Working with Organized Labor Essay Example

is based on three laws: the Wagner Act (the National Labor Relations Act, NLRA, of 1935); the Taft-Hartley Act (Labor Management Relations Act, LMRA, of 1947); and the Landrum-Griffin Act (Labor Management Reporting and Disclosure Act, LMRDA, of 1959).

The Wagner Act (PPT 15. 4) The National Labor Relations Act, or the Wagner Act, was passed in 1935. It established the NLRB and five illegal labor practices:

1. Interfering with employee rights to form unions
2. Interfering with the administration of a union .
3. Discriminating against union membersю
4. Discriminating against an employee who has filed charges under act
5. Refusing to bargain with the union.

The Taft-Hartley Act (PPT 15. 5) This act was passed in 1947 to limit some of the powers that unions had acquired under the Wagner act. It established six unfair labor practices for unions:

1.  Coercing employees
2. Causing the employer to discriminate against non-union members
3.  Refusing to bargain in good faith
4. Secondary boycotts
5. Excessive dues
6. Featherbedding C.

The Landrum-Griffin Act (PPT 15. 6) This act was passed in 1959 to give rights and protections to union members from their union leadership. It established five key provisions:

1. Bill of rights for union members
2. Unions must have a constitution
3. A union must report its financial activities
4. Elections are regulated by the government
5. The fiduciary responsibility of union leaders III.

Labor Relations in The United States  Labor relations in the U. S. evolved from within the capitalist economic structure.

The key factors that characterize labor relations in this country are business unionism, unions structured by type of job, collective bargaining, labor contracts, adversarial labor-management relations, and increased unionism in the public sector.

• Business Unionism Unions in the United States put a high
  

priority on improving the economic welfare of their members. Business unionism focuses on “bread-and-butter” issues such as wages, benefits, and job security.

Under a collective bargaining system, unions and management negotiate with each other to develop the work rules. D. Labor Contracts The product of collective bargaining is a labor contract that spells out the conditions of employment and work rules that affect employees in the unit represented by the union.

The Adversarial Nature of Labor-Management Relations and Shrinking Union Membership U. S. labor laws view labor and management as natural adversaries who will disagree over the distribution of the firm’s profits. For this reason, rules have been put in place so that the pie is distributed peacefully.

The Growth of Unions in the Public Sector

The percentage of workers who are unionized in the private sector has declined while in the public sector the percentage has increased substantially. Labor Relations in Other Countries Labor relations systems vary from country to country. Unions mean different things in different countries. How Unions Differ Internationally Some unions emphasize economic issues, while others emphasize political issues. Some emphasize both issues, while others emphasize neither of them. Labor Relations in Germany Germany's industrial democracy involves works councils and codetermination.

Labor Relations in Japan Japan's enterprise union has been a key factor in the success of its labor relations.

Labor Relations Strategy

The most important strategic choice affecting a company's labor relations is management's strategic decision to accept or to avoid unions. Union Acceptance Strategy (PPT 15. 10-15.

12) The acceptance strategy accepts collective bargaining as an appropriate way of establishing work rules through an exclusive agent for the employees. A company employing this strategy does not challenge the union’s right to represent the employees.

Union Avoidance Strategy  An avoidance strategy believes that unions have a disruptive influence on employees. Companies may choose from two approaches to implement this strategy:

1. Union substitution
2. Union suppression

 Managing the Labor Relations Process

There are three phases to the labor relations process. These include union organizing, collective bargaining (negotiating), and contract administration. The key aspect of the third phase is the administration of the contract and the grievance procedure.

Performance evaluations are rarely used in unionized organizations. However, there is often a greater amount of worker training.  Compensation On average, union employees earn 10% to 20% higher wages than comparable non-union employees. Unionized firms avoid using merit pay plans and are likely to give across-the-board pay raises to employees based on market considerations. Employee Relations The labor contract gives employees specific rights. The employees, through the collective bargaining process, have a voice in the development of work rules that affect their jobs.

A QUESTION OF ETHICS

One strategy for suppressing union activity is to ask certain workers to report to management any union-organizing activities that are taking place at the company. Is this strategy legal? Is it ethical? If you answered yes to both questions, do you think it is a good management practice? Why or why not? Simply asking employees to report any union-organizing activities is probably legal and ethical. However, if you make any implications that employees' job status may be affected in any way if they do not report the

activity, or if they participate in the activity, you will have committed an unfair labor practice.

Students may differ on whether it is good management practice. Some may argue that keeping channels open so that you know what is going on is good management. Others will say that asking employees this would imply retribution and would be risky in itself. Page 519: Suppose at a prebargaining meeting between the company's negotiating team and top management it is decided that the company will give up to a 4% raise. When negotiations start, however, the lead management negotiator states that the company cannot afford more than a 2% raise and will go no higher. Is this ethical behavior?

What if the situation were reversed and it was the union negotiator who stated an absolute minimum demand, knowing that the union leadership will accept less? Would that be ethical? You may see starkly different student opinions on this issue. Allow students to dialogue on it for a while. However, it may be useful to point out (if the students don't) that in most cases both sides have skilled negotiators who know and understand that these are negotiating tactics and not necessarily absolutes.

ANSWERS TO END-OF-CHAPTER DISCUSSION QUESTIONS 1

Why have labor and management tended to treat each other as adversaries in the U. S. labor relations system? Labor and management tended to treat each other as adversaries because of their origins and their different missions. Labor unions see their mission as gaining better benefits and pay for their members regardless of the company's economic situation. Companies have viewed their mission as maximizing shareholder wealth, and keeping labor costs low is one way

to help boost profits. 2. What factors are encouraging unions and management in the United States to adopt more cooperative strategies today? The factors that are encouraging unions and management to adopt more ooperative strategies today include

1.  the trend toward employee involvement,
2. both sharing the same general interest (a profitable enterprise) and experiencing greater security and rewards by cooperation,
3. external developments such as automation and global competition require a competitive advantage which can be produced through cooperation,
4.  an increasingly educated work force,
5.  highly publicized legal problems of some union leaders, and
6. the shrinking union membership.

What factors explain why unions in the United States have been losing more than 50% of all certification elections?

There are several reasons why unions have been losing so many certification elections. One, management styles have shifted to more employee involvement, empowerment, and other tactics that involve employees and make them feel that they do not need collective bargaining. Two, there has been a decline in industrial jobs and an increase in service industry jobs. Many service industry employees do not tend to support unionization and view that as something for industrial-type jobs. Three, unions have not been as successful lately in securing good contracts for their membership.

Suppose a goal of management is to reduce the number of grievances filed by union employees each year. What are some ways that the HRM staff can contribute to this goal? The HRM staff can contribute to this goal through several possible means. One of the biggest impacts would be through a solid training program for supervisors. This could cover the contract itself, as well as conflict resolution skills to help keep conflicts from building

into grievances. Students may have many other suggestions. How can management collective bargaining tactics be influenced by the company's labor relations strategy?

Provide examples. Once a company takes or chooses a labor relations strategy, it will employ tactics that complement that strategy. A company's labor relations strategy is its overall plan for dealing with unions. Under a union acceptance strategy, the tactics will include good faith bargaining tactics, mutual give and take labor and management cooperative efforts, and clear delineation of power and authority lines (management reserves the right to manage or run the company and the union attempts to maintain union security and job security), to name a few.

Under a union avoidance strategy, tactics such as union substitution and union suppression are common.

• What are some advantages and disadvantages of a strike from management's perspective?
• From the union's perspective?

The advantages of a strike from management's perspective are:

1.  it forces the parties to make concessions, resolve disputes, and get back to work;
2.  it gives management an opportunity to show the union's lack of power;
3.  it allows management to exhaust the union's strike fund;
4.  it permits management to hire permanent replacements.