Chapter 15 Labor Relations

Question 1

Unions

Answer 1

Organizations formed for the purpose of representing their members’ interest in dealing with employers.

Question 2

Labor Relations

Answer 2

Managers and union leaders can use to minimize costly forms of conflict and seek win win solutions

Question 3

3 levels of decision to labor relations

Answer 3

1. ) Labor relations- for management, Work with unions or not with unions. For unions, fight changes or accept new kinds of labor management relationships
2. ) Negotiating contracts- Pay, job security, work rules, etc..
3. ) Administering contracts- Day to day activities in which union members and organization may have disagreements

Question 4

Craft

Answer 4

Labor union whose members all have a particular skill or occupations

Question 5

Industrial Union

Answer 5

• Labor union whose members are linked by their work in a particular industry.
• Many different occupations.
• Changing employers is less common than craft workers
• As many employees in as wide a range of skills as possible

Question 6

Before 1930’s

Answer 6

Before 1930’s the U.S legal system was generally hostile to unions. Viewed as hindering free trade.

Question 7

(AFL-CIO)

Answer 7

Association that sees to advance the shared interests of its member unions at the national level. Not a labor union.
-Represent important interests in public policy issues, such as labor laws, economic policies, and occupational safety and health.

Question 8

Local Unions

Answer 8

Negotiation occurs at the local level for work rules

Question 9

Union Steward

Answer 9

An employee elected by union members to represent them in ensuring that the terms of the labor contract are enforced.

Question 10

Reasons for Decline in Union Membership

Answer 10

1. ) Change in the structure of the economy- Much recent job growth has occurred in the service sector of the economy; finance, insurance, etc while traditionally unions represent blue collared workers. Much business growth has been in the south, where workers are less likely to join.
2. ) Management efforts to control costs- Unionized workers receive higher pay than their counterparts and the pressure is greater because of international competition. U.S producers compete with companies with entirely different pay scales.
3. ) Human Resource practices- Competition for scarce human resources can lead employers to offer much of what employees traditionally sought through union membership
4. ) Government regulation- Stricter regulations in such areas as workplace safety and equal employment where unions would typically show an advantage over.

Question 11

Goals Management’s

Answer 11

Increase organization’s profits

Question 12

Labor Union

Answer 12

Obtaining pay and working conditions that satisfy their members and of giving members a voice in decisions that affect them.
-No seniority pay, common for all to get same pay

Question 13

Checkoff Provision

Answer 13

Contract provision which the employer, on behalf of the union, automatically deducts union dues from employees’ paychecks

Question 14

Different types of union membership (Membership security

Answer 14

1. ) Closed shop- strongest union security arrangement. A person must be a union member before being hired. They are illegal under the National Labor Relations Act.
2. ) Union Shop- Arrangement that requires an employee to join the union within a certain time (30 days) after beginning employment.
3. ) Agency Shop- requires the payment of union dues but not union membership

4.) Maintenance of membership- rules do not requires union membership but do require that employees who join the union remain members for a certain period of time, such the length of the contract

Question 15

Some States forbid all of them

Answer 15

All of these provisions are ways to address unions concern about free riders, employees who benefit to from union activities without being belonging to a union.

Question 16

National Labor Relations Act (Wagner Act 1935

Answer 16

Federal law that supports collective bargaining and sets out the rights of employees to form unions. Union membership in United States tripled from 1933 to 1939.

Question 17

Section 7

Answer 17

Right to self-organization, to form, join, or assist labor organizations, to barging collectively through representatives of their own choosing, and to engage in other concerted activities for the purpose of collective bargaining

Question 18

Protected by NLRA

Answer 18

1. ) Union Organizing
2. ) Joining a union, whether recognized by employer or not
3. ) Going out on strike to secure better working conditions
4. ) Refraining from activity on behalf of the union

Question 19

Workers employed in the following conditions are not covered

Answer 19

1. ) supervisor
2. ) employed by parent or spouse
3. ) independent contractor
4. ) domestic service of any person or family in a home
5. ) agricultural laborers
6. ) Railway Labor Act
7. ) Federal, state, or local government

Question 20

Taft-Hartley Act

Answer 20

Unions may not restrain employers through actions such as the following:

1. ) Mass picketing in such numbers that nonstriking employees physically cannot enter the workplace
2. ) Engaging in violent acts in strike
3. ) Threatening employees with physical injury or job loss if they do not support the union activities
4. ) During contract negotiations, insisting on illegal provisions, provisions that the employer may hire only workers who are union members, or working conditions to be determined by a group to which the employer does not belong to
5. ) Terminating existing contract and striking for a new one without notifying the employer

Question 21

Right to work

Answer 21

State laws that make union shops, maintenance of membership, and agency shops illegal.

Question 22

Landrum-Griffin Act

Answer 22

Regulates unions’ actions with regard to their members, including financial disclosure and the conduct of elections. Establishes and protects rights of union members. Right to nominate candidates for union office, participate in union meetings and secret ballot elections and examine unions’ financial records.

Question 23

National Labor Relations Board (NlRB

Answer 23

Federal agency that enforces the NLRA by conducting and certifying representation elections and investigating unfair labor practices. Consists of 5 members on the board, the general counsel, and 52 regional and other field offices.

Question 24

What does the NLRB do

Answer 24

1. ) To conduct and certify representation elections
2. ) to prevent unfair practices
3. ) Determining the appropriate bargaining unit and the employees who are eligible to participate in organizing activities.
4. ) Prevents unfair labor practices by educating employers and employees about their rights and respnsibilites under the NLRA and by responding to complaints.

Question 25

Contract Administration

Answer 25

Carrying out agreement’s terms and resolving conflicts over interpretation or violation of the agreement.

Question 26

Grievance Procedure

Answer 26

Process for resolving union-management conflicts over interpretation or violation of a collective bargaining agreement

Question 27

Step 1 in Employee-Initiated Grievance procedure

Answer 27

Step 1: Employee and union steward discuss problem with supervisor.

Union steward and employee decide whether problem was resolved.

Union steward and employee decide whether contract was violated.

Question 28

Step 2 in Employee Initiated grievance procedure

Answer 28

Step 2: Written grievance is submitted to production superintendent, another line manager, or industrial relations representative.

Steward and manager discuss grievance.

Management puts response in writing.

Question 29

Step 3 Employee Initiated grievance procedure

Answer 29

Step 3: Union appeals grievance to top line management and senior industrial relations staff.

Additional local or international union officers may be involved

Decision resulting from appeal is put into writing

Question 30

Step 4 Employee initiated grievance procedure

Answer 30

Step 4: Union decides whether to appeal unresolved grievance to arbitration

Union appeals grievance to ambition to binding decision.

Question 31

What happens when bargaining breaks down

Answer 31

Strikes- a collective decision by union members not to work until certain demands or conditions are met.
In a lockout, the employer excludes workers from the workplace until they meet certain conditions.
• 2.) Mediation- 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.

• 3.) Fact Finder- 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.
• 4.) Arbitration- Conflict resolution procedure in which an arbitrator or arbitration board determines a binding settlement.

5.) Impasse- A bargaining impasse occurs when the two sides negotiating an agreement are unable to reach an agreement and become deadlocked.

Question 32

Union Organizing

Answer 32

1. ) Signing authorization cards
2. ) Petition for elections
3. ) Election campaign
4. ) Election and certification

Question 33

Collective Bargaining

Answer 33

Negotiation between union representatives and management representatives to arrive at a contract defining conditions of employment for the term of the contract and to administer that contract.

• Recognition
• Management Rights
• Union Security
• Compensation and Benefits
• Grievance Procedure
• Employee Security

Question 34

Associate Union membership

Answer 34

Alternative form of union membership in which members receive discounts on insurance and credit cards rather than representation in collective bargaining.

Question 35

Distributive Bargaining

Answer 35

In it, the gains of one party are achieved at the expense of the other. So to say, a wage increase won by labour may be considered a loss suffered by management as reduction is profits

Question 36

Integrative Bargaining

Answer 36

The purpose of integrative bargaining is to create a cooperative negotiating relationship that benefits both parties. In such bargaining, both labour and management win or gain or at least neither party loses

Question 37

Attitudinal Structuring

Answer 37

Such a bargaining involves shaping and reshaping of attitudes to positive and cooperative. Examples of attitudinal structuring and shaping may be from hostile to friendly, from non-cooperative to cooperative, from un-trust to trust, and so on. attitudinal structuring is required to main­tain smooth and harmonious industrial relations. The attitudinal structuring helps achieve ‘good-faith bargaining’.

Question 38

Intra-organizational Bargaining

Answer 38

Situation where the parties to an agreement must ‘sell’ it to their own constituencies board of directors, fellow executives, and workers