Essay on Managing Public Sector Unions: Balancing Politics & Objectives

There are challenges that come up when managing public sector unions, especially when there is a change in leadership. DiSalvo argues that public organizations are the ones that face challenges when compared to privately-owned companies. The challenge of running public institutions is mixing politics with the affairs and running of the institutions (DiSalvo, 2018). In most instances, the organizations are run by unions whose interests are different from the objective of the organization. The main challenge of running public organizations in the selfish interests of the people that are tasked with the responsibility of running the institutions.

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There are many instances where elected leaders use their positions in a manner that does not promote the wellbeing of the people. The differences create conflicts where successors with different ideologies change the policies of their previous leaders because they have different thoughts on how issues need to be handled (DiSalvo, 2018). Leaders that manage the government institutions need to ensure that the objective of the organizations that they lead is achieved, and they work towards achieving the goal. The challenge of handling government institutions is that they have a political connection; hence there are challenges in making them accountable for their actions.

I agree with Daniel DiSalvo's position regarding the management of government institutions and handling labor relations where politics get introduced in labor unions. Different government institutions need to be independent in their affairs to prevent the conflict of interest (DiSalvo, 2018). When politics are involved in the affairs of labor unions, then the interest of employees represented by the labor unions will not be prioritized. The politicians only have their personal interests and are likely to involve politics in the running of the labor movements. In most instances, there are conflicts of interest between the government and the labor unions, where the politicians want to control the labor unions for their benefits.

The unions also need to factor the environment and conditions that the government is when negotiating to solve labor conflicts that the employees want the government to meet (Katz, Kochan, & Colvin, 2015). There are times when the government does not have the resources to pay the employees the pay rise that the employees demand. The labor unions should make their employees understand when the conditions are not favorable. Some demands by the employees through their labor unions are not reasonable because they are not sustainable; the labor relations should be accountable and consider the interests of the country as well before taking any stand.

When labor unions are allowed to be independent, they act as the devil's advocate when making decisions that affect employees (Katz, Kochan, & Colvin, 2015). The labor unions represent the wishes of the employees when laws are being made by offering opinions and suggestions on how the work environment and affairs of the employees are catered for to avoid conflicts. The leaders of the labor unions have the ability to influence the voters because the employees are part of the society and participate in politics of the day. When there are negotiations that happen where there are conflicts hence all the parties need to be ready to compromise their demands for the conflicts to be resolved.

For some managers, union contracts are wasteful and are bad fiscal policy. Organizations, therefore, come up with strategies of cutting the budget by avoiding the union contracts. Labor unions are agreements between the union and the employer. The union contracts define the conditions of employment and establish obligations and responsibilities. Employees prefer being members of unions since they can refer to the contracts when they have questions about the wages and how the company is paying or planning to pay employees' benefits.

The organization agrees with the union that the employees working hours should be flexible. The management agrees with the labor unions that the employees working hours should align with the wages they get. The working conditions should motivate the employees to work productively (Craver, 2019). However, the union should set reasonable minimum wages because the organization cannot agree to contracts that require them to pay employees unsustainable wages. There should be mutual benefits between the employees and the organization if the organization is not profitable, then the employees will not get the salaries stipulated in the union contracts.

Well, the negotiations on labor contracts should be based on logic, and the labor union negotiators should be willing to forego some of the demands (Craver, 2019). The organization cannot guarantee the employees a continuous pay increase and job security due to continuous changes in the market dynamics. If the profits for the company are decreasing, the organization cannot afford to increase the wages as this would greatly increase their operational costs. The union negotiators should also compromise their demand on a continuous pay rise and accept a lesser benefit, such as bonuses.

When it comes to health premiums, the organization can agree on a co-payment plan whereby the employer pays half of the premium and deducts the employees the other half (Craver, 2019). If the organization is compelled to pay for the entire value of the premium, it will incur a huge cost. Still, co-payment will reduce the cost for both parties while at the same time ensuring that employees have a dependable health care cover.

References

Katz, H. C., Kochan, T. A., & Colvin, A. (2015). Labor, Management, and Government Interactions.

DiSalvo, D. (2018). Judgment Day for Public Unions. City Journal. Retrieved 25 February 2020, from https://www.city-journal.org/html/judgment-day-public-unions-15646.html.

Craver, C. (2019). Collective Bargaining Union Negotiation. Negotiations.com. Retrieved 25 February 2020, from https://www.negotiations.com/articles/collective-bargaining/.