Demand for Fair Pay
This essay summarises the position of The Rail Workers Union (RWU) regarding the negotiations with the Suburban Rail. In the essay, we advance our position about the three main issues that relate to the negotiations: pay, notice hours and additional services. The report contains the position of the union and arguments to support the demands.
Our first concern relates to the issue of fair pay to our members. We strongly believe that Suburban Rail has so far failed to pay our members fairly and in accordance with the nature of work that our members do. Therefore, we demand that Suburban Rail increases the pay of all employees, who are our members, by 6% with immediate effect. This position is in line with a number of critical issues that affect the well-being of our members.
As the history of the current negotiations shows, we have repeatedly raised concerns that the current commercial changes that are taking place at the organisation interfere with the enterprise agreement that is still in place. The organisation is undergoing large-scale changes in its operations and services. The addition of new services (1,500) is already significantly altering the working conditions of our members.
As we indicated in our previous engagements, these alterations are so severe that the only way of remedying their effects is to develop a new set of enterprise agreement between the RWU and the organisation. However, we strongly believe that the organisation can remedy the situation by increasing the pay of our members by 6%.
The union is aware that currently, the government recommends the pay raise for state employees not to exceed 2.5%. However, when the government set this limit, it did not foresee special situations like what is currently taking place at Suburban Rail. In theory, wage rise negotiations are usually based on the prevailing social and economic conditions (Li, 2014). Organisations and trade unions normally agree on rates that are in line with industry standards and the existing external social and economic conditions in the given country and region.
The complexity of the situation, where the employer is implementing organisational changes that alter the way its employees operate, warrants our demand for a 6% pay raise for all Suburban Rail workers.
Additionally, we think that the demand for a 6% pay increase for our members is appropriate because of the anticipated growth of the employer. Suburban Rail is currently enjoying a peak in the demand for its services. The increase in services means that the organisation will enjoy a corresponding increase in revenue and profitability.
According to Bryson (2014), pay raise negotiations should be sensitive to the potential effect of job losses on the members of trade unions. We think that the job losses may occur if organisations in question start making losses after implementing the pay rise. However, in this case, the projected increase in revenue and profitability of Suburban Railway can cover the additional expense of the 6% increase in employee salaries. Therefore, the organisation cannot argue that our demand for a 6% pay raise is unsustainable.
Demand to Suspend Expansion Project
Our second demand is that Suburban Rail suspends its recent expansion project to ease commuter congestion and reverts to the original timetable of services. The organisation has changed its operational timetable and introduced 1,500 new services to address the growing demand for public transport in the country. However, we strongly argue that as much as the new timetable will help to address the current challenges in the transportation sector, its implementation will have adverse effects on our members who are the employees of the organisation.
There is a correlation between the amount of work that employees do and their level of productivity. For example, Man and Ling (2014) argue that the number of hours that employees spend at work directly affects their health and stress levels. It is further noted that stress and health levels determine the quality of work that employees do and their level of work satisfaction (Man and Ling, 2014). Similarly, Coviello et al. (2017) observe that the nature of work affects the moods of employees which determines their productivity.
The introduction of the new timetable has drastically affected the performance of our members. Recently, the Suburban Rail operations were grounded when 80 employees called in sick. We reiterate that this was not an act of sabotage, as reported by a section of the media, but an indication of the negative effects of overworking on our members.
The union holds that the extra 20 minutes that drivers need to work every week, coupled with pressure to match the ever-growing demand for services is taking a toll on them. Thus, we have repeatedly received complaints that our members are working under intense stress.
Under the initial timetable, there was a balance between workload and productivity. Our employees operated under the old timetable comfortably. However, the introduction of new services has disrupted the balance between workload and productivity. The organisation cannot expect our members to maintain their individual performance under the new conditions. With the need to work for extended periods, our employees get fatigued and eventually fail to deliver as per the expectations of the employer.
The union understands that it is possible to reach a consensus on the number of new services. However, we hold that a viable and alternative consensus should entail rewarding our members or limiting the damage that they are already undergoing.
Evidence shows that monetary and non-monetary rewards directly influence the level of employee satisfaction (Safiullah, 2014). Moreover, Shafiq and Naseem (2011) observe that organisations can maintain the output of their employees by ensuring that the reward system is responsive to changes in the work environment.
In this case, RWU argues that even if Suburban Rail is willing to reduce the number of new services to ease the pressure on our members, the organisation should complement this gesture with an increase in employee rewards. The additional reward may be in the form of an increase in monetary pay or introduction of new workplace benefits for all the employees. It is because of these reasons that we demand immediate suspension of the new systems and revert to the old timetable for the good of our members and the employer.
Demand to Increase Notice Hours
Our third concern is that the organisation is pushing to reduce the notice required for roster changes from 48 to 24 hours. If the management of the organisation successfully implements this change, then employees will have to be available for urgent tasks within very short timeframes.
We hold that Suburban Rail should increase the notice required for roster changes from the current 48 to 96 hours. Generally, the union believes that reducing the number of notice hours denies employees their freedom and undermines the implementation of the concept of employee engagement. According to Federman (2009), employee-management relationships determine the level of workplace engagement in any organisation. When the relationship between the management team and employees is strained, most of the individuals lose the motivation for committing to the course of their employer.
Furthermore, Dickson (2010) notes that companies can foster employee engagement by creating and maintaining a conducive environment for employee-management communication. If employees feel that their rights are violated, then they will be less engaged than if they can communicate with the management directly and openly.
The proposed reduction of the notice hours will interfere with the freedom of employees. Implementation of the programme will cause drivers and other workers to lose their personal time if an emergency occurs. Moreover, the application of shorter notice hours will undermine the motivation of our members to work for their employer.
The union is fully aware of the pressure that the organisation is currently facing. We understand that the management is pushing for the changes as a way of improving productivity to meet the surge in demand for services. However, the union believes that if the management implements this plan, then the organisation will lose in the long term as a result of low morale and engagement levels among the employees. Therefore, instead of reducing notice hours, Suburban Rail should increase them to 96.
In summary, the RWU argues that Suburban Rail should increase salaries by 6% to cater for the effect of workplace changes on the lives of employees. The 6% increment is justified by the current rate of growth of the organisation, its projected productivity and the expectations that it has on our members. The union also demands that the employer abandons the plan of implementing additional 1,500 services. Adding 1,500 services will undermine the productivity of our employees as a result of the level of stress that they will have to cope with under the new arrangement. Lastly, the union demands that the employer increases the notice for roster changes from the current 48 hours to 96 hours.
References
Bryson, A. (2014). Union wage effects What are the economic implications of union wage bargaining for workers, firms, and society? IZA World of Labor, volume 35, p. 1 – 10, viewed 14 December 2018, <https://wol.iza.org/uploads/articles/35/pdfs/union-wage-effects.pdf>
Coviello, D., Desserranno, E., Persico, N. and Sapienza, P. (2017). Effect of Mood on Workplace Productivity, viewed 14 December 2018, <https://tintin.hec.ca/pages/decio.coviello/research_files/MoodCallCenter.pdf >
Dickson, D., A. (2010). Fostering Employee Engagement: Practical Tools and Best Practice Techniques. New York: Human Resource Development.
Federman, B. (2009). Employee Engagement: A Roadmap for Creating Profits, Optimizing Performance, and Increasing Loyalty. Mason: John Wiley & Sons.
Li, Z. (2014). Study on the Consensus Salary System for Modern Enterprises. New York: Springer Science & Business Media.
Man, N., L. and Ling, T., W. (2014). Relationships between Working Hours and Productivity: The Case of Food Services and Information Communication Industries in Hong Kong. Advances in Economics and Business, volume 2(7), pp. 281-292, viewed 14 December 2018, <https://www.hrpub.org/download/20141101/AEB4-11802773.pdf >
Safiullah, A., B. (2014). Impact of Rewards on Employee Motivation of the Telecommunication Industry of Bangladesh: An Empirical Study. IOSR Journal of Business and Management, volume 16(2), pp. 22-30, viewed 14 December 2018, <https://iosrjournals.org/iosr-jbm/papers/Vol16-issue12/Version-2/D0161222230.pdf >
Shafiq, M., M. and Naseem, M., A. (2011). Association between Reward and Employee Motivation: A Case Study Banking Sector of Pakistan. SSRN, pp. 1-12, viewed 14 December 2018, <https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1857663 >
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