Chapter 8 - Organized Labor and the Fire Officer

Question 1

Arbitration

Answer 1

Resolution of a dispute by a mediator or a group rather than a court of law

Question 2

Collective Bargaining

Answer 2

Method whereby representatives of employees (unions) and employers determine the conditions of employment through direct negotiation

Question 3

Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA)

Answer 3

Federal legislation passed in 1938 that provides the minimum standards for both wages and overtime entitlement and spells out administrative procedures by which covered work time must be compensated

Question 4

Good Faith Bargaining

Answer 4

Both parties are required to meet regularly to bargain collectively for wages, hours, and other conditions of employment

Question 5

Grievance

Answer 5

A dispute, claim, or complaint that any employee or group of employees may have in relation to the interpretation, application, and/or alleged violation of some provision of the labor agreement or personnel regulations

Question 6

Grievance Procedure

Answer 6

A formal structured process that is employed within an organization to resolve a grievance.

Question 7

Impasse

Answer 7

A situation in which the parties in a dispute have reached a deadlock in negotiations

Question 8

Mediation

Answer 8

The intervention of a neutral third party in an industrial dispute

Question 9

Negotiation

Answer 9

Mutual discussion and arrangement of the terms of an agreement

Question 10

Political Action Committee (PAC)

Answer 10

An organization formed by corporations, unions, and other interest groups that solicits campaign contributions from private individuals and distributes these funds to political candidates

Question 11

Right To Work

Answer 11

A worker cannot be compelled, as a condition of employment, to join or not to join or to pay dues to a labor union

Question 12

Shop Steward

Answer 12

A union member appointed to be the first line of labor representation at the workplace

Question 13

Strike

Answer 13

A concerted act by a group of employees who withhold their labor for the purposes of effecting a change in wages, hours, or working conditions

Question 14

Unfair Labor Practices

Answer 14

Usually employer’s efforts to avoid bargaining in good faith that is forbidden by the National Labor Relations Board

Question 15

Yellow Dog Contracts

Answer 15

Pledges that employers required workers to sign indicating that they would not join a union as long as the company employed them

Question 16

Concept

Answer 16

Wages, working conditions, and many other aspects of the work environment are directly influenced by labor-management relations

Question 17

Recommendations of any strong supervisor/employee relationship

Answer 17

Regular one-on-one meetings
Regular meetings with the company as a whole
If a disagreement arises, working together to articulate the concern and to develop possible solutions
Working together to improve rocky relationships

Question 18

When can an employee contact a union rep to discuss a situation?

Answer 18

Any time

Question 19

Four major pieces of federal legislation for the collective bargaining system

Answer 19

Norris-LaGuardia Act of 1932 made Yellow Dog Contracts unenforceable
Wagner-Connery Act of 1935 established collective bargaining
Taft-Hartley Labor Act of 1947 established good faith bargaining and a 60 day “cooling off” period
Landrum-Griffin Act established a bill of rights for members of labor organizations

Question 20

Concept

Answer 20

Federal legislation passed in 1912 prohibits federal employees from striking

Question 21

Strike Concept

Answer 21

The negative public reaction to strikes, the political response of changing legislation, and the lasting legacy of lost trust have caused fire fighter strikes to be viewed as counterproductive