How to Avoid the Crisis of an Employee Strike

I scanned the business headlines this morning and saw news about yet another employee strike. (Is it just me, or is this in the news a lot lately?)

This time, workers at the Faurecia plant in Saline went on strike. Although there were picketers, the strike was resolved in nine hours through a tentative agreement.

Last week, 97% of voting airline food workers employed by LSG Sky Chefs authorized a strike. And, security guards employed by SecurAmerica went on strike as part of an effort to unionize.

Employers obviously have a strong interest in avoiding strikes. During a strike, businesses can expect productivity to decrease and possibly grind to a halt, and to lose money as a result. They are also likely to suffer from decreased reputation in the community and eroded employer-employee relationships, sometimes for a significant period even after the strike has ended.

If a strike does occur, it’s usually in the businesses’ best interest to come to an agreement quickly and end the strike. But even better – how can a business avoid a strike in the first place?

Last year, I got a call from a client, a tier 1 supplier whose early labor contract negotiations failed. Management was clearly frustrated, and they needed help preparing for a more successful outcome. One particularly exasperated individual said, “I think if we offered them all a $2 raise across the board, they still wouldn’t be happy!”

To resolve the issue, I developed a series of focus groups to really listen to the employees and understand their experience. What I uncovered surprised the client: not a single employee complained about pay, and many employees felt they were paid quite competitively. However, many employees were very unhappy with a new scheduling system. Under this system, employees were effectively on-call most of the time, not knowing when they would be called in for a mandatory overtime shift or told to continue working beyond their scheduled shift. Of course, this had a huge impact on the employees’ personal lives.

After the focus groups, I gave recommendations to the client which included changing the way work schedules were determined. The client addressed the scheduling issue, and successfully negotiated the new labor contract. No strike necessary.

One key line about the Faurecia strike coverage caught my eye: “Several pickets, when interviewed, said the strike was about working conditions at the plant as much as it was about pay and benefits.” Many workers strike for higher pay, but certainly not all. Imagine if my client didn’t have the insight from the focus group – they could have ended up offering more money and still not have reached an agreement due to not understanding the other party’s perspective.

Before entering into labor negotiations, it pays to understand the employee experience. One easy way to accomplish that is through an employee focus group.