Labor Relations

Why do unions exist?

Poor ManagementProtect workers rightsPositive impact on employee wagesProtect Job SecurityProvide Employee voice and instrumentalityGet fair share of pieChecks and balances– Don’t forget past and present management abuses

Legislative Framework

Three periods of legislative action and Union membership trends– Strong Encouragement – 1930s

• Norris LaGuardia Act (1932) & NLRA (1935)– Modified Encouragement – 1940s

• Taft-Hartley Act (1947)– Detailed Regulation of Internal Union Affairs – late

1950s• Landrum-Griffin Act (1959)

The Triumvirate

Three of these pieces of legislation pretty much shape the characteristics of contemporary labor relations– National Labor Relations Act– Taft-Hartley Act– Landrum-Griffin Act

• Essentials is not a big fan of this act

Strong Encouragement – 1930s

Norris-LaGuardia Act– Guaranteed rights of Ees to bargain collectively– Ideas there, but no enforcement provisions

National Labor Relations Act– Added teeth to N-L Act

• Banned Unfair Labor Employer Practices• Must have secret ballot elections that are determined by

majority rule– Established NLRB to enforce these additions

Unfair Employer Labor Practices

Interfering with, restraining, or coercing employees against union membershipManagement cannot interfere with formation or administration or labor organization– Can’t bribe employees, move business to avoid unionization, or

blacklist sympathizers

No discrimination because of union activityCannot fire for filing unfair practice chargesCannot refuse to bargain collectively with employees chosen union representation

Modified Encouragement – 1940s

Taft-Hartley Act (Labor-Management Relations Act)– Reflected public’s less enthusiastic attitudes toward

unions– Allows Ers to express their views about unions more

freely– Limits Unions by:

• Prohibiting unfair union practices• Enumerating rights of Ees as union members• Enumerating rights of Ers• Allowing President of U.S. to temporarily (80 days total) bar strikes for

national interests (emergency)

Unfair Union Practices

Banned from restraining or coercing Ees from exercising their bargaining rightsUnions cannot cause Ers to discriminate in any way against an EE to encourage or discourage union membershipUnions must bargain in good faith

Exercising the Taft-Hartley Act

Just exercised in Dockworkers strike– Last done before that in 1978

Steps:– President forms board to investigate disputes– Asks court to force workers back to work for 60, then 80 days

• Cooling off period

– Mediators work with two sides in meantime– After 60 days, NLRB polls workers on employer’s last offer– If workers reject offer, can strike again

Invoked 35 times, worked 22, not 10, court rejected 3

Detailed Regulation of Internal Union Affairs – late 1950s

Landrum-Griffin Act– Aim was to protect union members from possible

wrongdoing by their union reps– Laid out rules for union elections

• Must elect officers once every five years using secret ballots

Union Structure

Five types of Union Security:– Closed Shop – hire only union members – outlawed in

1947– Union Shop – hire nonunion individuals, but they must

join the union after probationary period– Agency Shop – Ees not belonging to Union still pay dues

(Assumption - Unions benefit plight of all workers)– Open Shop – Union membership up to employees– Maintenance of Membership Arrangement – Union

members employed by firm must retain membership

AFL-CIO

Governing body to those unions who decide to affiliate with the Federation of Labor– American Federation of Labor– Congress of Industrial Organizations– Merged in 1955

Provide structure and lobbying body– No-raiding pacts of affiliated unions– Handles a lot of public relations issues – located

right across the street from the Capitol

Local Unions

May or may not be affiliated with AFL-CIOPurpose revolves around contract negotiation and grievance handlingCornerstone of union representation

Union Drives

Initial Contact – Union determines ee interestAuthorization Cards – need to get 30% of eligible Ees in bargaining unit to sign petition for electionThe Hearing – Er chooses whether or not to contest – NLRB is contacted by union to request a hearingThe Campaign – Union and ER appeal to Ees for votesThe Election – Must be held within 30-60 days of NLRB decision about vote

Contact

Occurs because Unions want to expand, Ees take initiative in soliciting Union, or Organization seems an easy target for UnionizationTechnology now impacts contact stage – Ers need to be wary of putting prohibitions on Union-related emailsErs should focus on avoiding contact rather than battling Unions in campaigns– Union Salting – undercover union person obtains

employment with firm to strum up support

Authorization Cards

Must get 30% of Ees in bargaining unit to sign onManagers should stay clear of the cards – they are considered confidential and if managers know who sign – can open up for unfair ER practice

Hearing

Ers can choose to:– Not contest union recognition – no hearing needed

and election goes immediately– Not contest right to an election – no hearing needed

and parties stipulate election– Contest – go to NLRB

• Evidence is presented (30% of cards), the bargaining unit is defined, and the election date is to be set

Campaign

Must be careful about unfair practices – both sides– Yet they are likely going to happen to some extent

Management will try to set record straight on what unionization means for EesUnion will try to sell benefits of union membership

Election

Election held, voting is secret, majority rulesIf unfair employer practices occur, a “no union” decision can be reversedIf fails, can’t have another election for 12 months

Decertification Elections

Labor laws grant employees the right to legally terminate union representation through an electionAbout 500 decertification elections held annually,about 2500-3000 certification elections held

Collective Bargaining Process

Certain Bargaining items must be negotiated, there are also illegal bargaining itemsBargaining must be in good faith – done between negotiating teams– Parties are not compelled to agree, but must

communicate and negotiate– Ers are likely to stress that the bargaining process

does not compel them to come to terms with Union – though this is likely not the most constructive stance once Unionization is inevitable

Collective Bargaining Process

Lots of research occurs before parties sit down (at least it should) so that reasonable or informed positions can be taken Teams are selected that are composed of union rep (local) and shop stewards (elected)– Must appoint a spokesperson – important role for

relaying communication

Bargaining in Bad Faith

Surface Bargaining – going through motionsConcessions – should be willing to make themImposing Conditions – imposing conditions considered to be onerous is a problemBypassing the representative – cannot usurp union’s representation

Bargaining Items

Mandatory– Time table for

agreement– Wages– Pay rates– Vacations– Pensions– Severance– Layoffs– Drug Testing

Permissible– Management

rights as to union affairs

– Continuance of past contract

– Scope of bargaining unit

Illegal– Closed shop– Separation of

ees based on race

– Discriminatory treatment

Bargaining Stages

Each side presents demandsReduction of demandsParties form joint subcommittees to find alternative solutionsInformal settlement reachedFormal agreement worked out and signed

The Dreaded Impasse

When parties can’t move towards resolution/agreement – Impasse occursResolved by:– 3rd Party Involvement– Strikes– Other Alternatives

3rd Party InvolvementMediation– Neutral 3rd party tries to help parties come closer

together, focus on reducing conflict and increasing agreement

– Does not have power to force agreementFact-finder– Studies issues and makes public recommendations

Arbitration– Present conflict to arbitrator for binding resolution –

dictate settlement terms

Strikes

Number per year has declined from 380 in 1970 to 29 in 1997Economic Strike– Results from failure to agree to terms in negotiation

• UPS, MLB (players and umps), Airlines strikes, Maple Heights teachers

Unfair Labor Practices Strike– Aimed at protesting illegal conduct by ER

Wildcat Strike– Unauthorized strike occurring during a contract period

Sympathy Strike – Union strikes in support of another union’s plight

Other Alternatives

Boycott– Union members do not buy goods or services from

organization

Lockout– ER attempt to break an impasse– Dockworkers on west coast, MLB

Unions and Practice

Unions are political entities– Therefore, decisions will be politically motivated– Elections at least every 5 years, typically 3 years– Negotiating teams are elected and handle:

• Bargaining• Administration of grievances• Everyday issues

Unions and Practice

Honesty is absolute policy– Integrity in dealings is absolutely important– After the negotiations, must work together– UPS – wanted to implement a team-based work

concept, ended up being a huge bone of contention because of adversarial relationship with union

Unions and Practice

Company issues MUST be handled through union reps– Failure to do so, or attempts to deal with workers

directly, can be an unfair employer labor practice– This is one of the hot topics that management will try

to communicate to workers thinking about organizing• Akron Provost sent emails pre-information session about

union activity and how it would change the management-employee relationship

Unions and Practice

Establish a working relationship– Unions can’t actively help management – not in job

description and would not have a purpose if they did – but they can NOT impede management attempts to improve productivity

• Bill Ford lunches with UAW head weekly to maintain relations

– Flexible work issues are often tough to deal with because of union status

Labor Case 1: UPS Strike

Teamsters vs. UPS Management– Problems brewed for years– Disjointed union representation was at fault for many

of those years– 1991, Union started to make strategic moves to set

up for the strong stance it took in 1997• Had to create unity in traditionally non-united worker corps

(Part vs. Full-Time)

UPS Strike

UPS Issues– Demanded give backs (UAL is doing this now)– Thought they could take advantage of disjointed

unions– Exploit division/rivalry between the PT and FT

workers• Team-Concept thus seen as an attempt to undermine

union reps

UPS Strike

Union Built Unity– Did not spend money on advertising, rather held

rallies that caught press attention– Surveyed members to get feedback– Built groundswell of support and unity with collateral

materials – like t-shirts and hats– Attacked big issues brought to table, like UPS desire

to take over pension funds– Able to create a hometown story because of UPS

presence in every town in US

UPS Strike

UPS and Unions claimed victory– Workers went back to work– UPS went on as it was instead of firing all workers

and becoming a smaller, possibly more profitable carrier

– Teamsters used settlement to build membership

Labor Relations Case 2: Dockworkers

1st use of Taft-Hartley since 1978– Interesting that it was used pre-election– Bush administration already seen as pro-management because

of use of Railway Act to prohibit strikes in Airlines and Railroads post 9/11

Data has been mixed on TH effects– In this case, movement is being made towards agreement on

some issues – like development of technology

Dockworkers make $106K per year and the occupation is pretty closed – families pass jobs down

Future of Unions

Essentials would blame “me generation” and Reagan for decline of membershipSeems to be fairly constant when you look at numbers– Playing a prominent role in many disputes

Provides a check and balance for managementContinuous expansion in white collar jobs