ESSAY: Union bargining

This week’s lesson discussed both wage and non-wage issues of bargaining between unions and employers. Consider and comment on the following questions:

1. What are the advantages and disadvantages of an employer conceding to union demands concerning wages and benefits in terms of productivity, retention, satisfaction, etc.? Is this trade-off worth it in your opinion? Why or why not?

2. How do you think new and innovative workplace initiatives such as flex-time scheduling, telecommuting, and the ‘Results Only Work Environment (ROWE)’ model are affecting the nature of union-employer bargaining over things like schedules, compensation, and benefits?

ANSWER

It is not new that employers are at times at loggerheads with their employees. At times, such controversies go to an extent of reaching the labor courts as employees through their union officials try to advocate for what they believe to be rightfully theirs as well as organizations/ employers arguing against such moves by union officials. There are however many advantages and disadvantages that come with employers adhering to the demands of the union officials.

First and foremost, it motivates employees to work even harder when their demands are met.  Working hard implies that the productivity is increased. It also helps retain some of the employees who may be in possession of skills that an organization much desires. Adhering to wages and benefits as part of such demands also encourages employees to go an extra mile in undertaking their responsibilities. I believe this tradeoff is worth as it helps employers get the gains that such improvement terms come with. I believe it is a win –win situation that the two parties so much desire. It is however disadvantageous as it can create a wrong trend even among employees who may not be part of a union as they may opt to be defiant so as to be favored as well (Meyer & Fuchs, 2016).

How new and innovative workplace affect the nature of bargaining

In my opinion, the new innovative strategies such as Results Only Work Environment (ROWE) as well as telecommunicating can only make the employer-employee bargaining worse. This is because some results for which an employee has to be paid for may not be realized immediately which implies that an employee cannot claim to be given higher pay. Payment based on results may also disadvantage some employees who are not directly involved in the forefront workings of an organization. It would thus be impossible for such employees to be rewarded even for good wok that such background players may be undertaking. Strategies such as ROWE may also not be the best way to improve performance. On the contrary, it may encourage laziness and more controversies at the place of work.