First Tip For Maintaining A Union Free Status

When The Employee Free Choice Act is passed, union organizing activity will be in full swing.  Note: I said “when,” not “if” – this is a given for the next administration; you can quote me on this. If you are a Human Resource Manager for a company in the private sector, I hope you will be ready.  This week, I will help you prepare for it.  Here is my first tip:

As I told you before, money is not the main issue, but people want to have a pay differential based on performance.  I was the new HR Manager for a small manufacturing company that had a union campaign soon after I arrived.  After a lot of schmoozing on the floor, I found out that the number one gripe was that most of the assemblers felt that everyone pretty much received the same merit increases and they didn’t like that.  I designed a new Pay for Performance system that was widely accepted and we won the election.  Another time, when working in an aerospace company which had been unionized for a long time, the machinists who formed a quality team balked at a similar problem – pay based on seniority.  I thought that this was ironical since this practice is a main staple of union philosophy.

My main point is, your pay system should differentiate based on performance.  Performance expectations and measurements should be in place.  Line managers and supervisors must own up to their responsibility in managing this part of their job effectively.  Tip number one is: Pay for performance.

Stay tuned for my Second Tip For Maintaining A Union Free Status.

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