Ethical dilemma:
Unions and conflict of interest
November 2004
You are a union official. One of your members is discovered to have a history of mental illness is going to be dismissed by his employer on that basis, which you feel clear is unfair. He has appealed to you in your union role to help him protect his job.
However, the other union members at the workplace share their employer's prejudices and do not want to work with this man because of his mental illness.
They hold an informal meeting where they vote strongly not to support their fellow worker and convey this opinion to the union.
Ethical questions:
- What are the issues?
- Who are the stakeholders?
- What should you do?
- What would you do?
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