Labor Relations

Labor Relations

Answer - 1

Wal-Mart

Wal-Mart is a multinational United States based corporation which is the third largest public corporation in the world. It runs numerous chains of stores and warehouses around the world. It is also the largest public employer with having more than two million employees, and largest retailer in the world (Fortune magazine, 2012).

Wal-Mart's labor related issue

Wal-Mart has been involved in many issues with labor in past years. Wal-Mart has been involved in violation of fair labor standards act which guarantees that equal wages will be distributed in overtime pay without the discrimination of gender or race, and it is the right of a worker. Wal-Mart was found guilty in lawsuit which claimed that managers have discarded extra hours from time records (Estes, 2012). Wal-Mart has also violated the Family medical leave by not allowing woman for her maternity leave. Another violation occurred when Wal-Mart was unable to provide health insurance coverage to employees who were also qualified for Medical aid.

Out of all the labor related issues, Wal-Mart has bad track record against discrimination of gender. Wal-Mart has faced discrimination issue three times in past years. First time this issue was raised in 2001, when female workers of Wal-Mart filed a case against company for practicing gender biasness. But, the recent case against discrimination went much further than just gender discrimination where it turned out to be unsafe working condition for female which resulted in sexual harassment. Unhappy workforce is an evidence for high turnover rate in Wal-Mart, where it is said that approximately 70% employees leave Wal-Mart within a year (PBS, 2013). In spite of such turnover, company has not face high unemployment rates.

Answer - 2

Labor Agreement Negotiation

Management is responsible to understand the individual union issues and jurisdiction issues, which creates an environment while negotiating with one or more unions at a table (Lynn, 2002). To formulate a strategy for negotiating a labor agreement, following steps have to be followed.

Review of Past negotiations

The process starts with the reviewing of previous negotiation. Management reviews all the pros and cons of previous negotiation. It includes tactics and things that are granted in response to demands. Management also reviews any settlement agreement along with verbal or written commitment since the last contract. It is the priority of management to follow up all the agreements which took place whether they were carried out or not and their impact on the performance of an organization. Along with agreements, personalities are also reviewed who were involved in past negotiations.

Review of Operating Experience

Management reviews the impact of previous negotiation on the performance of the company in term of efficiency and effectiveness. This is the phase where management asks right questions with operation management and line supervision to review the impact on productivity, quality and operations. Labor relations often mistake by inquiring general input from operation team and accept lack of input that the modification is not required in the contract. In next step, cross check takes place which analyses the accusation and settlement ...