Chapter 15 – Collective Bargaining and Labor Relations
B. Laws Amending the NLRA
With the Taft-Hartley Act of 1947 and the Landrum-Griffin Act of 1959, Congress
established some restrictions on union practices deemed unfair to employers and union
members.
Under the Taft-Hartley Act, unions may not restrain employers through such actions as
the following:
a. Mass picketing in such numbers that nonstriking employees cannot physically
enter the workplace
b. Engaging in violent acts in connection with a strike
c. Threatening employees with physical injury or job loss if they do no support union
activities
d. During contract negotiations, insisting on illegal provisions, provisions the
employer may hire only workers who are union members or satisfactory to the
union, or working conditions to be determined by a group to which the employer
does not belong
e. Terminating an existing contract and striking for a new one without notifying the
employer, the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service, and the state
mediation service, if one exists
The Taft-Hartley Act also allows the states to pass so called right-to-work laws, which
make union shops, maintenance of membership, and agency shops illegal.
Figure 15.3, States with Right-to-Work Laws, indicates which states currently have
such laws in effect.
The Landrum-Griffin Act regulates unions’ activities with regard to their members,
including financial disclosure and the conduct of elections. This law establishes and
protects the rights of union members. These include the right to nominate candidates
for union office, participate in union meetings and secret ballot elections, and
examine unions’ financial records.
C. National Labor Relations Board
1. Enforcement of the NLRA rests with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB).
2. The NLRB prevents unfair labor practices by educating employers and employees
about their rights and responsibilities under the National Labor Relations Act and by
responding to complaints. In an extension of its education of employees, the NLRB
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Chapter 15 – Collective Bargaining and Labor Relations
recently issued a rule that employers must display a poster summarizing employee
rights. However, at the time this is written, that requirement was suspended because
of a legal challenge by employers. Check out the NLRB’s website (www.nlrb.gov) to
find out whether the poster is now required.
3. The NLRB is a federal agency that consists of a five-member board, the general
counsel, and 52 regional and field offices. Its enforcement actions are limited to
companies who have an impact on interstate commerce, but actually it extends to all
but purely local businesses.
4. The NLRB has two major functions: to conduct and certify representation elections
and to prevent unfair labor practices. It does not initiate either of these actions but
respond to requests for action.
1. Representation Elections: The NLRB is responsible for determining the
appropriate bargaining unit and the employees who are eligible to participate in
organizing activities.
2. Prevention of Unfair Labor Practices: The handling of complaints regarding unfair
labor practices begins when someone files a charge. The deadline for filing a
charge is six months after the alleged unfair practice. All parties must be served
with a copy of the charge. The charge is investigated by a regional office. If,
after the investigation, the NLRB finds the charge has merit and issues a
complaint, two actions are possible: the NLRB may defer to a grievance
procedure agreed on by the employer and the union or a hearing may be held
before an administrative law judge.
V. Union Organizing
1. Unions begin their involvement with an organization’s employees by conducting an
organizing campaign.
2. To meet its objectives, a union needs to convince a majority of workers that they should
receive better pay or other employment conditions and that the union will help them
achieve these. The employer’s objectives will depend on its strategy.
3. For the organization process to continue, at least 30% of the employees must sign an
authorization card.
4. Recognition of a union can occur in two ways:
a. For a consent election, the employer and the union seeking representation arrive
at an agreement stating the time and place of the election, the choices included
on the ballot, and a way to determine who is eligible to vote.
b. For a stipulation election, the parties cannot agree on all of these terms, so the
NLRB dictates the time and place, ballot choices, and the method of determining
eligibility
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Chapter 15 – Collective Bargaining and Labor Relations
5. Conduct that may lead to an election result being set aside include: (1) threats of loss
of jobs or benefits by an employer or union to influence votes or organizing activities,
(2) a grant of benefits or a promise of benefits as a means of influencing votes or
organizing activities, (3) campaign speeches by management or union
representatives to assembled groups of employees on company time less than 24
hours before an election, and (4) the actual use of physical force or violence to
influence votes or organizing activities.
2. Once the NLRB has certified a union as the exclusive representative of a group of
employees, it will not permit additional elections for one year. Also, after negotiations of
a contract has occurred, an election cannot be held for the time of the contract period or
for three years, whichever comes first.
3. Note that both union certifications and union elections can be conducted online.
B. Management Strategies
1. Sometimes an employer will recognize a union after a majority of employees have
signed authorization cards. More often, there is a hotly contested election campaign.
2. Employers use a variety of methods to oppose unions in organizing campaigns.
These efforts range from hiring consultants to distributing leaflets and letters, as well
as presenting the company’s viewpoint at meetings of employees. However, some
employers’ actions go beyond what the law permits
3. Supervisors must be trained in the legal principles of unionization. Table 15.1
explores what supervisors need to do before and during a union organizing attempt.
C. Union Strategies
1. The traditional union organizing strategy has been for organizers to call or visit
employees at home, when possible, to talk about issues like pay and job security. For
today’s newer type workforce, unions have been learning new tactics.
2. Alternatives to traditional union organizing strategies include: (1) offering workers
associate union membership – this is not linked to an employee’s workplace and
does not provide representation in collective bargaining, (2) corporate campaigns –
activities aimed at bringing public, financial or political pressure on employers during
union organization and contract negotiation, (3) avoidance of elections in favor of
using strikes and negative publicity to pressure corporations to accept a union, and
(4) negotiation of employer neutrality and card-check provisions into a contract –
under a neutrality provision, the employer pledges not to oppose organizing attempts
elsewhere in the company and a card-check provision is an agreement that if a
certain percentage of employees sign an authorization card, the employer will
recognize their union representation.
D. Decertifying a Union
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Chapter 15 – Collective Bargaining and Labor Relations
1. The Taft-Hartley Act expanded union members’ rights to be represented by leaders of
their own choosing so that it includes the right to vote out an existing union. This
action is called decertifying the union.
2. Decertification follows the same process as a representation election and may not
take place when a contract is in effect.
3. In fiscal year 2013, the NLRB reported that 13 percent of elections were
decertification elections.
VI. Collective Bargaining
1. In collective bargaining a union negotiates on behalf of its members with management
representatives to arrive at a contract defining conditions of employment for the term of
the contract and to resolve differences in the way they interpret the contract.
2. Typical contracts include provisions for pay, benefits, work rules, and resolution of
workers’ grievances. Table 15.2 shows typical provisions negotiated in collective
bargaining.
3. Collective bargaining differs from one situation to another in terms of bargaining
structure, that is, the range of employees and employers covered by the contract.
4. The majority of contract negotiations take place between unions and employers that
have been through the process before.
A. Bargaining Over New Contracts
1. The outcome of contract negotiations can have important consequences for labor
costs, productivity, and the organization’s ability to compete. Unions and
management need to prepare carefully for collective bargaining.
2. Negotiations go through various stages such as:
a. Proposals are presented
b. Each side makes a series of decisions
c. Pressures for an agreement increases
B. When Bargaining Breaks Down
1. The intended outcome of collective bargaining is a contract with terms acceptable to
both parties.
2. When bargaining breaks down, the union may strike or the parties may bring in
outside help to resolve their differences.
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Chapter 15 – Collective Bargaining and Labor Relations
3. Work Stoppages: A strike is a collective decision of the union members not to
work for the period of the strike. They are typically accompanied by picketing in
which the union stations members near the worksite with signs indicating that the
union is striking. Figure 15.4 shows Work Stoppages Involving 1,000 or More
Workers.
4. A primary reason strikes are rare is that a strike is seldom in the best interests of
either party.
5.Alternatives to Strikes: Because strikes are so costly and risky, unions and
management generally prefer other methods for resolving conflicts. Three of the
most common alternatives are mediation (least formal and most widely used – a
mediator hears both sides and facilitates the process – the mediator has no formal
authority to dictate a resolution), fact finder (most often used with governmental
bodies –reports on the reasons for the dispute, the views and arguments of both
sides, and sometimes recommends a settlement, which the parties may decline), and
arbitration (an arbitrator or arbitration board determines a settlement that is binding,
meaning the parties have to accept it).
VII. Contract Administration
1. Other union-management activities occur far more often than the labor agreement
process. For instance, contract administration goes on day after day, year after year,
while contract negotiation typically occurs only about every three years.
2. Contract administration includes carrying out the terms of the agreement and resolving
conflicts over interpretation or violation of the agreement. Under a labor contract, the
process for resolving conflicts is called a grievance procedure. A grievance
procedure may be started by an employee or discharged employee who believes the
employer violated the contract or by a union representative on behalf of a group of
workers or union representatives.
3. Figure 15.5, Steps in an Employee-Initiated Grievance Procedure, indicates the
typical steps of a grievance procedure initiated by an employee.
4. The four steps of a grievance procedure include:
a. The employee talks to the supervisor about the problem
b. If no satisfaction is derived, the employee may involve the union steward in further
discussion
c. If the problem remains unsolved and there is no contract violation evident, the union
puts the grievance in writing and submits it to a line manager
d. The union steward meets with a management representative to try and resolve the
problem
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Chapter 15 – Collective Bargaining and Labor Relations
5. The majority of grievances are settled during the earlier steps of the process, which
reduces delays and avoid the cost of arbitration.
6. From the employees’ viewpoint, the grievance procedure is an important means of
getting fair treatment in the workplace. Under the NLRA, the union has a duty of fair
representation, which means the union must give equal representation to all members
of the bargaining unit, whether or not they actually belong to the union.
VIII. Labor-Management Cooperation
1. The traditional understanding of union-management relations is that the two parties are
adversaries, meaning that each side is competing to win at the expense of the other.
2. Cooperation between labor and management typically includes: (1) employee
involvement in decision-making, (2) self-managing employee teams, (3) labor-
management problem-solving teams, (4) broadly defined jobs, and (5) sharing of
financial gains and business information with employees.
3. Employers can build cooperative relationships by the way they treat employees – with
respect, fairness, and the knowledge that attracting and minimizing turnover are often
in the employer’s best interests.
ROADMAP: Chapter Vocabulary
Unions
Labor relations
Craft union
Industrial union
American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO)
Union steward
Checkoff provision
Closed shop
Union shop
Agency shop
Maintenance of membership
National Labor Relations Act (NLRA)
Right-to-work laws
National Labor Relations Board (NLRB)
Associate union membership
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Chapter 15 – Collective Bargaining and Labor Relations
Corporate campaigns
Collective bargaining
Lockout
Strike
Mediation
Fact finder
Arbitration
Grievance procedur
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