5 Tips on Dealing With Employee Strikes

Running a business comes with many challenges and requires a great deal of responsibility. The more employees you hire, the bigger your responsibilities are. Unfortunately, you can’t predict everything that’s going to happen within your company and in its professional background. Whether there’s a crash on the market or turmoil within your employees’ ranks, you must be ready to take swift action to minimize negative consequences.

One of the most challenging issues you may face while running your own company is a workers’ strike. Regardless of the reason that prompts that kind of action, you need to know how to respond and handle the situation in the best possible way. In this article, we’ll give you five tips on how to deal with it. Keep on reading to learn what to do to keep your business up and running in the case of a workers’ strike.

Plan Your Counteraction

During a workers’ strike, your business continuity is at stake. You need to act quickly; otherwise, you risk losing it all. First, if your employees are on strike, consider hiring strike replacement workers to keep the business up and running. 

On the other hand, if the best thing you can do is to shut it down temporarily, you need to ensure it’s done in the safest possible way. Stock up on materials, take care of the maintenance work and let your business partners and other companies know about the strike. Ultimately, you need to secure your position to prevent your competitors from taking advantage of your situation.

Bridge the Divide

Labor disputes tend to emphasize the divide between employees and management. Maybe it’s something that caused the strike in the first place. If that’s the case, it’s a sign that your work model needs serious updates - such a system is outdated and does your harmony more harm than good. It’s like a ticking bomb; the tensions arise to one day erupt in a strike. The best thing you can do to prevent that is to bridge the divide and practice empathy beforehand. However, in the case of a workers’ strike, make sure you and your employees are on the same page.

Identify the Ringleaders

Every strike happens for a reason, and the more employees join, the more difficult it is to control it. While they’re united by a common cause, their grievances and expectations might be different. However, if you manage to identify the ringleaders, you’ll be able to carry out negotiations. You’ll be unable to talk with every employee on strike. Inviting the leaders for a talk and letting them present their views will help you assess the situation and respond accordingly.

Be Careful While Handling the Media

Chances are the media will get wind of the situation and would like to make news coverage about it. Even the smallest mishap can possibly blow it out of proportion, which can be catastrophic to your employees and business. Avoid a smear campaign, phrases like “no comment,” and looking for a scapegoat. Stick to the facts, be open for dialogue, and focus on coming up with the best solution for your employees and your company.

Provide Your Employees with Information

During a workers’ strike, communication is key - its lack probably caused tensions in the first place. Now you need to negotiate with your employees and work on the best solution for all parties involved. First off, you need to establish a communication plan, be open and honest. 

Your employees might believe that your competitors provide their workers with better conditions. Hopefully, that’s not the case for you. As such, you need to show them that the deals they’re getting are, in fact, just as beneficial. To back up your claims, provide them with relevant information regarding certain aspects of their work.

Know What to Do After a Strike

Handling a situation after a workers’ strike is a sensitive matter. There may be some bad blood between those who went on strike and those who didn’t, as well as between your management and employees. Most importantly, you need to ensure there are no tensions between people working for you and that there’s no bad treatment. Then, you should focus on resolving the issue that caused the strike in the first place and restore the usual business schedule.

The Bottom Line

Employees belonging to a union have the right to strike. Among many reasons, economic unrest, dangerous working conditions, and insufficient pay may prompt them to take that kind of action. As a business owner, you’ll never be able to predict what happens. Nevertheless, you should focus on implementing preventative measures, treating your employees right, and, if all that fails, knowing what to do when a strike breaks out.

You need to have a contingency plan for potential crises your company might face. Otherwise, you risk its continuity and safety. Methods like hiring strike replacement workers, negotiating, handling the media, and developing a strategy during and after the strike can help you stabilize the situation and bring it back to normal. A strike doesn’t have to break the company, but it’s an important sign that some much-needed changes are waiting to be made.