In May 2019, Delta Airlines circulated a flyer encouraging employees, instead of paying $700 on their annual union dues, to spend the money on a new video game player. Predictably, the company came under fire from employees, pundits, and presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders. With Delta’s CEO earning somewhere between 13 and 22 million dollars a year (depending on your source), many described the circular in such terms as crass, condescending, disgusting, and disgraceful.
There was a time when unions truly represented the underdogs, coming to the defense of workers unable to fight back against slave wages, onerous hours, and unsafe work conditions. Over time, however, unions grew into powers of their own, investing their large war chests not only in the cause of employee protection and advocacy, but increasingly into political activism.
Many dues-paying union members have come to resent how their money gets spent. But they’ve found themselves as helpless to influence union political activity as their great-grandfathers were to influence unethical employer practices. Some of them would like to withdraw from union membership altogether.
The unions have argued that they support candidates and causes that favor workers. They also argue that through their negotiations, all employees enjoy the advantages of higher wages and more comprehensive benefits. Therefore, it wouldn’t be equitable for some employees to bear the expense of supporting the union when all employees reaped the rewards of union efforts on employees’ behalf.
Grapple with the Gray
List two or three reasons for mandatory union membership.
List two or three reasons for optional union membership.
Is there another option?
Having weighed the options, what do you say about union membership and policy?
Gray Matters
Four months after the controversial flyer appeared—on Labor Day, in fact—Delta announced a 4 percent pay raise for its non-union employees. The following January, it gave every employee a profit-sharing bonus of 2 months’ salary. Only company officers, directors and general managers were excluded.
In contrast to unionized American Airlines, Delta seemed to be flying high.
Despite the brouhaha over the offending circular, Delta has been long admired for the quality of its company culture, where employees feel fairly treated, recognized for their efforts, and part of a purpose-driven team. Studies have shown that many members of the larger workforce value the quality of their work environment more than money.
The very concept of unions implies contention between management and employees. Too often, employees need unions to protect their interests against self-serving owners and combative management. But when bosses and managers demonstrate a willingness to meet employees half-way, to listen to their needs and concerns, to respond to their suggestions and grievances, then employees feel empowered and appreciated, obviating the need for a union at all.
Of course, you have healthy and unhealthy company cultures, so it’s impractical to make a blanket rule for whether unions are truly justified and—when they are—whether employees should have freedom to withdraw. Clearly, there is something inequitable about employees benefiting from union negotiations on their behalf when they don’t pay union dues.
Even when unions are necessary, the next question becomes how to measure and monitor when they cross the line from advocacy to activism. Simply putting policy decisions to a vote is not entirely equitable. An employee might reasonably argue as follows: When the union donates money to a candidate I don’t like, I’m paying more for my benefits than I should be, as well as paying for activities I don’t recognize as beneficial.
The beginnings of a solution might be to give employees the option whether their dues money may be used to support political candidates, causes, and committees, thereby capping the amount of money available for political donations. Members might be able to declare party affiliation, with donations being divided among parties and candidates proportionately.
In a perfect world, management would make employee welfare so intricately aligned with company culture that unions would become unnecessary. Until that happens, unions will remain an essential, if imperfect, part of the business landscape.