Port workers near strike over unauthorized automation, Volkswagen may ignore company pledge and cut jobs

Greetings, comms pros! Let’s take a look at a few news stories from the past week and see what we can learn from them.

1 . Port workers weigh a work stoppage over worries about automation

Workers at ports on the East and Gulf Coasts are on the verge of striking due to the impact of automation on their livelihoods. At one port in Alabama, the argument began over the automation of a gate of entry into the facility.

According to The New York Times:

The International Longshoremen’s Association, which has more than 47,000 members, said it had discovered that the gate was using technology to check and let in trucks without union workers, which it said violated its labor contract.

“We will never allow automation to come into our union and try to put us out of work as long as I’m alive,” said Harold J. Daggett, the union’s president and chief negotiator in talks with the United States Maritime Alliance, a group of companies that move cargo at ports.

This cross-section of employee comms, AI comms and union comms poses an interesting case study for communicators.

On the one hand, there’s the potential strike to consider, and the careful steps comms pros need to take during unionization or work stoppage efforts.

But there are also concerns over AI at the center of this incident. When something as paradigm-shifting as AI arises, communicators are tasked with ensuring their leaders and representatives are about it openly and honestly.

While this particular situation raises different risks than generative AI, the tenets of proper automation-related comms remain the same. Be as transparent as you can about what changes are afoot, reinforce the value of your employees to the organization, and root every single message in your company’s mission and values.

 2. VW CEO teases job cuts, betraying previous company pledge

Volkswagen put a pledge in place in 1994 that stated that it would not cut jobs in its native Germany. But changing economic tides may threaten that promise and bring plant closures along with it.

According to The Associated Press:

“The European automotive industry is in a very demanding and serious situation,” Oliver Blume, Volkswagen Group CEO, said in a statement Monday.

He cited new competitors entering the European markets, Germany’s deteriorating position as a manufacturing location and the need to “act decisively.”

Thomas Schaefer, the CEO of the Volkswagen Passenger Cars division, said efforts to reduce costs were “yielding results” but that the “headwinds have become significantly stronger.”

You can glean from the seriousness of the quotes from VW’s leadership that something needs to be done, and to go back on a pledge that’s made up a big part of the company’s culture for 30 years would be a big deal. The promises you make to employees form the roots of a positive employee culture. To go back on that would be a big shift and risks damaging what makes VW a good place to work for Germans, not to mention it’s part of the country’s national identity.

Economic issues force leaders to make tough choices. But VW should communicate to its internal populations explicitly about this—including why the pledge was made, what’s changed and why the change is necessary. This should include spelling out the impacts these headwinds will have on their employee base, and providing a thorough explanation to employees if such a massive tenet of company culture is altered after three decades.

 3. Senate bills seek to slash pay for remote-working federal employees

Two bills in the United States Senate may lower both pay and retirement benefits for remote federal employees.

According to The Hill, the proposals, titled the Federal Employee Return to Work Act and the Federal Employee Locality Accountability in Retirement Act would slash raises and locality pay for employees who work remotely as little as one day per week. The bills are sponsored by Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA).

While this legislation isn’t likely to pass into law as things stand right now, it’s worth talking about because of the attitudes surrounding remote work we now see. Although work-from-home situations were incredibly common at the outset of the pandemic, many organizations have called employees back to offices on a full or part-time basis in the five years since.

There are proven benefits to working from home, but there’s also an argument to be made for the connections that come with an in-person office arrangement.

Whatever path your organization chooses to pursue, root your communication in transparency and the cultural values your organization stands for. Employees are the fabric of your company’s culture, and your comms should reflect the values they embody every day to show them that they matter, regardless of where they’re working.

4. How about some good news?

• A new airport terminal in Florence will have a vineyard on the roof.
• Lego announced plans to make its iconic bricks out of renewable materials.
• A cat in England keeps stealing clothes from its neighbors and bringing them back to its home.
• Ragan Training is great for communications pros to find inspiration and resources.
• You should be rewarded for your work. Find out how to earn an award here!

Have a great weekend comms all-stars!

Sean Devlin is an editor at Ragan Communications. In his spare time he enjoys Philly sports, a good pint and ’90s trivia night.