CASE ASSIGNMENT
A specialty clinic, with four unions representing 40 percent of the employees, has learned that the Teamsters Union has been contacted by an employee group to conduct a unionization campaign to represent some of the employees, including service workers, clerical workers, and all levels in the accounting department. The clinic’s labor-relations philosophy would be characterized as traditional and noncollaborative. It has decided to resist the union’s attempt to organize the employees.The four groups of employees who are currently represented by unions include: technical employees, registered nurses, pharmacists, and maintenance workers. Some 70 employees are represented by the current contracts. The registered nurses constitute 40 percent of the 70 union members. The group that has been proposed in the organizing attempt includes 45 employees, and the service workers (housekeeping, food service, and nursing assistants) constitute 75 percent of the proposed members.Management is concerned about the organizing campaign. Relationships with the current unions have not been very productive, and further unionization will lead to more distrust between management and employees. Management is concerned about the union’s ability to call strikes in the future, which may require the organization to severely limit services and could greatly affect its financial stability.Management must decide whether to mount a campaign to prevent the union from organizing. If it decides to mount a campaign, management must develop a strategy to present arguments to the employees for not having union representation.
Questions
What steps must the Teamsters Union follow to cause an election to occur?
During the union campaign, how should the managers conduct themselves to avoid being accused of committing unfair labor practices?
