Case Study: Not So Grand Employee Morale at the Grand Limited Hotel
For years, the Grand Limited has been known as the hotel to work for in the metropolitan area where it is located. The hotel has even received a number of awards for being a best place to work and for its family-friendly policies. It is not uncommon for workers to have been with the hotel for 25 years. Now, the hotel is faced with new management and numerous retirements among its 500 employees. With a downturn in the economy, the new management of the hotel has decided to offer a lower wage structure and fewer benefits for new employees than it has offered in the past. The hotel is still paying the market rate for jobs similar to others in the area, and so far it has been able to attract new employees. Unfortunately, the hotel managers have failed to take into consideration that many of the local hotels are unionized. There are rumblings that the newer employees are considering asking the local service industry union to represent them to bargain for better wages and benefits, as well as better working conditions. The newer employees are feeling disenfranchised and have little loyalty to the hotel. They believe they are not being treated equitably with the employees who have been around for a long time. As you can imagine, these issues are starting to spill over into the level of customer service provided to guests of the hotel. You have been asked to serve as a consultant for the hotel to address these labor issues. A goal of management in bringing you in is to stop the employees from having a vote to be represented by a union.
After reading; answer the questions below.
1. As the consultant, take a stand either for or against what management has done to date. Review the facts of the case and use those facts to support your argument. State any assumptions that you are using.
2. Describe what you would do to assist management in blocking the union. Be sure to address legal issues inherent in attempting to block a union effort.
3. Can you identify any value that could actually come from having the employees represented by a union?
4. Make a final recommendation to management about how to proceed in handling this situation