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5
AT THE BARGAINING TABLE
SUMMARY
The labor contract negotiation process has been depicted as (1) a poker game; (2) an exercise
in power politics; (3) a debating society; and (4) a rational process. It is likely that all of these traits
have marked most negotiations over time. At present, however, bargaining is most commonly an
orderly process in which problems are discussed relatively rationally and settled more or less on the
basis of facts.
By far the major prerequisite for bargaining is preparation for the negotiations. In recent
years the time allotted for such planning by both sides has steadily lengthened, basically because the
issues dealt with have become more and more complex. Thorough planning is needed. Each party
may find it advisable to use not only general data (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics wage information,
for example), but information that is more specifically tailored to its own needs. Thus, most larger
unions and employers now have their own research staffs and they may also use the services of
outsiders on an ad hoc basis. Increasingly, too, the top echelons of both parties have appreciated the
need to carefully consult with lower level members of their respective organizations before framing
specific bargaining table approaches. (The union has the further job of screening the many demands
that emanate from the rank and file. They must be considered, but they are frequently inconsistent
and unrealistic.) Legal and, often, public relations expertise is also needed by both sides in the
Strikes do, however, occur—because of inexperienced bargainers, because constituent
sentiments have been misjudged, and for other reasons. And crisis situations with or without strikes
are frequently seen in the bargaining. Bypassing the difficult issues until the easy ones are settled,
depersonalization by negotiators, being prepared in advance with alternative proposals, and the use
of joint study groups during the contractual period can all minimize the chances of negotiation
breakdowns. Mediation is also a potentially valuable appendage to the bargaining in crisis
Copyright ©2010 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall
global union.” General Electric’s imaginative approach to bargaining from the 1940s until the
1970s—Boulwarism—is also analyzed. An inspection of the many interdependent variables (from the
current health of the economy to the role of personalities) that individually might be of major
importance in a given bargaining situation, or of no significance at all, concludes the chapter.
True/False # 1
2.
The negotiation process has been depicted as, among other things, a debating
3.
There has been a marked change in the general bargaining atmosphere in relatively
6.
All exempted workers in interstate commerce today receive, by law, time-and-one-
8.
“Administrative clauses” deal with such issues as union security and management
9.
The U.S. Bureau of Negotiation Statistics issues considerable information relating to
12.
Teamster lawyers have become collectively known as the Teamsters’ Paralegal
14.
Administrative clause areas involve, directly or indirectly, employment
16.
The phrase “30 and out” applies to retirement after thirty years of service regardless
17.
Technically, neither party can introduce new demands after the opening sessions are
19.
As a preliminary to the 2004–05 baseball negotiations, the players commissioned an
20.
Even after the initial bargaining sessions are terminated, neither side typically has
21.
The package approach to bargaining is particularly important in reference to
22.
The package approach to bargaining is more important in reference to non-economic
Copyright ©2010 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall
24.
Counterproposals involve the compromise that takes place during the bargaining
25.
The use of counterproposals is one element that the NLRB will consider in
26.
More than anything else, it is the strike deadline that is the great motivator of labor
27.
The strike incidence in the United States is about the same now as it was at the
29.
In bargaining, it is a good idea to settle the easy problems and delay consideration of
31.
Basically, the function of the joint study group is to identify and consider alternative
33.
The Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service employs some 850 mediators.
34.
The FMCS makes only a nominal charge for its services to participants in the
40.
The final step before signing a labor contract is the proofreading of the document by
43.
Coordinated bargaining universally denotes the presentation of a united union
44.
Boulwarism has been at least partially utilized by both General Motors and
45.
In recent years, Boulwarism has at least partially influenced collective bargaining in
46.
In recent years, Boulwarism has at least partially influenced collective bargaining in
47.
Both the major Southern California supermarkets and the National Hockey League
True/False # 2
1.
The increasing maturity of collective bargaining implies enlargement of the debating
3.
Both sides on the average start to prepare for the bargaining table roughly four
4.
All non-exempted workers in interstate commerce must by law get time-and-one-half
5.
Both the entitlement of same-sex partners to benefits and vision care now play an
6.
Both rest period and discipline provisions fall into the category of administrative
7.
About half of all international unions screen rank-and-file contract proposals
9.
A while ago, a local police association on Long Island demanded free abortions in its
11.
Two of the most important techniques for establishing the content of alternative
12.
The parties do not legally ever have to make any concessions at all to each other to
13.
In establishing good faith bargaining, the Federal Mediation and Conciliation
14.
The employer’s annual payments for health insurance are generally considered to be
15.
In the 1980s and 1990s, it was believed in at least some quarters that major league
16.
In recent years, the strike incidence in the United States has almost steadily
18.
A savings of more than $75 million in the first week alone was realized by three Bell
19.
Not long ago, the Machinists Union halted work on $800 million worth of aircraft at
20.
A major cause of a recent strike at Boeing was a widespread worker complaint about
21.
Major League Baseball suffered a 234-day strike in 2008.
F
22.
Strikes today consume about 1 percent of total available working time.
F
23.
The textbook advocates never personalizing in bargaining.
F
24.
Richard Nixon twice mediated coal strikes.
F
25.
The joint study group approach has hardly ever been successful in collective
26.
The Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service employs some 250 mediators.
T
27.
The FMCS has regional offices in, among other places, Brooklyn and Boston.
F
28.
The FMCS currently mediates about 5,000 labor disputes a year.
T
29.
Unlike an arbitrator, a mediator has no conclusive powers in a dispute.
T
31.
The successful mediator must at all times be neutral.
F
32.
used for test-reading the contract.
T
No person associated with the negotiations should, in the opinion of the textbook, be
33.
The final step before signing a contract is contractual validation by the NLRB.
F
34.
Westinghouse negotiations.
T
Coordinated bargaining was first formally applied in General Electric and
35.
others, General Motors and the New York City police department.
F
By the year 2006, unions had used coordinated bargaining in dealing with, among
37.
The Writers Guild was the first major union to be touched by the threat of
38.
The advocacy of “one big global union” is associated with the name of Gene Upshaw.
39.
Boulwarism was named after Electrical Worker president Harold F. Boulware.
F
41.
Boulwarism has long been dead at General Electric.
T
42.
mid-1990s.
F
General Electric religiously pursued a policy of “doing right voluntarily” until the
44.
In 2007, the UAW won contracts from the automobile companies that were the most
45.
Machinists a very large wage increase in a new 3-year contract.
T
Some years ago, Eastern Airlines—although in bad financial shape—granted the
46.
problems.
T
In 2004, the Air Line Pilots Association was particularly marked by internal political
47.
The San Francisco Giants have the smallest annual debt service of all major league
48.
The name Donald J. Carty is associated with American Airlines.
T
50.
The president of the Air Line Pilots once said that the chairman of Pan American
Multiple Choice # 1
1. The labor contract negotiation process has been depicted as
2. Administrative clauses do not include the area of
3. Walter Reuther’s demand for supplementary unemployment benefits was first made in the
early
4. There has been a recent trend toward “blue–skying” on the part of
5. The package approach to bargaining is particularly important in reference to
6. Mediation is based upon the principle of
7. In a recent year, former President Jimmy Carter offered to mediate a dispute in
8. By the year 2008, coordinated bargaining had resulted in a dozen different plant-wide strikes
at
9. The first major union to be touched by the threat of “multi–nationals” was the
10. The concept of “one big global union” was particularly advocated by
11. General Electric’s policy of Boulwarism was begun in
12. General Electric described Boulwarism as
13. G.E. was not aided in applying Boulwarism by the
14. The first time period in which G.E. was apparently not accused of Boulwarism in its
bargaining was the
15. Boulwarism has not been in any way applied by
16. Foremen now average an annual income of just under $200,000 at
17. One union that has shown considerable bargaining self-restraint for over three decades has
been the
18. The Screen Actors Guild a few years ago struck for
19. Richie Phillips’ name is associated with
20. The name of Rick Lenny is associated with
21. In 1970, an automobile industry strike was
22. In 2008, the Teamsters and UPS negotiated
23. Frank Lorenzo’s name is associated with
24. In 2007, a 3-week New York City strike involved
25. The name of Roger Toussaint is associated with
Multiple Choice # 2
1. Today most labor-management contracts are renegotiated
2. The labor contract negotiation process has been depicted as (1) a poker game, (2) an exercise
in power politics, (3) a debating society, and (4)
4. Former Teamster president James R. Hoffa once claimed to
5. Making unjustifiably large early negotiation session demands is known as
6. Initial bargaining sessions are often attended by many
7. Counterproposals are
8. In 1994–5, the major league baseball managements
9. West Coast port workers now earn, with overtime, on the average:
10. The current Teamster-UPS labor contract covers
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11. Joint study groups
12. A labor mediator
13. “Coordinated” bargaining has led to strikes at
14. At the moment in the eyes of the law, coordinated bargaining is
15. The Steelworkers Union has
16. Unions have referred to Boulwarism as
17. General Electric’s most important single union has been the
18. Lemuel R. Boulware was a(n)
19. Boulwarism could be said to be characterized by a philosophy of
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20. In 1999, automobile industry profits were
21. In the early 1990s, the UAW
22. Robert L. Crandall’s name is associated with
23. The name of Gene Upshaw is associated with
24. In 1989, all three of its major unions struck
25. At least until recently, General Motors was paying assembly workers at its Shanghai, China
factory, including benefits:
Essay Questions
1. “No manager who is prone to both ulcers and accepting verbal statements at face value
belongs at the labor relations bargaining table.” Discuss.
2. Why do strikes occur at all? Can anything be done here to lessen the chances of strikes
taking place? Should anything be done?
3. Discuss the several different ways by which, according to the textbook at least, crisis
situations in bargaining can either be avoided or minimized.
4. Will coordinated bargaining grow in the years immediately ahead, or decline, or stay about
the same as it now is in its frequency? Defend your answer with specifics.
5. “Boulwarism depends for its success as a management bargaining strategy almost
exclusively on luck.” Discuss fully.
6. “The process of reaching a labor relations agreement has been viewed in a number of rather
colorful ways.” Comment with illustrations.
7. Why can it be accurately said that bargaining the “typical” labor-management contract calls
for far more sophistication than in an earlier, less technical age?
8. What is the great motivator of labor relations contract negotiations agreement—and why is
it?
9. “Under any conditions, the mediator is a potentially valuable appendage to the bargaining
table process.” Discuss, with particulars.
10. The personalities of negotiators have been known to trigger strikes. Cite two examples,
providing as much detail here as you can.
Term Paper Topics
1. “Blue–skying” and reality: A comparison of initial demands and actual settlements in specific
bargaining situations (as these have been publicly reported and/or determined by field
research on the part of the student).
2. The declining incidence of strikes in the United States and some possible explanations.
3. Mediation: An assessment of its potential value.
4. An appraisal of Boulwarism: Its strengths, weaknesses and future (if any).
5. Labor relations at Yale University.
6. The 1997 Teamsters Union strike at UPS: Management failures in assessing Teamster
strength.
7. A correlation of current national and industrial economic health with the size of settlements:
Some selected examples.
8. Labor relations in the world of entertainment.
9. Technological innovation as a cause of strikes.
10. The role of violence in strike and lockout situations.