978-1305115248 Chapter 10 Solution Manual Part 2

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Unions’ Organizing Efforts

The organizing and negotiating successes of unions are tied to the economy and

economic trends. The persuasion efforts by unions can take many forms, including

personally contacting employees outside work, mailing materials to employees’

homes, inviting employees to attend special meetings away from the company, and

B. Authorization Cards

A union authorization card is signed by employees to designate a union as their

Union advocates have lobbied for changing laws so that elections are not needed if

more than 50% of the eligible employees sign authorization cards. Some states have

However, the fact that an employee signs an authorization card does not necessarily

mean that the employee is in favor of a union. It means only that the employee would

C. Representation Election

An election to determine if a union will represent the employees is supervised by the

NLRB for private-sector organizations and by other legal bodies for public-sector

Bargaining Unit

Before any election, the appropriate bargaining unit must be determined. A

bargaining unit is composed of all employees eligible to select a single union to

bargaining unit is what the NLRB calls a “community of interest.” Employees who

constitute a bargaining unit have mutual interests in the following areas:

Wages, hours, and working conditions

Traditional industry groupings for bargaining purposes

Physical location and amount of interaction and working relationships between

Supervisors and Union Ineligibility

Provisions of the National Labor Relations Act exclude supervisors from voting for

or joining unions. As a result, supervisors cannot be included in bargaining units for

unionization purposes, except in industries covered by the Railway Labor Act. But

Election Unfair Labor Practices

Employers and unions engage in many activities before an election. Both the Wagner

Act and the Taft-Hartley Act place restrictions on these activities. Once unionizing

Election Process

If an election is held, the union needs to receive only a majority of the votes.

If either side believes that the other side used unfair labor practices, the election

results can be appealed to the NLRB. If the NLRB finds evidence of unfair practices,

D. Certification and Decertification

Official certification of a union as the legal representative for designated private-sector

employees is given by the NLRB, or for public-sector employees by an equivalent body.

When members no longer wish to be represented by the union, they can use the election

process to sever the relationship between themselves and the union. Similar to the

unionization process, decertification is a process whereby a union is removed as the

E. Contract Negotiation (Collective Bargaining)

Collective bargaining, the last step in unionization, is the process whereby

representatives of management and workers negotiate over wages, hours, and other

VI. Collective Bargaining Issues

A number of issues can be addressed during collective bargaining. Although not often

A. Management Rights

Virtually all labor contracts include management rights, which are rights reserved so

that the employer can manage, direct, and control its business. By including such a

B. Union Security

A major concern of union representatives when bargaining is the negotiation of union

security provisions, which are contract clauses to help the union obtain and retain

members. One type of union security clause in labor contracts is the no-layoff policy, or

Union Dues Issues

A common union security provision is the dues checkoff clause, which provides for

the automatic deduction of union dues from the payroll checks of union members.

Types of Required Union Membership

Another form of union security provision is requiring union membership of all

employees, subject to state right-to-work laws. This “closed shop” is illegal except in

C. Classification of Bargaining Issues

The NLRB has defined collective bargaining issues in three ways. The categories it has

Mandatory Issues

Issues identified specifically by labor laws or court decisions as subject to bargaining

are mandatory issues. If either party demands that issues in this category be subject

to bargaining, then that must occur. Generally, mandatory issues relate to wages,

benefits, nature of jobs, and other work-related subjects. Mandatory subjects for

bargaining include the following:

Discharge of employees

Grievances

Work schedules

Union security and dues check off

Retirement and pension coverage

Permissive Issues

Issues that are not mandatory and that relate to certain jobs are permissive issues.

For example, the following issues can be bargained over if both parties agree:

Benefits for retired employees

Illegal Issues

A final category, illegal issues, includes those issues that would require either party

to take illegal action. Examples would be giving preference to union members when

VII. Collective Bargaining Process

The collective bargaining process involved in negotiating a contract consists of four

possible stages—preparation and initial demands, negotiations, settlement or impasse, and

A. Preparation and Initial Demands

Employer and industry data concerning wages, benefits, working conditions,

management and union rights, productivity, and absenteeism are gathered. If the

organization argues that it cannot afford to pay what the union is asking, the employer’s

Core Bargaining Issues

The primary focus of bargaining for both union and management is on the core areas

of wages, benefits, and working hours and conditions. The importance of this

B. Continuing Negotiations

After taking initial positions, each side attempts to determine what the other side values

highly so that the best bargain can be struck. Provisions in federal law require that both

employers and union bargaining representatives negotiate in good faith. In good-faith

C. Settlement and Contract Agreement

After reaching an initial agreement, the bargaining parties usually return to their

respective constituencies to determine if the informal agreement is acceptable. A

particularly crucial stage is ratification of the labor agreement, which occurs when

D. Bargaining Impasse

Regardless of the structure of the bargaining process, labor and management do not

Conciliation and Mediation

When an impasse occurs, an outside party such as the Federal Mediation and

Conciliation Service may help the two deadlocked parties to continue negotiations

and arrive at a solution. In conciliation, the third party assists union and

In conciliation and mediation, the third party does not attempt to impose a solution.

Arbitration

In arbitration, a neutral third party makes a decision. Arbitration can be conducted

by an individual or a panel of individuals. “Interest” arbitration attempts to solve

bargaining impasses, primarily in the public sector. This type of arbitration is not

E. Strikes, Lockouts, and Other Tactics

If a deadlock cannot be resolved, an employer may revert to a lockout or a union may

revert to a strike. During a strike, union members put pressure on an employer by

In a lockout, management shuts down company operations to prevent union members

from working. This action may avert possible damage or sabotage to company facilities

VIII. Union/Management Cooperation

The adversarial relationship that naturally exists between unions and management may

lead to strikes and lockouts. However, such conflicts today are relatively rare. Even more

During the past decade, firms have engaged in organizational and workplace restructuring

in response to competitive pressures in their industries. Restructurings have had significant

A. Employee Involvement Programs

It seems somewhat illogical to suggest that union/management cooperation or involving

In the 1930s, when the Wagner Act was written, certain employers would form sham

company unions, coercing workers into joining them in order to keep legitimate unions

from organizing the employees. As a result, the Wagner Act contained prohibitions

Federal court decisions have upheld the NLRB position in some cases and reversed it in

others. One key to decisions allowing employee-involvement committees and programs

seems to be that these entities should not deal directly with traditional collective

B. Unions and Employee Ownership

Unions in some situations have encouraged workers to become partial or complete

owners of the companies that employ them. These efforts were spurred by concerns that

Employee stock ownership plans for union members have even become popular. Such

programs have been successful in some situations because members have purchased all

IX. Grievance Management

Employee dissatisfaction is a potential source of trouble for employers, whether it is

expressed or not. Hidden dissatisfaction grows and creates reactions that may be

completely out of proportion to the original concerns. Therefore, it is important that

A. Grievance Responsibilities

The typical division of responsibilities between the HR unit and operating managers for

B. Grievance Procedures

Grievance procedures are specific communication channels that are used to resolve

grievances between employees and employers. Many times, first-line supervisors are

usually closest to a problem and should be one the primary problem solvers in

Union Representation in Grievance Procedures

A unionized employee generally has a right to union representation if the employee is

being questioned by management and if discipline may result. If these so-called

C. Steps in a Grievance Procedure

Grievance procedures can vary in the steps included. A typical grievance procedure

consists of the following steps:

The employee discusses the grievance with the union steward (the representative of

The union steward discusses the grievance with the supervisor’s manager and/or

A committee of union officers discusses the grievance with appropriate company

The representative of the national union discusses the grievance with designated

If the grievance is not solved at this stage, it goes to arbitration. An impartial third

Grievance arbitration is a means by which a third party settles disputes arising from

different interpretations of a labor contract. The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that

grievance arbitration decisions issued under labor contract provisions are enforceable

and generally may not go to court to be changed. Grievance arbitration includes many

X. Unions in the Global Arena

Globalization increases the degree to which there is economic competition among workers,

companies, and nations. As such, the ability of a country to remain competitive is often

The percentage of union membership varies significantly from country to country. The

highest is in the Scandinavian countries. In some countries, unions either do not exist at all