Bemis Inc. Case Study

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Recommended: Development of labor unions

As Dr. Hayden has mentioned, there have been fewer instances of unions being used within organizations. Though my current and past employer both had active unions representing the employees, I haven’t had any direct experience with collective bargaining or grievances. At Bemis Inc. the presence of the union was far greater than that of NSWC Crane. My Bemis supervisor did not support the union and had been negatively affected by it within the first year of hire. The many union members who went on strike caused a mass internal confliction of untrained individuals having to perform hazardous manufacturing positions. Steingold mentions employers are not permitted to dismiss or otherwise punish workers who support the unionization (332). Therefore, temporary workers to replace those on strike would have caused further grievance claims from the employees on strike. The combination of lacking personnel and training created unsafe working conditions. …show more content…

Even with the primary focus being on work practices, I always noticed that the president of union never actually worked and would socialize with a select few employees. I would occasionally talk to the employees he ignored, but they would prevent the discussion from covering the union policies. Little did I know, I was committing one of Steingold’s non permitted actions (332). However, with a slight ethical impediment, I believe the president would insinuate fractional forms of intimidation to at least maintain his reign of the union. Steingold states “they do not have the right to threaten or intimidate other workers to gain support for a union” (333). Would intimidation for self-sustainment within the union be the same as intimidation for gaining support? I believe the Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act indicates his intimidation as illegal. 29 U.S.C.

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