Supervisors vs. union reps: When "fair" is "foul."
1984
Tomkiewicz, Joseph | Brenner, Otto C.
A survey of 7,548 supervisors by Bittel and Ramsey asked the supervisors to describe their employee relationships and job responsibilities in each of 6 areas. The supervisors were divided into 4 groups: those with no union present; those with a union present and a "good" relationship with the union rep; those with a union present and a "fair" relationship with the union rep; and those with a union on the premises and a "poor" union rep relationship. The 6 areas to be evaluated were: 1) attaining departmental goals set by the company; 2) motivating employees; 3) talking to employees on a 1-to-1 basis; 4) solving departmental problems as they arose; 5) enforcing discipline; and 6) maintaining harmony within the department. A comparison and analysis of the results seem to indicate that those with "good" union relationships show no difference in the confidence to perform functions 1, 2, 4, and 6 from their counterparts without a union to deal with. However, supervisors in good union relationships reported significantly more confidence in areas 3 and 5 than those without unions. "Poor" and non-union supervisors showed little difference in areas 1-5, but those with unions were less confident about their abilities in area 6. Those with "fair" relationships with the union reps were significantly less confident than their counterparts without unions in all areas, and marginally less confident in area 6. Therefore the impact of union relationships on a supervisor's confidence does not depend on the presence or absence of a union on the premises, but does depend on the quality of the relationship itself. (rbl)
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