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LRM3702 Assignment 6 2024 SEMESTER 2
- Institution
- University Of South Africa
LRM3702 Assignment 6 Semester 2 2024 - DUE 4 November 2024 .... 100% TRUSTED workings with detailed answers.
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LRM3702Assignment 6 Semester 2 2024
Due Date: 4 November 2024
Labour Relations Management: Micro
RELATIONS GONE BAD
Makelotsomoney is a medium-sized retail company with a few stores in the rural areas
of the Western Cape, including Wellington, Calendon, Swellendam and Montagu,
Bredasdorp and Prince Albert. The managers of each store meet every Monday via a
call to share sales updates and ideas, as they do not meet physically due to the cost of
fuel. The company upgraded its technology in its stores a few months ago because it
wanted to achieve greater efficiency. Joe, the chief shop steward of the Retail Workers’
Union (RWU) (which has been recognised for collective bargaining purposes for a few
years) and Frank, an active union member, both based at the company’s main store in
Paarl, have been employed by the company for many years as packers and general
labourers. Both are quite ambitious and, although it was not their job to operate
computer terminals, they slowly taught themselves how to operate the terminals in the
store as they were keen to improve their skills and educational level. They did so well
that after a few months, they had mastered the computer in the store and were
performing the jobs of computer operators by voluntarily helping out as and when
needed, as the company was short-staffed. They felt that they should receive some
recognition and perhaps some additional remuneration for their efforts and willingness
to learn. Joe then approached the store supervisor and asked that the company regrade
him and Frank upwards as he maintained that they were now performing work of a
higher grade. The store’s supervisor, having been able to rely on Joe and Frank’s skills,
had not himself mastered the terminal. He feared that Joe and Frank were trying to
replace him, so he said he would look into the matter but, despite numerous reminders
to him, he did nothing. Joe and Frank then approached the factory manager and
demanded that he immediately regrade them upwards as they were now performing the
, job of computer operators. He said that he would consider their demand and come back
to them. He was willing to recognise their efforts but was worried about the cost of doing
this. He then spoke to the company’s general manager. His attitude was that recognition
might have been due to Frank and Joe, but that job grading was a management
prerogative. He feared that if they talked to Joe, as senior shop steward, about job
grading, this would set a dangerous precedent and would constitute a victory for the
union in its pursuit of greater workplace control. He believed that the demand was a
union-inspired attempt to dictate to management. Although the factory manager wanted
to discuss the matter with the workers to find a satisfactory outcome, the general
manager decided that it would be best not to respond to Joe and Frank because any
response would constitute a concession to negotiate about a management prerogative.
Joe and Frank eventually decided that if the company was not prepared to regrade
them, then they would stop using the computer and revert to the manual method they
had used in the past. On the first day of their refusal, they received an oral warning for
failing to use the computer and they were instructed by their supervisor that they should
use the computer in future. Joe and Frank were convinced that they could not be forced
to use the computer and were determined to pressurise the company into giving them
the recognition they demanded. They knew that the company needed their computer
skills, and they believed that if they withheld them, the company would be forced to
concede. They therefore continued with their refusal. The company then gave them
written warnings for failing to obey reasonable instructions, as it hoped this would
persuade Joe and Frank to resume using the computer. When they continued with their
refusal, they were given final written warnings for insubordination. On the following day,
they had a major altercation with their supervisor when he instructed them to use the
computer. They informed him that they were sick and tired of being messed around by
the company and that the company could do what it liked but they would not use the
computers until they were upgraded. Joe and Frank were then summoned to a
disciplinary enquiry and dismissed for insubordination after a full hearing. The workers
at the company were incensed at the dismissal of a senior shop steward and were
convinced that the real reason for the dismissal was that the company wanted to get rid
of the union. They therefore stopped work and demanded Joe and Frank’s
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