THE STATE OF LABOR RELATIONS PRACTICE AND ACHIEVING HEALTHY, PRODUCTIVE LABOR-MANAGEMENT RELATIONSHIPS
What companies with unions want are healthy, productive labor-management relationships that help them to achieve their organizational goals without disruptive conflict. My observations over the thirty years I have been doing this work are that most companies and unions are doing a poor job in the area of labor relations to create the kind of labor-management that I would call healthy, productive and with minimal conflict. This article looks at the state of labor-management relationships from the perspective of successful companies and the labor relations practices that help them get there.
The last three decades have seen what appears to be a longer term restructuring of how labor relations is practiced. Globalization has signficantly changed work force dynamics, increased low cost country competition, and reduced the market share of North America’s biggest industries. Industrial unions have lost significant numbers of members, and have recently seen division in the house of labor with the departure of some major unions from the AFL-CIO. Even the legislative and developing law has seen the emphasis shift from NLRB and traditional labor law to employment law. Though the change has evolved slowly, it has been so dramatic that practioners from the 70’s and early 80’s would shudder at what we consider good labor relations practice today for healthy and productive labor-management relationships in unionized companies.
What are the characteristics of successful labor-management relationships that are healthy and productive? First, they do not interrupt operations with work actions like slow downs or strikes. Second, they give employees meaningful voice in the work place. Third, they help align the goals of the company with the goals and actions of the employees and union. And fourth, they have the ability to deal with complex problems that require complex solutions.
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