1. Labor Relations
Chapter 12

2. Unionization: Employee’s Perspective
Higher compensation
Greater benefits
Influence over hiring, promotions, and layoffs
Working conditions and workplace safety
Formal processes for employee grievances, discipline, and other matters
Solidarity and recognition
Seniority. The length of time someone has worked for his or her current employer
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3. Unionization: Management’s Perspective
Work Rules
A common element of labor contracts that specifies such things as the tasks certain employees are required to do or are forbidden to do
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4. Unionization in Historical Perspective
National Labor Relations Act
Legislation passed in 1935 that established labor relations policies and procedures for most sectors of private industry; commonly known as the Wagner Act
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5. Unionization in Historical Perspective
Labor-Management Relations Act
Legislation passed in 1947 that addressed many concerns raised by business owners and shifted the balance of power again
Commonly known as the Taft -Hartley Act
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Right-to-Work States
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7. Union Organizing Drives
Authorization Cards
Cards signed by employees to indicate interest in having a union represent them
Certification Eelection
A secret-ballot election overseen by the NLRB to determine whether a union gains the right to represent a group of employees
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8. Union Organizing Drives
Decertification
An employee vote to take away a union’s right to represent them
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9. The Collective Bargaining Process
A negotiation between union and management negotiators to forge the human resources policies that will apply to all employees covered by a contract
Collective Bargaining Agreements (CBAs)
Contracts that result from collective bargaining
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10. Negotiating an Agreement
Mediation
Use of an impartial third party to help resolve bargaining impasses
Arbitration
A decision process in which an impartial referee listens to both sides and then makes a judgment by accepting one side’s view
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Labor Options
Strike
A temporary work stoppage aimed at forcing management to accept union demands
Boycott
A pressure action by union members and sympathizers who refuse to buy or handle the product of a target company
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Labor Options (cont.)
Injunction
A court order that requires one side in a dispute to refrain from or engage in a particular action
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Management’s Options
Strikebreakers
Nonunion workers hired to do the jobs of striking workers
Lockout
A decision by management to prevent union employees from entering the workplace
used to pressure the union to accept a contract proposal
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14. Grievance, Discipline, and Arbitration Procedures
Unfair labor practices
Unlawful acts made by either unions or management
Grievance
A formal complaint against an employer
By employers:
• Threatening employees with termination or cuts in benefits if they vote for a union or
engage in any other activity protected by the Wagner Act or other laws
• Threatening to close a facility if employees vote for union representation
• Interrogating employees about union sympathies or activities in ways that could “interfere
with, restrain, or coerce” employees trying to exercise their legal rights
• Responding to organizing campaigns by offering wage or benefit improvements as a
way to thwart unionization efforts
• Punishing employees for unionization activity by transferring them, giving them more
difficult work assignments, or terminating them
By unions:
• Attempting to scare employees into supporting the union by telling them they will lose
their jobs otherwise
• Refusing to process grievance claims made by employees who have criticized union officials
• Attempting to get an employee fired for not complying with a union shop agreement
when the employee has paid or offered to pay an initiation fee and monthly dues
• Discriminating against employees or giving preferential treatment in union hiring halls
(facilities where members of craft unions receive job assignments) because of race or
union activities
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15. Grievance, Discipline, and Arbitration Procedures
Progressive Discipline
An escalating process of discipline that gives employees several opportunities to correct performance problems before being terminated
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