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Chapter 3: Public Sector Labor Relations: History and Laws
1. Which of the following are the three main branches of the federal government?
a. operational; legislative; evaluative
b. judicial; evaluative; executive
c. legislative; judicial; executive
d. evaluative; legislative; judicial
2. Which of the following is the legislative branch of the federal government?
a. the President
b. Congress
c. the Department of State
d. the Supreme Court
3. Which of the following statements is TRUE of the federal government?
a. The federal government is divided into three main branches: the legislative, the judicial,
and the operational.
b. The Supreme Court is the legislative branch of the federal government that passes the
laws.
c. Congress is the judicial branch of the federal government that interprets the laws.
d. Federal executive departments handle the day-to-day administration of federal laws.
4. The federal court has three levels, district court, ________, and the Supreme Court.
a. family court
b. state court
c. court of appeals
d. executive court
5. “Dual sovereignty” refers to ________.
a. the sharing of collective bargaining power between the executive and legislative branches
of the federal government
b. the sharing of governmental power between the federal and state governments
c. the sharing of collective bargaining power between the union and the management
d. the sharing of governmental power between the local government and companies in the
private sector
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6. Which of the following statements is TRUE of state government?
a. The executive branch of a state consists of the state level courts.
b. The legislative branch is headed by the chief justice of the state.
c. The majority of states have a bicameral legislature.
d. The judicial branch is typically headed by an elected governor.
7. Which of the following is the only state in the U.S. that has a unicameral legislature?
a. Arizona
b. Nebraska
c. Indiana
d. Oregon
8. Which of the following terms refers to the flexible grant of powers from the state to
municipalities to determine their own goals without interference from the state legislature or
state agencies?
a. home rule
b. dual sovereignty
c. preemption
d. injunction
9. The governmental authority most commonly exercised by municipalities is the exercise of
________ powers, that is, the power to enact laws governing health, safety, morals, and
general public welfare.
a. referent
b. preemption
c. coercive
d. police
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10. The Pendleton Act ________.
a. put into place a requirement that employers with federal contracts should pay time and a
half to any employee working more than eight hours per day
b. restricted the federal courts from issuing injunctions in labor disputes, except to maintain
law and order
c. required employers to give employees up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave for family reasons
d. provided for open competitive examinations to determine the fitness of appointees to
federal office
11. Congress enacted the ________ of 1912 with the intention of conferring job protection
rights on federal employees and a restriction on the authority of the executive branch of
government to discharge a federal employee for talking to Congress.
a. Wagner Act
b. Lloyd-LaFollette Act
c. Sarbanes-Oxley Act
d. Lilly Ledbetter Act
12. The ________was chartered by the American Federation of Labor (AFL) in 1918. It is the
oldest noneducation nationally affiliated state or local union.
a. Working Women’s Association
b. Wisconsin State Employees Association
c. International Association of Fire Fighters
d. Women’s Trade Union League
13. Which of the following doctrines was presented as a basic reason for not allowing federal
employees to have collective bargaining rights or the right to strike?
a. severability doctrine
b. eminent domain doctrine
c. internal affairs doctrine
d. sovereignty doctrine
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14. Executive Order 10988, which was signed by President John F. Kennedy in 1962,
________.
a. required employers to give employees up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave for family reasons
b. restricted the federal courts from issuing injunctions in labor disputes, except to maintain
law and order
c. recognized the rights of federal employees to join or to refrain from joining labor
organizations
d. limited the political activities of federal employees to shield workers from political
pressure
15. Which of the following entities was established under Executive Order 11491?
a. National Labor Relations Board
b. Federal Labor Relations Council
c. Bureau of Labor Statistics
d. Employees’ Compensation Appeals Board
16. The ________ gives federal employees the right to join or not join unions and to engage
in collective bargaining; it places central authority with the Federal Labor Relations
Authority to oversee labor–management relations within the federal government.
a. Civil Service Reform Act
b. Classification Act
c. Hatch Act
d. Equal Employment Opportunity Act
17. Which of the following entities is a panel appointed by the president of the United States
to oversee the creation of bargaining units, conduct elections, decide representation cases,
determine unfair labor practices, and seek enforcement of its decisions?
a. Bureau of Labor Statistics
b. Federal Labor Relations Authority
c. Benefits Review Board
d. Federal Labor Relations Council
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18. The Civil Service Reform Act is also known as the ________.
a. Federal Labor Relations Act
b. Equal Employment Opportunity Act
c. Comprehensive Employment and Training Act
d. Whistleblower Protection Act
19. Which of the following statements is TRUE of the Federal Labor Relations Act?
a. It is also known as the Equal Employment Opportunity Act.
b. It created the National Labor Relations Board.
c. It makes it mandatory for federal employees to join a union.
d. It excludes wages and benefits from the scope of negotiable issues.
20. Which of the following came about as a result of the “Davenport v. Washington
Education Association” case?
a. Public sector unions are not allowed to strike.
b. Public sector employees are allowed to take up to 20 weeks of unpaid leave for family
reasons.
c. Public sector unions are required to obtain written consent from nonmembers they
represent in a bargaining unit before spending fees collected from them for electioneering
expenses.
d. Public sector employees are protected from being fired for failure to make political
contributions and certain employees are forbidden to engage in political activities.
21. Which of the following public sector unions is the largest professional organization in the
world?
a. National Rural Letter Carriers Association
b. National Education Association
c. National Treasury Employees Union
d. National Weather Service Employees Organization
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22. The International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF) is affiliated with the ________ in
the United States.
a. Utility Workers Union of America
b. United Steel, Paper and Forestry, Rubber, Manufacturing, Energy, Allied Industrial and
Service Workers International Union
c. American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations
d. Fraternal Order of Police
23. Which of the following is an example of a public-sector only union?
a. Service Employees International Union
b. The National Education Association
c. The American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees
d. International Brotherhood of Teamsters
24. Which of the following is an example of a mixed union?
a. The American Federation of Teachers
b. The Association of Federal Government Employees
c. The American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees
d. International Brotherhood of Teamsters
25. Which of the following is TRUE of bargaining in the public and private sectors?
a. Federal employees can bargain over the number of work hours but private-sector
employees cannot bargain over the number of work hours.
b. Federal employees cannot bargain on wages but most state and local employees can
bargain over wages.
c. Federal employees can bargain on pension benefits but most private-sector employees
cannot bargain over pension benefits.
d. Federal employees cannot bargain over paid leaves but most state and local employees
can bargain over paid leaves.
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26. _____ bargaining in the private sector refers to national or international unions, such as
the United Auto Workers, entering into agreements that set the bar for pay or benefit
increases across the industry.
a. Distributive
b. Associative
c. Integrative
d. Pattern
27. If an employer bases its bargaining position on an inability to pay increased wages, then
that employer must ________.
a. allow the NLRB to make the final decision in a dispute
b. increase the number of paid holidays or the employees
c. allow a union to examine the company’s books to verify the claim
d. provide higher pension benefits to its current employees
28. Which of the following terms generally refers to negotiations in the public sector where
the authority to commit to a collective bargaining agreement may be shared by the
executive and legislative branches, and thus three parties are involved in negotiations?
a. integrative bargaining
b. multilateral bargaining
c. pattern bargaining
d. distributive bargaining
29. Sunshine laws ________.
a. control the procedure followed by courts and parties to legal cases
b. define legally enforceable rights and duties, and what wrongful acts amount to violations
of those rights and duties
c. require that the official business of government be conducted in public
d. cover any civil action between private parties arising from wrongful acts which amount to
a breach of general obligations imposed by law and not by contract
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30. According to the ________ shop provision, an employee is required to support a union
financially even if the employee is not a union member.
a. union
b. agency
c. open
d. closed
31. ________ are employees who are covered by a collective bargaining agreement but
cannot be required to become union members. However, they are required to pay something
to the union for the bargaining and representation services they receive.
a. Free riders
b. Boundary spanners
c. Cheap riders
d. Early adopters
32. Employees who are covered by a collective bargaining agreement but are not required to
become union members, are required to pay a(n) ________ to the union for the
bargaining and representation services they receive.
a. activation fee
b. royalty
c. fair share
d. retainer
33. Under which of the following circumstances in the public sector is an employer allowed
to take unilateral action?
a. The employer is unable to meet the financial demands of the union due to insufficient
profits.
b. The employer proves that the union has demonstrated bad faith bargaining.
c. The union and the management are unable to reach an agreement after negotiating for a
week.
d. The union declares an impasse and declines the employer’s offer to meet again.
34. ________ allows a third party panel to make a final and binding decision on a negotiation
dispute.
a. Mediation
b. Interest arbitration
c. Conciliation
d. Advisory arbitration
35. ________ refers to a process in which governmental employees are replaced with other
workers through a contract with a non-government employer for the purpose of reducing
overall costs.
a. Globalization
b. Nationalization
c. Privatization
d. Liberalization
True/False
36. The National Labor Relations Act gave public sector employees substantive rights to
organize into labor unions.
37. Both the public sector and private sector received labor relations rights simultaneously.
38. The federal government is divided into three main branches: the legislative, the judicial,
and the executive.
39. The Supreme Court and all other federal courts have legislative authority vested in them
by the Constitution.
40. Congress is the judicial branch of the federal government, and interprets the laws passed
by the legislative branch.
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41. A ruling from a district or court of appeals that is not challenged is legally binding; if it is
challenged and heard by the Supreme Court, then that decision is legally binding.
42. Under the U.S. Constitution, all powers not granted to the federal government are
reserved for the states.
43. According to the U.S. Constitution, the actions of the federal government are considered
supreme whenever its constitutional use of power clashes with the legitimate actions of
the states.
44. Montana is the only state in the U.S. that has a unicameral legislature.
45. A municipal corporation is the legal term for a state government.
46. Municipal corporations are considered sovereign entities.
47. In many local government structures, the legislative body also serves as an executive
body, directing the day-to-day operation of its activities.
48. Home rule powers allow municipalities to act on issues of local concern because they do
not have to seek approval for their actions from the state legislature.
49. The power of a state government to enact laws governing health, safety, morals, and
general public welfare is known as police power.
50. The Clayton Act provided for a bipartisan three-member Civil Service Commission to
draw up and administer competitive examinations to determine the fitness of appointees
to federal office.
51. The Pendleton Act protected federal employees from being fired for failure to make
political contributions and actually forbade political campaign contributions by certain
employees.
52. The Classification Act provided a pay structure for federal employees based on the
qualifications of the person holding the job rather than the duties assigned to a job.
53. The Hatch Act restricted the federal courts from issuing injunctions in labor disputes,
except to maintain law and order.
54. Sovereignty is defined as “the supreme, absolute, and uncontrollable power by which an
independent state is governed.”
55. Executive Order 10988, signed by President John F. Kennedy in 1962, recognized the
rights of federal employees to join or to refrain from joining labor organizations.
56. Under E.O. 10988, strikes were specifically denied to the public labor organizations.
57. Executive Order 11491 made the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) an independent agency of
the executive branch.
58. The Federal Labor Relations Authority was created by the National Labor Relations Act.
59. The Federal Labor Relations Act excludes wages and benefits from the scope of
negotiable issues.
60. The Federal Labor Relations Act does not cover supervisors and members of the armed
forces.
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61. There is no federal law currently governing the collective bargaining relationship between
states and local governments and their employees.
62. Public sector unions are required to obtain written consent from nonmembers they
represent in a bargaining unit before spending fees collected from them for electioneering
expenses.
63. Collective bargaining in the public sector is largely shaped by market forces, while
political forces shape bargaining in the private sector.
64. Federal employees under the Federal Labor Relations Act are required to either become
union members or pay any money in the form of fees or dues in support of the union’s
representation.
65. The Federal Labor Relations Authority has jurisdiction in all the arbitration awards
appealed to it, regardless of the issue involved.