A Union Playing Dirty Assessment

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Slab Yard Slowdown

The author of this report has been asked to assess and react to the case study pertaining to the slab yard slowdown. Basically, there are a good amount of workers who are actively gaming the system to get incentive payments that they are not entitled to. They are gaining these extra payments by manipulating their torches so that they push through work quicker. However, this manipulation is causing the failure/flaw rate of the steel items being produced to go sky-high as compared to what it could be and should be. In no uncertain terms, the workers engaging in this ploy are stealing from the company because they are knowingly gaming the system to get more money at the expense of the company when it comes to the failed steel pieces. However, the employer was less than wise in how this problem was responded to and the company will probably pay a steep price for what it did even if their motives were legitimate.

Analysis

The Problem

Overall, the problem is that workers are being paid for shoddy work that far exceeds the output that is expected and a lot of that output is flawed in nature. The failure rate is certainly higher than it should be given accepted procedure. The reaction to this was for the workers to be fired on sight for having tips that were out of spec. The workers reacted to this with a wildcat slowdown so as to punish the company. While the workers were clearly stealing from the company and being actively insubordinate (even before the slowdown), the sudden change in the discipline procedure, even if it's not against the collective bargaining agreement on file, is a terrible idea. Indeed, the prior discipline was to suspend for two days. It started off that way in the first shift and then shifted to termination.

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The workers on the following shift were undaunted because they expected that it would just be a suspension. However, it turned out to be some more terminations. When they third shift got wise to this, they complied with the tip requirements but the aforementioned wildcat strike was done in clear retaliation for the move.

The Solution

There are two high-level problems that need to be corrected. The bad behavior and practices of the employees needs to be fixed but he same is true of the employer. As it relates to the employer, there was at least one, perhaps two, miscues. First, making such a pivot as it relates to the usual punishment for a certain infraction with no notice is something that one cannot due. Second of all, doing so in a union environment is begging for trouble and a nasty reaction from the union. Third, it should never be done period if there are any provisions in the collective bargaining agreement about due process, discipline structure or any specific mention of how this particular act will be responded to in terms of discipline. Two potential solutions to this is to give a thirty-day notice to the workers that anyone caught manipulating their tips after the 30 days will be fired on the spot for insubordination and stealing from the company. Another solution, and this could be blended with the first, is to revisit the incentive structure and see if it should be adjusted in favor of the employees. Given that some employees are already making $100,000 from the current structure, that probably wouldn't be necessary but it is worth looking at and talking about it with the employees. The disparity between the higher-earning employees and the other rank and file should be looked at as well. If the disparity in pay can be….....

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