Transcript Chapter 014 Collective Bargaining & Labor Relations

McGraw-Hill/Irwin
Copyright © 2014 by the McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Need to Know
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7.
Unions and labor relations’ role in organizations.
Labor relations goals of management, labor
unions, and society.
Laws and regulations that affect labor relations.
Union organizing process.
How management and unions negotiate
contracts.
Practice of contract administration.
Cooperative approaches to labor-management
relations.
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Role of Unions
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In U.S., most workers act as individuals to select jobs
that are acceptable to them and to negotiate pay,
benefits, flexible hours, and other work conditions.
At times, workers have believed their needs and
interests do not receive enough consideration from
management.
One response by workers is to act collectively by
forming and joining labor unions.
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Unions and Labor Relations
Unions – organizations
formed for the purpose
of representing their
members’ interests in
dealing with employers.
Labor relations – field
that emphasizes skills
managers and union
leaders can use to
minimize costly forms of
conflict (such as strikes)
and seek win-win
solutions to
disagreements.
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3 Levels of Labor relations decisions:
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Figure 14.1: 10 Largest Unions in U.S.
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National and International Unions
Most Union members belong to a national or
international union that may be:
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

Craft unions: members all have a particular skill or
occupation.
Industrial unions: members are linked by their work in a
particular industry.
Most national unions are affiliated with the American
Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial
Organizations (AFL-CIO).

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Figure 14.2: Union Membership Density
among U.S. Wage and Salary Workers
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decline in union membership DUE to:
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Figure 14.3: Union Membership Rates
and Coverage in Selected Countries
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Sketch of a Union Worker
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Impact of Unions on Company Performance
Harley-Davidson and the
International Association of
Machinists and Aerospace
Workers have cooperated to
produce good results.
•
Companies wishing to become
more competitive need to
continually monitor their labor
relations strategies.
•
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Management Goals
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Management goals are to increase organization’s
profits.
Managers prefer options that lower costs, raise
output and keep organization’s operations flexible.
When an employer has recognized a union,
management’s goals continue to emphasize
restraining costs and improving output.
With labor unions, managers prefer to limit
increases in wages and benefits, and retain as
much control as they can over work rules and
schedules.
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Labor Unions Goals
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Obtain pay and working conditions that satisfy
and give members a voice in decisions that affect
them.
Unions achieve results by gaining power in
numbers.
Unions want to influence the way pay and
promotions are determined.
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Goals of Labor Unions
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Survival and security of a union depend on its
ability to ensure a regular flow of new members
and member dues to support the services it
provides.
Unions place high priority on negotiating two
types of contract provisions that are critical to a
union’s security and viability:


Check-off provisions
Union membership or contribution provisions
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Goals of Labor Unions
Checkoff Provision
Membership Security
Contract provision under
which the employer, on
behalf of the union,
automatically deducts
union dues from
employees’ paychecks.
•
Closed shop
•Union shop
•Agency shop
•Maintenance of
membership
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Societal goals
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Activities of unions and management take place
within the context of society.
Society’s values drive laws and regulations that
affect labor unions.
Society’s goal for unions is to ensure that
workers have a voice in how they are treated by
their employers.
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Laws Affecting Labor Relations
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Laws Affecting Labor Relations
Right-to-work laws: state
laws that make union
shops, maintenance of
membership, and agency
shops illegal.
•
National Labor Relations
Board (NLRB): Federal
government agency that
enforces the NLRA by
conducting and certifying
representation elections
and investigating unfair
labor practices.
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Figure 14.4:
States with Right-to-Work Laws
SOURCE: National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation, “Right to Work States,” www.nrtw.org , accessed
May 3, 2012.
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Test Your Knowledge
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True (A) or False (B)
NLRA established unfair labor practices on the part
of the union.
NLRB determines which states are Right-to-Work
In Right-to-Work states, employees do not have to
become members of the union
In states without Right-to-Work laws unions can
refuse to hire non-union members.
Protection from union misconduct was established by
the Landrum-Griffin Act.
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Organizing Process
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Signing Authorization Cards
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A document indicating that an employee wants to be
represented by a labor organization in collective
bargaining
Is there sufficient interest on the part of employees
to justify the unit?
Evidence of interest when at least 30 % of
employees in a work group sign an authorization
card
Usually need 50% to proceed
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Figure 14.5: Authorization Card
Example
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Election and Certification
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NLRB monitors secret-ballot election on set date
Board will issue a certification of results to
participants
Majority of employees vote for union.
NLRB will certify.
Process does not require either party to make
concessions; it only compels them to bargain in
good faith.
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Table 14.1: What Supervisors Should
and Should Not Do to Discourage Unions
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Union Strategies
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Organizers call or visit employees at home to talk
about issues like pay and job security.
Offer workers associate union membership.
Conduct corporate campaigns.
Negotiate employer neutrality and card-check
provisions into a contract.
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Union Decertification
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Taft-Hartley Act made it possible for employees to
decertify a union
Essentially the reverse process that employees must
follow to be recognized as an official bargaining
unit
Employees have used decertification petitions with
increasing frequency and success
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Collective Bargaining
In collective bargaining a union negotiates on behalf
of its members with management representatives to
arrive at a contract defining:

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Recognition
Management Rights
Union Security
Compensation and Benefits
Grievance Procedure
Employee Security
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Table 14.2:
Typical
Provisions in
Collective
Bargaining
Contracts
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Table 14.2:
Typical
Provisions in
Collective
Bargaining
Contracts
Cont.
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Test Your Knowledge: Which is an
Unfair Labor Practice (ULP)?
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Enforcing disciplinary policies only to those who have
expressed interest in a union
Showing employees articles about negative aspects of
unions that occurred elsewhere
Email employees asking them to respond with how they
plan to vote in the union election
Tell employees the disadvantages of having a union
Enforcing disciplinary policies when deserved to a prounion employee
Promise employees an additional week of vacation if they
vote against the union
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Bargaining Over New Contracts
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When Bargaining Breaks Down
Strikes
Strike: a collective
decision by union
members not to work until
certain demands or
conditions are met.

Alternatives to Strikes
Mediation
•Fact Finder
•Arbitration
•
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Figure 14.6: Strikes Involving 1,000 or
More Workers
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Alternatives to Strikes
• Conflict resolution
procedure in which a
mediator hears views
of both sides and
facilitates negotiation
process but has no
formal authority to
dictate a resolution.
• Third party to
collective bargaining
who reports reasons
for a dispute, views
and arguments of
both sides, and
possibly a
recommended
settlement, which
parties may decline.
• Conflict
resolution
procedure in
which an
arbitrator or
arbitration
board
determines a
binding
settlement.
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Contract Administration
Contract Administration
Carrying out
agreement’s terms and
resolving conflicts over
interpretation or
violation of the
agreement.
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Grievance Procedure
Process for resolving
union-management
conflicts over
interpretation or violation
of a collective bargaining
agreement.
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Figure 14.7: Steps in an EmployeeInitiated Grievance Procedure
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Labor-Management Cooperation
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Test Your Knowledge
True (A) or False (B)
1. Mediation requires each party to abide by the
mediator’s decision.
2. Clearly written contracts require less contract
administration time due to fewer disagreements
over interpretation.
3. Integrative bargaining involves a win-lose approach
because the issues are considered a fixed pie.
4. A union steward represents the issues concerning
union employees and is elected by them.
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Summary
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A union is an organization formed for the purpose
of representing its members in resolving conflicts
with employers.
Labor relations is the management specialty
emphasizing skills that managers and union
leaders can use to minimize costly forms of conflict
and to seek win-win solutions to disagreements.
Management goals are to increase organization’s
profits. Managers generally expect that unions will
make these goals harder to achieve.
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Summary
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Labor unions have the goal of obtaining pay and
working conditions that satisfy their members.
They obtain these results by gaining power in
numbers.
Society’s values have included the hope that
existence of unions will replace conflict or
violence between workers and employers with
fruitful negotiation.
In contrast to traditional view that labor and
management are adversaries, some
organizations and unions work more
cooperatively.
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