The Raleigh Sanitation Department: A Case Study

The lack of effective leadership and management were the main contributing factors to the work stoppage of the sanitation employees. The Raleigh Sanitation Department management failed to address legitimate concerns from employees regarding works hours and compensation leading to the work stoppages.

A chain of command appeared nonexistent in this department. There were no apparent implemented policies to prohibit work stoppages or strikes, no justifiable employee quality assurance processes to measure employee satisfaction, and no internal labor relations manager to settle employee complaints/grievances. Significantly, the employees concerns were voiced to the city manager and drastic measures were taken. The Director of the department should have addressed those concerns of the employees. Preventative measures such as utilization of employee satisfaction surveys for determination of staff moral could have been used to view the concerns of workers. Also, employee focus groups and town hall meetings would have allowed employees opportunity to verbalize frustrations prior to organizing work stoppages.

Within North Carolina’s public sector where unionizing and collective bargaining are both prohibited, clearly defined policies are essential to decrease gray areas that lead to disputes between management and employees. The NC General Statute 95-98 prohibits contracts between government and labor unions, trade unions, or labor organization concerning public employees therefore denying unionizing as well as denying those public sector workers collective bargaining rights. In this case, not only did the sanitation workers suffer from the lack of advocacy, but the organizational structure failed to support employe...

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...ction to be followed up with working solutions, future work stoppages could be prevented. The Director should also be measured through stake holder surveys as well as undergo supervision with the City Manager to ensure adequate performance.

The Raleigh Sanitation Employees wanted to be paid for their overtime. They settled for the possibility of comp time; however they were denied the opportunity to take it. If management would have done their job and developed a strategy that allowed each worker to be compensated for their work, the work stoppage would have been prevented. Also, if the sanitation employees felt respected and supported by management, trust between the two groups would have been stronger. Due to poor management and poor employee relations, the employees lost faith in their employer, but gained power through agreement amongst themselves.