The Theme of the Union as an Outsider

Successful management campaigners instruct employees that the friendly relationships between management and employees they have known tend to deteriorate if employees choose to unionize, since unions often promote strife and divisiveness through the creations of a “we vs. them” atmosphere. Employers have also told employees that workers will no longer be able to approach management directly; instead, they must pursue time‐consuming grievance procedures in order to achieve solutions to their workplace problems. Pay increases and promotions, employees are told, will no longer be based on individual merit. This is because union contracts rarely provide for merit pay and promotions are rarely given with merit as the sole criteria. Seniority usually plays a role as a governing or compelling factor. The basic message is that employees lose their individuality through the interference of an outsider.