Name of Publication: New York Times
Date of Publication: 02/10/2014
Article Title: Labor Battle at Kellogg Plant in Memphis Drags On
Article Author: Steven Greenhouse
Retrieved from: http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/11/business/kellogg-workers-in-4th-month-of-lockout-in-memphis.html
Brief Summary of Article Content:
This article is about the Kellogg’s cereal company and employees experiencing a management conflict. The company has locked out its employees and will not let them return to their jobs until their union agrees to the new contract. They even went as far as to cutting health insurance for all employees and their family members. The union and the employees do not agree with the new contract, and the employees have been picketing outside the company for months.
According to Kellogg’s, the plant in Memphis is a high-cost operation that has above-market wages that need to be controlled in order for the plant to stay competitive. Kellogg’s plan is to expand the number of temporary workers who work for lower wages with lower benefits. The company was known for being generous in the past, but with cereal sales dropping, they want to make some adjustments. Kellogg’s announced plans to reduce costs, and closed down their 90-year-old factory.
The employees are not happy about these new changes, even though the company says that they wouldn’t be affected. However, the employees think that because the company has new employees willing to do the same work at a cheaper price, their jobs might be in jeopardy. Their union believes that the lockout is illegal and will not give in. The plant workers do not want to agree to the new changes because they may not affect them, but they will affect the next generation’s opportunities.
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...s are against unions they will continue to help and support it’s members as long as the law allows them to.
Describe your reaction to the content of these articles.
I did not know that unions were decreasing and that there were laws that were passed to make it harder for them to help workers. I think that unions are needed in certain jobs. There are some companies that don’t have fair policies and like to take advantage of their workers. In those situations, unions are helpful because they can fight for your rights and help resolve the problem.
It amazes me how some people can be very greedy. The Kellogg’s Company makes so much money that the wages that they are paying their employees would not hurt them. I really don’t think Kellogg’s was fair to their employees. I hope that unions don’t disappear, because certain types of employment truly need their support.
This strike was a battle over several issues. One factor that escalated the strike intensity was the pensions battle. Billons of dollars in pensions were on the line. The Teamste...
The paper will discuss minicases on ‘The White-Collar Union Organizer’ and ‘The Frustrated Labor Historians’ by Arthur A. Sloane and Fred Witney (2010), to understand the issues unions undergo in the marketplace. There is no predetermined statistical number reported of union memberships in this country. However, “the United Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) excludes almost 2 million U.S wages and salary employees, over half of whom are employed in the public sector, who are represented at their workplaces by a union but are not union members. Not being required to join a union as a condition of continued employment, these employees have for a variety of reasons chosen not to do so. Nor do the BLS estimates include union members who are currently unemployed” (Sloane & Witney, 2010, p.5). Given this important information, the examination of these minicases will provide answers to the problems unions face in organizational settings.
As companies look to expand operations and hire new employees, many economic and environmental factors are taken into consideration. The cost of labor is one of the primary concerns as labor generally constitutes a large part of company budgets. The organization of labor by unions further increases this concern. The wages of unionized workers are significantly higher than the wages of nonunion workers in almost every industry (Fossum, 2012). Higher wages generally result in reduced company profits, lower share prices, and reduced shareholder returns (Fossum, 2012). Unionization also reduces the employer’s flexibility with regards to hiring, transferring, or promoting employees (Fossum, 2012). Productivity may be negatively impacted by unionization because merit is often eliminated as a criterion for wage increases or promotions (Fossum, 2012). As a result of these negative impacts, employers are motivated to oppose unionization.
The less the workers were paid, the more was put away into the pockets of the higher-ups. While Andrew Carnegie seemed passive in letting Mr. Frick take over the management, he initially was allowing problems to ensue because he was also looking for more money to enter his pockets. Unions stood in the way of this goal because their job is to protect the workers. The way management handled the flaring situation only fueled it because they were not scared of the consequences. The management knew they were negotiating terrible offers to the union. Their goal was to maximize output with little to no cost. In time, management was criticized for how they handled the situation. Management was requested to re-think everything that was going on by Mr. Carnegie. “"This is your chance to re-organize the whole affair," Carnegie wrote his manager.”Far too many men required by Amalgamated rules." Carnegie believed workers would agree to relinquish their union to hold on to their jobs. After the strike occurred it could be said that with management winning the battle not much changed within the company right away. The strike also pushed back a lot of progress the union had made while working with
I think that tragedy with Hormel was inevitable in this kind of situation because when the conflict exists and no one want to lose, there won’t be a happy ending for both sides. On the Hormel Company side, since it was a large company it has its power to control the workers’ wages for it long-term business activities (the video doesn’t state what its long-term goals even though they make millions during that year) which make sense because every business wants to increase its profits. On the Union side, the pay cut wasn’t acceptable since the company were making money and workers definitely have to fight for their rights. However, this situation was more on the Hormel Company because its power in that city and the economy at that time, hiring
Unions have always been a pain in employers’ sides. From today to the 1910s, workers have tried to unionize for better conditions in their jobs. Today, people try to opt out of being in unions, avoiding the union’s dues but still reaping the rewards. That’s a long way away from what people experienced in the 1910s. During that time period, people were struggling to even be apart of a union.
... and gone, thrived and waned, but have always worked for employees. Unions brought democracy to the workers by having their voices be heard and participation in company organization. Unions give employees a democratic workplace and legislation was passed to protect workers during a strike. As imported goods rose and companies fled the northern states to the South or overseas, the union has found itself waning as their wage demands never ceased and wages increased to the extent companies could not compete with oversea competition.
However, unions do take an active part in politics. Traditionally, unions have received more support from the NLRB during times during Democratic administrations. Fossum writes that Democrats in Congress are “more likely to promote legislation favored by labor unions and to appropriate funds for activities that unions support”. Union members, in general, tend to be more politically conservative than the union leaders, and between 20 to 40 percent of members believe that unions should not be overly involved in politics. However, there is evidence that the more political activity by unions in the public sector, the higher the salary levels and number of jobs available (Fossum,
Labor Unions have had an effect of American history as well as world-wide history from the time they became popular. Following WWII Americans were predominantly pro-labor, however, as time went on union’s credibility fell short of perfect. Union strikes proved to be bothersome to both the general public and company. Unions were also suppressing to employees through fraud and lack of worker rights (in earlier years, before Acts were passed). Although Union labor had its shortcomings, this type of labor is noted to be the most productive and economically beneficial. With both sides shown, I feel Unions will again thrive in the future with a few key adjustments made.
Sheasley, Chelsea B. "'Super-size' Strike: Why Fast-food Workers Walked out for Higher Wages." The Christian Science Monitor. The Christian Science Monitor, 29 Aug. 2013. Web. 17 Nov. 2013.
Labor unions were established as a way for workers’ needs and grievances to be heard by management. According to Fossum (2012), “forming a union creates a collective voice to influence change at work” (p. 7). The collective voice of workers in a union holds much more power than any single employee’s voice. It can loudly draw attention to mistreatment or abuse of workers. The organized collective voice of workers demands to be treated in a fair way by its management in terms of wages, hours, benefits, and working conditions.
Unions are voluntary associations joined by workers. The Combination Act of 1800, which hindered the growth of unions, states that every workman's goal, who are entering into any combination should not be obtaining an advance of wages, or to lessen or alter the hours, or influencing any other to quit his work. Any workman who did so shall be committed to jail (Doc 1). Although the Combination Act of 1800 prevented the growth of unions, Ralph Chaplin believes that a worker should join the union. He states that there can be no power greater anywhere beneath the sun, but the unions, which makes it strong (Doc 2). Since there's so many workers working in bad conditions, the labor laws came to action.
10-21- What are the basic arguments for and against extreme measures to fight unionization efforts?
Other changes that workers would embrace are pay increases and the addition of family-friendly work policies such as more free time, and on-site daycare. Since a number of large manufacturing and service firms are unionized, a motivation and goal for work reform, in this respect, would be for a company to integrate the union into its capital investment decisions to avoid the exploitation of workers at the expense of technology (Krahn, Lowe, Hughes, 2011 p. 266-267).... ... middle of paper ... ...
Lewie Anderson, the vice-president of UFCW, expresses early on in the documentary that Ray Rogers corporate campaign will not result in a win. He states that by continuing in the direction that they are going now Local P-9 will be “bigger losers than what they are right now” (Kopple et al.,1990) and that this will cost the workers their jobs. You can tell that Anderson is not the most professional, as he is foul-mouthed and is not afraid to express his often crude opinions. This being said, he views these negotiations as crises and notes that companies are not being respectful of workers. At the Local P-9’s move to the road, Anderson released more press condemning the union and accusing them of anti-unionism. He feels that the union is being militant, however, this might be just be a marker of the times because strikes were seen to be an act of defiance.Anderson makes this clear to Guyette, as he views the union to be selfish. He feels that there can’t be one meatpacking plant giving out wage way higher than the others, as this is unfair and promotes the “wrong kind of unionism” (Kopple et al., 1990). I am not sure that I would agree with Lewie Anderson’s assessment because I do feel that being a Local Union, P-9 is open to express their qualms about their particular employer. Although, I do understand that being defiant of their parent