Sunday, November 09, 2008

Unions, Business, Democrats, Republicans and Obama

Obama was the beneficiary of strong support by unions. They are now gearing up to be the beneficiaries of passage of one of Obama’s campaign promises: The Employee Free Choice Act (Card Check Law).

Some quick research (Google) gives the mechanics of the law. Workers in a company would be unionized once they got a majority of votes on cards distributed by the organizing union. I gather the process is “Joe, check here for the union.” If Joe checks (or doesn’t check the card) his vote is immediately known. The election becomes a public, one-to-one process, ending only at the point of majority – there’s no cut-off date.

The union and the company then negotiate a contract. If there isn’t an agreement in 90 days, the parties mediate for thirty days. No agreement, and the dispute is decided by binding arbitration.

Details from the AFL-CIO point of view are here. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce viewpoint is found here. Neither viewpoint will solve any of the economic problems we face.

I’ve been an employee and an employer, though I’ve never been in a union.

A couple of anecdotes to illustrate my views:

In my twenties I worked for a large insurance company. It had all of the then current fringe benefits, health and disability insurance, liberal vacations, pension contribution matching, etc. I had gotten quick promotions while doing the same job. Why? The company had an elaborate employee manual. You got raises on a regular basis based on a lock-step system of titles. The only way around the lock-steps was to be promoted. So, since my superiors liked what I was doing, I got “promoted,” got more money and did the same thing.

There was no union, and at one point there was an organizational attempt. The union organizer promoted the union as the way to get what us workers “deserved.” I asked what we deserved above what we were getting and how I would get my “promotions” under an adversarial company/union system. He didn’t have much to say.

More recently, the law firm in which I was a partner, received a complaint based on not paying overtime as required by federal law. All staff were non-exempt employees under the Federal Labor Standards Act. The complaint was based on the staff member not being paid overtime two or three times over a year’s period of time. No mention was made of the fact that the firm didn’t worry about hour and a half lunches, coming in late or leaving early based on need, etc. as long as the work was getting done.

The firm went through the pay records, identified where we had underpaid and wrote a sizable check to settle the case. The firm then republished the work rules, when you had to be there, when you could leave, made clear that lunch was an hour, that personal time would be charged as such, all required by FSLA. The complaining staff member’s fellow staff members ostracized her. Their good thing had been screwed up.

I’m not a fan of “one size fits all” treatment of people. I’ve probably been lucky that I’ve never had a job that pitted me against an unyielding, monolithic, faceless management. Maybe my views would be different if I had.

But note that the insurance company and the law firm that I write about weren’t bad places to work. “Management” and the “workers” accommodated each other. The company and the firm made money and the owners and workers got a pretty fair share.

But, it seems to me that Obama and other Democrats are aligning themselves with unions that are making the same mistakes that the Republican party and American business have been making for some time now, ignoring the reality of a changing world economy.

The car companies are clamoring for a bailout to save themselves from their bad business practices, many related to the stupidity of their adversarial relationships with unions.

A few more trillion in bailouts won’t save an economy that isn’t sustainable. Union election rules that perpetuate an adversarial relationship between management and workers that hasn’t worked for the last thirty years won’t save us either. Governments have the false luxury of not having to pay as they go. Companies and workers have to have something to sell that people want at a price they will pay that results in a surplus – profit. If they don’t follow that model, they are living in a house of cards. Companies and workers are going the way of government, trying their best to return to the good old days when the house of cards looked sturdy.

I hope Obama follows through on his promise for change. Support of the Card Check Law and serial business bailouts isn’t the way to do it.

14 comments:

The Curmudgeon said...

The most powerful unions in the country today are public employee unions. This is crazy -- public employees also have civil service and the last remaining (if underfunded) pension plans in America.

Meanwhile, private enterprise has made itself fairly union-proof. I think unions can be a healthy check on the arrogance and presumption and greed of our major employers... but I'm with you on the card check issue. There has to be a better way to redress the imbalance between capital and labor than this.

Jeni said...

I grew up in a house where John L. Lewis was considered to be second only to The Almighty -or close to that -and as such, have always been pro-union. These days, I still am basically that but often I find my views about labor, management, unions, a bit tempered -probably because of some employment excursions of my own into the management side of things. This "card-check" thing -not sure I really understand the logic behind it -I always thought the anonymity that was supposed to be involved in union selection/election was a cherished thing and this -where mgmt and union know immediately whether an employee is voting pro or anti might not bode all that well with the employees down the road. What really is wrong with the labor laws we have -or had, anyway? If they are used in the manner they were intended, they may not be perfect -what is -but they were pretty stable. Labor should have, a long time ago, thought to consider a little of management's side in their negotiations. Greed does no good for labor if it shuts the management down because labor has over-priced itself. I know, I know -everyone likes to earn more, a decent wage, etc., me too -but it still has to come within budgetary constraints of management as well. The companies you worked with/for Dave -highly commendable, for sure, but all too many companies these days -just as they did 100 plus years ago when unions began to form, but before they developed any real power and clout, all too often regard employees as just another warm body, not a person. I don't like the idea of raises all being tied up in a contract and no merit then being considered as part of the deal. A financial reward alone, while very nice, also brings a better worker if the person has also been given that not just for showing up, but for doing an exemplary job too. Hand in hand ya know. It can be quite a conundrum though to determine whether unions are a good, bad or all too often, indifferent type of entity today.

Lifehiker said...

Lots of us are thinking alike on this issue. I agree with both "the curmedgeon" and "jeni", and I blogged today about the bailout being requested by the auto companies.

Nine years ago, while working a short time for a commericial ambulance company, I voted for a union because the company treated their employees like dirt. On the other hand, I think the auto unions have destroyed the U.S. auto industry with their wage demands and their featherbedding work rules.

The "card-check" law would bring back union strong-arming with a vengeance. No way, Obama!

Hedy said...

Hey Dave it's cool you wrote about this, I've been meaning to. This card-check thing is about as Anti-American as it gets. Why on earth would unions want to replace anonymous voting with check cards? Because it essentially eliminates the last barrier that exists, allowing them to pressure employees to vote in the union. The fact is, current labor laws unfairly favor unions as it is, and they STILL can't make any headway -- having been in a steady decline since the 80's. And don't even get me started on their long and colorful history of criminal activity. The fact is, if unions had much more to offer employees - better benefits, more fair wages - they'd have no trouble winning over employees. But current laws in place do plenty to protect employees and good businesses understand the need to hold on to good employees without the help of unions. The need for strong unions has long been over and so they resort to this kind of anti-American crap to stay in power. It will be very interesting to see how our new president handles this.

dr sardonicus said...

Card check has always been around. Currently, though, an employer can refuse to acknowledge the card check and demand that an election be held. Employees have no counterbalancing right. That tilts the conditions in favor of employers right there. All the current legislation would do is require employers to honor the results of the card check.

Elections sound nice and democratic, the American way and all that. But union recognition elections are not held on a level playing field. Employers have far more access to their employees than union organizers do. They can bombard employees with anti-union propaganda nearly any time and place they choose, while union reps' contact is limited to meetings. The union cannot ask management for a list of employees to contact until they can show that 30% want a union. Walmart used to have a company rep come in during new employees' orientation to warn the new hires of the dangers of forming a union. Such activities are commonplace. If anything, the bulk of the power to intimidate is with the employer, and most of it is legal.

More.

Anonymous said...

I'm just not getting this.

You don't want to live in a world where employers pay the employees the wages they've earned, an awful place where employees are expected to show up on time and take only an hour for lunch? And therefore you're anti-union?

If you don't have your own business, and you don't have a union, then you're counting on the employer giving you an honest wage out of the goodness of their hearts.

IMO, unions should be mandatory for any business over a certain size.

Hedy said...

Let's see if I have this straight:

The card check system is already in place. Under the open card check system, unions appear to have an advantage.

Yet when employees have the opportunity to vote the union in - anonymously and without fear of retaliation from their employer - they're CHOOSING NOT to unionize.

What does that tell you about who's using unfair pressure in this situation?

Furthermore:

"They can bombard employees with anti-union propaganda nearly any time and place they choose, while union reps' contact is limited to meetings."

Not true. Not even close to true. The NLRA currently favors the labor unions OVER the employer in this case - and if the employer or manager is ignorant of the law and attempts to sway employees from going union (or even TALKS about it in a one-on-one setting) the employer is breaking the law. By law, once a union organizing campaign is underway:
The union can call you at home. The company cannot.
The Union can visit you at your home and solicit your vote.
The company cannot.
The union can meet you on your way into your workplace and 'bombard you" with anti company propaganda and union promises.

Whether in a meeting, at your home, or on your way into the workplace, the union can promise you anything and everything. The company cannot.

The labor unions don't want too many people in on that little known fact because keeping employers ignorant of the law is one of their tactics.

"The union cannot ask management for a list of employees to contact until they can show that 30% want a union."

And this is unfair how? I don't know of any public or private organization that willfully hands over its entire employee contact list to outsiders, yet somehow labor unions are supposed to be exempt? If the labor unions are offering such a great deal, employees would WILLFULLY provide their contact information, correct?

And if the employer hands over its list, how do they know that the labor union isn't going to use intimidation tactics (and we've all heard of them), leaving the employer liable because they provided the list?

I'll say it again: If unions had much more to offer employees - better benefits, more fair wages, better working conditions - they'd have no trouble winning over employees. They're in decline for a reason. They're no longer needed.

Dave said...

Thomas first, then on to Doc and Hedy.

I've always worked in places where employees have leverage - their skills. The employers attracted them with good pay and benefits. Too little pay or lousy benefits and there were places down the road doing better.

Maybe that model won't work in an industrial setting where most people can do most jobs and are doing them in a shrinking economy.

I'm not anti-union as much as anti-adversarial relationships between business and labor. If there is a market for goods and services then there should be a way to pay for the capital, the material and the people who provide the goods and services and still leave money left over for profit. I suppose the idea breaks down when there isn't a price that will sell the goods or services and pay people a good wage.

If that is the case, should the company be in business?

As to Hedy and Doc, are unions a relic of the past? In some industries I think they clearly are. Others such as industry, service and retail, I'm not so sure; but, I am sure that those industries have structural problems that are causing them to be uncompetitive globally.

As to the card check thing, I do not at all like the idea of doing away with secret ballots.

A compromise - keep the card check mechanism; but, when you get to say 40% saying yes to a union, an election is scheduled in the near term. Campaigning limited in time and scope for both sides. Enforcement is strict as to violations. Both sides get their say and equal access to the voters. The better argument wins the battle.

As to hammering out the terms of a contract, I'm less sure of the right way to go. Mediation can be a good way to resolve disputes. Arbitration I've never liked. As an owner of a company, I'm not sure I'd want to place the viability of my company in the hands of an arbitrator whose decision I couldn't appeal.

Unknown said...

"I've always worked in places where employees have leverage - their skills. The employers attracted them with good pay and benefits. Too little pay or lousy benefits and there were places down the road doing better."

Egg-Zachary! Get skills or accept that you have ceeded control of your life to someone else. As an employer, I always looked for skilled people, treated them well and NEVER had a minimum wage employee. When I sold the business and became an employee, I didn't want collective bargaining because I knew that I was more skilled than my competitors and would continue to elevate my skills in the future. I prefer to set my own course.

Unknown said...

Possible Unintended Consequences of Card Check;

There is no time constraint so, new employees would be more likely to sign, while older employees sit back and watch. "Evil Capitalist Employer" gets the list of voters before they reach the minimum number. ECE is located in a Right To Work state where this campaign would be most effective. ECE then begins termination of the yes voters, but obviously for other reasons, whcih sends a chilling message to the ones who are waiting to see, as well as any new recruits. ECE also cans a few who voted "No" so as to appear impartial.

Card Check could actually force the employer to do the bad things the Union complains about.

Unknown said...

I am trying to think of industries that have not been destroyed by unions. I have come up with telecommunications and movies.

Can anyone help fill out this list?

We can then compare that to the series of HUGE industries ruined by the adversarial relationship fostered by unions and see if there is now a net benefit to our society.

I agree that they were dramatically needed back in the early days of the Industrial revolution, but most of the worker protections are now enshrined in Federal law (OSHA, FLSB, etc).

Unknown said...

thomaslb -
I took Dave's post to mean that he wants to live in a world where a whiner-baby doesn't file a complaint based on two or three events, while ignoring that they took probably took advantage of the other listed benefits on numerous occasions.

"IMO, unions should be mandatory for any business over a certain size."

Wow, just wow!

Dave said...

Dale,

You've got to write a blog so I can give you a hard time where you go wrong.

In, I think your third or fourth comment, you blame all of the problems on unions. Companies have blame coming too.

Unknown said...

I blamed the adversarial relationship of the unions and business. Business shares a role in not fighting harder when faced with unreasonable demands.