How Managers Can Keep Unions on Their Side

I had a rule as a manager that I would never take union leadership by surprise. If anything, despite the traditional “management versus the union” conflict, I always believed they were an important part of my team.

For example, if I was ever thinking of initiating a new process or major idea, I would share the idea with them while it was still in the early stages. That way, I could hear whatever their objections were before it turned into an ego-driven pissing match.

This also gave me the opportunity to get them on my side. After all, they had a say in how the plan was developed, and they were able to take some ownership of the idea. I realized it was far better to have a union that would say to its members, “Yeah, this is a good idea,” than it was to fight them every step of the way. Because the plan would still look like what they also wanted, and there would be a lot of bruised egos and hurt feelings to get there.

For example, at Robroy, I decided to move away from the Texas Workers’ Comp plan, which is a big thing in any manufacturing business. I developed my own ERISA plan and got rid of all the nonsense in the regular workers’ comp system.

I always tried to keep the unions and union leadership on my side by never surprising them and making sure they agreed with my decisions.I introduced the concept to the union leadership and spelled out the benefits to the individual. I pointed out that they wouldn’t lose anything and would instead gain an awful lot. Happily, they went along with it and were very supportive of the idea when I introduced it.

Another benefit is that the union can point out any flaws in your plan and can add some value by discussing the matter. “Have you thought of this?” they’ll say. Or “What about this problem?”

And you can say, “I haven’t. Keep talking and let’s see how to fix it.”

Then, you can always incorporate their stuff before you launch it and you look like a genius because it’s still your idea.

But if you skip talking to the union and it costs you a few million dollars to do it, think of how expensive and maddening it will be when you have to unravel it because you didn’t think of something.

Make Sure You Bring the Receipts

One thing to keep in mind when working with the union is that you need to have evidence to back up whatever you’re proposing. And make sure that you have established a precedent with your plans through non-negotiables.

For example, if I was going to fire someone, I would bring the local leadership in and tell them what I was going to do and why. And because I could demonstrate the reasons why, I don’t believe they ever pushed back on me once when I did that. In just about every case, they agreed that the jackass was, in fact, a jackass and shouldn’t be there.

(The funny thing is the local unions normally know who the jackasses are. They won’t tell you, you have to find out on your own.)

For example, I had made sure everyone knew that safety was a non-negotiable. The first non-negotiable, in fact. If I had to fire someone for breaking a safety rule, everyone already knew that was a non-negotiable.

I had also installed cameras everywhere on the floor, so if there ever was a question, I could show video evidence that the person had actually violated our safety requirements. They agreed that it was not a good idea to have someone who couldn’t follow safety protocols in the building. So when I said we had to let someone go and could show them that they couldn’t follow this simple rule, they had to agree. They didn’t want to argue that safety wasn’t important, so they wouldn’t try to argue against me keeping an unsafe person.

In that way, you really didn’t have any disruption in the workforce, and you could work easily with the union and keep the operation running smoothly.

I’ve been a manufacturing executive, as well as a sales and marketing professional, for a few decades. Now I help companies turn around their own business, including pivoting within their industry. If you would like more information, please visit my website and connect with me on Twitter, Facebook, or LinkedIn.

Photo credit: Chevanon Photography (NegativeSpace.com, Creative Commons 0)



Author: David Marshall
I’ve been a manufacturing executive, as well as a sales and marketing professional, for a few decades. Now I help companies turn around their own business. If you would like more information, please visit my website and connect with me on Twitter or LinkedIn.