Unions Implementing Managerial Techniques

Unions implementing managerial techniques National unions are gradually adopting the sophisticated management selection and training practices of business and government but employment and promotion decisions remain essentially political Lois S. GRAY In sharp contrast to their counterparts at the bargaining results, comparisons are made, where possible, with the tables, labor unions have traditionally given relatively selection and training of managers in business and gov- little attention to the selection and training of their pro- ernment . fessional staff.' Results of a 1977-78 survey of national Divergent personnel practices unions and employee organizations suggest an .emerging trend bringing them more into line with established per- Selection. In business and government, selection of man- sonnel practices of business and government . College agement personnel is usually a carefully planned and graduates, long sought by other employers, find doors somewhat elaborate process based on formal criteria beginning to open in labor unions ; the recent elections and objective tests designed to screen applicants for de- of college graduates as president and secretary-treasurer sired attributes . Education and job-related training are of the AFL-CIO symbolize this change .' Formalized given heavy weight in the selection criteria . training, generally required for upward mobility in busi- National unions, however, have traditionally used a ness and government, is gaining acceptance among political staff selection process, rewarding demonstrated unions . Even more striking, some of the recently inau- leadership and loyalty at the local level .a In 1956, gurated union staff training programs resemble in con- Harold Wilensky's path-breaking study of Intellectuals tent and format those offered for management in other in Labor Unions found that the relatively few college organizations . graduates then employed by national unions functioned The literature describing and analyzing personnel pol- in narrowly defined roles. These "intellectuals" tended icies of business and government is voluminous . By con- to be viewed with suspicion by union officials and tried trast, little is known about the personnel practices of to downplay their college educations by "proclaiming labor unions.' This study, designed as a first step in fill- their faith in the superiority of the untrained man."' ing this gap, addressed several key questions: How do national unions recruit and select their representatives? Training. Business organizations invest heavily in per- What functions do these staff members perform? What sonnel training. A recent survey by the Conference qualifications are expected of them? And, how are they Board reports that most companies require their manag- trained for their responsibilities? In analyzing the survey ers to continue their professional education . In 1975, approximately 1 .3 million managers and supervisors Lois S . Gray is associate dean and professor at the New York State were trained at a direct cost to employers of almost half School of Industrial and Labor Relations at Cornell University . a billion dollars. As a result, in-house management MONTHLY LABOR REVIEW June 1981 a Unions Implementing Managerial Techniques training has become a major profession, accounting for union structure, (4) employer practices, (5) changes fac- the employment of 45,000 specialists .6 ing the organization, and (6) union traditions and cur- Several companies operate year-round campuses rent outlook of leadership. which rival institutions of higher education . For exam- It is logical to expect that union personnel practices ple, American Telephone and Telegraph Co. sends will vary with size of membership, because this largely 10,000 of its managers each year to its residential train- determines the resources which are available. Thus, ing center, which has an annual budget of $20 million.' larger unions are more likely to hire specialists to pro- Corporations supplement in-house training with sup- vide a wide range of services to their members, and to port for the American Management Association, whose mount their own staff training programs. Also, one educational programs annually attract more than 60,000 might predict that membership characteristics will be managers, and with numerous special courses offered by reflected in the selection and training of staff representa- colleges and universities. Moreover, the business train- tives. In particular, the weight given to formal educa- ing boom has created a whole new industry of 1,000 or tion may be expected to vary with the level of education more management consultants specializing in the field.' of the membership, with unions of professional employ- Mid-level managers, the counterparts to international ees more likely to hire college graduates and turn to representatives in labor unions, are the principal targets universities for staff training than unions which repre- of these business-sponsored training programs.' sent manual workers. However, observation of the labor The training of managers generally deals with the scene suggests that structure is the most important vari- functions of planning, organization, and control, with able in explaining differences among unions. Industrial emphasis on interpersonal skills, problem-solving, and unions which deal in national and international product goal-setting . A heavy investment in methodology has markets are characterized by a centralized structure, produced a variety of approaches to teaching, including while those which function in local labor markets tend videotapes and computer simulations. Supervised on- to be decentralized. Thus, industrial unions might be the-job training, through a planned system of job rota- expected to employ relatively larger numbers of national tion, is widely used to supplement classroom instruc- representatives to perform a wider variety of assign- tion .'° ments. With greater responsibility at the national level, In contrast, staff members of labor unions have industrial unions would also be likely to place more em- traditionally acquired their skills and knowledge in the phasis on training . "School of Hard Knocks"-in the shop, at the Other potential influences on union personnel prac- bargaining table, and on the picket line. Until recently, tices are less tangible and therefore more difficult to few alternatives have been available. Moreover, efforts assess. For example, unions may emulate the practices to fill the training void have been mainly short-lived of the employers with which they negotiate . According- and out of the mainstream of American labor union ly, unions dealing with major corporations, such as practice ." General Motors or American Telephone and Telegraph, Given the growing complexity of union-management are more likely to hire technical specialists from outside relations, how are unions responding to the obvious dis- the organization, and to provide staff training than parity in formal education and training between union unions which represent employees in small firms. Inspi- and management representatives? This is the question ration to adopt new programs may also come about as which led to our study, the first analysis of union staff a result of challenges facing the union; rapid expansion, training since the Survey of Labor Education conducted competition from rival unions, employer opposition, under the auspices of the National Institute of Labor government regulation, and economic decline may give Education more than a decade ago." impetus to training and hiring trained personnel from outside . And finally, not to be discounted are union tra- Survey results and some hypotheses ditions and the viewpoints of current leadership. Unions The survey of national unions reveals increased re- with a history of social and political involvement have cruiting of both service staff and specialists from outside traditionally emphasized education, and those headed the unions, growing union emphasis on staff training, by college graduates or self-educated "intellectuals" and emerging elements of similarity between union and might also be expected to look for and encourage these management training in content and methodology. (See attributes among staff. appendix for a description of the survey scope and method.) Recruitment and selection These are the major generalizations which emerge International representatives. While union experience re- from survey data. There are, however, differences mains the primary criterion for selection of international among unions, resulting, in part, from such factors as: representatives and organizers, approximately 3 out of (1) size of organization, (2) type of membership, (3) 10 of the surveyed unions currently hire some "outsid- ers" to perform these basic functions . Choosing interna- international representatives and organizers. However, a tional staff is normally the prerogative of national growing number recruit new staff from among the grad- officers who, under most union constitutions, have the uates of college and university labor relations programs . exclusive power to hire and fire. Most unions tend to re- Many send recruiters to the campus, following the cor- cruit negotiators and organizers exclusively within their porate practice. Some try out college students through own ranks, from among local officers or activists . Sixty on-the-job experience: Several recruit at colleges for in- percent of our respondents reported that prior mem- tern programs

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