How to Avoid Unions

Employee meetings can build workplace morale and avoid union organization efforts.

Most workers who seek to organize into a union do so not simply out of a desire to improve wages and benefits, but out of a sense of frustration, a feeling that they have no voice in their workplace and that company managers mistreat them. Employers who want to keep their firms union-free should heed this and take proactive steps to listen to their employees' concerns. If management does not listen to its employees, a union organizer will.

Instructions

1. Schedule and conduct regular meetings with your employees, allowing time in each session for them to ask questions and air their concerns about workplace-related issues, including wages, benefits, worker safety and the overall work environment. Listen to what your employees say, making note of their concerns. Thank them for their participation in the meetings and remind them that their willingness to bring their concerns to management makes a better work environment for everyone concerned.

2. Respond to your employees' concerns in a timely fashion. For example, resolve problems or conditions that could negatively impact worker safety. If your employees raise issues for which you do not know the answer, investigate the matter and summarize your findings at the next employee meeting. Responding to your employees' concerns demonstrates your willingness to listen, reducing the chances they will seek union representation, according to the Society for Human Resource Management.

3. Maintain open lines of communication with your employees. If some of your workers seek to organize or join a union, explain your view as to why the company does not need one. Be sure to cite the policies, benefits and environment that make your firm a good place to work. Remind your employees that a union could require them to pay membership dues to keep the same compensation package.

4. Examine your company's policies and payroll practices, ensuring that they do not make you vulnerable to a union organizer. Revise any policies that do not treat employees fairly. Ensure that your company's wages and benefits are competitive with those of other companies in the area in a similar line of business. Wages that are lower than those of other firms could stoke resentment among employees and make them more likely to talk to a union.

Tips & Warnings

• The Society for Human Resource Management reminds employers that they cannot threaten retaliation against employees who talk to a union organizer or try to organize other employees. In addition, employers cannot spy on union activities or promise employees promotions or other benefits in exchange for opposing a union.

References

• Society for Human Resource Management: How can we prevent a union from organizing in our company?

Resources

• Dairy Herd Management: Avoid Labor Unionization