Managing Labor Unrest in an

Organizational Scenario
• A strike is defined as the concerted refusal by employees to continue
working, in an attempt to force an employer to meet certain demands.
• A strike generally occurs when company management and the
collective bargaining unit representatives/ labor group (organized/
disorganized) cannot resolve a dispute over wages and working
conditions—an economic strike.
• Allegations of unfair labor practices on the part of the employer—an
unfair labor practice strike.
• The rights and obligations of striking workers and struck employers
are significantly different in the two kinds of strikes.
• Emotions and tensions usually run high when a strike begins, and they
can quickly escalate into violence and property damage if not
properly contained.
Assessment by mgmt on a potential strike
• Management can conduct a proper assessment of the potential
conduct of striking employees by considering:
a. The history and current leadership of the bargaining unit or labor/
striking group.
b. The nature of the issues in dispute,
c. Past conduct during strikes,
d. Current economic conditions and management’s view on the issues
in dispute.
• The assets protection professional must coordinate effectively with
the rest of the organization in preparing to deal with strikes in three
phases:
1. Pre-strike planning;
2. Strike operations; and
3. Post-strike analysis and evaluation.
FUNCTION OF THE SECURITY TEAM
• In any labor dispute, the overriding consideration of the security team is to
Prevent injury and property damage,
• Preserve the integrity of the work site for the early resumption of normal
activities after the dispute ends
• And maintain order.
This is accomplished through:
• The proper planning and deployment of security resources and quick
response to security related incidents.
• Critical Part: Even though the security team is a management resource
identified with the organization , it must be seen as taking a more neutral
position during labor/ employee unrest/ dispute.
Pre-strike planning
• Strikes without violence do occur, but security professionals must consider
the potential for violence throughout their pre-strike planning scenarios.
• Security team would assume neither side uses violence as a weapon in
itself and that violence which does occur is incidental, not central to the
resolution of the dispute.
• Spontaneous violence, which occurs in many strikes, must be dealt with
promptly and properly to prevent the entire mood and complexion of the
strike from becoming more extreme.
• Premeditated violence intentionally used to galvanize emotions or to force
the involvement of public law enforcement agencies is more difficult to
control, but requires the same prompt but measured approach.
EARLY POLICY DECISIONS
• The organization must answer a series of policy questions when developing a strike plan.
• The key questions are:
1. Will the employer attempt to conduct ‘‘business as usual’’, even there is strike going on?
2. If so, what is the probable size of the work force required on the first day of the strike?
3. If not, will any members of the bargaining unit/ striking group who want to report to work
be permitted to do so, or will they be locked out?
4. How will premises access be handled both for pedestrians and for vehicles?
5. Will shipments be made and received?
6. What is the chain of command for strike operations?
7. Will criminal complaints be filed on behalf of the company in cases where the police
make arrests?
8. To what extent will there be documentary coverage of the strike—i.e., photography, TV
and/or sound recordings?
STRIKE OPERATIONS
• PREMISES ACCESS
• Striking workers and their supporters always outnumber management
personnel and usually greatly outnumber available security personnel.
• Their chief weapon, other than withholding their own labor, is their ability
to discourage other individuals from entering the struck premises and to
prevent shipments/ products (linked to production/business) from entering
or leaving the facility.
• The basic premise for planning access to a struck facility should be the
fewest entries possible consistent with the realistically estimated operating
status.
• The entries that are utilized should be located in areas that are easily
secured by security team.
THE LOCKOUT
• The complementary tactic to the strike is the lockout, in which
management refuses to allow members of the bargaining unit on the
premises. While declaring a LOCKOUT employer has to remember the
following:
1. A lockout may lawfully be used in the face of a violent strike—to protect
the employer’s property or to maintain normal operations.
2. If a lockout commences in response to a strike, the employer must give
notice to the bargaining unit/ striking group that the plant will not be open to
its members.
3. Failure to give notice can result in an unfair labor practice charge against
the employer.
4. The course the employer follows—lockout or work as usual—must be
made clear to the work force.
Lock Out: Bangladesh Labor Law
SHIPMENTS IN AND OUT

• Some shipments, such as food, are essential to the operation of any

facility. Trash and garbage can be stored on-site for a brief period, but
trash removal must be considered in strike planning.
• Biohazards material is a particular problem in medical treatment or
laboratory facilities.
CHAIN OF COMMAND
• This often is the most important consideration of all aspects of strike
planning.
• The chief executive is always the final authority, but it is not
uncommon for senior management to be absent from the facility to
participate in collective bargaining or bargaining strategy meetings
General Planning Center and the Security
Planning Center
• It is not unusual for an organization to setup strike planning on multiple levels.
• The two most important are the General Planning Center and the Security Planning
Center.
• Matters concerning internal operations and strike strategy are coordinated through the
General Planning Group.
• Executive contact is a function of this team.
• Physical security—picket line coverage, plant protection, fire prevention and police
liaison—is coordinated by the Security Planning Group.
• Communications between the two groups should be on an ‘‘open line’’ basis, and each
group should update the other immediately on any changes to the plan or procedures.
• The senior executive present should be located in the designated General Planning area.
• The senior security executive should work in the Security Planning area.
CRIMINAL COMPLAINT POLICY
• The most important single external relationship during a strike is with
the local police organization.
• It is important to note here that the most police can be seriously
discouraged by a management team that expects immediate police
reaction—including apprehension, arrest and removal of persons
committing criminal acts—but later hesitates or refuses to process
formal criminal complaints.
• The police do not seek to make unnecessary arrests in strike
situations for a variety of reasons:
● It is an administrative bother at a time when attention is needed in a
tactical problem, which may require that many officers as possible
remain available at the scene.
● The strikers are also citizens, certainly more numerous than
managers. Unnecessary arrests provoke anti-police feelings that can be
translated into political action.
● Used with restraint and sound police judgment, arrests are a key to
strike violence prevention.
DOCUMENTARY STRIKE COVERAGE
• Documentary coverage can include conventional still and motion
pictures, digital pictures, video recordings, sound recordings, and
on-the-spot note-taking etc. The documentation may be required or
especially useful:
1) As proof of criminal charges;
2) In support of an application for injunctive relief;
3) In unfair labor practices complaint hearings before national or state
labor boards; and
4) In defending a civil action brought against the company
POST-STRIKE INTELLIGENCE
• There may be a substantial ‘‘back-to-work’’ movement among the workers before
the formal end of the strike.
• When popular support for the strike has eroded, the violence at the picket lines
tends to abate.
• The main security emphasis will
a. Shift to maintaining order within the facility.
b. While security forces maintain vigilance and police may maintain some
personnel ( If deployed any),
c. Perimeter resources will be reduced and redeployed to regular posts.
d. Not all normal gates will be open during a limited back-to-work movement,
because there probably will not be enough security personnel to handle normal
gate traffic,
e. Cover the perimeter and maintain low-key but augmented internal coverage.
 • When the strike has ended,
a. it is important that the security organization quickly dismantles the
strike defenses at the perimeter
b. Restores the appearance of a normal environment.
INFORM THE POLICE ( If not before)
• It is critical that the police/ Industrial police to be informed immediately
that a strike settlement has been reached and when it is to be
effective—even if the strike ended at 2 a.m. on a holiday,
• The police may have had to make extensive reassignments to cover the
strike, and concerned Police station must know as soon as possible to
permit reassignment of personnel to normal duty.
• It would be very unprofessional for a Security Manager to let police learn of
the end of a strike through the public press.
• The communications between the negotiators, the general strike planning
center, the security strike planning center and the senior security managers
must be ongoing to permit timely police contact.
THREATS AND RETALIATION
• During the strike, especially if some workers have straggled back to work
early, there will be personal animosities and resentments.
• Threats and physical attacks on the person or property of individual
workers may have been made during the strike.
• Following the strike, there will be friction when those who attacked and
menaced face their victims.
• In announcing resumption of work, the company must take the clearly
expressed position that retaliatory behavior, renewed threats or any form
of violence or intimidation will not be tolerated, and that offenders will be
dealt with immediately and severely.
• Company negotiators also must make this point clear to union negotiators
at the time the settlement is reached.
• This point is related to—but different from—the question of amnesty.
• Whether or not amnesty is granted to individuals who make special
trouble during the strike, no one should be permitted to engage in
further violent or threatening behavior after the strike.
• Enforcement of this policy will be among the more urgent of the first
back-to-work tasks of supervisors.
INTERNAL SURVEILLANCE
• Lingering ill will may provoke some ill motive workers to attempt acts of sabotage,
most likely on the first day or two back to work.
• Special vigilance by the security organization may be required; however, it is not
recommended that uniformed personnel be deployed extensively throughout the
facility if that is not the normal pattern.
• Security supervisors or personnel who were assigned to the security patrol groups
should make casual walking observations of the facility, especially those areas in
which post-strike encounters are expected.
• At the first indication of improper activity, the area supervisor and a security
supervisor should be alerted.
• The observant supervisor can deal with the workers involved while the security
supervisor contacts the security headquarters or dispatch center to assure the
availability of backup personnel, if needed.
INVESTIGATIVE FOLLOW-UP
• If threats or other intimidating conduct come to management’s
attention, the facility investigative staff should interview the
complainant, the accused and any other personnel who have relevant
information to quickly resolve the situation.
• Rapid resolution of the specific incident will serve to deter other
incidents by showing that management will enforce its ‘‘no
retaliation’’ policy.
POST-STRIKE SECURITY CRITIQUE

• After normal operations have returned to the work place, security management should
review its performance during the strike.
• The review includes viewing all the motion picture and still films and videotape, and
listening to all the audio recordings.
• Specific incidents and the responses to them should be analyzed, the special supplies and
equipment deployed and on hand should be inventoried, and the performance of
functional groups and individuals within the security organization should be appraised.
• The purpose of the critique is to identify mistakes made and avoid them in the future. The
critique should be accomplished while strike operations are still vivid in the memories of
all concerned.
• Changes in the strike manual or in policies for future strikes can be made as a result of the
critique.
• To the extent that the strike manual or other operational plans must be kept current,
responsibility for that task will be assigned to specific personnel and periodic review dates
will be set.