Dos and Donts Union

Managers are on the front lines in dealing with employee or labor-management matters. When a union enters the picture, labor relations specialists are hired to resolve grievances, negotiate a labor contract, and to advise top management on labor relations strategy.

A supervisor should: * Tell your employees that the union is pressuring your company to sign a union agreement without an election by the employees. If the company signs an agreement, all employees will have to pay union dues from their paychecks. * Tell employees that if the company signs an agreement with the Union (an outside organization), the Company will have to deal with it on all their daily problems involving wages, hours and other conditions of employment. Tell them that the Company would prefer to continue dealing with them directly on such matters. * Tell employees about the benefits they presently enjoy (avoid veiled promises or threats). * Tell employees some of the disadvantages of belonging to a union--such as the expense of initiation fees and monthly dues; membership rules restricting freedom; and their loss of the right to make their own decision on matters involving wages, hours and other working conditions. (Do not mention any reduction in employees' paychecks as a consequence of unionization without specifically attributing this to the expense of the union dues.) * Tell employees about any experience you may have had with unions, especially the union seeking to represent the employees. It is very important here to be entirely factual. * Tell employees anything you know about the Union or its officers. (Be sure your statements are truthful and relevant to the employees' selection or rejection of the union.) * Tell employees about any untrue or misleading statements by an organizer or in a handbill, or through any other medium of union propaganda. You may always give employees the correct facts. * Tell employees that merely signing a union