CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION TO LABOR RELATIONS
((Class is about EMPLOYEE & LABOR RELATIONS))
LABOR NEWS: COLLECTIVE BARGAINING RIGHTS & PUBLIC UNIONS IN HISTORIC FIGHT!!!
CHAPTER 1: OUTLINE
I.What Is Labor Relations and Why Study It?
A. Labor relations is the term which generally refers to the process between management and a representative of employees (a union) utilized to make decisions in the workplace.
B. Collective Bargaining Agreement is a written and signed document between an employer entity and a labor organization specifying the terms and conditions of employment for a specified period of time.
1. Figure 1–1 contains an example of an agreement and list of the major subjects contained in most CBAs.
2. Collective bargaining in the private sector is the process by which union leaders representing groups of employees negotiate specific terms of employment with designated representatives of management.
3. Collective bargaining is defined as the continuous relationship between an employer and a designated labor organization representing a specific unit of employees for the purpose of negotiating written terms of employment.
C. Terms of employment negotiated generally include the price of labor, for example, wages and benefits; work rules, including hours of work, job classifications, effort required, and work practices; individual job rights, such as seniority, discipline procedures, and promotion and layoff procedures; management and union rights; and the methods of enforcement and administration of the contract, including grievance resolution.
D. Why study labor relations? If in the public sector it’s a good chance you will have labor union workers. Labor activities might affect you – such as an airline strike or a teachers strike. Labor unions spearheaded many of the rights in the workplace enjoyed by all employees. See Table 1-1.
II.Labor Unions Today: Pros and Cons
Labor organization
1. Defined in Sec. 2. [§ 152.] of the NLRA
2. Means any employee committee or other organization of any kind in which employees deal with employers concerning grievances, labor disputes, wages, hours, or working conditions
A. The General Pros and Cons of Union Membership,
1. Members support unions for higher wages, representation in discipline/discharge cases, greater job security, better health care, pension, and paid time-off benefits. Some members complain of union dues, and less possibility of individual rewards based on performance.
2. Management/owners find value in unionization for its grievance handling, fewer individual requests/complaints, and reducing friction at the workplace with standardized rules. Some complain of higher personnel costs that reduce a company’s competitive position, less flexible work rules, greater time spent on grievances and a less competitive global position.
3. Society found the following benefits in unionization, increasing the size of the middle class by providing a living wage and unions took a leadership position in passing major employment laws. But much of society find that unionization makes U.S. firms less competitive in global markets, do not like the image of union leaders and believe unionization is less relevant in today’s global marketplace. See Table 1-2.
III.Why Join a Union?
A. Why Join a Union? See Table 1-4.
1. Job Security. Above all, employees want protection from unfair or arbitrary decisions by management. In cases of layoffs, they expect seniority to be followed; and in cases involving discipline and discharge, they expect the union to provide them with experienced advice and counsel.
2. Wages and Benefits. This is the “bread and butter” issue for many workers. They expect contract negotiations to provide them with better wages and benefits than their nonunion counterparts—at least by a difference that exceeds their union dues. See Table 1-3.
3. Working Conditions. Workers expect the union to protect them by negotiating for a safe and healthy working environment.
4. Fair and Just Supervision. Workers expect that the grievance and disciplinary process negotiated by the union in the CBA will provide them protection against biased or unreasonable supervisors. Most CBAs require the “just cause” standard in disciplinary cases, which is a basic principle followed by arbitrators and judges.
5. Need to Belong. A strong need in many individuals is the need to belong to a larger group that shares one’s values and concerns. A union often gives employees a mechanism for bringing them together and creating a social network.
6. Collective Voice. A basic principle of unionization is “strength in numbers”—and therefore the individual employee believes he or she has a more powerful voice when dealing with management.
B. Soft Issues
1. Recognition
2. Protection from humiliation
3. Hopelessness
4. Double standards
5. Lack of control
6. Job insecurity
7. Broken promises
8. Representation
C. Perceived Differences Between Union and Nonunion Workplace Benefits
See Table 1-4
1. Due process
2. Wages and benefits
3. Objective standards for employment actions
4. Discipline, Weingarten Rights
5. Voice in workplace
6. Access to information
D. Factors affecting health of labor movement
1. Collective bargaining rights
2. Leadership in labor movement
3. Union member solidarity
2. Action of the NLRB
E. Capitalism and Collective Bargaining.
IV.Union Membership
A. 2009 saw public sector union membership as a percent of workers bypass union membership in the private sector See Figure 1-3.
B. Union Leaders
C. Workplace changes
1. Union membership by State is seen in Figure 1-3.
2. Decline in unionization is not unique to U.S.; 19 of 20 major industrial countries also show decline as seen in Table 1-6.
3.a.Union members feel they are getting less self-direction in the workplace than nonunion workers. Some attribute union member layoffs and replacement workers as the reason.
b.Increased similarity between union and non union benefits
c.Less focus by unions on organizing
d.Global marketplace changes
D. Employee Free Choice Act
V.Opportunities for Growth
A. Strategic Industry Focus.
1. Change to Win aims to build membership and union strength by focusing on a few strategic industries—building services, hospitals, long-term health-care providers, express shipping, and the leisure/hotel/lodging industry.
B. Hospitality industry: Unions also focusing on service industry such as hotel workers.
C. Health care industry: unionization is growing because of low take-home pay, too much overtime, and poor patient care. Unions are using sophisticated organizing methods and employers have not stressed positive employee relationships.
D. Airline industry: Post-September 11 airline restructuring as a result of bankruptcies gives unions a change to rechart their relationships to survive.
E. Casino industry: a potential area for organizing after a federal court recognized workers rights to organize Indian tribal casinos.
F. Professional workers: especially in the health industry, adds to some growth in unions.
G. Immigrant workers are the fasting growing segment of the working class. Unions are targeting Mexican construction workers, Dominican hotel and nursing home workers and Haitian cab drivers.
H. Sign of new global economy is rise of foreign-owned automobile plants in
U.S., including Toyota, Honda, and BMW.
VI.Labor–Management Cooperation
A.Voluntary recognition of the union. Although an unusual occurrence, in some cases management will agree to voluntarily recognize a union as the bargaining representative for a group of workers and begin contract negotiations, rather than resist the union and insist on a secret-ballot election.
B.Performance-based incentive systems. A growing number of CBAs contain provisions that base future employee pay increases on increased specified employer performance measures such as increased productivity, reductions in cost-per-unit, or overall profits. Such plans include Profit-sharing plans, Scanlon Plans, and Gain-sharing plans.
C.Employee teams. Increasingly, CBAs contain provisions for employee teams. Such teams most often take one of three forms:
1.Permanent self-managed teams that are given greater decision-making power over an entire work process or operation. Success with such teams has been reported by Ford Motor Co., General Electric, Boeing Aircraft, and LTV Steel to name but a few.
2.Problem-solving teams or “quality circles” are created to improve quality and develop solutions for particular problems.
3.Special project teams which are usually 10 to 15 people from different functions brought together to design and develop a new process or product.
D.QWL programs. Quality of Work Life (QWL) programs involve union and management representatives that meet to improve communications and their general quality of life in the workplace.
E.Federal government. National Partnership Council teams of union and management officials representing more than 310,000 federal unionized employees developed improved systems of communication and efficiency.
F.Integrative collective bargaining. When a positive labor–management climate allows for integrative collective bargaining (as opposed to the more common and adversarial distributive method) the union and management negotiation team members work in collaboration to seek mutually acceptable agreement.
G.GM/NUMMI car plant seen as a model for labor-management cooperation, fewer job classifications, fewer supervisors, work teams.
VII.Types of Unions
A. Industrial unions found their start in factories where largely unskilled laborers worked.
B. Transportation unions in the railroad and airline industries, such as the United Transportation Union and the Air Line Pilots Association, are governed by the Railway Labor Act, which differs some from the National Labor Relations Act.
C. Craft unions are labor unions whose membership is organized in accordance with their craft or skills.
D.United Farm Workers, founded by Dolores Huerta and Cesar Chavez, do not have the protections of the National Labor Relations Act, but they do have rights under California law and still organize and gain recognition through concerted activities.
E.Unions in Professional Sports – Baseball
1.Professional baseball not subject to federal antitrust laws.
2. 1970: New contract term included tripartite grievance panel.
3. Mid-1970s began modern era with development of “free agency” status.
4.Free agent can sign with any team. Other players committed to team remain in place until free agent status is reached.
5.“Free agency” status raised salaries of “star” players. Table 1-7: Major league salaries 1970–2010.
VIII.National Labor Relations Board (NLRB): The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) oversees most labor relations activities in the private sector and was created by the 1935 National Labor Relations Act.
A.Jurisdiction of the NLRB
1.Persons. The definition of a person under the National Labor Relations Act is all-inclusive and involves “one or more individuals, labor organizations, partnerships, associations, corporations, legal representatives, trustees, trustees in bankruptcy, or receivers.”
2.Labor Dispute. A labor dispute must exist for the board to exercise jurisdiction.
3.Affecting Commerce. A broad definition of commerce under the statute gives the board authority in all but purely local disputes.
4.Employees. The definition of employee is liberally construed, so exclusions in the definition become important in determining who is not an employee.
5.Employers. The definition of employer also takes on broad connotations by listing those persons who are not employers.
6.Labor Organizations.Labor organizations are most commonly labor unions, but the NLRB recognizes other kinds of employee committees that represent their employees to employers.
7.Preemption the NLRA is a federal law that preempts state law
a.Board allowed to cede jurisdiction and state allowed to regulate.
b.Supreme Court recognized two exceptions.
i.Activity is of mere peripheral concern to purposes of act.
ii.Activity touches interest so deeply rooted in local feelings that it compels state interest.
((Above is lecture notes))
Question to answer: add this point in your reading of the text, what do you believe all the major pros and cons of unions today??
Please answer in details and in your own words with minimal references and zero plagiarism.
Please reach out to me with any questions.
