What do you think

are they doing?

Who usually do this?
Why?
Employee Movements
- series of actions initiated by employee
groups tending toward an end or specific
goal.

Labor union- is a formal union of employees/

workers that deals with employers,
representing workers on their pursuit of
justice and fairness and in their fight for their
collective or common interests.
Employees/ workers unionize because of:
1. Financial needs- complaints regarding wages or
salaries and benefits given to them by the
management are the usual reasons why
employees join labor unions.
2. Unfair management practices- perceptions of
employees regarding unfair or biased
managerial actions are also reasons why they
join mass movements; eg. Favoritism related to
promotion and giving of training opportunities
and exemption from disciplinary action.
3. Social and leadership concerns- some
join unions for the satisfaction of their need
for affiliation with a group and for the
prestige associated with coworker’s
recognition of one’s leadership qualities.
Steps in union organizing
1.employee/union contact
- to explore unionization possibilities, employees
weigh the advantages and disadvantages of seeking
labor representation while the union officers gather
more data about the employee’s complaints, as
well as data about the employer’s management
styles, financial stability, policies, etc..
-these actions by employees and union officers are
necessary to build a case against the employer and
a defense for the employee’s decision to unionize.
2. Initial organizational meeting
- this is conducted to attract more supporters and select
potential leaders among the employees who can help
the union organizers.
3. Formation in-house organizing committee
- this starts with identification of employees who are
ready to act as leaders in campaigning for their goals,
in trying to get the interest of the other employees to
join their movement, and in convincing employees to
sign an authorization card.
- atleast 30 employees must sign the said card before
the National Labor RELATIONS Commission (NLRC)
approves the holding of a representation election.
4. If a sufficient number of employees support
the union movement, the organizer requests for
a representation election or certification
election
- a representation petition is filled with the
NLRC asking for the holding of a secret ballot
election to determine the employee’s desire for
unionization.
- before the election, leaders campaign for
employees’ support of the election and
encourage them to cast their votes. Intense
emotions are shown by employees, the labor
group and the employers during this period.
(NLRC)National Labor Relations
Commission
5. End of union organizing
- when the sufficient number of votes is
garnered, the NLRC certifies the union as the
legal bargaining representative of the
employees. Contract negotiations or
collective bargaining agreement(CBA)
negotiations follow the certification. The
CBA process involves the following
procedure:
a. Prepare for negotiations
- data to support bargaining proposals are
collected and arranged in an orderly manner
by both parties- the union and the employer’s
group. This is followed by the selection of the
members of their respective bargaining teams.
b. Develop strategies
-management proposals are developed and
limits of concession are determined, while
also considering the union’s goals and their
possible strike plans. The union, on the other
hand tries to develop better strategies to
convince the management group to accept its
proposal.
c. Conduct negotiations
- this consist of bargaining, analyzing
proposals, resolving issues related to the
proposals, and remembering to stay
within their respective bargaining zone.
If no agreement is reached at this point, a
deadlock may result.
d. Formalized agreement
- after the negotiation process, the union and
management groups have to formalize their
agreement. This agreement is a formal binding
document which lists down the terms , conditions
and rules under which employees and managers
agree to operate; clear language must be in the
contract, which has to be ratifies by the majority of
the employees. After ratification, all members of
the union and the management bargaining teams as
well as the president or chief executive officer of
the organization must sign the document, before its
dissemination to all parties concerned.
CBA activities, ideally must be continuous
process. Right after the formalization of the
agreement and its ratification and signing,
preparations for negotiations for the next
CBA must again, begin. This allow
negotiators to review weaknesses and
mistakes committed during the previous
negotiations while these are still fresh in
their minds.
Grievance Procedure
Is a formal procedure that authorizes the union to
represent its members in processing a grievance or
complaint.
Such grievance must be expressed orally or in writing
the employee’s immediate supervisor and the union
steward.
If the supervisor shows willingness to discuss the
complaint with the employee and the union steward,
the grievance may be resolved immediately. This is
possible especially if the supervisor has formal
training in handling grievances.
If not resolved within 10 working days, the
employee forward the grievance to the
department manager and the chief steward
for the union.
Again resolution of the grievance is possible at
this point if the department manager is willing to
discuss the matter with the employee and the
chief steward.
However, if remain unsolved, the net step is for
the employee to forward the complaint to the
vice president for labor relations and the local
union president after 15 work days. Resolution
of the matter is possible, but if nothing happens
within 30 work days, the employee may now
forward the complaint, with the aid of local
union president, to the NLRC of the Department
of Labor for arbitration.
The arbitrator is a neutral third party who
resolves the grievance by issuing a final
decision which both parties-the employee,
represented by the union president, and the
employer-have to follow.