Labor, Management Must Work Toward Sustainability
There is ample evidence to prove that where there is an honest union-management partnership, productivity and product quality increase. That applies to efforts in sustainability as well. By Morton Bahr. Read More
I recently came across a copy of World Finance magazine in which I saw a full-page ad, placed by the International Monetary Fund, for a three-day seminar on globalization scheduled to take place this fall in Washington. The title of the seminar caught my attention: “Who Owns the Agenda for Achieving Sustainable Growth and Development?”
Working families around the world are asking this question. This was the issue at the anti-WTO demonstrations held in Seattle and Quebec as workers and others concerned with labor rights, the environment and human rights demand a voice in trade negotiations.
In the United States, we saw the power of working families when we defeated fast track negotiating authority requested by president Clinton. It was the first defeat of unrestricted free trade legislation in our history. Today we are in a similar fight to prevent President Bush from getting fast track authority.
AFL-CIO President John Sweeney has called for a “New Internationalism” that recognizes the participation of working families in setting trade policies. So, it seems to me that any discussion of labor-management cooperation must begin with management’s acknowledgment that workers must participate in setting the agenda in those areas of concern to them.
This means that workers and their unions must be involved in the decision-making process at all levels of the corporation. There has to be total sharing of information by the management with the union and the employees, with decisions being made only after full participation by all the stakeholders.
In the United States, many studies have shown that labor management cooperation efforts in a non-union setting are short lived. It is the union that brings stability and longevity to the process. The union gives the process credibility. Workers feel more comfortable and less threatened when they see their union representatives actively involved. There is less fear and fewer feelings of insecurity. This ultimately leads to worker acceptance and participation.
There is ample evidence to prove that where there is an honest union-management partnership, productivity and product quality increase. Employee satisfaction increases and employee turnover decreases. This better enables the company to be able to deal with rapid and constant change in a highly competitive global marketplace. The Communications Workers of America was one of the early pioneers in this new form of labor-management relationship; we were driven by our willingness to try anything that could improve the lives of our 500,000 members who worked for the old Bell system.
In 1972, literally thousands of members were complaining about their working conditions. AT&T management contended that because the problems were so varied and were taking place in thousands of workplaces across the country, it had no idea how to deal with them. By 1976, the problems grew so severe that the union had a National Job Pressure day to permit our members to take these festering problems to the street–a kind of a safety valve. It was in our national bargaining with the Bell System in 1980 when we agreed to 10 guiding principles designed–we hoped–to deal with these problems.
‘Quality of Work Life’
These principles later become known as Quality of Work Life–the beginning of the empowerment of our members in their work places. At that time, I was not personally convinced that the kind of cooperation envisioned in QWL was the way US labor should go in the future. However, since I was a member of the negotiating committee that bargained it, I felt I was obligated to give it a chance.
Twenty years later, based on our experiences, I know this is the right approach. The company that has an honest partnership with its union–with mutually shared objectives–will be a winner in the global marketplace. These shared objectives are: a growing company with increased shareholder value: a union that grows with the company; and a workforce that has greater job security, good wages and benefits and job satisfaction. This truly is a win-win situation.
By December 31, 1983, the eve of the breakup of the Bell System, more than 100,000 CWA members were trained in the principles of QWL. Much of the training took place jointly with management personnel. The key ingredient for success required the total buy-in of top management and top union representatives. AT&T’s chairman made it clear to management personnel that if they could not work in this new environment, they could be placed elsewhere.
While the Bell System breakup caused the program to virtually disappear in some of the divested companies, it remained strong at AT&T. QWL is an evolutionary process–it is not a program. It cannot be structured and it must be voluntary.
In 1984, we created the Common Interest Forum where top management and union officials could discuss and exchange information of mutual concern in an off-the-record manner. It was through the Common Interest Forum that I, as the incoming president of CWA, was able to develop the dialogue that led to the creation of the Alliance for Employee Growth and Development.
This was the first jointly owned, nonprofit educational corporation in the telecommunications industry. It is incorporated in New Jersey; it has equal numbers of management and union members on the Board Directors and has two Managing Directors: one appointed be the company and the other by the union. It is funded through the collective bargaining agreement.
150,000 Employees Embrace Alliance
Since 1986, more than 150,000 employees have utilized the Alliance. There are few restrictions–an employees may utilize it in the pursuit of a college degree up to and including a Ph. D., or to prepare for a higher job within AT&T, or to prepare for a new career outside of AT&T and also to just go to college for self-improvement and lifelong learning. All costs are borne by the Alliance.
We have changed the lives of countless members while substantially improving the educational level of the general workforce. The new process dramatically changed the labor-management relationship by enabling the parties to establish a great degree of trust. AT&T agreed to a card-check system throughout the company.
This meant that the company would not interfere in the union’s organizing efforts and would recognize us when a majority of a work group indicated that they wanted union representation. Not only was this a first in telecommunications, it was a rare occurrence in any industry.
Of particular significance was when AT&T’s vice president of labor relations, in testimony before a government commission, reported how well neutrality and card check worked for the company as well.
In the mid 1990s, CWA and AT&T introduced workplace of the future–perhaps the fifth generations of QWL. At the kickoff conference, attended by more than 1,000 union and management representatives, then Secretary of Labor Robert Reich, addressing the group, said: “In the new global economy, no company will have a sustainable advantage over another with regard to capital and both can be moved anywhere in the world while we sleep.”
Reich added that the company that will win in this new global economy is the company that is doing what unions are doing today–developing the most committed, dedicated and knowledgeable workforce. That, he said, will be the winning combination.
Among other things, WPOF permitted the bargaining agents for each side to amend the written contract when they agreed it was necessary to enable them company to meet the need of a changing marketplace.
In the past, the company would have to wait for as long as three years until the contract expired in order to seek a change–meanwhile losing market share and the union losing jobs. I was of the firm belief that WPOF would lead to the “living contract” where needed changes could be made when necessary and the parties would meet periodically to essentially discuss economic issues.
A Fragile Process
But what happened at AT&T also demonstrates how fragile the process can be. In 1997, AT&T’s chairman, Robert Allen, retired. A new man was brought in from the outside. A new compact structure and future were developed that resulted in AT&T buying a wireless company and a cable TV company, both with company policies of being viciously anti-union.
The infusion of hundreds of anti-union managers, together with the departure of many of the managers who were committed to our joint success, resulted in a rapid deterioration of our relationship and a virtual replacement of WPOF with a most adversarial relationship. The only thing remaining intact was the Alliance for Employee Growth and Development.
But after a lot of hard work, the AT&T chairman and I have been able to move our relationship on to a more hopeful course. It was actually painful for me, as someone who had worked and had seen countless others work so hard to accomplish what we did, to see it go into the garbage heap.
So while I have hope for our future with AT&T, it did serve as an important warning for the need to find a way to institutionalize the process so that it does not depend on the longevity of one or two people at the company or the union. We believe for example, we have this with SBC in a second case history I want to share with you.
SBC is the company that provides telecommunications service in 13 states from coast-to-coast and border-to-border and employs 120,000 CWA members. The strategic partnership that SBC–under CEO Ed Whitacre’s leadership–and CWA created, has made a commitment to rewrite the textbooks on labor-management relations, hopefully to set an example for all American companies and unions.
At the beginning of this process in 1997, I asked Mr. Whitacre to address our annual convention. It was the first time in 42 years that the CEO had appeared before a CWA convention. We invited him so that we could showcase his management style and the relationship that we were building. We did this not only for our own members, but also to showcase SBC as an example to other CEOs in the industry.
Mr. Whitacre spoke about the ways in which the union brings added value to the company. Particularly on regulatory matters. He spoke these words that still resonate today: “You have certainly shown us that union-company labor relations can be a win-win relationship, a relationship that can provide a powerful competitive advantage.”
We are proving his point every day. On April 27, of this year, at Ed’s invitation, I spoke at the SBC shareholders’ meeting, the first time an international president of our union was invited to speak to the shareholders of one of our employers. In fact, it is a rare occurrence in the United States. I informed the shareholders about the positive things we have accomplished together which add value to the company and, we believe, ultimately to the value of SBC stock. Here is but the most recent example of our cooperative work. Late last year, Ed and I agreed to try to reach an early labor agreement that would cover 110,000 workers. This was the first time we would negotiate all of the contracts for SBC’s union-represented business at the same time. The task was enormous. The contracts covered a workforce spread from coast-to-coast and border-to-border.
Four CWA national officers–five including me–and union bargaining committees were involved in negotiations along with their management counterparts. The process could easily have broken down at a dozen different points. But we succeeded in reaching agreements that ensure that SBC will retain and attract the best-skilled people in the industry, and enhance them company’s position in a highly competitive business.
The contracts were settled six weeks prior to the expiration of all four agreements. Never once did Ed and I find it necessary to have a conversation about any of the issues. This is virtually unheard of in such complex labor negotiations. I don’t want to suggest that we never have disagreements with management–we do. But we have created a positive atmosphere where our differences can be worked out before they become divisive problems.
I also want to note that at the same time we were negotiating the four agreements in SBC, we reached a first contract in the SBC-controlled Cingular Wireless company for 9,000 workers employed in some 30 states. In both the SBC and Cingular contracts, we enjoyed total companywide card check recognition. SBC is proud to be known as a union company.
By the end of the year, we expect to have 20,000 new members in Cingular Wireless covering the entire country. The CWA-SBC relationship recognizes the needs of the company, the union and the workers. In Ed Whitacre’s words, and CWA members today enjoy more secure, rewarding jobs.
‘The Next Generation’
At a meeting following the conclusion of our successful negotiations and with AT&T in mind, I shared my concern with Mr. Whitacre about the continuation of our relationship when he and I depart the scene. He said: “That’s why Karen is with me. She is the next generation to carry on.”
Karen is Karen Jennings, executive vice president of human resources. We prefer this type of labor/management relationship with all of our employers. Unfortunately, CEOs of Ed Whitacre’s stature are rare.
Today, virtually every industry and even governments are impacted by the growing competitiveness of a broadening global economy. We no longer can assure our members of job security as in the past when a worker could join a company at age 18 and retire from that company, often from the same building. But we can offer our members the opportunity to become more employable, hopefully with the same employer, but if not, within the general marketplace. We have done this by negotiating several innovative educational programs.
The Alliance for Employee Growth and Development with AT&T was the first and a model. At Verizon Communications, we have the Next Step program. Employees who qualify go to college one day a week with company pay, and graduate with degree in applied science.
At Lucent Technologies, which kept the Alliance after the spinoff from AT&T, we have the first and largest distance learning degree course. More than 500 employees are on-line studying for a degree in telecommunications technology. The first graduate was a woman. This is most important as woman tend to remain in dead-end positions like telephone operator. We have been successful in urging them to take advantage of the educational opportunities negotiated for them by their union. Hundreds have done so and have moved into high-skill higher paying jobs.
To demonstrate that we can bring the industry together, particularly companies that often compete with one another, we formed a coalition called the National Advisory Coalition for Telecommunications Education and Learning (NACTEL) NACTEL is an on-line educational program where students do all of their work through the Internet.
NACTEL comprises representatives from CWA, IBEW, Verizon, SBC, Qwest, and Citizens Communications. Through NACTEL the industry identified a common skill set and developed a program that, through Pace University in New York, offers an associate degree in telecommunications. The long-range objective is to create a hiring pool of qualified, skilled workers for our employers.
This is extremely important as the shortage of skilled high-tech workers is projected to increase in the years ahead. We have also partnered with the giant nonunion Cisco Systems in various types of training. One innovative program is our training of out going military personnel who want to enter the IT industry. We do the career assessment, training, and job placement while Cisco gives us the equipment.
These are but a few of our outstanding educational joint union-management programs. CWA has come to be known as the leader in worker education and training; we see this as adding extraordinary value to our employers. Each of them sees this joint effort as a win-win situation.
The global economy is creating many pressures on governments, businesses and workers. Organized labor and workers can help navigate this process, just as we are proving in SBC. The fundamental issue confronting us is: How do we share the benefits of the global economy more fairly around the world?
I return to the question I asked at the beginning of this essay: Who owns the agenda? From labor’s perspective, most of the people with economic power do not define human progress as a separate goal from market share. Economic gain is the sole goal based on the assumption that market based solutions will improve the human condition. But civilization does not exist like a market economy. The global economy is so market-driven that even government employers feel the pressure.
Government policy is not immune from the competitive demands of the global economy.
Governments face greater demands to be more efficient, to downsize, privatize, and to reduce trade barriers at any cost. In these difficult circumstances, labor can work with government leaders to solve problems with creative approaches, if given the opportunity.
We need other tools to bring the marketplace into balance with human needs. Labor believes that collective bargaining is part of the solution. The international free trade union movements insists that all international trade treaties guarantee the rights of workers to form their own unions, free of government or employer interference. These rights must be enforceable.
Organized labor is the one institution in the world that crosses geographic boundaries, ideologies, and economic class. We speak for working families and the exploited men, women and children around the world who have no voice. We are ready to join with international organizations to confront the serious moral issues created by the current global economic system.
Independent unions, free collective bargaining, and labor-management partnerships are among the tools we can use to bring human needs back into balance with economic development in the global marketplace.
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Morton Bahr is president of the Communications Workers of America. This essay is based on his address to the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Human Resources & Development Symposium on June 25, 2001 in Mexico City. This piece originally ran in Earth Times, and is copyright 2001 Earth Times News Service, all rights reserved. Earth Times is a GreenBiz News Affiliate.
