Case Study: Lima, Union Free Way to Be

Lima Tire plant was faced with the challenges of rising cost of oil which affected raw material costs and extreme global competition. In 2000 the Lima plant invested $100 million in an expansion effort which consisted of technology upgrades and updated equipment. These modernization efforts increased capacity and the plant took on more work as a result of another plant closing in Greenville South Carolina. The Lima Tire plant moved to 24 hour production. They switched from smaller shifts to a reduced number of longer shifts thus decreasing the headcount. Ashley Wall was one who came from Treadway plant and her mission was to reduce the amount of turnover at Lima in her new Human Resource Management Position. Was the Union the problem or solution to the problem? (Skinner & Beckham, 2008).

The Problem

Most of the line foremen employed at Lima were manufacturing foreman with degrees. Successful managers were promoted but the backfill to Formen resulted in undereducated candidate pool so management wanted to overhaul the candidate pool by bringing in more qualified external candidates (Skinner & Beckham, 2008).

Formen for the Lima Tire plant had a very stressful job dealing with the frequent pull from different sides of upper management, often receiving verbal abuses and strict punishments for not meeting goals. Formen were also responsible for adhering and following unions policies and procedures. Formen negotiated work standards with union officials. They were in charge of calling upon the union stewards when grievances were filed but they were never kept informed of outcomes thus keeping them outside of the loop of communication. The disconnect here was that formans were held responsible for upholding the Union's rules but held no authority under the union rules. Formans held an unfortunate position with the company. They were disliked by hourly employees and some management so their isolation accounted for most of the dissatisfaction and turnover within the company (Skinner & Beckham, 2008).

Surveys were conducted about were the dissatisfaction stemmed from. Most employees felt that forman couldn't handle their staff nor could they work with unions. Formen were also thought to have negative attitudes and unproductive management styles. Formen were asked about their level of satisfaction and most found dissatisfaction in the amount of training they had for their positions, the other supervisors, the working conditions and advancement opportunities (Skinner & Beckham, 2008).

Resolution

The Lima Tire plant has an obvious issue of it's Formen communicating with and aligning efforts with the Union. There are two options that the plant should consider but only one offers the best solution. The first option is that Formen should learn to take control over the Union procedures. They don't necessarily have to know everything that happens in grievance meetings but they could take more prominent role in making decisions and disciplining employees. They should also make efforts to establish a better relationship with the Union stewards and employees (Skinner & Beckham, 2008).

The second option is for the Lima Tire Plant to remove the presence of the Unions altogether. Many companies have taken this approach because they felt they lacked the control they needed for their own business and employees. The TEAM approach is used to keep an organization free of Unions. TEAM stands for Training, Eduation, accessibility, and modernization (Hyman, Jackson, Krantz & 2009). Training is for management to learn how to address employees expressing interest in joining unions. Management should be trained on teaching employees the realistic affects that Unions have on organizations. The affects include the costs of Union fees, their propensity towards following rules over fairness and demolishment workplace flexibility (Hyman, Jackson, Krantz & 2009).

The education of employees involves the knowledge mentiones before but also the careful separation of the ideal that management is against unions but rather management's ability to solve issues without Unions. Accessibility involves getting employees involved in upper management's decision making. This freedom of idea expression should remove the want for someone to be on their side, such as a union. Modernization accounts for the ever changing perception and needs for Unions. In order to keep employees and management involved with each other, open lines of communication should be publicized and facts about Unions should be made apparent to every employee. The open-door policy should be kept around. This policy gives employees the facts about Unions and then they can make their own decision to join or not (Skinner & Beckham, 2008).

Conclusion

Unions were established during a time in history when employee rights were non-existent and workplaces lacked respect. In modern times there are rule and regulations established by the government that remove the need for Unions. There are other techniques available to management to solve common workplace dissatisfaction and turnover. In situations where employee rights are violated , there are certain legal options available.

References

Skinner, W. & Beckham, H.(2008). The Treadway Tire Company: Job Dissatisfaction and High

Turnover at the Lima Tire Plant. Harvard Business Publishing. June. PP(3-12).

Hyman, J., Jackson, C. & Krantz, P. (2009). Use TEAM Approach to Stay U nion - Free in a Union -Friendly

World. HR Specialist: Ohio Employment Law . Vol. 3 July. Issue 7. pp6.