3. Learning Objectives
1 Describe collective bargaining and labor relations.
2
Identify labor relations, goals of management, labor unions and
society.
3 Explain legal environment's impact on labor relations
4
Describe major labor-management interactions: organizing,
contract negotiations and contract administration.
4. Learning Objectives
5 Describe new, less adversarial approaches to labor-management
relations.
.
6
Explain how changes in competitive challenges are influencing
labor-management interactions.
7 Explain how labor relations in the public and private sectors
differ
8
5. Labor Relations Framework
4 Elements of John Dunlop’s Labor Relations System
Environmental
Context
Web of Rules
Ideology
Participants
B D
C
A
6. Society
Labor unions' major benefit to society has been balancing power and
institutionalization of industrial conflict in the least costly way.
National Labor Relations Act (NLRA, 1935) provides a legal framework
conducive to collective bargaining.
Management
decides to encourage or discourage unionization.
Labor Unions
seek to give workers through collective action formal and independent voice
in setting employment terms and conditions.
Goals&Strategies
7. Union Structure, Administration & Membership
National and International Unions
Craft unions
Industrial unions
Local Unions
Responsible for contract negotiations and day-to-
day contract administration, including grievance
procedure.
AFL-CIO
Not a union but rather an association that advance
s its shared interest of its member unions at the
national level.
10. Legal Framework
Wagner Act of 1935 (NLRA) enshrined collective bargaining as
the preferred mechanism for settling labor-management disputes.
Section 7 of the NLRA: employees have the
"right to self-organization, to form, join, or assist labor organizations
, to bargain collectively through representatives of their own
choosing and to engage in other concerted activities for the
purpose of collective bargaining."
11. Unfair Labor Practices (ULPs)
NLRA prohibits certain activities by both employers
and labor unions.
Employers cannot:
interfere with, restrain, or coerce employees in exercising
their Section 7 rights.
dominate or interfere with a union.
discriminate against an individual for exercising his or her
right to join or assist a union.
discriminate against employees for providing testimony
relevant to enforcement of the NLRA.
refuse to bargain collectively with a certified union.
12. 1947 Taft-Hartley Act
• Outlawed unfair labor union practices
1959 Landrum-Griffin Act
• Regulate union’s actions and internal
affairs(financial disclosure and conduct of
elections)
Unfair Labor Practices - Unions
13. Enforcement
National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) enforces NLRA
.
NLRB is a five-member board appointed by the president with 33
regional offices.
NLRB’s 2 Major Functions:
1. conduct and certify representation elections.
2. prevent unfair labor practices.
ULP charges are filed at and investigated by the regional offices.
14. Process &Legal Framework of Organizing
An election may be held if at least 30%of employees in the bargaining unit sign
authorization cards.
Secret ballot election will be held. The union is certified by NLRB if a simple majority
of employees vote for it.
Decertification election may be held if no other election has been held within the year
or if no contract is in force.
Certain categories of employees cannot be included in bargaining units- agricultural
laborers, independent contractors, supervisors, and managers.
The Employee Free Choice Act- pending
15. Organizing Campaigns
NLRB may set aside election results if
the employer created an atmosphere of
confusion or fear of reprisals.01
Associate union membership- union
receives dues in exchange for services
but does not provide representation in
collective bargaining.
02
Corporate campaigns bring public, fin
ancial or political pressure on employer
s during the organizing and negotiating
process.
03
16. Union and Management Interactions:
Negotiation Process
Distributive
Bargaining
- Win/Lose
Intraorganizational
Bargaining
-Conflicting Objectives
-Different Factions
Integrative
Bargaining
- Win/Win
Attitudinal
Structuring
- Relationship&Trust
18. Negotiation Stages and Tactics
Early stages may include many individuals, as union proposals are
presented.
Middle stages, each side makes decisions regarding priorities, their
s and the other parties'.
Final stage, momentum may build toward settlement or pressure
may build as impasse becomes more apparent. May involve
interaction with negotiators or facilitators.
19. Management’s Willingness to
Take a Strike
7 Factors If Management Is Able To Take a Strike:
1. Product Demand
2. Product Perishability
3. Technology
4. Availability of Replacement Workers
5. Multiple Production Sites and Staggered
Contracts
6. Integrated Facilities
7. Lack of Substitutes for Product
20. Alternatives to Strikes
Mediation - Has no formal authority to force a s
olution; acts as a facilitator for parties.
Fact finder - Investigates and reports on reason
s for dispute and both sides' positions.
Arbitration -process through which a neutral pa
rty makes a final and binding decision.
21. Grievance Procedure
Negotiation process occurs every three years.
Negotiation and administration processes are linked.
Effectiveness of grievance procedures may be judged
on three criteria:
1. How well are day-to-day problems resolved?
2. How well does the process adjust to changing
circumstances?
3. In multi-unit contracts, how well does the process
handle local contract issues?
Duty of Fair Representation
22. Grievance Procedure
Arbitration is a final and binding step.
Criteria arbitrators used to reach decisions include:
1. Did the employee know the rule and the consequences of violating
it?
2. Was the rule applied in a consistent and predictable way?
3. Were the facts collected in a fair and systematic way?
4. Did the employee have the right to question the facts and present
a defense?
5. Does the employee have the right of appeal?
6. Is there progressive discipline?
7. Are there mitigating circumstances?
23. Labor Relations Outcomes
• Strikes- impose significant costs on union members,
employers, and society.
Wages and Benefits
In 2008, private-sector unionized workers received
21% higher wages that nonunion counterparts.
Total compensation was 40 % higher for union-covered
employees because of unions’ effect on benefits.
Productivity effects of unions is debated.
Union workers are more productive than nonunion workers
although the explanation is unclear.
Profits and Stock Performance- may suffer under
unionization if costs are raised.
24. International Context
Except for China, Russia and Ukraine, U.S. has more union members than
any other country.
Growing globalization of markets will continue to put pressure on labor costs
and productivity.
U.S. differs from W. Europe in formal worker participation in decision-making.
25. 1 2008 some 36.8 % of government employees were union
members.
2
Strikes are illegal at the federal level and in many states for
government workers.
3
In 2008, 3 of 15 major work stoppages were
in the public sector.
Public Sector