Kirk Blackard - Managing Change in a Unionized Workplace: Countervailing Collaboration

Cover

Page i

Page ii

This page intentionally left blank.

Page iii

Managing Change in a Unionized Workplace

Countervailing Collaboration

KIRK BLACKARD

Page iv

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Blackard, Kirk, 1941
Managing change in a unionized workplace : countervailing
collaboration / Kirk Blackard.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 1567203485 (alk. paper)
1. Trade-unionsGreat
Britain. 2. Industrial relationsGreat
Britain. 3. Organizational changeGreat Britain. I. Title.
HD6664.B527 2000
331.0941dc21 9940352

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data is available.

Copyright 2000 by Kirk Blackard

All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced, by any process or technique, without the express written consent of the publisher.

Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 9940352
ISBN: 1567203485

First published in 2000

Quorum Books, 88 Post Road West, Westport, CT 06881
An imprint of Greenwood Publishing Group, Inc.
www.quorumbooks.com

Printed in the United States of America

The paper used in this book complies with the
Permanent Paper Standard issued by the National
Information Standards Organization (Z39.481984).

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Page v

To Marcia, Chris, and Drew
With all my love

Page vi

This page intentionally left blank.

Page vii

Page viii

Page ix

Page x

This page intentionally left blank.

Page xi

It has been my intention in writing this book to discuss practical applications of important management principles. I am grateful to have worked for a company like Shell Oil, which encouraged such principles and provided room for experimentation and learning. I would like to especially acknowledge three people who more than any others helped fashion my beliefs about management and labor/management relations. The late Verle Whittington, formerly Vice-President of Employee Relations for Shell Oil Company, taught me the importance of the law as a framework for labor/management relations. Verles bulldog tenacity also provided a model for that required to fashion a collaborative labor/management relationship. Jack Mahaffey, formerly President of Shell Mining Company, helped me understand the symbiotic relationship between work and people. He taught me the value of having the work drive the organization and of allowing people the freedom to learn for themselves how to best do the work. Bill Hopgood, currently Senior Vice-President, People, for United Airlines, helped me appreciate the value that a collaborative union can bring to an organization, as well as the necessity for a systems view of the labor/management relationship. I would also like to thank many friends from the then Oil, Chemical, and Atomic Workers International Union for their lessons on labor/management relations. Special thanks go to Bob Wages, formerly President of the International Union, Allen Barnes, and Ron Holloway. Many thanks to the colleagues and friends with whom I have commiserated over the years and who have willingly spent their time to read part or all of the manuscript and provide very helpful ideas and feedback: Sheila Blackstock, Fran Bulawa, Jim Gibson, Glen Gilchrist, James Hoose, Larry Hunter, Phil Jones, Mac MacIver, Christy McWilliams, Tom Ryan, and John Unger. Most of all I would like to thank my