Conflict Within Unionizing SGA Industries Research Paper

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Case Study: SGA Industries



1.

The impetus for the Amalgamated Clothing and textiles Workers union (ACTWU) to organize an effort to create worker protection at SGA industries was provoked via a variety of reasons. SGA industries had always been a workplace where they invested a lot of money to protect and elevate workers. SGA made a concerted organizational and financial effort to ensure that their employees and their families had a very high quality of life. However, with foreign competition becoming so aggravated in the mid-1980s, the entire hosiery industry was under siege, and the company didn’t have the luxury to invest so heavily in the happiness of their employees. As the case study clearly explained, “Growing foreign competition and imports had a negative impact on domestic hosiery manufacturers. Many manufacturers attempted to reverse the impact by intensive capital investments in new technology, by the reorganization and downsizing of plants, and by instituting programs to improve employee productivity and efficiency” (Harris, 1997).



As the case study explains their international sales were reduced by over 50%, going from $26 million to $10 million. This put the company in a mode where they had to look after their own survival first, and think about the needs of employees and their happiness and security, second. Such a massive profit loss as the type reported in this case study can be crushing to so many companies. From the company’s perspective, the fact that they had to “cut corners” meant that it was better than simply folding and closing down shop completely, laying everyone off. As the case study clearly states, “…the company was forced to lay off 1,500 employees, reduce pay scales, and rescind many of the perks that the workers had enjoyed under the Anderson family. Many of these changes drew worker protests and created a good deal of tension between workers and management” (Harris, 1997). Hence, from the management perspective, it looks like the leadership of the company is doing everything that it can in order to stay afloat, stay competitive and remain profitable—so that the company can exist at all. To the employees, it looks like their workplace satisfaction is being shredded and completely dissolved by the company. Employees have certain rights and expectations about how they should be treated, the benefits they should receive and what they will and will not tolerate.

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Management of SGA started to slash those expectations while creating a workplace that meant employee efforts weren’t being adequately valued and rewarded. When 1500 employees are suddenly laid off, it threatens the job security of everyone there in a decisive and lasting manner. Hence, it is only natural that the workers of this company decided to organize in order to protect their jobs, their livelihood and their families, so that they have baseline levels of job security. Furthermore, the fact that the wages within SGA were lower than wages within the manufacturing sector as a whole is something that workers would want to address through the collective power of a union.



2.

SGA's demonstrated a clear and concerted strategy during their management of the representation campaign. President White was the leader of the anti-union campaign and they had aligned themselves with help from an Atlanta law firm that specialized in anti-union campaigns. One major pillar of this strategy was the company sought partnerships and help from other influential entities within the community, as a means of promoting active discouragement of the union organizing and of people joining the union. As the case study clearly states, “The SGA strategy to defeat the union organizing effort included extensive meetings with community, business, and religious leaders in an attempt to influence workers’ views about the union. Viewing anti-union films was required for workers on company time. Letters sent to workers’ homes by President White and Philips emphasized the need for team spirit, not only to keep the union out, but to overcome the threat created by hosiery imports” (Harris, 1997). Granted, unions aren’t perfect entities, and the company leaders attempted to showcase the inherent imperfections of joining a union, and how unions can create inherent divisive tension between leadership and the staff (MSG, 2018).



For example, many experts have cited that unions can act as a monopoly, as an entity, which creates inflation, and as a presence that creates even more layoffs (MSG, 2018). This is a difficult argument to make, one which depends on intense persuasive tactics, particularly when the company has slashed the benefits of their employees, and laid off….....

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References

Harris, M. (1997). Human resource management: A practical approach. Fort Worth, Tex [u.a.: Dryden Press, Harcourt Brace College Publ. 

MSG. (2018). The Case Against Labor Unions. Retrieved from https://www.managementstudyguide.com/case-against-labor-unions.htm

Patton, C. (2013, September 23). Tug of war: How HR can prepare to negotiate with unions. Retrieved from https://www.universitybusiness.com/article/tug-war-how-hr-can-prepare-negotiate-unions

SHRM.org. (2012, May 1). Unfair Management Practices: What is an unfair labor practice by management? Retrieved from https://www.shrm.org/resourcesandtools/tools-and-samples/hr-qa/pages/managementunfairlaborpractice.aspx

SHRM.org. (2012, June 12). How can we prevent a union from organizing in our company? Retrieved from https://www.shrm.org/resourcesandtools/tools-and-samples/hr-qa/pages/preventunionorganization.aspx

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