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10
ADMINISTRATIVE ISSUES
UNDER COLLECTIVE
BARGAINING
SUMMARY
The administrative issues of seniority, discipline, employee safety, and the various other
“administrative” areas of the labor relationship, along with the institutional factors discussed in the
preceding chapter, comprise the so-called non-economic subjects of collective bargaining. Yet, the
economic impact of these questions is both profound and widespread. Job security and the effects of
changing technology are major issues in many contract negotiations and determine the nature and
even the existence of the economic factors.
The concept of increasing job security for the employee who has a greater length of service is
manifest in almost every collective bargaining agreement. Seniority formulas vary, but they play a
part in the determination of layoff, rehiring, and promotion procedures. There are three basic
approaches to the acquisition and application of seniority credits. The employer-wide system assigns
seniority based on total service with the firm. Separate seniority lists for each unit are established
under the departmental or occupational method. The third approach combines the first two, with
numerous variations in existence today. Many contracts have dealt with the transfer problem under
a departmental arrangement by providing some retention of security when the employee makes a
change.
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Collective bargaining agreements invariably limit the employer’s power and authority in the
area of employee discipline. The management must prove just cause in discharge cases, and in many
instances comply with more specific standards. Some contracts distinguish between actions requiring
immediate discharge, and offenses that require one or more warnings. There are frequent provisions
that outline a distinct procedure to be applied in discharge cases. Outside agencies such as private
arbitrators have acted to ensure reasonableness and fairness in the area of discipline.
Explicit provisions are made in most agreements that relate to employee health and safety.
The NLRB has consistently required parties to bargain on these issues. The contract obligations may
be specific or quite general, and may even assign some responsibility to the employees or the union.
In 1970, the federal government assumed a significant role in this area with the passage of the
Occupational Safety and Health Act. This law received strong support at first, but disillusionment
soon followed. The inadequate number of enforcement personnel and the often unintelligible and
expensive standards are the defects most often cited by critics. Nonetheless, OSHA has been
influential in the large expenditures recently made for health and safety improvement.
True/False # 1
1.
Administrative issues of collective bargaining rarely influence the economics of an
2.
At the present time, technological change dwarfs the importance of economic issues
5.
Seniority practices have the double advantage of providing some measure of security
for the employee, and maintaining the full freedom of management to direct the
6.
The same formulas for determining seniority systems are applied to all types of
7.
Virtually all labor agreements provide that seniority play a part in the
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8.
The seniority status of an employee is equivalent to the latter’s total service with the
9.
An employerwide seniority system gives the greatest protection to employees with
10.
A departmental seniority system minimizes the opportunity for large-scale
displacement of workers when there are layoffs or discontinuation of particular jobs
11.
Under a combination of the two seniority systems, seniority might possibly be
applied on a plantwide basis regarding layoffs and on a departmental basis for
12.
Very few labor agreements include limitations on seniority as a factor influencing
13.
Unlimited chain displacement or bumping could result in serious obstacles to plant
15.
In the majority of contemporary labor agreements, length of service is the sole factor
16.
In most cases involving promotion, the employer’s decision is satisfactory to all
concerned, usually because the senior employee is best qualified or because the
17.
Interdepartmental transfers create serious seniority problems under a straight
18.
Serious problems can often arise over the seniority status of a worker who is
19.
Some agreements provide preferred seniority status for union officers as regards
layoffs and others allow employees to disregard seniority in retaining indispensable
20.
Under most collective bargaining agreements, new workers are protected by the
21.
The laying off of workers, even on a temporary basis, must be made in reference to
22.
A major problem with seniority structures is that few contracts specify the
23.
It is probably true that, in general, a seniority system tends to reduce the efficiency
24.
During the layoffs of both the mid-1970s and the early 1980s, management tended to
follow the seniority principle of “last in, first out,” at the expense of giving special
25.
The Civil Rights Act of 1964 specifically approved bona fide seniority systems in
26.
It is quite clear from recent court cases that seniority systems will be held
27.
The power to discipline in a nonunion situation remains rather fully in the hands of
28.
Most collective bargaining contracts contain the statement that an employee can be
29.
discharge and offenses that require one or more warnings.
In many contracts a distinction is made between actions calling for immediate
30.
for discharge cases.
A very small number of collective bargaining agreements specify a distinct procedure
31.
A very small percentage of all arbitration cases decided under American Arbitration
32.
handled through a special grievance procedure.
Almost every contract provides for the appeal of discharge cases, which is to be
33.
other cases in the grievance procedure.
Frequently, labor agreements provide that a discharge case has priority over all
34.
safety and health demands of unions are mandatory subjects of collective
It has been the long standing policy of the National Labor Relations Board that
bargaining.
35.
collective bargaining agreements.
The obligation to ensure health and safety rests solely with the employer under all
36.
can regularly inspect and enforce compliance with its standards.
With its nearly 8,000 inspectors, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration
37.
expenditures on capital investment in the area of health and safety.
Despite its deficiencies, OSHA and its standards have generated enormous
38.
than the right to establish such standards.
Unions have historically pressed for a means to review production standards rather
39.
Almost all unions have steadfastly refused to relinquish their right to strike over
40.
Unlike wage and wage-related matters, production standards result in little or no
41.
The mass production blue collar worker has been to date hit the hardest by rampant
There are at present about 80,000 human meter readers in the United States.
44.
The employer who adopts the attrition principle agrees to reduce jobs solely through
45.
of the attrition principle.
In recent years, postal service employees, among others, have received the protection
46.
In the face of automation-caused job insecurity, there has been an observable recent
True/False # 2
1.
Over a thousand years ago promotion in the Chinese civil service was governed by
2.
In the United States, the armed forces have emphasized seniority from the days of
6.
The three major systems for applying seniority are: Employerwide, departmental or
8.
The NLRB has held that all major union officers are entitled to superseniority
10.
Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 bans job discrimination on grounds of,
11.
Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 applies to all employment agencies in
12.
In 1973, AT&T agreed through a consent decree to pay $51 million in back wages
15.
In its 1986 Wygant decision, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of junior service black
17.
Price Waterhouse and Martin v. Wilks were 1989 Supreme Court cases showing that
19.
Very few of the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service arbitration cases decided
20.
Relatively few contracts explicitly recognize forms of permissible discipline that are
21.
Labor contracts frequently provide for a suspension period before a discharge
22.
Length of service in its own right, irrespective of its quality, can serve as a
23.
More people by far die annually as a result of occupational disease in the United
Almost one million Americans develop a debilitating occupational illness each year.
25.
States.
Some 50,000 deaths annually are caused by workplace accidents in the United
26.
regularly exposed to major health and safety hazards.
It has been estimated by experts that about one quarter of all U.S. workers is
27.
Job-related illnesses and injuries are widely believed to cost the U.S. economy at
28.
Just about half of all labor contracts now contain an explicit provision relating to the
The Occupational Safety and Health Act took effect in 1995.
There are about 5 million work places in the United States.
In its first years, OSHA penalties for violations averaged about $25.
34.
OSHA rules.
In the early 1990s, Phillips Petroleum was fined a record $10 million for violating
The Fire Fighters have taken a particular interest in melanoma.
37.
annually for health and safety.
By some estimates, American managements are now spending as much as $7 billion
38.
being conducted at both Harvard and North Carolina.
Rubber companies now help finance research into potential health hazards that is
Most unions have now agreed to the arbitration of production standards.
Worldwide sales of robots are now holding steady.
43.
A single computer can now accommodate every check issued by the U.S.
government.
44.
The word “robot” comes from the Yiddish word for drudgery, “robota.”
46.
At least 10,000 American jobs each week are probably being destroyed by
The Job Training Partnership Act took effect in 2004.
49.
Companies with less than 500 full-time employees are exempted from the Worker
Multiple Choice # 1
1. The so-called noneconomic issues of collective bargaining
2. The increasing emphasis upon seniority in labor contracts over the past few decades is due to
3. The principle under which the employee with the greater length of service receives increased
job security
4. Under an occupational seniority system
5. Under some combinations or variations of the two seniority systems the employee might be
able to apply
6. Two centuries ago seniority was rigorously applied to determine personnel advancement by
7. Limitations on the chain displacements or bumping process are
8. Which of the following is not a limitation on bumping found in some labor agreements?
9. Most contracts provide the rehiring of employees in the reverse order of layoffs and
10. Length of service as a factor in promotion
11. In dealing with the problem of the seniority status of employees who transfer from one
department to another, some contracts
12. The seniority status of a new first-line supervisor
13. Which of the following is not a typical exception to the seniority system
14. Under the terms of most collective bargaining contracts, an employee loses his seniority if he
or she
15. During the mass layoffs of the mid-1970s and 1981–83,
16. Which of the following is not a possible source of support for seniority systems
17. The unionized employer’s power to discharge a worker
18. Discharge has often been described as
19. Almost every labor agreement
20. The issue of industrial health and safety is
21. The administration and enforcement of the Occupational Safety and Health Act
22. In the area of production standards
23. One of the positive benefits of technological change discussed by the authors is
24. In response to technological change, unions have sought measures to ease the hardship faced
by the displaced worker, such as
25. Recent technological change has had the effect of
Multiple Choice # 2
1. In mid-nineteenth century Britain, promotion in the civil service was in practice mainly
based on
2. The bumping process involves
3. In many contracts, seniority governs promotions when the
4. Interdepartmental transfers do not create a seniority issue
5. In collective bargaining contracts, certain employees who may be retained regardless of
seniority during periods of layoff are sometimes designated as
*d. All of the above.
6. Abraham Lincoln once observed that whenever he promoted someone on his executive branch
payroll he created several enemies and
7. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 bans job discrimination on the basis of
8. Title VII is enforced by the
9. The Jersey Central Power and Light Co. decision
10. Two key 1986 court decisions dealing with affirmative action involved
11. Women won a major court victory in
12. Price Waterhouse involved
13. In many labor agreements, priority over all other cases in the grievance procedure is given to
14. Experts commonly estimate that some _____ people annually develop a debilitating
occupational illness.
15. Safety and health demands of unions are mandatory subjects of collective bargaining
according to a longstanding policy of the
16. By 1985, the AFL-CIO was charging the Reagan administration with
17. OSHA has levied heavy fines on both
18. About human meter readers are currently employed in the United States.
19. One employer that has pioneered in the use of robots is
20. Worldwide sales of robots are (in terms of annual dollars) about
21. The average annual U.S. family income is now about
22. The Attrition Principle
23. Almost half of all major contracts make no direct reference in a special contractual section to
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24. Section 8(d) of Taft-Hartley deals with
25. The Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act exempts
Essay Questions
1. Discuss the relative advantages and disadvantages of increased technological innovation.
What devices have unions recently pursued to cushion the employment impact of
technological change?
2. The textbook states that seniority has become a deeply imbedded feature of the collective
bargaining process. What are the general theories and practices of the seniority system? Be
sure to discuss some of the specific problems and the typical exceptions and limitations to
seniority.
3. “Organized labor has successfully drawn on existing laws to stave off plant closings.”
Comment, with specifics.
4. “The Government has absolutely no business at all moving into such an area as occupational
safety and health.” Summarizing exactly what the Government has done in this regard,
discuss.
5. “In recent years, the U.S. judiciary has basically slammed the door on affirmative action.” Do
you agree or disagree? Why, or why not, specifically?
6. The advent of a union greatly reduces the employer’s freedom of action in the area of
discipline. How?
7. According to the textbook, probably in no other labor relations area do management and
organized labor presently stand any farther apart than they do in the area of production
standards. Elaborate.
8. Why does subcontracting remain an area of large controversy in collective bargaining and
what exactly have unions tried to do regarding it?
9. “Potentially, WARN is many times more important to the U.S. labor force than is OSHA.”
Discuss fully.
Term Paper Topics
1. Arbitration and the right of management to discharge.
2. An analysis of the seniority problem.
3. How to improve the enforcement of the Occupational Safety and Health Act.
4. Production standards under collective bargaining contracts.
5. Technological change: A curse or a blessing?
6. Plant closings and management’s right to manage.
7. Seniority versus affirmative action: Is there any way that will let everyone be happy?
8. The U.S. Supreme Court and affirmative action: Will an ominous trend for women and
minorities continue?
9. “Superseniority”: Is it inherently inequitable?
10. Organized labor’s role in the enactment of the Worker Adjustment and Retraining
Notification Act of 1988.