CASE SUMARY Ahmad, a newly appointed supervisor to a unionized crew of 16 equipment operators, oilers and mechanics, was unaware

of the labor agreement in effect that carefully defined and limited the role of supervisors. As he approached his work area, he noticed one of the cherry pickers standing idle with the operator beside it. Ahmad pulled his pickup beside the operator. Whats going on here? asked Ahmad. Out of gas, the operator said. Well, go and get some, said Ahmad. The operator said The oilers on break right now. He will be back in a few minutes. Having a 5-gallon can of gas on his pickup, Admad quickly got the gas, climbed on the cherry picker and started to pour it into the gas tank. As he did so, other operators around him shut down their machines in unison and climbed down of their equipment to watch him pour the gas. A moment later, he saw the union steward approaching.

(A) WHY DID ALL THE OPERATORS SHUT DOWN THEIR MACHINE The operators may noticed and considered Ahmads actions and behavior unjust and arbitrary which made them unsatisfied.

As a supervisor who play a key role in labor-management relations, Ahmad must administer the labor agreement on a daily basis. However, he was unaware of the labor agreement in effect that carefully defined and limited the role of supervisors at first.
Since Ahmads primary responsibility as a supervisor is to direct the workforce, he must be careful and have just cause for his actions and attitude. When the union believes that a supervisors actions are unjust, these actions will be grieved through the grievance procedure.

(B) IF YOU WERE AHMAD, WHAT WOULD YOU DO NOW? EXPLAIN 1/ Explain to the union and the other workers that my action was unintentional. It is caused by my unawareness of the labor agreement. 2/ Apologize for the action which led the workers on shutting down their machines and stopping working. 3/ Learn more about the labor agreement so that I can work properly and avoid the other consequences