Let’s take a different approach to the union discussion. Real example from my work (I am chief negotiator of all our union locations, including other in other countries, so a bit biased here, I will admit.): An hourly employee in the US SteelWorkers union (USW) came in to the office and said “I am the best welder we have, you know that and everyone else does. I just had an offer for $1.00 more per hour, can you match it? I told him a Welder III made 21.54 per hour per the union scale and on July 01 next year he would get the same 3% raise as all other union members. I was not allowed to give him a raise, as it would be bargaining with him and I am not allowed to bargain with individuals of the union, only officially with the union. Another disgruntled employee could even file an Unfair Labor Practice (ULP) against us if the NLRB would take it. You see, if a Welder III makes 21.54 in the book then this 17 year employee makes the same as someone we hire in with experience tomorrow as a Welder III. My question: Is it fair no matter how many years with the company all union members with the same title make the same amount per hour? We (management) seriously could not add money to his pay to keep him. Now, the negotiations for another 3 year agreement happened this year and we negotiated a clause that the company could add up to $1.00 once per year to any employees pay we deemed worthy. Believe it or not there was a lot of debate even passing that. I can also tell you the same year this individual asked that in one of our union plants, we gave $3.00 per hour increases to 56 employees in our Garrett, IN plant that is non-union due to a market analysis we did after turnover was raising. With the help of local unemployment office we found that 3 plants had opened near us paying $2.00 to $2.85 more per hour than we averaged for similar positions. They were taking our talent and talent pool. It doesn’t always take a union for a company to do the right thing. (Although, admittedly, with benefit to the company, too, ie: retention of talent.) Thoughts?

Social responsibility has grown to become an effective way of doing business operations to a majority of companies over the past many years; whether it is through empowering the female gender, assisting the society and trying to reduce the poverty level. Many organizations are incorporating and embracing social responsibility in their general business strategy (Carroll & Shabana, 2010). However, it is also significant to acknowledge that some of these institutions are only embracing the social responsibility notion due to the expectations of the clients and since their stiff competitors embrace the act. This is however not a strong aspect of business operations as it will reach a certain level where the business will fail to capture the attention of their esteemed consumers. Being socially responsible assists an organization in enhancing its brand and image since the public view of an organization is essential to consumers and shareholder confidence in the business.

references

Carroll, A. B., & Shabana, K. M. (2010). The business case for corporate social responsibility: A review of concepts, research and practice. International journal of management reviews12(1), 85-105.

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