Eastney
Cleaning Services Ltd is a medium-sized manufacturer of cleaning supplies to
the hotel and catering industry. From the modest beginnings in 1970 it has
grown rapidly, such that by 2009 over 350 workers were employed by the company,
broken down into the following groups.
|
Shop-floor
production workers
|
270
|
|
Technical
Staff
|
20
|
|
Administrative
and office staff
|
35
|
|
Supervisory
Staff
|
25
|
|
Managerial
Staff
|
15
|
Productions
workers work a basic forty-hour working week (8 a.m. – 5 p.m., with an hour’s
lunch break, Monday to Friday). They also get two ten-minute paid breaks each
day (in the morning and afternoon). Workers get twenty-nine days paid annual
leave, which includes bank holidays. There is no recognized trade union. If the
company needs to inform the workforce about anything, then this is done using
notice boards, or the message is communicated through the supervisors. Pay
rates are set by the company; production workers currently earn £7.50 per hour,
though there are occasional opportunities for overtime, which is paid at time
and a half. Because of more uncertain trading climate, largely the result of
greater competition from overseas, in September 2008 Eastney Cleaning Services
instituted a ‘pay freeze’; workers will not receive their next pay rise until
September 2010 at the earliest. The chief executive has recently had a meeting
with an official of the Cleaning and General Workers Union (CGWU). She was told
by the union official that over 120 of company’s production workers had
recently joined the CGWU because they thought that it could help them to win a
substantial pay rise. The union official told the chief executive that the
company could expect to receive a request for union recognition from the CGWU
soon. The chief executive is somewhat concerned about the potential for
disruption that a trade union presence would bring. When it started she was
proud of the company’s informal family-like atmosphere, where everybody knew
everyone else. Although Eastney Cleaning Services has grown successfully in the
face of vigorous overseas competition, in recent months productivity has been
lower than expected, people have complained about the pay freeze, and there
have been increasing instances of workers being disciplined for poor
performance. A formal trade union presence might only encourage further
problems of this kind.
Questions:
1.
What
are the main advantages and disadvantages for Eastney Cleaning Services of
recognizing a trade union for collective bargaining purposes?
2.
To
what extent would a decision to recognize a union reduce the power and
flexibility currently enjoyed by managers in Eastney Cleaning Services?
3.
If
Eastney Cleaning Services wanted to avoid recognizing the union, what changes
would you recommend to the way in which it currently manages its employees?
Would it need to bolster their organizational commitment, for example?
No comments