RateMyAdministrators.com: HR Media Campaign Big Flop
Did a day go by during the recent job action that our Employer did not try to use the media against the CUPE leadership?
Day One. HR alleges to the media that some CUPE members are threatening and intimidating other CUPE members about crossing the picket line. To this day, has evidence been presented to support this? Unbelievably, faculty and ASPA members who joined the picket lines were asked by the press if they were afraid of the picketers.
HR then alleged that CUPE was being uncooperative regarding provision of essential services. As I recall, this discussion was dragged out over a weekend.
Then, there were the emails, in clear violation of two collective agreements, stating that health and pension benefits for USFA and ASPA members honouring the picket line would be suspended. Thanks to speedy and effective actions by our bargaining units, these were retracted.
Shortly thereafter, ASPA members were advised by email that their paycheques would be docked if they attended a CUPE event over their lunch break. This was retracted within hours.
On it went, until the weekend of November 24th, when HR published a bargaining update twice implying that the union was “play[ing] games”.
Finally, the capper. On the morning of Tuesday, November 29th, the day on which the CUPE membership was to vote on the University’s “Final Offer”, HR did the only thing tackier than a full page ad. They took out two full page ads, one which reproduced an email from the president.
(Public relations is a tough business. Thus I pity the consultant who advised that the President send an 11th hour email “hop[ing] for wisdom on the part of those entrusted with the decision”. Write when you get work.)
Some may wonder why negotiating in the press, and speaking directly to the members via mailouts is not considered an unfair labour practice. Apparently, such activities may be judged unfair shortly after a union has just been certified, but it is more difficult when the union and the employer have a mature relationship.
The CUPE action showed that the “mature relationship” case cuts both ways. If the relationship is mature enough to allow an employer to use mailouts and full page advertisements, the relationship is mature enough that the employees will make up their own minds on the basis of the facts and their level of trust, and not on the basis of last minute media rhetoric and posturing by the employer.
Thus, taking on the role of chief negotiator for a bargaining unit is not for the faint of heart.
Given the outcome, anyone out there care to comment on the benefits of this approach?
Comments
I could not have said it any better. Since the ASPA contract that was ratified last summer (I still don't understand how the membership voted to accept it) I have been losing my respect for U of S management/HR.
To me, it said a lot about how happy the people that work on campus are, that every single union either voted for the idea of job action, or actually went on strike during the last rounds of bargaining. Did this always happen or did this start after our beloved Barb arrived??? (insert sarcasm where appropriate)
I must commend the U of S for the way they played the media game. But the truth managed to seep through. I thought that it was great to see the CUPE membership stand together and reject the final-final offer (whichever one that was) by voting 85% to reject.
I sure hope that CUPE doesn't have to wipe out the dozens of grievances that were generated during the 5 weeks of job action. I'd like to see HR answer for all the crap they pulled. If they are not held accountable for their actions, the next union bargaining is going to be in for a nasty fight.
It's great to see that despite HR's attempts at tearing apart this community, we managed to maintain our spirits and got together and helped CUPE in our own ways.
I had at least 2 instances where people who I would have suspected were NOT supporting CUPE came forward and voiced their support of CUPE. I found this heartwarming!
I joined the picket lines a few times (during my lunch hours) and received no threats whatsoever. Only heartfelt THANK YOUs!!!
Posted by: Guus van de Velde | December 4, 2007 09:02 AM
Hi Eric:
Once again thanks for blogging away with these thought-provoking questions.
As I counted, the admin placed a total of three full-page ads in the Star Phoenix and the Leader Post during the CUPE strike. My understanding is that each of those ads would have cost somewhere around $7500 per page. So, my estimation of the money spent on the unsuccessful ad campaign was: $7500 X 3 pages X 2 papers = $45,000
It may very well be that the admin gets a special rate for their dealings with the local papers and my estimation may be a little high. Perhaps someone else could check with HR to see how close I am with this.
What did the admin get in return for the money spent? A kick in the shins from CUPE. However, rather than being upset with this useless expenditure, I rest easier viewing the ~$45,000 as tuition paid to learn a lesson from the school of union solidarity. I do hope they don't have to repeat the course. At some point, we may have to take a faculty action and require them to discontinue from their studies.
Posted by: Tracy Marchant | December 5, 2007 12:49 AM