Union workers' view on unfair labor practices: a phenomological study

• Main Author: Arias, Antero V.
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Animo Repository 1998
• Subjects: Labor and laboring classes; Phenomenology; Labor policy; Industrial relations; Work; Equality; Social justice; Industrial and Organizational Psychology; Psychology
• Online Access: https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/etd_masteral/1927
• Institution: De La Salle University

Unfair labor practices are acts and practices specifically defined by Article 248 and Article 249 of the Labor Code of the Philippines. They include acts of interference, coercion, intimidation, and other related acts that generally violate the workers' right to self-organization. The lived experiences of the union workers on unfair labor practices were studied because they could enrich the available legal materials and could provide an honest to goodness measure of our present legal standards.In general, my study sought to answer the following questions:(1) What are the union workers' views and attitudes on the right to self-organization? What importance do union workers attach to them?(2) What specific work-related activities would union workers consider as covered by their right to self-organization? How do union workers view these activities?(3) What are the union workers' views and attitudes on unfair labor practices? What importance do union workers attach to them?(4) What specific acts and practices would union workers consider as unfair labor practices? How do union workers view these practices?(5) What are the consequences of unfair labor practices on the union workers from their subjective viewpoints? How do union workers view these consequences? What are the union workers' coping mechanisms from their subjective viewpoints? How do union workers view these coping mechanisms?(6) What are the reasons why union workers are reluctant to take formal and/or legal measures, from their subjective viewpoints, to protect their interests? How do union workers view these reasons?My study comprised of five (5) subjects with three male and two female participants. The criteria for their selection were as follows:(1) They all came from the rank and file level.(2) Their ages ranged from 25 to 45 years old.(3) Their educational attainment should, at least, be second year college.(4) They were union officers or active union members of said labor union.(5) They had been employed with the company for, at least, three years.A self-constructed interview guide was used. It was content and expert judgment validated. Then, an in depth one-on-one interview was conducted. The data were categorized according to the emerging meaning themes from the various standpoints of the union workers.Some of the important findings revealed that:(1) The respondents were unanimous in regarding the right to self-organization as a source of power (2) Said respondents, however, also perceived divisions within their ranks (3) The respondents were unanimous in their view that strike was the most potent tool covered by the right to self-organization (4) The majority of the respondents viewed the workers to be ignorant of the legal concept of unfair labor practice (5) The majority of the respondents viewed the workers to be as capable as management in the commission of unfair labor practice (6) The respondents unanimously viewed that the victims of unfair labor practice experienced outrage and paranoia (7) THe majority of the respondents viewed the support services of the union to be the coping mechanisms of the victims.