It's long been said that workers don't quit companies; they quit managers. So, does it follow that if workers at a store decide to form a union, the store manager should pay? The answer if you run a Menards, according to a report by The Progressive, quite literally, appears to be "yes."
The magazine published a section of the employment agreement for Menards under the title of Union Activity that threatens punitive action should a store become organized.
"The Manager's income shall be automatically reduced by sixty percent (60%) of what it would have been if a union of any type is recognized within your particular operation during the term of this Agreement. If a union wins an election during this time, your income will automatically be reduced by sixty percent (60%)."
The threat of a 60 percent pay cut, according to The Progressive and The Capital Times, is not news to those in Menards' home state. The publications reference other reports that have cited the policy going back to 2003.
Source: menards.com
While many non-unionized retailers are known for their aggressive efforts to thwart organizing activity at their stores and distribution centers, the clause in the Menards agreement suggests it may be putting managers in a position in which they would feel the need to take extraordinary steps to keep a union out.
The National Labor Relations Act makes it illegal to threaten workers of union activity. But the legal question is whether companies, in essence, are doing roughly the same thing by threatening the wages of managers who may then feel compelled to take actions that would interfere with the rights of workers to organize.