To Strike or Not To Strike

There is a significant impact on Human Resources as a result of Labour disputes and subsequent strike action on the part of the union. It is HR’s responsibility to be aware of labour unrest, satisfy their employee’s needs, and ultimately avoid unionization in their workplace. If the workplace is already unionized it is the responsibility of the HR professional to stay current on the collective agreements, negotiations, and understand what will best satisfy the organizations long term goals when dealing with labour dispute demands.

As I learned in Labour Relations class last semester, HR plays a pivotal role in understanding the organization’s strategies and knowing how to balance the economics and costing of negotiations with the demands of a new collective agreement. Strikes are very costly, to the organization with resulting lost productivity, possible lost market share and reputation through bad press. Another huge cost of strike action is the perception of the employees and union when negotiations fail, employees feel as though the organization is not committed to them or their needs. A loss of trust is a difficult thing to repair and may result in a wealth of issues surrounding employee engagement, productivity, and organizational commitment.

Ways in which HR can help to avoid negotiation breakdowns that result in strike action, are to understand the unions perspective, understand each other’s bottom lines, bring forward sound reasons behind why changes to the collective agreement must occur, and ultimately ensure that the organization negotiates in good faith.

• Labour Management Committees, and meetings; Having a Labour Management committee can help to resolve issues before negotiations and build the relationships necessary to facilitate productive negotiations.

• Remove communication barriers; Two-way communication between managers and employees and removing the hierarchal barriers that prevent open communication and idea sharing.

• Design Employee Oriented Company Culture; A culture that focuses on the health and safety of the employees, recognition of employeecontributions, and transparency in management decisions.

• Encourage Initiative

Don’t micromanage your employees, provide autonomy. Employees need more than a paycheck to remain satisfied at work