Economics Today, 19e (Miller)
Chapter 29 Unions and Labor Market Monopoly Power
29.1 Industrialization and Labor Unions
1) The earliest unions in the United States were
A) industrial unions.
B) craft unions.
C) public-sector unions.
D) military unions.
2) Labor unions composed of workers who engage in a particular trade or skill, such as
carpentry, are called
A) craft unions.
B) industrial unions.
C) collective unions.
D) closed unions.
3) Labor unions that consist of workers from a particular industry, such as automobile
manufacturing, are called
A) craft unions.
B) industrial unions.
C) collective unions.
D) closed unions.
4) A business enterprise in which employees must belong to the union before they can be hired is
called a(n)
A) craft union.
B) industrial union.
C) closed shop.
D) union shop.
5) One union follows another union and starts a work stoppage. This is an example of a
A) sympathy strike.
B) secondary boycott.
C) closed shop.
D) union shop.
6) Which of the following correctly describes the trend in U.S. union membership?
A) Union membership has been decreasing steadily since the 1930s.
B) Union membership decreased from 1930 – 1960, but has been increasing steadily since.
C) Union membership peaked in the 1960s and has been decreasing steadily since.
D) Union membership declined until the 1980s, but has been increasing steadily since.
7) Which of the following is the largest union in the United States?
A) International Brotherhood of Teamsters
B) International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers
C) National Education Association
D) American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees
8) Workers in the United States were granted the legal right to engage in collective bargaining by
the
A) National Labor Relations Act.
B) Taft-Hartley Act.
C) Landrum-Griffin Act.
D) Knights of Labor Act.
9) Collective bargaining refers to
A) negotiations between workers and health officials.
B) negotiations between management of a company and a labor union.
C) farming methods in Marxist states.
D) the process of electing union leaders.
10) Which of the following is a correct statement about unions in the United States?
A) The trend away from manufacturing and the deregulation of certain industries has promoted
unionization of the U.S. workforce.
B) Half of the top ten U.S. unions now have members who work in service and government
occupations.
C) Since the 1960s, there has been a gradual increase in the proportion of U.S. workers who are
members of unions.
D) Half of all U.S. workers are union members.
11) The United Auto Workers is an example of
A) a public-sector union.
B) a craft union.
C) an industrial union.
D) a socialist union.
12) Which of the following types of unions did the CIO promote?
A) craft unions
B) public sector unions
C) industrial unions
D) military unions
13) The United Steel Workers Union is an example of
A) a craft union.
B) an auto union.
C) an industrial union.
D) a blue collar union.
14) The AFL and CIO merged because it was thought that
A) organized labor would grow faster as a result.
B) union pension funds would shrink as a result.
C) strikes could be averted.
D) managers would be more sympathetic to unions.
15) When workers boycott a company because it does business with a firm whose employees are
on strike, that is a
A) secondary boycott.
B) primary boycott.
C) strike.
D) sympathy strike.
16) If a firm is a union shop, then
A) a worker may elect to either join or not join the union.
B) only workers who have been union members for two years may be employed.
C) only union members may be employed by the firm.
D) a non-union worker may be hired but must join the union within a certain time period.
17) A right-to-work law makes it illegal for
A) employers to refuse to hire union workers.
B) union membership to be a requirement for continued employment in any establishment.
C) union membership to be denied on the basis of race, gender, or national origin.
D) a union to exist in a state.
18) A closed shop is a business enterprise in which
A) employees cannot belong to a union when they are employed, and cannot join a union and
keep working there.
B) employees must join the union to maintain employment.
C) employees must belong to the union before they can be employed.
D) employees cannot belong to the union when they are hired, but may join the union later and
keep their jobs.
19) Laws that make it illegal to require union membership as a condition of continuing
employment in a firm are
A) union shop laws.
B) right-to-work laws.
C) closed-shop laws.
D) jurisdictional laws.
20) A legal arrangement whereby a firm can hire only union labor is called
A) a union shop.
B) a closed shop.
C) a sweat shop.
D) an open shop.
21) The type of labor agreement that requires workers to be union members prior to being
considered for employment is a
A) right-to-work agreement.
B) closed-shop agreement.
C) union shop agreement.
D) open-shop agreement.
22) A company can hire non-union workers, but a condition of their employment is that they
must join the union within their first 90 days on the job. This is an example of a
A) right-to-work law.
B) closed-shop.
C) union shop.
D) voluntary craft union.
23) The percentage of U.S. workers in the private sector who belong to unions is currently
A) greater than 70 percent.
B) approximately 55 percent.
C) approximately 25 percent.
D) approximately 11 percent.
24) Which piece of legislation allowed states to pass right-to-work laws?
A) Wagner Act
B) Landrum-Griffin Act
C) Taft-Hartley Act
D) National Industrial Recovery Act
25) A state with “right-to-work” laws would most likely have
A) higher employment levels than neighboring states without such laws.
B) more workers’ benefits than neighboring states without such laws.
C) more union workers than neighboring states without such laws.
D) more worker safety requirements than neighboring states without such laws.
26) The Taft-Hartley Act of 1947 outlawed
A) strikes.
B) make-work rules and forcing unwilling workers to join a union.
C) right-to-work states.
D) none of the above.
27) A boycott of products sold by companies that are dealing with a company whose workers are
on strike is a
A) jurisdictional dispute.
B) sympathy strike.
C) right-to-boycott law.
D) secondary boycott.
28) A closed shop is one in which
A) a union is prohibited.
B) some members belong to the union while others do not.
C) belonging to a union is a condition of employment.
D) the union is a co-manager of the day-to-day operations of the firm.
29) The Taft-Hartley Act
A) permits states to outlaw unions.
B) permits states to pass right-to-work laws.
C) encourages unions to engage in sympathy strikes.
D) encourages unions to engage in secondary boycotts.
30) A right-to-work state is one in which
A) unions are illegal.
B) there is guaranteed employment for all citizens.
C) the union shop is prohibited.
D) the closed shop is permitted.
31) A union is striking a steel company, and then, to put more pressure on the steel company,
also promotes a boycott against an auto company that buys steel from the steel company. This
latter action is
A) a sympathy strike, and is illegal under the Taft-Hartley Act.
B) a secondary boycott, and is legal under the Landrum-Griffin Act.
C) a secondary boycott, and is illegal under the Taft-Hartley Act.
D) a sympathy strike, and is legal under the Wagner Act.
32) The president of the United States can obtain a court injunction that will stop a strike for an
80-day “cooling-off”period if the strike is expected to imperil national safety or health. This
power is granted in the
A) Wagner Act.
B) Landrum-Griffin Act.
C) National Industrial Recovery Act.
D) Taft-Hartley Act.
33) Which of the following is legal under the Taft-Hartley Act?
A) closed shops
B) collective bargaining
C) secondary boycotts
D) sympathy strikes
34) Union membership, in terms of percentage of the U.S. civilian labor force
A) has increased steadily since the passage of the Wagner Act.
B) peaked about 1960 and has since declined.
C) was over 50 percent in 1987.
D) has increased dramatically since 1970.
35) Deregulation has contributed to
A) an increase in union membership.
B) declines in union membership.
C) higher wages in unions.
D) an increase in union power.
36) Today, the share of union membership among public sector workers in the United States is
A) more than twice the share of union membership among private sector workers.
B) zero.
C) less than half of the share of union membership among private sector workers.
D) the same as the share of union membership among private sector workers.
37) Collective bargaining in the United States typically involves negotiations between
A) the government and management over the minimum wage law.
B) the management of a company and the leaders of the union over the wages and fringe benefits
to be offered.
C) an individual and her boss over the appropriate salary level.
D) union and nonunion employees regarding work rules.
38) Which of these nations has the highest rate of union membership (as a share of total
employment)?
A) India
B) the United States
C) Japan
D) Sweden
39) For the past several decades, union membership in the United States has been declining.
What has been happening in the rest of the world?
A) Union membership has been increasing in almost every other country.
B) In almost every other nation, union membership has held constant.
C) In most cases, union membership in other nations has also been falling.
D) We do not know because other nations do not keep these statistics.
40) A craft labor union is made up of
A) groups of workers in an individual trade.
B) all the workers in a firm such as General Motors.
C) firms that employ similar labor skills.
D) an organization that controls the labor market in a particular industry.
41) The first labor unions in the United States were
A) public-sector unions.
B) industrial unions.
C) guilds.
D) craft unions.
42) Labor unions are organizations that
A) try to secure more opportunities for more workers in the economy.
B) try to secure economic improvements for all workers.
C) try to secure economic improvements for their members.
D) try to make labor markets more competitive.
43) A primary objective of labor unions is to
A) secure equal pay for its members.
B) have equal power with their employer.
C) seek better pay and improved work conditions.
D) all of the above.
E) none of the above.
44) A labor union is likely to seek all of the following EXCEPT
A) economic improvements for their members.
B) safer working conditions.
C) increased competitiveness in the labor market.
D) increased job security for its members.
45) Negotiations between the management of a company and the management of a union for the
purpose of setting a mutually agreeable contract on wages, fringe benefits and working
conditions for all employees in a union is know as
A) a closed shop.
B) a union shop.
C) collective bargaining.
D) an industrial union.
46) Bargaining between the management of a company and the management of a union is
A) a closed shop.
B) a bilateral monopoly.
C) a craft union.
D) collective bargaining.
47) The Knights of Labor was
A) a craft union that tried to restrict immigration into the United States.
B) an organization of skilled labor that tried to increase technical training after the German
model.
C) an organization of both unskilled and skilled workers that pushed for an eight-hour workday
and equal pay for men and women.
D) an industrial union composed of military personnel that tried to improve military life.
48) Which of the following is LEAST likely to be a reason for the decline in U.S. union
membership?
A) declines in manufacturing employment
B) increases in the work force of the public sector
C) deregulation of transportation industries
D) increasingly more immigrant workers to fill unskilled job positions
49) Prior to World War I, the U.S. government’s attitude towards labor unions was one of
A) indifference.
B) support.
C) hostility.
D) support, except when it came to unions of public employees.
50) An industrial union is
A) a union composed of public employees.
B) a union composed of workers who are in a specific geographic area.
C) a union composed of workers who are employed in a particular industry.
D) a union composed of workers who engage in a particular trade or skill.
51) A labor union that consists of workers from a particular industry is a(n)
A) closed shop.
B) industrial union.
C) union shop.
D) bilateral monopoly.
52) The CIO was formed as a(n)
A) closed shop.
B) association of industrial unions.
C) union shop.
D) bilateral monopoly.
53) The United Steelworkers is an example of a(n)
A) craft union.
B) industrial union.
C) public-sector union.
D) guild.
54) The Service Employees International Union is an example of a(n)
A) guild.
B) craft union.
C) industrial union.
D) public-sector union.
55) The American Federation of State, County, Government and Municipal Employees is an
example of a(n)
A) guild.
B) craft union.
C) industrial union.
D) public-sector union.
56) The Wagner Act
A) permitted unions to engage in collective bargaining.
B) permitted states to pass right-to-work laws.
C) restricted activities of heads of unions that were not beneficial to union members.
D) mandates compulsory arbitration in some key industries.
57) The Congress of Industrial Organization (CIO) was founded by
A) Samuel Gompers.
B) Jimmy Hoffa.
C) John L. Lewis.
D) George Meany.
58) A business enterprise in which employees must belong to the union before they can be hired
is
A) a closed shop.
B) a union shop.
C) a jurisdictional dispute.
D) an industrial union.
59) The United Auto Worker (UAW) would best be classified as
A) a craft union.
B) an industrial union.
C) a guild.
D) closed shop union.
E) none of the above.
60) A closed shop is a
A) strike by a union in sympathy with another union’s strike or cause.
B) dispute involving two or more unions over which should have control of a particular
jurisdiction.
C) business enterprise in which employees must belong to the union before they can be hired and
must remain in the union after they are hired.
D) legal environment in which businesses may hire nonunion members conditional on their
joining the union by some specified date after employment begins.
61) A business enterprise that allows the hiring of nonunion members conditional on their
joining the union is
A) a closed shop.
B) a union shop.
C) a jurisdictional dispute.
D) an industrial union.