizational Psychology. 6 (4): 391-413.
Moody, K. (2014). Competition and conflict: Union growth in the US hospital industry. Economic and Industrial Democracy, 35 (1): 5-25
Satyadi, C. (2013). Healthcare leadership with labor and union workforce. Clinical Leadership and Management Review, 27 (1): 24-27.
Schanake, M, & Copeland R. (2015). Harris Medical Center and Harris Memorial Hospital: Unfair labor practices or management rights? Journal of the International Academy for Case Studies. 21 (1): 66.
Woodford, K. C, & Woodford, T. J, (2015). Avoiding union organizing of micro-units following specialty healthcare: A management perspective. Labor Laws Journal, 66 (4): 197-214.
