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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
