Union/Management Relations

Question 1

Union

Answer 1

Formal association of workers that promotes the interests of its members through collective action.

Question 2

Craft union

Answer 2

Union whose members do one type of work, often using specialized skills and training.

Question 3

Industrial union

Answer 3

Union that includes many persons working in the same industry or company, regardless of jobs held.

Question 4

Federation

Answer 4

Group of autonomous unions

Question 5

Business agent

Answer 5

A full-time union official who operates the union office and assists union members.

Question 6

Union steward

Answer 6

Employee elected to serve as the first-line representative of unionized workers.

Question 7

Right-to-work laws

Answer 7

State laws that prohibit requiring employees to join unions as a condition of obtaining or continuing employment.

Question 8

Open shop

Answer 8

Firm in which workers are not required to join or pay dues to a union.

Question 9

Closed shop

Answer 9

Firm that requires individuals to join a union before they can hired.

Question 10

Salting

Answer 10

Practice in which unions hire and pay people to apply for jobs at certain companies to begin organizing efforts.

Question 11

Union authorization card

Answer 11

Card signed by employees to designate a union as their collective bargaining agent.

Question 12

Decertification

Answer 12

Process whereby a union is removed as the representative of a group of employees.

Question 13

Collective bargaining

Answer 13

Process whereby representatives of management and workers negotiate over wages, hours, and other terms and conditions of employment.

Question 14

Management rights

Answer 14

Rights reserved so that the employer can manage, direct, and control its business.

Question 15

Union security provisions

Answer 15

Contract clauses to help the union obtain and retain members.

Question 16

Mandatory issues

Answer 16

Collective bargaining issues identified specifically by labor laws or court decisions as subject to bargaining.

Question 17

Permissive issues

Answer 17

Collective bargaining issues that are not mandatory and that relate to certain jobs.

Question 18

Illegal issues

Answer 18

Collective bargaining issues that would require either party to take illegal action.

Question 19

Ratification

Answer 19

Process by which union members vote to accept the terms of a negotiated labor agreement.

Question 20

Concilation

Answer 20

Process by which a third party assists union and management negotiators to reach a voluntary settlement.

Question 21

Mediation

Answer 21

Process by which a third party helps the negotiators reach a settlement.

Question 22

Arbitration

Answer 22

Process that uses a neutral third party to make a decision.

Question 23

Strike

Answer 23

Work stoppage in which union members refuse to work in order to put pressure on an employer.

Question 24

Lockout

Answer 24

Shutdown of company operations undertaken by management to prevent union members from working..

Question 25

Complaint

Answer 25

Indication of employee dissatisfaction.

Question 26

Grievance

Answer 26

Complaint formally stated in writing.

Question 27

Grievance procedures

Answer 27

Formal channel of communication used to resolve grievances.

Question 28

Grievance arbitration

Answer 28

Means by which a third party settles disputes arising from different interpretations of a labor contract.

Question 29

Codeterminiation

Answer 29

Practice whereby union or work representatives are given positions on a company’s board of directors.