CASE 4 and SLP 4
Assignment Overview
Labor Laws, Unionization, and the Workplace
A good place to start familiarizing yourself with legal issues involving unions in the workplace is by looking over the National Labor Relations Board website at:
National Labor Relations Board. The NLRB Process. Retrieved from https://www.nlrb.gov/resources/nlrb-process
You should familiarize yourself with the following laws and their amendments:
U.S. Department of Labor. (2017) Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act, As Amended. Retrieved from https://www.dol.gov/olms/regs/compliance/compllmrda.htm
HR Hero (2017). National Labor Relations Act (NLRA). Retrieved at http://topics.hrhero.com/national-labor-relations-act-nlra/
National Labor Relations Board. (n.d.) 1947 Taft-Hartley Substantive Provisions. Retrieved from https://www.nlrb.gov/who-we-are/our-history/1947-taft-hartley-substantive-provisions
Case Assignment
After you have reviewed the above laws, view the video and read the following articles concerning the labor unrest that occurred at Verizon.
Communication Workers of America (2016). What #VictoryAtVerizon Means to Us | 2016 Verizon Strike | CWA Video. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YwWKNLiiiFY
Dayen, D. (April 15, 2016). The Verizon Strike Signals a Larger Economic Battle. New Republic. https://newrepublic.com/article/132707/verizon-strike-signals-larger-economic-battle
Scheiber, N. (May 20, 2016). Verizon Strike to End as Both Sides Claim Victories on Key Points. New York Times. Retrieved from Trident Online Library.
Sherk, J. (April 13, 2016) Verizon Strike No Morality Play. The National Review. Retrieved from http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/434050/verizon-strike-landline-workers-go-strike
Smith, A. (April 15, 2016) Verizon Strike Not as Intimidating As It Appears. Retrieved at https://www.shrm.org/resourcesandtools/hr-topics/labor-relations/pages/verizon-strike-lower-numbers.aspx
Stangler, C. (April 15, 2016) 40,000 Verizon Workers Launch One of the Biggest Strikes of the Decade: Can the strike at Verizon help kickstart the American labor movement? The Nation. Retrieved at https://www.thenation.com/article/40000-verizon-workers-launch-one-of-the-biggest-strikes-of-the-decade/
Prepare a 4- to 5-page (not including title and references page) paper in which you address the following questions:
- What is the story behind the Verizon strike of 2016?
- How does the Verizon strike reflect the current state of unions in the United States?
- Do you agree that the Verizon Strike “signaled a Larger Economic Battle” or was it “No Morality Play”? Support your position.
- What can an HR manager learn from the experience of the Verizon strike of 2016?
Use at least 5 Trident Online Library sources plus any applicable background readings to support your discussion.
Upload your paper by the module due date.
Assignment Expectations
Your paper will be evaluated using the criteria as stated in the Case rubric. The following is a review of the rubric criteria:
- Assignment-Driven:Does the paper fully address all aspects of the assignment? Is the assignment addressed accurately and precisely using sound logic? Does the paper meet minimum length requirements?
- Critical Thinking: Does the paper demonstrate graduate-level analysis, in which information derived from multiple sources, expert opinions, and assumptions has been critically evaluated and synthesized in the formulation of a logical set of conclusions? Does the paper address the topic with sufficient depth of discussion and analysis?
- Business Writing: Is the essay logical, well organized, and well written? Are the grammar, spelling, and vocabulary appropriate for graduate-level work? Are section headings included? Are paraphrasing and synthesis of concepts the primary means of responding, or is justification/support instead conveyed through excessive use of direct quotations?
- Effective Use of Information: Does the submission demonstrate that the student has read, understood, and can apply the background materials for the module? If required, has the student demonstrated effective research, as evidenced by student’s use of relevant and quality (library?) sources? Do additional sources used provide strong support for conclusions drawn, and do they help in shaping the overall paper?
- Citing Sources: Does the student demonstrate understanding of APA Style of referencing by inclusion of proper citations (for paraphrased text and direct quotations) as appropriate? Have all sources (e.g., references used from the Background page, the assignment readings, and outside research) been included, and are these properly cited? Have all sources cited in the paper been included on the References page?
- Timeliness:Has the assignment been submitted to TLC (Trident’s learning management system) on or before the module’s due date?
Disputes in a unionized workplace
Before you start this assignment, be sure that you are familiar with the following:
National Labor Relations Board (n.d.) Rights We Protect. Retrieved from https://www.nlrb.gov/rights-we-protect
National Labor Relations Board (n.d.) Unfair Labor Practice Process Charts. Retrieved from https://www.nlrb.gov/resources/nlrb-process/unfair-labor-practice-process-chart
Sultan, M. (2012) Managing Grievance Process (slideshow). Retrieved from https://www.nlrb.gov/resources/nlrb-process/unfair-labor-practice-process-chart https://www.slideshare.net/mohdhanifah/grievance-procedure-13512386
Read the following scenario:
Jim and Ted are both hourly employees working as forklift drivers in a large grocery chain’s central California warehouse. Their workplace is unionized. They work in the same warehouse section under Bob, the second shift supervisor.
Jim has always found the job difficult, because the job was fast-paced, but repetitive and even though the forklifts, the machines, do the heavy lifting and moving, there were situations in which a driver had to deal with slightly misplaced palates or otherwise use ingenuity and “muscle” to keep things moving smoothly through the shift. Jim was small in stature and obviously not as physically strong as his co-workers. Ted made a point of never helping Jim with these adjustments, even though he helped other drivers when such situations arose. Jim was gay, and he thought Ted resented having him there – Ted never seemed to want to talk with Jim on breaks, for example.
Jim thought Ted was being a bad colleague, especially on those days when Jim could have really used Ted’s help. Jim mentioned to Bob, the supervisor, that he sure wished that Ted would be willing to help hin once in a while. After all, he would be willing to help Ted if he asked. Bob replied that he didn’t think that was going to happen.
It wasn’t only Ted who wouldn’t ever help Jim. All of the other forklift drivers seemed to look the other way when Jim found himself in a situation where there was “muscle” needed to keep things going.
Recently, the company implemented a new stacking protocol. Soon thereafter, Jim wasn’t meeting his production numbers on some days. He thought it was because he couldn’t get any help from his colleagues when needed and his supervisor, Bob, didn’t seem to care.
Bob, his supervisor, did carefully record Jim’s production numbers to highlight the shifts when he had underperformed. After a while, Jim started skipping breaks and shortening his lunch break on some days so he could spend a little more time on the forklift and try to meet his production for the shift. No one seemed to care or notice.
As Jim came to realize that he was going to get a bad performance evaluation if the situation continued, he asked Bob if he couldn’t order his co-workers to help him when situations arose where he needed help. Bob said he couldn’t give Jim any special treatment.
Jim grew more frustrated, especially by the lack of communication and what he considered to be the stubbornness of his co-workers in refusing to help him when he needed it. He reasoned that he had a family to feed, just as they did, and he had to do something about the unfair treatment he was receiving.
Jim told Bob that he was going to tell the union that he wanted to file a grievance, because he thought the way he was being treated was not right.
Bob told Jim that he’d never known a grievance to work out for the person who filed it, but Jim should do what he thought he needed to do.
Jim felt very upset about what he perceived as Bob’s indifference. He filed a formal grievance with the union about the situation.
Prepare a 2- to 3-page (not counting title and reference pages) paper that addresses the following questions:
What do you think will happen next? Why? Discuss the important steps that might take place to resolve this issue. If you were the HR manager in this warehouse, what would you do to get to the root of the issue? Why?
Use at least 2 Trident Online Library sources plus any applicable background readings to help strengthen your discussion.
SLP Assignment Expectations
Your paper will be evaluated using the criteria as stated in the SLP rubric. The following is a review of the rubric criteria:
- Assignment-Driven:Does the paper fully address all aspects of the assignment? Is the assignment addressed accurately and precisely using sound logic? Does the paper meet minimum length requirements?
- Critical Thinking: Does the paper demonstrate graduate-level analysis, in which information derived from multiple sources, expert opinions, and assumptions has been critically evaluated and synthesized in the formulation of a logical set of conclusions? Does the paper address the topic with sufficient depth of discussion and analysis?
- Business Writing: Is the essay logical, well organized, and well written? Are the grammar, spelling, and vocabulary appropriate for graduate-level work? Are section headings included? Are paraphrasing and synthesis of concepts the primary means of responding, or is justification/support instead conveyed through excessive use of direct quotations?
- Effective Use of Information: Does the submission demonstrate that the student has read, understood and can apply the background materials for the module? If required, has the student demonstrated effective research, as evidenced by student’s use of relevant and quality (library?) sources? Do additional sources used provide strong support for conclusions drawn, and do they help in shaping the overall paper?
- Citing Sources: Does the student demonstrate understanding of APA Style of referencing by inclusion of proper citations (for paraphrased text and direct quotations) as appropriate? Have all sources (e.g., references used from the Background page, the assignment readings, and outside research) been included, and are these properly cited? Have all sources cited in the paper been included on the References page?
- Timeliness: Has the assignment been submitted to TLC (Trident’s learning management system) on or before the module’s due date?
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Rating:
/5
Solution: CASE 4 and SLP 4