What Are the Cons of the Firm's Strategy of Hiring Replacement Workers?

What are the cons of the firm's strategy of hiring replacement workers?

Based on a sample of thirty-five large strikes in the U.S. and twenty-one small strikes in New York from 1984 to 1988, Gramm (1991) reconfirms that strike durations are much longer when permanent replacement workers are hired. Replacement workers as defined by Wikipedia "is a term that refers to persons employed to replace workers who are on strike, recently sacked or otherwise lost."

The cons of the firm's strategy to hire replacement works are as follows:

- Low skill sets and productivity

- High turnover rate

- Futility of providing effective safety training (as a result of turnover) increases workers' compensation and other legal risks

- Increased administrative tasks such as recording hours, providing training and imposing discipline

- Cost of housing and feeding contract temporaries

- Administrative tasks such as tracking vendor invoices and providing training

- Recruiting costs

- Cost may be higher than actual hours worked due to deployment minimums

- Ineffectiveness of providing effective safety training, which would increase workers' compensation and other legal risks

- Risk of long term hostile relationship between union and non-union employees labeled as "scabs"

- Discomfort of having to cross through a union picket line manned by co-workers

- Negative image with customers who do not want to get involved or question replacement worker's quality of work.

The cons for the union members associated with the firm hiring replacement workers include the potential loss of jobs for the striking employees if there is no union security provision in the original contract that includes either a no layoff policy or a job security guarantee. This tactic can also defeat the strikers and force them back to the bargaining table before they are ready. (Mathis & Jackson, 2011) According to the case study the union is alleging that the strike occurred because of unfair labor practices. With unfair labor practices at the end of the strike the workers who want their jobs back must be reinstated. The company will have put money and time into replacement workers who will then be out of a job or be relocated. If the strike was done for economic reasons an employer is free to replace the striking workers. (1991)

Assuming the firm's goal is to break the union,