RE: Unions EO And Priviatization

[Michael Polzin <polzinm@pilot.msu.edu>]

Thanks for the thoughtful response.

Mike Polzin

----------
From:   Don Ward[SMTP:donrward@hotmail.com]
Reply To:       EOpriv@cog.kent.edu
Sent:   Tuesday, October 19, 1999 9:54 AM
To:     EOpriv@cog.kent.edu
Subject:        RE: Unions EO And Priviatization

Michael,

The comments I made were certainly not intended to in any way take away from 
the importance of union-management collaborative initiatives. In my years, I 
have come full circle on the importance of this kind of collaboration, 
regardless of whether it is with a union where the employees are represented 
or directly with the employees where a union is not involved. In the Human 
Resources field we refer to this kind of involvment as soft skills. In a lot 
of business and engineering schools these approaches are not taught. I 
personallly think that is sad and in my teaching I always stressed them.

Thank you for taking the initiative in getting the topic on the table. Long 
before I ever heard of COG I had an insight into how potentially powerless 
the workers were in the old Soviet Union and Eastern Europe after the Berlin 
Wall came down. The group I was with had concluded a meeting at Moscow 
University. After the meeting, I went to the back of the room. On the floor 
was a magazine article entitled "After The Wall". The article made the point 
that as Eastern Europe was moving away from communism, there was no state to 
protect the workers anymore. The article was not clear on the status of 
unions in those countries, however, unions were looked to as the only 
protection the workers had against emerging capitalism.

Thanks for giving me the chance to clear that up.

Don Ward


>From: Michael Polzin <polzinm@pilot.msu.edu>
>Reply-To: EOpriv@cog.kent.edu
>To: "'EOpriv@cog.kent.edu'" <EOpriv@cog.kent.edu>
>Subject: RE: Unions EO And Priviatization
>Date: Mon, 18 Oct 1999 09:34:23 -0400
>
>Don Ward:
>
>Thank you for your response. However, let me be clear that my comments were
>intended to promote collaborative union-management initiatives.  I believe
>that the presence of unions adds great value to organizational performance
>and effectiveness and is an asset to organizational change initiatives.
>
>Mike Polzin
>
>----------
>From:  Don Ward[SMTP:donrward@hotmail.com]
>Reply To:      EOpriv@cog.kent.edu
>Sent:  Saturday, October 16, 1999 8:27 PM
>To:    EOpriv@cog.kent.edu
>Subject:       Unions EO And Priviatization
>
>Michael Polzin
>
>I  commend you for your very balanced e mail on unions and how to develop
>collaborative initiatives. I Just sent an e mail to Tim Mitchell before
>reading your text. You stated so clearly what I was also getting at.  Your
>last couple of paragraphs were exactly the strategies I adopted in my
>company to help keep it union free.
>
>Those were early employee involvment, creating a sense of partnership and
>work hard to develop a climate where management would be trusted. An awful
>lot of this can accomplished just trough listening. It is unfortunate that
>more of our our young managers do not learn those skills while in school. I
>note you are at Michigan State. I am an Ohioan and spent a couple of
>semesters at Ohio State. At the end of Saturday, We both had a lot to cry
>about.
>
>Don Ward
>
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