Chapter 7: Flashcards
What are the three pro-union acts?
Norris-Laguardia (1932)
The National Labor Relations act (The Wagner Act) (1935)
The Fair Labor Standards Act (1938)
What is another name for the National Labor Relations Act?
The Wagner Act
What is NORRIS-LAGUARDIA?
it limited the ability of courts to use injunctions
What are INJUNCTIONS?
court orders restraining someone from engaging in an activity; failure to heed could lead to contempt for court (fine or imprisonment)
What ended the use of the Yellow Dog Contracts?
Norris-Laguardia
What are the YELLOW DOG CONTRACTS?
an agreement signed by workers not to join a union as a pre-caution to be hired
What is the LABOR FORCE?
anyone 16 years of age or older who is currently employed or looking for work
TRUE OR FAULE
If you are not looking for work, you are unemployed…?
FAULSE
If you are not looking for work, you are not unemployed
TRUE OR FAULE
If you are not looking for work, you are unemployed…?
FAULSE
If you are not looking for work, you are not unemployed
Have the white collar workers been increasing or decreasing since the 1900’s?
increasing 21% - 55%
Have the blue collar workers been increasing or decreasing since the 1900’s?
decreasing 38% - 28%
Have the service workers been increasing or decreasing since the 1900’s?
increasing 10% - 14%
Have the farm workers been increasing or decreasing since the 1900’s?
decreasing 31% - 3%
What are the five most recent trends within the workforce?
- % of women in the labor force have been increasing
- Workers have been leaving the farms
- Workers have been earning higher wages while working fewer hours
- Blue collar workers are in decline
- Education has become more important
Why have workers been able to produce more?
- technology
- improved quality of labor (better trained)
Why have blue collar workers been in decline?
- technology (use of machines)
- foreign imports have increased
What are the two reasons that wages differ..?
- market forces
- non market forces
What are MARKET FORCES?
supply and demand
Why does a craft worker make more than an unskilled worker?
Demand is the same but there are fewer supply of craft workers than there are unskilled workers
Why does a rock musician make more than a chamber musician?
The supply is equal but the demand for rock is greater so the rock artists can demand more money
What is a CRAFT WORKER?
a highly skilled worker such as a carpenter or electrician
What are four examples of non-market forces?
- people like to stay where they are
- job discrimination
- government legislation
- labor unions
What is JOB DISCRIMINATION?
the favoring of one group over another in hiring, salary, or promotion for reasons that have nothing to do with job performance
What are two reasons why job discrimination is a bad idea?
- denying the best workers based on discrimination reduces production and leads to decrease in GDP
- it is a violation of state and federal law
What are LABOR UNIONS?
an association of workers formed to promote the interest of their members
What is COLLECTIVE BARGAINING?
negations that go on between the representative on the union and management
How is the distribution of income shown?
by the Lorenze Curve
What is the LORENZE CURVE?
a group used to illustrate distribution of income and its relative inequality
Why did early unions play a small role in the economy prior to the civil war…?
- courts considered their activities to be illegal
- most people worked in farms or in small businesses so they had no interest in unions
What court case said unions were legal?
Commonwealth versus hunt in Massachusetts in 1842
What led to industrialization and an increase in relevance of unions?
The Civil War
What three things comprise the saying of bread and butter?
- shorter workday
- higher wages
- better working conditions
What was the most powerful early labor union?
The knights of labor
Why were the knights of labor disbanded in 1917?
- dissension within rinks
- public suspicion that unions were engaging in violence
During what year did union membership ridge High Point?
1980
What is GREVIENCE MACHINERY?
procedure employees follow if they feel they are being treated unfairly
What is SENIORITY?
importance assigned to a workers length of service regarding raises layoffs etc.
What are the three roles of a third-party in a negotiation?
- conciliation
- meditation
- arbitration
What is CONCILIATION?
what a third-party is there informally to settle disputes
What are MEDIATIONS?
non-binding suggestions
What are ARBITRATIONS?
Final/binding
What are managements five former tactics when discussions break down?
- Company unions
- lockout
- injunctions
- yellow dog contracts
- The blacklist
What is COMPANY UNION?
a union managed and financed by the company
Why is the company union not used today?
it was declared illegal by the national Labour relations act
What is a LOCKOUT?
a shut down of the plant by management in an attempt to pressure the workers to return
Why is the lockout not used today?
It is not illegal but it is ineffective because workers get paid to be on strike
What is THE BLACKLIST?
A list of union organizers circulated amongst employers as a means of preventing them from being hired
Why is the blacklist not used today?
it was outlawed by the national Labour relations act
What are the most useful tactics used by employees to get their message across to management?
- strike
- picketing
- The close shop
- Union shop
- boycott
- secondary boycott
What is a STRIKE?
refusal of workers to work in the hope that management will give into their demands
What is PICKETING?
to inform the public of a labor dispute by parading in front of the business
What are the two reasons for picketing?
- to arouse public sympathy for their cause
- to prevent others from taking their jobs
Why is the closed shop not used today?
it was outlawed by Taft Tartley
What is a BOYCOTT?
refusal by customers to do business with a company involved in a labor dispute
What is a SECONDARY BOYCOTT?
A boycott applied to firms doing business with a company involved in a labor dispute
Why is secondary boycotting not used today?
it was declared illegal by Taft Tartley
What are the four new developments management has come up with?
- hiring of contingency or part time workers
- demand givebacks from unions during a weak economy
- some companies have moved operations overseas
- some companies have declared bankruptcy
Why have some companies moved there operations overseas?
lower labor and taxes
What is an advantage of hiring workers on contingency?
you do not have to pay them fringe benefits
What are four new union strategies?
- unions have had some success in organizing white-collar workers
- Quality circle
- co-determination agreement
- employee boycott
What is QUALITY CIRCLE?
when a small group of workers and management meet to identify and solve work problem
What is CO-DETERMINATION?
gives unions the power to veto management decisions
What is an EMPLOYEE BUYOUT?
when the union buys out the company
During what two years did the most strikes occur?
1950 and 1974
What year saw the highest percent of workforce and strike?
1970
What did the national labor relations act do?
- A guaranteed workers the right to join a union
- it established the national Labour relations Board
What did the fair labor standards act do?
- minimum wage and overtime pay
- evoked the feeling that too much power had been given to the unions as opposed to management
What did the labor-management relations act do?
- it outlawed the closed shop
- it was replaced with the union shop
- it enabled the president to obtain an injunction for 80 days delaying a streak of threat and the national security or health
- it allowed state legislation’s to an act right to work laws
What is another name for the labor management relations act?
Taft Hartley
What is a CLOSED SHOP?
where worker must belong to a union as a precaution to be hired
What is a UNION SHOP?
allowed non-union workers to be hired after 90 days
What are the RIGHT- TO- WORK LAWS?
guaranteed individual states the right to hold a job without joining a union
What are the two pro management acts?
- The labor-management relations act
- The labor management reporting and disclosure act
What is another name for the labor management reporting and disclosure act?
Landrun-Griffin
What four things did the labor management reporting and disclosure act do?
- said that they would be regularly scheduled elections for union officials
- said voting is to be carried out by street ballot
- prohibited union officials from borrowing money from the union
- embezzlement from union funds was made of federal offense
What was the LABOR MANAGEMENT REPORTING AND DISCLOSURE ACT?
it sought to improve democratic procedures and reduce corruption
What are the four reasons union members have been in decline?
- they blame Government
- they blame right to work laws
- union’s reputations are hurt by corrupt officials
- Blue collar industries are in decline
What is the first objective of the union?
to be recognized as the sole bargaining agent of the workers in the shop which is done through an election
What four things do all union contract include?
- bread and butter
- fringe benefits
- grievance machinery
- sonority
What are FRINGE BENEFITS?
medical, dental, vacation time, etc.
