Week Two Discussion Block 1

Reply to Jason

Jason Jonson posted Feb 10, 2022 2:05 PM

The success of unions improving working conditions, better wages, fewer working hours, quality of life for workers, and freedom of speech all have positively influenced workers’ decision to join a union. According to Carrell and Heavrin (2013), wages and benefits is the “bread and butter” of issues that many workers expect to be negotiated with their employer. Unions are more important today than they ever were. More workers are joining unions because they understand that they have more power in a union and can effect real change. A record number of workers are angry, fed up, want something better, and want labor leaders to act. And, when employees have seen the effectiveness of strikes then more strikes are likely to occur.

Albergotti, R. (2021), wrote about Cher Scarlett, an Apple employee who decided to speak out against Apple. Scarlett is leading a worker uprising at Apple. It started when Scarlett was brutally honest on her Twitter account, where she openly spoke about the working conditions at Apple. More than 500 employees at more than 500 Apple stores, have accused the company of tolerating racism, sexism, discrimination, retaliation, bullying, sexual and other forms of harassment (Albergotti, R. 2021). Apple employees do not want to accept the way things are and want to do something about it. Scarlett during an interview said that Apple does not care about its employees and only cares about money. With today’s more sophisticated technology, more workers are able to stand up for themselves and speak out publicly. Another example how Scarlett used technology was when she noticed a wage gap among Apple employees, she then launched her own wage survey. Apple’s human resources department put a stop to the company's wage survey, violating federal law that prohibits employers from barring their workers from discussing wages.

According to Carrell and Heavrin (2013), union issues are either “hard”- meaning economic gain (wages and benefits) and job security, or “soft”- meaning how employees are treated by management and coworkers ( Carell and Heavrin, 2013, p. 10). Most union members are primarily seeking to improve the hard issues. In Carrell and Heavrin (2013), union worker’s wages and salaries were $22.75 compared to non-union worker’s $19.04. A greater difference in benefits between union workers at $13.88 an hour and nonunion workers at $7.33 an hour (Carrell and Heavrin, 2013, p.10).

While labor strikes are becoming more and more common, employers and as well as employees are affected. Businesses suffer production and financial losses, and their reputation is negatively affected. Employees that belong to a union are obliged to strike when the union determines. This could result in job loss, medical insurance loss, and lost wages. Once the strike is over, feeling of hostility between the employer and employee can severely damage the relationship. Unions have always fought for workers’ rights and achieved milestones such as the 40-hour workweek, minimum wage, anti-discrimination laws, and other protections. Because of the negative effects of strikes on the economy, employers, and employees, strikes should be managed and avoided.

Jason

Albergotti, R. (2021). She pulled herself from addiction by learning to code. now she’s leading a worker uprising at apple.

Carrell, Michael R., & Heavrin, Christina (2013). Labor Relations and Collective Bargaining (10th ed.). Pearson.