Unions and Collective Bargaining
HRM Incident 1: You Are out of What?
Marcus Ned eagerly drove his new company pickup onto the
construction site. He had just been assigned by his employer, Kelso
Construction Company, to supervise a crew of 16 equipment operators, oilers,
and mechanics. This was the first unionized crew Marcus had supervised, and he
was unaware of the labor agreement in effect that carefully defined and limited
the role of supervisors. As he approached his work area, he noticed one of the
cherry pickers (a type of mobile crane with an extendable boom) standing idle
with the operator beside it. Marcus pulled up beside the operator and asked, “Whatâ??s
going on here?”
“Out of gas,” the operator said.
“Well, go and get some,” Marcus said.
The operator reached to get his thermos jug out of the
toolbox on the side of the crane and said, “The oiler’s on break right
now. He’ll be back in a few minutes.”
Marcus remembered that he had a five-gallon can of gasoline
in the back of his pickup. So he quickly got the gasoline, climbed on the
cherry picker, and started to pour it into the gas tank. As he did so, he heard
the other machines shutting down in unison. He looked around and saw all the
other operators climbing down from their equipment and standing to watch him
pour the gasoline. A moment later, he saw the union steward approaching.
QUESTIONS
1. Why did all the operators shut down their machines?
2. If you were Marcus, what would you do now? Explain.
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