Case Study - Happy Trails Eldercare Facility

CASE STUDY - HAPPY TRAILS ELDERCARE FACILITY

Background

1. Happy Trails Eldercare Facility, located in the suburbs, is engaged in a restructuring program to cut costs and improve services to better compete with inner city facilities which, while more expensive, enjoy closer access to hospital and other amenities. Happy Trails operates in a competitive environment in which its ability to achieve cost efficiencies, improved productivity and service quality might determine its ongoing viability. Since care for the elderly is a highly labor-intensive service, then measures which reduce labor and/or increase productivity offer the greatest cost benefits.

2. Happy Trails has replaced some Registered Nurses (RNs) with Licensed Practical Nurses (LPNs). LPNs usually have 1 - 2 years of training in patient care, and are generally subject to supervision by RNs (BookRags, n.d.). While LPNs are less qualified and entitled to lower pay than RNs, their skill set is arguably entirely appropriate for an eldercare facility like Happy Trails. Happy Trails has also adjusted its task schedule to minimize the need for overtime work.

The Union Option

3. Happy Trails employees have a vested interest in the venture's ongoing viability, but they also desire security of tenure and stability in their work environment, so they might consider the potential for a union to represent their interests. The success of the relevant union in obtaining enhanced benefits for their inner city counterparts supports this notion.

4. As detailed by the National Labor Relations Board (January 1970), most non-supervisor workers are guaranteed the right to collective representation in the workplace by the National Labor Relations Act (NRLA). The NRLA applies to LPNs and most other staff employed by Happy Trails, but may not apply to RNs who are employed in a supervisory role. The key benefit of union representation is the collective bargaining leverage (Mackinac Center for Public Policy, August 1999a) which this provides to the employees, with mandatory employer negotiation and agreement (Lawyers.com, n.d.) required for: a. wages; b. work conditions; c. hours; d. holidays, vacations, sick leave; e. fringe benefits; f. grievance procedures; g. arbitration; h. health and safety; i. nondiscrimination clauses; j. no-strike/no-lockout clauses; k. term and termination; l. management rights; m. discipline and discharge; n. seniority; o. union security; and p. remedies. 5. Union membership is also likely to yield higher wages and benefits, and give workers more stability and certainty of tenure (Mackinac Center for Public Policy, August 1999a; The United Food & Commercial Workers Local 876, n.d.). The NLRA also guarantees union members the right to participate in union governance. The economic leverage of union member numbers may also provide members with ancillary benefits such as access to preferential finance rates, ongoing training and educational opportunities.

6. Union membership also has potential disadvantages (Mackinac Center for Public Policy, August 1999b), as follow: a. Unions are intended to represent the interests of the majority of their members. This may not coincide with the interests of individual workers. b. Union members are normally expected to provide financial support for the union. This cost may amount to hundreds of dollars per year for each employee. c. Unions may take punitive action against individuals who breach union policies. d. If a union elects to take strike action in support of demands on an employer, the employer is legally entitled to engage non-union labor to sustain its operations during such strike action and is not obliged to reinstate the union workers after strike action has ceased.

7. Beyond the issue of union membership, the NLRA also guarantees the right of workers to engage in protected concerted activities, that is, collective negotiation between employees and employers with or without union membership (National Labor Relations Board, January 1970). Up to 75% of American companies encourage their employees to participate in and influence the management process (Mackinac Center for Public Policy, August 1999c). Such employer-employee collaboration is in the interests of both parties, and provides a workable and flexible alternative model for representing employees' interests in the workplace.

8. In the case of Happy Trails Eldercare Facility, the contractually binding collective bargaining agreements which would be attracted by designation of a union to represent employee interests would reduce the firm's flexibility to deal with the competitive forces in the market, while providing an enhanced level of stability and certainty for the employees. This may not serve the employees' interests if the firm's economic capacity to sustain employment is jeopardized by union demands or action. Careful consideration should be given to the track record of the union in realistically representing members' interests, together with Happy Trails' economic outlook, before Happy Trails' employees should commit to seeking union membership.

The Union Recruitment Program

9. In the event that Happy Trails' employees solicit union assistance, then Happy Trails management is obliged by the NLRA to abstain from interference. Member numbers signal a union's economic strength and negotiating leverage (Mackinac Center for Public Policy, August 1999a) and so the union will have a vested interest in recruiting as many new members as possible. Issues which will most likely be promoted by the union during the effort to unionize Happy Trails include: a. the existing uncertainty of employment tenure and remuneration for Happy Trails' employees, and in particular the matter of how the cost benefits of Happy Trails' restructuring program are being distributed (that is, not to the employees); and b. the benefits to be gained by Happy Trails' employees from enlisting the union as their sole representative in dealing with Happy Trails management, that is, the stability and certainty associated with a collectively bargained workplace agreement, together with the potential enhanced remuneration as demonstrated already for the inner city eldercare workers.

The Steps to Unionize

10. The NLRA mandates formal procedures to effect the unionization of a body of employees (Lawyers.com, n.d.). The Happy Trails LPNs will initially need to register interest in the union, and this would normally be done by signing authorization cards which then provide the basis for filing an election request with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). If sufficient interest is determined by the NLRB (usually 30%) then a bargaining unit will be designated to sponsor an election by the Happy Trails LPNs. If 50% of the LPNs vote to join the union, then Happy Trails will thenceforth be required to deal with the union as the exclusive representative of the Happy Trails LPNs.

11. In all of this process, the NLRA forbids interference by any party (the union, the employer or the employees) in any individual's freedom to choose to participate or not to participate in union membership. Any breach of this requirement would be considered an "unfair work practice" subject to prosecution by the NLRB, which would place the entire unionization process at risk of failure. On this basis, while making all relevant information available, those LPNs with a desire to establish union representation at Happy Trails Eldercare Facility should strive to ensure that no attempt is made to coerce any employee to participate in the process. Reference List

BookRags (n.d.), Licensed Practical Nurse Summary. Retrieved May 12, 2007, from http://www.bookrags.com/Licensed_Practical_Nurse

Lawyers.com (n.d.), Dealing With Labor Unions. Retrieved May 12, 2007, from http://labor- employment-law.lawyers.com/human-resources/Dealing-With-Labor-Unions.html.

Mackinac Center for Public Policy, August 1999a, Advantages of Union Representation. Retrieved May 12, 2007, from http://www.mackinac.org/article.aspx?ID=2312

Mackinac Center for Public Policy, August 1999b, Disadvantages of Union Representation. Retrieved May 12, 2007, from http://www.mackinac.org/article.aspx?ID=2313

Mackinac Center for Public Policy, August 1999c, Nonunionized Workers' Employment Rights and Opportunities. Retrieved May 12, 2007, from http://www.mackinac.org/article.aspx?ID=2315

National Labor Relations Board, January 1970, National Labor Relations Act. Retrieved May 12, 2007, from http://www.nlrb.gov/about_us/overview/national_labor_relations_act.aspx

Resources for Union Organizing (n.d.), Advantages of Labor Union Membership. Retrieved May 12, 2007, from http://www.union-organizing.com/advantages.html

The United Food & Commercial Workers Local 876 (n.d.), Union Advantages. Retrieved May 12, 2007, from http://www.ufcw876.org/Union%20Advantage.htm