Human Resources Chapter 14 Thus The Bargaining Unit Were Composed 100

THE DYNAMICS OF LABOR RELATIONS

This chapter is intended to help students better understand the labor movement and the forces

contributing to it. It discusses the objectives and functions of contemporary labor unions, how

unions are organized and administered, and the current challenges and problems confronting them

The discussion of labor relations, probably more than any subject in HRM, tends to be

heavily influenced by the attitudes and emotions of the students. As long as emotionalism does

not get out of hand, however, it can serve to generate active class participation by the students.

Since business students may tend to have a promanagement viewpoint, this phase of the course

provides a good opportunity for students to hear the views of labor leaders. While union

leaders may be forced to take a defensive position before the class and perhaps will experience

some hostility from certain students, most leaders welcome an opportunity to appear as guest

speakers and are quite articulate in defending union practices. When major public or private

sector labor agreements are under negotiations or when major strikes are occurring, students are

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190 Part 5: Enhancing Employee-Management Relations

As a supplement to the material covered in the textbook and class lectures, it may be

CHAPTER LEARNING OUTCOMES

Identify and explain the principal federal laws that provide the

framework for labor relations.

Explain the reasons employees join unions.

Discuss some of the contemporary challenges to labor organizations.

LEARNING OUTCOME 2

LEARNING OUTCOME 7

LEARNING OUTCOME 1

LECTURE OUTLINE

I. GOVERNMENT REGULATION OF LABOR RELATIONS

• Have students test their knowledge of labor relations law by answering the questions in

Highlights in HRM 1.

A. Railway Labor Act

The purpose of the Railway Labor Act (RLA) is to prevent labor-management

B. Norris-LaGuardia Act

• The purpose of the Norris-LaGuardia Act, or Anti-Injunction Act, was to restrict

the use of the courts by employers in labor disputes. This was accomplished

C. Wagner Act

• Passed by Congress in 1935, the Wagner Act (National Labor Relations Act)

exerts the most impact on labor-management relations. It is important that

students know the major provisions of this law.

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1. The National Labor Relations Board

• The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) is the independent federal agency

D. Taft-Hartley Act

• Under the Wagner Act, unions grew and prospered, and their bargaining power

increased significantly. In 1947 the Wagner Act was amended by the Taft-Hartley

Act (Labor-Management Relations Act) to achieve a more balanced labor-

1. Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service

• Created in 1947 under the Taft-Hartley Act, the Federal Mediation and

Conciliation Service (FMCS) is an independent federal agency charged with

assisting labor and management when they reach bargaining impasses. It does

this through the process of mediation and conciliation. FMCS services are

voluntary to the parties.

E. Landrum-Griffin Act

• Passed by Congress in 1959, the Landrum-Griffin Act (Labor-Management

Chapter 14: The Dynamics of Labor Relations 193

II. THE LABOR RELATIONS PROCESS

• Employees may experience little power when they have to bargain individually with

the employer. To correct this situation, they may elect to unionize. When workers

pursue this direction, the labor relations process begins.

A. Why Employees Unionize

• As a class project, divide the class into teams of four or five and ask them to

develop a list of all the reasons why workers may unionize. Place the list on the

board, one suggestion for each group in round-robin fashion, until all ideas are

given.

• Dissatisfaction with Management

• Employees may unionize when they believe that managerial practices are

unfair and/or administered in a biased way. This is true particularly of those

issues that greatly affect the employment conditions of employees. Issues here

include those involving transfer, promotion, discipline, performance appraisal, and

salary increases.

B. Union Avoidance Practices

• There are things companies can do from an HRM perspective to decrease the

chances that their employees will want to form a union in the first place, thus

avoiding the union organizing campaign altogether. Specifically, there are six

practices or principles companies can adopt to decrease the chances of employees

wanting to unionize.

194 Part 5: Enhancing Employee-Management Relations

C. Organizing Campaigns

1. Organizing Steps

While not all organizing drives are alike, most organizing campaigns follow a set

series of steps that, when carried out successfully, can lead to unionization.

a. Step 1. The first step of the drive takes place when employees and the

union organizer meet to discuss the possibilities of unionization. The

c. Step 3

• Once the campaign is successfully under way, the organizer will form

an in-house organizing committee made up of supportive employees. It

e. Step 5

• If the union wins the election, the NLRB will certify the union as the

bargaining representative of employees. The employer is now

Chapter 14: The Dynamics of Labor Relations 195

• NLRB statistics show that after being certified, unions are unable to

2. Aggressive Organizing Tactics

• As discussed later in the chapter, in recent years unions have lost a significant

number of their members. To reverse this trend, labor organizations are using

D. Employer Tactics Opposing Unionization

• When opposing unionization, employers will normally use two approaches.

• First, an employer is likely to point out various unfavorable aspects of the union,

E. How Employees Become Unionized

• It is important that students understand the meaning of a bargaining unit given in

the textbook. The bargaining unit is the key element in labor-management relations.

Note that the union and the employer may not always agree on who should be

grouped into the bargaining unit. When this happens, the NLRB will define the

196 Part 5: Enhancing Employee-Management Relations

F. NLRB Representation Elections

• Emphasize to students that it takes 30 percent of employee signed authorization

cards before the NLRB will hold a representation election.

• After the union files an election petition, but before the election is held, the

NLRB will hold a pre-election hearing with employer and union representatives to

determine such things as the appropriate bargaining unit, date of the election,

jurisdiction of the NLRB, and the union(s) to appear on the ballot.

G. Impact of Unionization on Managers

Ask students to identify ways the new union will affect the organization, specifically

managers and supervisors. List these reasons on the board for discussion purposes.

1. Challenges to Management Prerogatives—Define “management prerogatives”

to the class. Give examples of management prerogatives such as organizational

Chapter 14: The Dynamics of Labor Relations 197

2. Loss of Supervisory Authority

• The labor agreement will set forth the condition of employment under

which employees will work. These employment conditions are normally

III. STRUCTURES, FUNCTIONS, AND LEADERSHIP OF LABOR UNIONS

• Explain that labor unions are classified basically into three groups—craft unions,

industrial unions, and employee associations. Distinguish among the three and

provide examples of each.

• Labor–management scholars and practitioners recognize three levels to the labor

A. Structure and Functions of the AFL-CIO

• The AFL-CIO is a federation of 56 autonomous unions. It is not a union itself.

National unions elect to join the AFL-CIO and must pay a per capita tax to support

the federation. In return, the national unions receive certain benefits, including:

1. Lobbying support

• The AFL-CIO also takes active interest in issues that may affect its membership.

These include international trade, national economic policy, social issues, foreign

policy concerns, and politics at both the regional and national level.

198 Part 5: Enhancing Employee-Management Relations

B. Structure and Functions of National Unions

• National unions represent the center of power in the labor movement. Each

national union is responsible for conducting its own affairs, much as business

C. Structure and Functions of Local Unions

• Local unions carry out the daily functions of business unionism. The two

primary tasks of the local are to (1) negotiate the labor agreement and

(2) represent member rights through enforcing the contract by way of the

grievance procedure.

D. Union Leadership Commitment and Philosophies

To work effectively with union officials, it is important for managers to understand

their commitment and philosophies. The following points will help to achieve this

positive relationship. Remember:

1. Union officials are elected and, therefore, subject to the political pressures of a

local following.

Chapter 14: The Dynamics of Labor Relations 199

IV. LABOR RELATIONS IN THE PUBLIC SECTOR

• One of the major growth areas for unions during the past thirty years has been the

public sector. While public-sector labor relations have some characteristics similar to

• Executive Orders—Issued by the presidents, executive orders cover federal

employees and contractors of the federal government. The two main executive

orders pertaining to labor relations are EO 10988 and EO 11491.

• The Civil Service Reform Act of 1978

• The Civil Service Reform Act of 1978 makes the regulation of labor

relations in the public sector more like that under the Taft-Hartley Act.

• State Legislation—A significant feature of public-sector legislation is the

diversity that exists among the different state statutes. Some states have no public-

sector laws governing labor relations. The major differences among the state laws

center around (1) who is covered under the law, (2) whether covered employees

have the right to strike, (3) methods to resolve bargaining impasses, and (4) the

degree of authority granted management.

• Public jurisdictions establish the wages and benefits under which their employees

work. This means that unions are often confined when bargaining for their employees.

200 Part 5: Enhancing Employee-Management Relations

V. THE BARGAINING PROCESS

• Emphasize to students that the techniques of negotiating discussed in this chapter are

appropriate in a wide variety of situations.

• The primary purpose of the collective bargaining process is to negotiate the labor

A. Preparing for Negotiations

Preparing for negotiations includes assembling data to support bargaining proposals

and forming the bargaining team.

B. Gathering Bargaining Data

• Labor and management negotiators will collect data related to wages and benefits,

past grievances, disciplinary actions, and other employment conditions to identify

likely areas for change. Other sources to consider are (1) labor agreements from

competitors, (2) general and regional economic conditions, (3) ideas from

supervisors and managers, (4) the organization’s financial position, and (5) past

arbitration awards.

• Industry practice and bargaining history will influence the composition and size

of each side’s bargaining team. Typically, four to six members will represent each

side. Management will be represented by higher-level managers from different

functional areas—finance, operations, legal, labor relations, and so on. The union

Chapter 14: The Dynamics of Labor Relations 201

C. Developing Bargaining Strategies and Tactics

• When negotiators develop bargaining strategies, they seek to anticipate the

other side’s demands and how strongly it will push for these demands. Each side

D. Negotiating the Labor Agreement

• A characteristic of labor negotiations is that each bargaining situation is unique.

Economics of the period, personalities of the negotiators, competitive pressures

on the organization, and different bargaining demands are contributing factors.

1. Meet at reasonable times and places.

2. Negotiate with competent personnel.

3. Submit realistic proposals.

4. Offer counterproposals.

5. Negotiate with an open mind.

• The NLRB defines the duty to bargain as bargaining on all matters concerning

202 Part 5: Enhancing Employee-Management Relations

Governments at the end of the chapter.

E. Good Faith Bargaining

• The Taft-Hartley Act requires an employer to negotiate in good faith with the

union’s representatives over conditions of employment (the same obligation

F. Interest-Based Bargaining

• Traditionally, labor and management bargaining in the U.S. has been

characterized as adversarial. A current trend in negotiations is to conduct

G. Management and Union Power in Collective Bargaining

• Should labor and management fail to settle their bargaining differences, then an

impasse will likely occur. Both sides will now employ their bargaining power—

economic, political, and social influence—to achieve their desired ends.

1. Union Bargaining Power

• The ultimate weapon for the union is its power to strike the employer. Other

forms of union pressure include picketing and boycotting the employer’s

product. Unions do not always need to strike to pressure the employer. Often