October 6, 2006—In the past, workers were most likely to turn to organized labor when they sought to resolve management issues. Not so today, reports a new survey released by the Employment Law Alliance.
In a poll of 1,000 people, 64 percent of respondents cited workplace safety as their top reason for seeking union representation, followed by better benefits (60 percent), higher wages (57 percent) and job security (54 percent).
Management-related factors that used to top the list, such as poor communication, inconsistent discipline and managers playing favorites, were much less important.
“These results indicate to me that most companies have done an effective job dealing with employee relations issues such as workplace respect, effective communication and consistent discipline,” said Stephen J. Hirschfeld, the ELA’s CEO and a labor and employment law attorney. “Those factors used to be the primary drivers which caused employees to look to unions for help. Now, for the first time, employees are telling us that workplace safety, wages, benefits and job security are areas where they think unions will do a more effective job in helping their plight.” []
Employment Law Alliance is a legal resource for management, backed by the strength and resources of some of the worlds finest and most established law firms. For more information, and a summary of the poll, see the Web site.
