Pro's and con's of North American Tires

Every time a replacement hiring approach is used, there are benefits and drawbacks for both the employing company and the employees being replaced. Replacement workers are those hired to cover the voids left by workers who have either been fired, gone on strike, or lost their jobs in other ways (Ramsey, 2015).
The organization will be able to carry on with business as usual after hiring the substitute employees. The organization's main benefit appears to be its ability to continue its operations. Additionally, as the striking workers have attempted to demonstrate, the company will make sure to as the striking employees have tried to maintain it at less than 30% capacity (Nkomo, Fotter & McAfee, 2010).
However, several cons relate to the replacement of workers. The company may incur an increase in the recruit costs as it tries to train the new employees on how to carry out their duties. The firm may also experience a low level of skills from the employees they are hiring thus decrease in its production levels. The reputation of the company may be distorted since the customers may not be in a position to question the quality of the products from the new workers (Ramsey, 2015).
Furthermore, hiring may result in conflicts between the union and non-union employees in the organization. These disputes destroy the teamwork thus hampering with the achievement of the set goals of the group. The issue of laying off outstanding staff and replacing them may demotivate the workers. Nevertheless, there might be an increase in legal risks and other compensation costs to the workers as the organization may be not be having adequate time to offer a practical safety training program (Ramsey, 2015).
The workers on strike may lose their jobs, and this may adversely affect their economic contribution to the general economy.

How ethical is the behavior of management?

Ethics refer to a current set of principles that dictates how an individual or a group of people should morally behave in the workplace. The management seems to embrace unethical behaviors towards the union and the workers on strike. The administration fails to fulfill the concessions that they entered with the union even after agreeing to settle the issues raised by the union after the economic recovery and the survival of the entity. Failure to fulfill the agreements puts a question of honesty and trustworthy of the management. Moreover, the administration shows its unethical practices through threats and coercion (Crane & Matten, 2016). For instance, the company starts to hire new employees to cater for the employees who were on strike. The management is unfair in carrying out its responsibilities as we can see that it refuses to discuss the bargaining of the medical cover for the employees and it fails even representatives to a bargaining table with the union (Nkomo, Fotter & McAfee, (2010).
Assuming that the firm’s goal is to break Local 974 of United Tire workers of America, what are the advantages and disadvantages of this strategy?
The firm would benefit with this strategy as it will be able to control the wage and salary rates for its workers without entering into concessions with unions. This may, in turn, boost its profitability levels as the payment expenses tend to decrease (Huang, Jiang, Lie, & Que, 2017). From our case, we are told that non-union plants of the company continued to produce at capacity when the company was providing at less than 30% of their ability due to strike ordered by the union.
The firm may be able to increase its market share by absorbing another competitor. For example, it is said that the non-union plant purchased Mexico’s largest manufacturer of tires (Nkomo, Fotter & McAfee, 2010).
On the other hand, the firm may experience losses or even close down its operations if the union of workers is not present. From the case study, there are suggestions that the union had concessions with the company to ensure it recovers from economic disasters in the country and remains viable in the market (Huang, Jiang, Lie, & Que, 2017).

What standard should the firm use in setting wage rates (industry or geographic)?

The firm should use the industrial standard of setting its wage rates. The industrial method will ensure that the employees receive similar amounts of wages and salaries depending on the performance of the industry and not geographical area. Setting the payment or compensation rates based on the geographic aspects may demotivate employees who work for the company in various areas (Parker, 2017). Also, people may tend to migrate to the areas that offer higher wages payment as compared to those who pay less. The industrial mode brings about fairness in the working groups thus improving the morale of the employees.

References

Crane, A., & Matten, D. (2016). Business ethics: Managing corporate citizenship and sustainability in the age of globalization. Oxford University Press.
Huang, Q., Jiang, F., Lie, E., & Que, T. (2017). The effect of labor unions on CEO compensation. Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, 52(2), 553-582.
Nkomo, Fotter & McAfee. (2010). The Give Back: A Case of Union Busting
Parker, R. (2017). The Impact of Increasing Minimum Wage.
Ramsey, F. (2015). Officer retention: stop the revolving door.