As part of my Staff Management course, a group of my classmates and I presented a case study about Ford Motor's relationship with unions in multiple countries.

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Case 7.1: Global Industrial
Relations at Ford Motor
Company
Group 4: Leslie Closterman, Lily Busher, Yevie
Teyfukova, Kristen Arps, Jamie Shannon

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Agenda
 Intro
to Case Study
 Questions
 Key
Takeaways
 Discussion
 Sources

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Intro to the Case Study

Ford Motor Company


~215,000 employees worldwide


30 countries
56 different unions across countries
Challenge: Variety of Unions

i.e. Australia- subcommittees at a local level versus Germanycentralized negotiations via national employers’ association

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Question 1

What is the nature and role of
bargaining?

To negotiate mutually agreeable terms of
employment including:


Hours

Health and safety policies


Salary and benefits
Leave
Conflict resolution in the workplace
www.aflcio.org/Learn-About-Unions/Collective-Bargaining

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Question 1 -continued
What is the role of government in bargaining?

Regulates employment conditions

Provide benefits i.e. health care, gov’t pensions

Setting bargaining and striking rules

Resolve conflicts via legal system

Government as an employer

Negotiates with employees

Large number of public sector unions

Sets precedent nationwide
http://www.shareyouressays.com/116929/what-is-the-role-of-government-in-collective-bargaining

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Question 2

What problems do you see for MNEs (multi-national
enterprises) that must bargain with unions in multiple
countries?

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Economic conditions

Culturally-bound values

Level and logistics of communication

Varying definitions and understanding of contracts

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Country-specific legislation and regulations
Language barriers
How do you advise that these be resolved?
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Research! (i.e. U.S. Dept of Labor, Int’l Labor Org, etc.)
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Communicate!

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Question 3

What do you predict for the future of
unions and union relations in the global
economy and why?
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Changing workforce


Growth of private versus public sector unions


Possible trend: decline of unions due to
greater job mobility
More private sector employment  more
private unions
Global economic growth=international union
expansion

Possible trend: unions may begin to play a
larger role in historically poorer countries as
economies improve and exploitation is
tolerated less

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Key Takeaways
 Union
structures and relations vary by country
 Communication
between all involved parties
(employee, employer and government) is essential
 Conditions
 Future
field
change continually
of unions is unknown, much debate in the

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Discussion

Thoughts?

Comments?
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Examples?

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Sources and Additional Resources

AFL-CIO America’s Unions (2014). Collective Bargaining.
Retrieved from http://www.aflcio.org/Learn-AboutUnions/Collective-Bargaining

Share Your Essays (2014). What is the Role of Government in
Collective Bargaining? Retrieved from
http://www.shareyouressays.com/116929/what-is-the-role-ofgovernment-in-collective-bargaining