“Future of Work” Holds Promise and Peril
Inspiring success stories of labor-management collaboration mixed with warnings of trends threatening to both workers and companies painted the “Future of Work” at the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service’s (FMCS) National Labor-Management Conference this month in Chicago. More than 1,000 participants came from all industries and all sections of the nation, including several foreign participants.
The conference had its emotional moments as well: Kaiser Permanente CEO Bernard Tyson and millennials expert Jason Dorsey talking about their fathers influence, and a story about how an American Water Co. backhoe driver brightens the life of an autistic boy.
Tyson, CEO of the $60 billion health care organization, noted how his father’s membership in the Carpenters Union conferred dignity in tough times. Tyson’s father went to the union hall each day in search of work, and when work was scarce, the hall and its support helped him through. Kaiser and 26 unions established a landmark partnership to ensure that those who receive care and those who deliver it are “respected and rewarded.” He also touted the book, “The Fourth Industrial Revolution.”
Dorsey explained that he only saw his father cry once, in 1981, when the longtime General Motors employee was laid off “from the only job he ever wanted.” Dorsey presented at the conference to help attendees “make sure people don’t have to experience that in the future.”
AFL-CIO President Rich Trumka gave a rousing endorsement of labor-management cooperation, noting that unprofitable companies ultimately fail to provide good jobs and that high quality, safe work is critical to every organization’s success.
The “Future of Work” is also represented by millennials, a focus of the conference, whose expectations and perspective often differ from their elders but who show more interest in partnerships and creative solutions. Millennials are quickly becoming the largest generation in the workforce.
Dorsey, perhaps the leading expert on millennials, provided a lively counter to stereotypes about millennials with research data from his firm. Trumka also cited his experience that millennials are hard workers who expect input and meaning from the workplace.
CEOs and union presidents explained the dramatic results that partnerships bring to their organizations. Those partnerships are hard work and always fragile, yet can be forged in the most difficult circumstances. Experts provided many methods and tools to build better relationships. FMCS resources to help labor and management do so were also outlined.
Alabama Power CEO Mark Crosswhite shared the story of its partnership with IBEW. Crosswhite explained that his predecessor and the union president sat next to each other at a funeral for a young worker. Afterwards they vowed to do everything they could to keep workers safe. The safety partnership blossomed into other avenues of the operation, contributing to Alabama Power’s low costs and high customer satisfaction. IBEW Utility Director Jim Hunter discussed how the partnership is a model for other utility relationships.
A former Alabama Power executive, Susan Story, took note of that success when she became CEO of American Water. Years of difficult relationships with the Utility Workers and other unions had cost the company growth opportunities, and health care costs had reached a crisis state. Story and Utility Workers President Michael Langford began candid discussions that led to labor-management collaboration becoming a key element of the company’s culture. The results are seen in the bottom line of the company, Story said.
The conference host city also provided an example of labor-management partnership. Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel welcomed attendees and discussed a partnership that has held health care costs flat for five years without harming benefits. And the relationships generated ideas that have significantly improved key city services while saving millions of dollars. Chicago Labor Federation President Jorge Ramirez echoed Emanuel and noted the key is open, consistent communication.
FMCS Director Allison Beck contended that collective bargaining allows labor and management to solve problems on their own terms. With the economy now in a digital era and millennials set to become the workforce majority, collective bargaining provides a framework to address complex issues.
Such issues come to the fore particularly in the workforce’s changing demographics—generational, racial, ethnic, gender among others—creating new challenges and opportunities. Jason Dorsey, chief strategy officer for the Center for Generational Kinetics, highlighted two trends that shape the workforce: parenting and technology.
Parenting styles of baby boomers have helped produce the millennials’ characteristics, and millennials are shaped by the struggles of student debt and a slow-growing economy.
Dorsey pointed out that millennials (Gen Y) are not necessarily “tech-savvy” but rather are “tech-dependent.” Learning methods are changing and how organizations communicate to employees must also change. Millennials prefer text messages, read just the subject line of emails and look to social media for work communications, according to Dorsey’s research. They are not accustomed to reading long blocks of text. And they do not like getting phone calls.
There are three key reasons to hire and promote millennials, Dorsey pointed out: they want to make a difference at work from the first day, they challenge the status quo and they will work for less money if they believe in the organization. Yet he notes the characteristics of any generation are also defined by where they grow up, so there are some distinct differences within Gen Y.
Of course there is another generation now hitting the workplace, and they are much different from Gen Y. Dorsey has a book Y-Size Your Business that explains his research results.
A more contentious view of labor-management relationships was displayed in a session on the National Labor Relations Board. NLRB Chair Mark Gaston Pierce and General Counsel Richard Griffin explained the Board’s current approach and processes, noting key decisions on several issues were likely soon (including the status of graduate students, decided shortly after the conference). Questioners Lynn Rhinehart, AFL-CIO general counsel, and Randel Johnson, Chamber of Commerce vice president for labor, immigration and employee benefits, also expressed their perspectives on the NLRB’s decisions and policy changes. Rhinehart generally supported the board’s new direction while Johnson expressed concern that regulatory changes could harm businesses and economic growth.
Several sessions focused on the “gig” economy, from exploring how organized labor is finding new ways to support and represent those who may not be considered employees to how in the entertainment industry a system of “gig” work under collective bargaining has flourished for decades.
SEIU leader and author David Rolf said a “new labor movement” was being invented to address low-wage work. He co-founded the Workers Lab to develop and support such efforts. The IAM’s agreement with Uber in New York is an example; the IAM’s Jim Conigliaro said the deal provides a voice for drivers without addressing the issue of employee versus independent contractor. coworker.org is another example of new ways for workers to join together outside traditional organizations.
One employer who chose to hire employees rather than independent contractors, as potential funders of her business insisted, made her case. Christina Sembel, founder and CEO of Farmgirl Flowers, noted that her delivery workforce uses primarily bicycles and, if hurt, needed workers compensation support unavailable to them as independent contractors. She believes that her productivity and quality of work makes the employee model superior to the independent contractor approach.
The conference featured many workshops focused on specific tools for enhancing relationships. Several featured the latest knowledge on neuroscience; understanding how the brain works provides ways to elicit more cooperation and defuse confrontation. Others described successful labor-management partnerships in nearly every industry, both public and private sector. Such partnerships lead to innovation benefitting employers while improving conditions for workers and often generating better outcomes for customers.
For more detailed notes and handouts, please contact me. A list of sessions and speakers can be found at www.fmcs.gov
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