Here's one way to guarantee your organization votes to unionize. Try firing 20 employees one week before the vote under a shroud of mystery, reinstate them with even greater awkwardness the Sunday before the vote, and then deny them access to the building on Monday.
It's no wonder that the professional staff of the Whittier Street Community Health Center in Boston's Roxbury neighborhood just voted overwhelmingly to join United Healthcare Workers East. In doing so, Whittier becomes the first community health center in Massachusetts to unionize its professional staff. Perhaps the staff would have voted to unionize anyway, but can there be any doubt that management's ill-conceived, heavy-handed tactics contributed to the vote? It's a funny thing about people; we do like to be treated with dignity and respect.
The rather public mess at Whittier is regrettable. These are fine people who are thoroughly dedicated to providing healthcare to those who can least afford it. As a disclaimer, I served on the Whittier board of directors in the 1990s. We are blessed to have them serving on the front lines of community health, as is the case with community health centers across the country.
Management's goal was to prevent unionization. Their considerable clumsiness, however, worked in diametric opposition to that desired outcome and seems to have guaranteed the staff's verdict. When in doubt, as leaders, never drift from the universal injunction to treat people as you would wish to be treated. Be tough. Be firm. Sure, but be smart, too. And understand that common sense is almost always the best prescription where human beings are involved.
It's no wonder that the professional staff of the Whittier Street Community Health Center in Boston's Roxbury neighborhood just voted overwhelmingly to join United Healthcare Workers East. In doing so, Whittier becomes the first community health center in Massachusetts to unionize its professional staff. Perhaps the staff would have voted to unionize anyway, but can there be any doubt that management's ill-conceived, heavy-handed tactics contributed to the vote? It's a funny thing about people; we do like to be treated with dignity and respect.
The rather public mess at Whittier is regrettable. These are fine people who are thoroughly dedicated to providing healthcare to those who can least afford it. As a disclaimer, I served on the Whittier board of directors in the 1990s. We are blessed to have them serving on the front lines of community health, as is the case with community health centers across the country.
Management's goal was to prevent unionization. Their considerable clumsiness, however, worked in diametric opposition to that desired outcome and seems to have guaranteed the staff's verdict. When in doubt, as leaders, never drift from the universal injunction to treat people as you would wish to be treated. Be tough. Be firm. Sure, but be smart, too. And understand that common sense is almost always the best prescription where human beings are involved.