Labor Relations and Collective Bargaining

中国经济管理大学MBA课堂笔记

Labor Relations and  Collective Bargaining

中国经济管理大学/中國經濟管理大學

I.          The Labor Movement

A little more than 14.8 million U.S. workers belong to a union—around 11.3 percent of all men and women working in this country.

A.    Why Do Workers Organize? — The urge to unionize often seems to boil down to the belief on the part of workers that it is only through unity that they can get their fair share of the pie. It is sometimes the result of workers trying to protect themselves from management’s whims. Union workers tend to receive significantly more pay, holidays, sick leave, unpaid leave, insurance plan benefits, long-term disability benefits, and various other benefits than do nonunion workers. Unions seem to have reduced the impact of downsizings and wage cuts in most industries, in part because union employees are not entirely “at will.”

II.         Employee Engagement Guide for Managers: Employee Engagement and Unionization

One might reasonably assume that because engaged employees are more supportive of their companies, they’re also less likely to support unionization.

A.    What Do Unions Want? — Unions have two sets of aims, one for union security and one for improved wages, hours, working conditions, and benefits for their members.

1.   Union Security — The five types of union security are: closed shop, union shop, agency shop, preferential shop, and maintenance of membership arrangement.

2.   Improved Wages, Hours, Working Conditions, and Benefits for Members — The typical labor agreement also gives the union a role in other HR activities, including recruiting, selecting, compensating, promoting, training, and discharging employees.

B.   The AFL-CIO and the SEIU

The American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) is a voluntary federation of about 56 national and international labor unions in the United States. The AFL and CIO merged in 1955. The three layers of structure in the AFL-CIO are: (1) the local union (a single chapter in a national union), (2) the national union, and (3) the national federation. The Service Employees International Union (SEIU) is a fast-growing federation of more than 2.2 million members principally in the health care and state and government workers. Changes have occurred recently in the AFL-CIO. Six big unions have withdrawn from the AFL-CIO and have established the Change to Win Coalition. Shortly thereafter, UNITE HERE left the Change to Win coalition possibly slowing Change to Win’s momentum.

III.        Unions and the Law  

            There were no special labor laws until about 1930, so employers were virtually unrestrained in their behavior toward unions and employees. Since the Great Depression, in response to changing public attitudes, values, and economic conditions, labor law has gone through three clear changes: from strong encouragement of unions, to modified encouragement coupled with regulation, and finally, to detailed regulation of internal union affairs.

A.   Period of Strong Encouragement: The Norris-LaGuardia Act (1932) and the National Labor Relations or Wagner Act (1935) — The Norris-LaGuardia Act guaranteed to each employee the right to bargain collectively free from interference, restraint, or coercion; but it did little to restrain employers from fighting labor organizations. The National Labor Relations (Wagner) Act of 1935 (1) banned certain unfair labor practices; (2) provided for secret-ballot elections and majority rule for determining whether a firm’s employees were to unionize; and (3) created the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) for enforcing these two provisions.

1.   Unfair Employer Labor Practices — As deemed by the Wagner Act: (a) it is unfair for employers to interfere with, restrain, or coerce employees in exercising their legally sanctioned right of self-organization; (b) it is unfair for company representatives to dominate or interfere with either the formation or the administration of labor unions; (c) employers are prohibited from discriminating in any way against employees for their legal union activities; (d) employers are forbidden to discharge or discriminate against employees simply because the latter file unfair practice charges against the company; and (e) it is unfair for employers to refuse to bargain collectively with their employees’ duly chosen representatives.

2.   From 1935 to 1947 — Union membership increased quickly after the passage of the Wagner Act in 1935, but the tide had begun to turn by the mid-1940s.

B.   Period of Modified Encouragement Coupled with Regulation — The Taft-Hartley Act (1947) amended the Wagner Act with provisions aimed at limiting unions in four ways: (1) by prohibiting unfair union labor practices, (2) by enumerating the rights of employees as union members, (3) by enumerating the rights of employers, and (4) by allowing the president of the United States to temporarily bar national emergency strikes.

1.   Unfair Union Labor Practices — (a) unions cannot restrain or coerce employees from exercising their guaranteed bargaining rights; (b) unions cannot cause an employer to discriminate in any way against an employee in order to encourage or discourage his or her membership in a union; and (c) unions cannot refuse to bargain in good faith with the employer about wages, hours, and other employment conditions (certain strikes and boycotts are also unfair union labor practices).

2.   Rights of Employees — The Taft-Hartley Act protects employees from their unions.

3.   Rights of Employers — The Taft-Hartley Act explicitly gives employers full freedom to express their views concerning union organization. The only major restraint is that employers must avoid threats, promises, coercion, and direct interference with workers who are trying to reach a decision. The employer (1) cannot meet with employees on company time within 24 hours of an election, or (2) suggest to employees that they vote against the union while they are at home or in the employer’s office, although he or she can do so while in their work area or where they normally gather.

4.   National Emergency Strikes — The Taft-Hartley Act allows the U.S. president to intervene in national emergency strikes. The president may appoint a board of inquiry and, based on its report, apply for an injunction restraining the strike for 60 days. If the parties don’t reach a settlement during that time, the president can have the injunction extended for another 20 days, during which time employees take a secret ballot to ascertain their willingness to accept the employer’s last offer.

C.    Period of Detailed Regulation of Internal Union Affairs — The Landrum-Griffin Act (1959) (officially, the Labor Management Reporting and Disclosure Act), an amendment to the Wagner Act, is aimed at protecting union members from possible wrongdoing on the part of their unions. This law provides a bill of rights for union members; lays out rules regarding union elections; regulates the kind of person who can serve as a union officer; greatly expands the list of unlawful employer actions; and requires reports from unions and employers, covering such practices as the use of labor relations consultants.

IV.        The Union Drive and Election

A.   Step 1. Initial Contact — The union determines the employees’ interest in organizing a union, and an organizing committee is established. The initiative for the first contact between the employees and the union may come from the employees, from a union already representing other employees of the firm, or from a union representing workers elsewhere. Once an employer becomes a target, a union official usually assigns a representative to assess employee interest. He or she identifies employees who would make a good organizing committee, and educates them on the benefits of forming a union, the law, procedures involved in forming a local union, and the issues management is likely to raise during a campaign. The union must follow certain rules when it starts contacting employees.

1.   Labor Relations Consultants — Are outside advisors (such as law firms, researchers, psychologists, labor relations specialists, or public relations firms) used by both management and unions to provide advice and related services to assist in the winning of elections.

2.   Union Salting — Is an organizing tactic by which full-time undercover union organizers are hired by unwitting employers. A U.S. Supreme Court decision held the tactic to be legal. Critics claim “salts” interfere with business operations and harass employees.

B.   Step 2. Authorization Cards — Are necessary for the union to petition the NLRB for the right to hold an election. 30% of the eligible employees in an appropriate bargaining unit must sign before the union can petition the NLRB for an election. During this stage, both union and management typically use various forms of propaganda. However, neither side can threaten, bribe, or coerce employees, and an employer may not make promises of benefits to employees or make unilateral changes in terms and conditions of employment that were not planned prior to union organizing activity.

C.   Step 3. The Hearing — One of three things can occur once the union collects the authorization cards: (1) no hearing is needed if the employer chooses not to contest union recognition, and a consent election is held immediately; (2) if the employer chooses not to contest the union’s right to an election, or scope of the bargaining unit, or which employees are eligible to vote in the election, no hearing is needed and the parties can stipulate an election; or (3) if an employer does wish to contest the union’s right, it can insist on a hearing to determine those issues. An employer’s decision about whether to insist on a hearing is a strategic one based on the facts of each case and whether it feels it needs additional time to develop a campaign to try to persuade a majority of its employees not to elect a union to represent them. The hearing addresses several issues. If the results of the hearing are favorable for the union, the NLRB will order holding an election, issue a Decision and Direction of Election notice to that effect, and send NLRB Form 666 to the employer to post, notifying employees of their rights.

D.   Step 4. The Campaign — During this stage, the union and the employer appeal to employees for their votes, but neither side can threaten, bribe, or coerce employees.

1.   The Supervisor’s Role in the Campaign — Supervisors are the first line of defense when it comes to the unionizing effort. Supervisors need some special training because they can discover the early signs of union activity or they can inadvertently take actions that hurt their employers’ union-related efforts. Supervisors must be knowledgeable about what they can and can’t do to legally hamper organizing activities.

2.   Rules Regarding Literature and Solicitation — Employers can do the following: always bar nonemployees from soliciting during their work time (when the employee is on duty and not on a break); usually stop employees from soliciting other employees for any purpose if one or both employees are on paid-duty time and not on a break; bar nonemployees from the building’s interiors and work areas as a right of private property owners (excluding retail stores, shopping centers, and certain other employers); sometimes bar nonemployees from exterior private areas if there is a business reason and the reason is not just to interfere with union organizers; and deny on- or off-duty employees access to interior or exterior areas only if they can show the rule is required for reasons of production, safety, or discipline. Such restrictions are only valid if the employer doesn’t discriminate against the union.

E.   Step 5. The Election — The election by secret ballot is held within 30 to 60 days after the NLRB issues its Decision and Direction of Election. The NLRB provides the ballots as well as the voting booth, and ballot box, and counts the votes and certifies the results of the election. The union becomes the employees’ representative if it wins the election by a majority of the votes cast.

F.   How to Lose an NLRB Election

1.     Asleep at the switch — Executives caught unaware.

2.     Appointing a committee — Forming a committee slows down the process.

3.     Concentrating on money and benefits — More often it is about treating the employees fairly.

4.     Delegating too much to divisions — Must have centralized guidance.

V.         The Collective Bargaining Process

A.   What Is Collective Bargaining? — According to the Wagner Act, “For the purpose of (this act) to bargain collectively is the performance of the mutual obligation of the employer and the representative of the employees to meet at reasonable times and confer in good faith with respect to wages, hours, and terms and conditions of employment, or the negotiation of an agreement, or any question arising thereunder, and the execution of a written contract incorporating any agreement reached if requested by either party, but such obligation does not compel either party to agree to a proposal or require the making of a concession.” In plain language, this means that both management and labor are required by law to negotiate wages, hours, and terms and conditions of employment “in good faith.”

B.    What Is Good-Faith Bargaining? — In collective bargaining, it means that both parties communicate and negotiate, that proposals are matched with counterproposals, and that both parties make every reasonable effort to arrive at an agreement.  A violation of the requirement for good faith bargaining may include the following: surface bargaining or going through the motions without any real intention of completing a formal agreement; inadequate proposals and demands; withholding information; dilatory tactics or inordinately delaying the meeting or refusing to meet; failure to be willing to make concessions; and making unilateral changes in conditions.

C.    The Negotiating Team — Both union and management send a negotiating team to the bargaining table. The union team has sounded out their members on their desires and conferred with union reps of related unions. The management team has “costed” out potential concessions, identified probable union demands, and used information from grievances and feedback from supervisors to determine potential demands and prepare counteroffers.

D.   Bargaining Items — Labor law sets out categories of items that are subject to bargaining: mandatory, voluntary, and illegal items. Mandatory items are items that a party must bargain over if the other party introduces them. Voluntary (permissible) items are neither mandatory nor illegal; they become a part of the negotiations only through the joint agreement of both management and union. Illegal items are forbidden by law.

E.   Bargaining Stages — (1) each side presents its demands; (2) there is a trade-off of demands, called trading points; (3) the parties form joint subcommittees to try to work out reasonable alternatives; (4) the parties reach an informal settlement, and each group goes back to its sponsor; and (5) once everything is in order, the parties fine-tune and sign a formal agreement.

F.   Impasses, Mediation, and Strikes

An impasse may be declared if there are insurmountable disagreements, such as when one party’s demands are greater than the other’s offers. Three types of third-party interventions are used to overcome an impasse: mediation, fact-finding, and arbitration. With mediation, a neutral third party (fact-finder) tries to assist the principals in reaching agreement. A fact-finder is a neutral party who studies the issues in a dispute and makes a public recommendation of what a reasonable settlement ought to be. Arbitration (binding or non-binding) can guarantee a solution to an impasse because the arbitrator often has the power to determine and dictate the settlement terms. Various public and professional agencies make mediators and arbitrators available.

1.   Strikes — A strike is a withdrawal of labor. There are four types of strikes: economic strike, unfair labor practice strike, wildcat strike, and sympathy strike. An economic strike results from a failure to agree on the terms of a contract that involve wages, benefits, and conditions of employment. Unfair labor practice strikes are called by unions to protest illegal conduct by the employer. A wildcat strike is an unauthorized strike occurring during the term of a contract. A sympathy strike occurs when one union strikes in support of the strike of another. 

2.   Other ways to deal with an impasse — Breaking an impasse includes corporate campaigns. A corporate campaign is an organized effort by the union that exerts pressure (such as a boycott) on the corporation by pressuring the company’s other unions, shareholders, directors, customers, creditors, and government agencies, often directly. A lockout is a refusal by the employer to provide opportunities to work. The company locks out the employees, prohibiting them from doing their jobs.  During an impasse, both parties may seek an injunction if they believe that the other side is taking actions that could irreparably harm the other party. This is a judicial order calling for a cessation of certain actions deemed injurious.

G.    The Contract Agreement — May be 20 to 30 pages or longer, and the main sections cover these subjects: (1) management rights, (2) union security and automatic payroll dues deduction, (3) grievance procedures, (4) arbitration of grievances, (5) disciplinary procedures, (6) compensation rates, (7) hours of work and overtime, (8) benefits: vacations, holidays, insurance, pensions, (9) health and safety provisions, (10) employee security seniority provisions, and (11) contract expiration date.

H.    Contract Administration: Dealing with Grievances — Grievance handling, because no labor contract can ever be so complete that it covers all contingencies and answers all questions. Employees may use just about any factor involving wages, hours, or conditions of employment as the basis of a grievance.

1.     The Grievance Process — Is specified in most collective bargaining contracts, which specifies the various steps in the procedure, time limits, and specific rules. Union grievance procedures differ from firm to firm.  It is generally best, but not always possible, to develop a work environment in which grievances don’t occur in the first place. Doing so depends on being able to recognize, diagnose, and correct the underlying causes of potential employee dissatisfaction before they become grievances. Typical causes include allegedly unfair appraisals, inequitable wages, or poor communications.

VI.        What’s Next for Unions?

A.   Why the Union Decline? — The 1980s and 1990s were hard times for unions. About 35% of the nonfarm U.S. workforce belonged to unions by the 1960s. Today, that figure has dropped to about 11.8%. Global competition and new technologies have forced employers to cut costs and reduce inefficiencies, which has squeezed unions.

 B. What Are Unions Doing About It? — Unions are becoming more aggressive, pressuring employers through class action lawsuits and pushing Congress to pass legislation (the Employee Free Choice Act), which would support a “card check” system. Instead of secret ballot elections, the union would win recognition when a majority of workers signed cards saying they want a union.

 C. Cooperative Clauses — News reports tend to highlight adversarial labor-management relations. For example, General Motors and Toyota created a joint venture they called New United Motor Manufacturing Inc. (NUMMI). NUMMI and the United Auto Workers (UAW) agreed to run the plant based on a new cooperative philosophy. Cooperative agreements generally commit union and management to adapt one or more cooperative themes.

D. Strategies for Cooperative Labor-Management Relations — The question is, “What management strategy does an employer follow to foster such cooperation?” The answer is one that emphasizes the sorts of fairness and openness discussed earlier and in Chapter 12. As two researchers conclude, “…perceptions of a cooperative labor relations climate are positively influenced by procedural justice, the union’s willingness to adopt an integrative [cooperative] approach to bargaining, and management willingness to share information with the union.”

Closed shop                            A form of union security in which the company can hire only union members. This was outlawed in 1947 but still exists in some industries (such as printing).

Union shop                              A form of union security in which the company can hire nonunion people, but they must join the union after a prescribed period of time and pay dues. (If they do not, they can be fired.)

Agency shop                           A form of union security in which employees who do not belong to the union must still pay union dues on the assumption that union efforts benefit all workers.

Preferential shop                     Union members get preference in hiring, but the employer can still hire nonunion members.

Maintenance of membership   Employees do not have to belong to the union.  However, union

arrangement                             members employed by the firm must maintain membership in the union for the contract period.

Right to work                           The public policy in a number of states that prohibits union security of any kind.

Norris-LaGuardia Act               This law marked the beginning of the era of strong encouragement of unions and guaranteed to each employee the right to bargain collectively “free from interference, restraint, or coercion.”

Wagner Act                              This law banned certain types of unfair labor practices and provided for secret-ballot elections and majority rule for determining whether or not a firm’s employees want to unionize.

National Labor Relations         The agency created by the Wagner Act to investigate unfair labor

Board (NLRB)                           practice charges and to provide for secret-ballot elections and majority rule in determining whether a firm’s employees want a union.

Taft-Hartley Act                        A law prohibiting union unfair labor practices and enumerating the rights of employees as union members. It also enumerates the rights of employers.

National emergency                Strikes that might “imperil the national health and safety.”

strikes                                     

Landrum-Griffin Act                 A law aimed at protecting union members from possible wrongdoing on the part of their unions.

Union salting                           A union organizing tactic by which workers who are employed by a union as undercover union organizers are hired by unwitting employers.

Authorization cards                 In order to petition for a union election, the union must show that at least 30% of employees may be interested in being unionized. Employees indicate this interest by signing authorization cards.

Bargaining unit                        The group of employees the union will be authorized to represent.

Collective bargaining               The process through which representatives of management and the union meet to negotiate a labor agreement.

Good-faith bargaining              A term that means both parties are communicating and negotiating and that proposals are being matched with counterproposals with both parties making every reasonable effort to arrive at agreements. It does not mean that either party is compelled to agree to a proposal.

Voluntary (permissible)            Items in collective bargaining over which bargaining is neither illegal nor

bargaining items                      mandatory—neither party can be compelled against its wishes to negotiate over those items.

Illegal bargaining items           Items in collective bargaining that are forbidden by law; for example, the clause agreeing to hire “union members exclusively” would be illegal in a right-to-work state.

Mandatory bargaining              Items in collective bargaining that a party must bargain over if the other

items                                        party introduces them—for example, pay.

Mediation                                 Labor relations intervention in which a neutral third party tries to assist the principals in reaching agreement.

Fact-finder                                In labor relations, a neutral party who studies the issues in a dispute and makes a public recommendation for a reasonable settlement.

Arbitration                                The most definitive type of third-party intervention, in which the arbitrator usually has the power to dictate the settlement terms.

Economic strike                       A strike that results from a failure to agree on the terms of a contract that involve wages, benefits, and other conditions of employment.

Unfair labor practice strike      A strike aimed at protesting illegal conduct by the employer.

Wildcat strike                           An unauthorized strike occurring during the term of a contract.

Sympathy strike                       A strike that takes place when one union strikes in support of another.

Boycott                                    The combined refusal by employees and other interested parties to buy or use the employer’s products.

Lockout                                    A refusal by the employer to provide opportunities to work.

Co-determination                     Employees have the legal right to a voice in setting company policies.  Workers elect their own representative to the supervisory board of the employer. 

13-1.     Briefly describe the history and structure of the U.S. union movement. Students should outline the reasons that employees first unionized including the need for job security, better wages, hours, and working conditions. Also students should outline several of the early labor laws.

13-2.     Discuss the nature of the major federal labor relations laws. This item can be assigned as a Discussion Question in MyManagementLab. Student responses will vary.

13-3.     Discuss the main steps in the collective bargaining process. This item can be assigned as a Discussion Question in MyManagementLab. Student responses will vary.

13-4.     Explain why union membership dropped, and what the prospects are for the union movement. The 1980s and 1990s were hard times for unions. About 35 percent of the nonfarm U.S. workforce belonged to unions by the 1960s. By today, that figure has dropped to about 11.8%. Global competition and new technologies have forced employers to cut costs and reduce inefficiencies, which has squeezed unions. Unions have become more aggressive in their recruitment efforts in faster growing industries such as health care and technology.

13-5.     Why do employees join unions? What are the advantages and disadvantages of being a union member? Workers join unions because they tend to believe that it is only through unity that they can get their fair share of the pie and also protect themselves from management’s whims. Some of the advantages of being a union member are that they tend to receive significantly more pay, holidays, sick leave, unpaid leave, insurance plan benefits, long-term disability benefits, and various other benefits than do nonunion members. One disadvantage of being a union member is that management may decide to terminate union jobs if management and the union can’t come to an agreement.

13-6.     What actions might make employers lose elections? Engaging in an unfair labor practice is a sure fire way to lose an election. The five sure ways to lose an election are listed and described in the text: (1) asleep at the switch; (2) appointing a committee; (3) concentrating on money and benefits; (4) industry blind spots; and (5) delegating too much to divisions or branches.

13-7.     Describe important tactics you would expect the union to use during the union drive and election. Contacting and soliciting employees off the job and during breaks, picketing, using consultants to improve their public image, advertising, news spots, and forming an organizing committee of employees who they feel will be good leaders.

13-8.     What is meant by good faith bargaining? Using examples, explain when is bargaining not in good faith? Good faith bargaining means that both parties are communicating and negotiating, and proposals are being matched with counterproposals with both parties making every reasonable effort to arrive at agreements. Examples of violations of good faith bargaining include: surface bargaining; inadequate concessions; inadequate proposals and demands; dilatory tactics; imposing conditions; making unilateral changes in conditions; bypassing the representative; committing unfair labor practices during negotiations; withholding information; and ignoring bargaining items.

13-9.     Define impasse, mediation, and strike, and explain the techniques that are used to overcome an impasse. Impasse occurs when the parties are not able to move further toward settlement. Mediation is intervention in which a neutral third party tries to assist the principals in reaching agreement. A strike is the withdrawal of labor. An impasse might be overcome through mediation, fact-finders, arbitration, or the economic pressures of a strike or lockout.

13.10.   You are the manager of a small manufacturing plant. The union contract covering most of your employees is about to expire. Working individually or in groups, discuss how to prepare for union contract negotiations. You need to know what good faith bargaining is and what constitutes a violation of good faith bargaining. Although as a supervisor you will not likely be involved in the negotiations, you can commit violations of good faith bargaining such as making a unilateral change in working conditions, or the commission of an unfair labor practice. Also you need to be a vehicle to give information about employee attitudes and concerns to those conducting the bargaining. The list given in the chapter provides a good summary of how to prepare for bargaining.

13-11.   Working individually or in groups, use Internet resources to find situations where company management and the union reached an impasse at some point during their negotiation process, but eventually resolved the impasse. Describe the issues of both sides that led to the impasse. How did they move past the impasse? What were the final outcomes? The students should be able to find several examples in the airline industry, professional sports industry, and the package delivery industry just to mention a few.

13-12.   Several years ago, 8,000 Amtrak workers agreed not to disrupt service by walking out, at least not until a court hearing was held. Amtrak had asked the courts for a temporary restraining order, and the Transport Workers Union of America was actually pleased to postpone its walkout. The workers were apparently not upset at Amtrak, but at Congress, for failing to provide enough funding for Amtrak. What, if anything, can an employer do when employees threaten to go on strike, not because of what the employer did, but what a third party—in this case, Congress—has done or not done? What laws would prevent the union from going on strike in this case? Employers can do several things, none of which are explained in this chapter. They can seek an injunction from a judge, they can file suit, they can seek to meet with the union and help them with their demands against the third party, and so on. There are some laws and executive orders that prevent certain workers (transportation as well as safety and security personnel) from striking. The only one mentioned in this chapter is the Taft-Hartley Act, which allows the President of the United States to temporarily bar national emergency strikes.

13-13.   The Kaiser Permanente Health System is often held out as an employer with very good labor relations. What can you discern from websites such as www.kaiserpermanentejobs.org/jobs.aspx that might explain such a reputation? The website appears to convey a workplace which values open, honest, and direct communication with staff. Information not only flows downward but upward as well.

13-14.   What does www.seiu.org/ tell you about this union’s aims and how they intend to achieve them? The SEIU will continue to act strategically in recruiting areas of the workforce which either appear to be growing or are in need of third-party representation. Recently, the SEIU has targeted areas such as health care and other traditionally underrepresented groups of employees.

13-15.   The PHR and SPHR Knowledge Base Appendix (pages 483-491) lists the knowledge someone studying for the HRCI certification exam needs to have in each area of human resource management (such as in Strategic Management, Workforce Plan-ning, and Human Resource Development). In groups of four to five students, do four things: (1) review that appendix now; (2) identify the material in this chapter that relates to the required knowledge the appendix lists; (3) write four multiple-choice exam questions on this material that you believe would be suitable for inclusion in the HRCI exam; and (4) if time permits, have someone from your team post your team’s questions in front of the class, so the students in other teams can take each others’ exam questions. The material in this chapter that relates to the HRCI certification exam includes:  unions and the law, the union drive and election, the collective bargaining process, and the future of unions? A sample question, answer, and explanation is available from http://www.certgear.com/products/preview/sphr_certification/index.html. Multiple-choice questions should reflect material in this chapter and should have answer choices which could appear plausible.

Students can find the following assisted-graded writing questions at mymanagementlab.com:

13-16. Explain in detail each step in a union drive and election.

13-17. Briefly illustrate how labor law has gone through a cycle of repression and encouragement.

HR in Action Case Incident 1: Negotiating with the Writers’ Guild of America

13-18.    The producers said the WGA was not bargaining in good faith. What did they mean by that, and do you think the evidence is sufficient to support the claim? Good faith bargaining is a term that means both parties are communicating and negotiating and that proposals are being matched with counterproposals, with both parties making every reasonable effort to arrive at agreements. It does not mean that either party is compelled to agree to a proposal. There is evidence, it seems, to agree with this statement. Students’ answers will vary, but they should show an understanding of good faith bargaining.

13-19.    The WGA did eventually strike. What tactics could the producers have used to fight back once the strike began? What tactics do you think the WGA used? The producers could have: (1) halted their operations until the strike was over, (2) contracted out the work during the duration of the strike in order to blunt the effects of the strike, (3) continued operations using non-striking personnel as writers, and (4) hired replacements for the strikers.

13-20.    This was basically a conflict between professional and creative people (the WGA) and TV and movie producers. Do you think the conflict was therefore different in any way than are the conflicts between, say, the auto workers or teamsters unions against auto and trucking companies? Why?  Students’ answers will vary. Although the negotiation process is the same between any two parties, the difference lies in the framing of the situation. It is difficult to quantify the contribution of a creative writer for the final product. This will require a greater deal of attention at the negotiation table.

13-21.    What role did negotiating skills seem to play in the WGA–producers’ negotiations? Provide examples. It appears that very few negotiation skills were used by the WGA. Rather than negotiating with the producers, they timed their strike deliberately to impact the television production cycle—making a huge impact.

HR in Action Case Incident 2: Carter Cleaning Company: The Grievance

13-22.    Do you think it is important for Carter Cleaning Company to have a formal grievance process? Why or why not? Certainly, it is important for many reasons. First, it is important from a standpoint of justice and fair treatment. Second, the lack of justice and fair treatment is a prime catalyst for union activity.

13-23.    Based on what you know about the Carter Cleaning Company, outline the steps in what you think would be the ideal grievance process for this company. Because it is a small company, it should be simple and short. One suggestion is a two-step process that begins with a written appeal to the store manager. The second step is to send that appeal to Jennifer and her dad for review.

13-24.    In addition to the grievance process, can you think of anything else that Carter Cleaning Company might do to make sure that grievances and gripes such as this one are expressed and also are heard by top management? The grievance procedure is critical. Students may identify many things from the previous chapter’s sections on justice and fair treatment.

Experiential Exercise: An Organizing Question on Campus

Purpose: The purpose of this exercise is to give you practice in dealing with some of the elements of a union organizing campaign.

Required Understanding: You should be familiar with the material covered in this chapter, as well as the following incident.

Art Tipton is a human resources director of Pierce University, a private university located in a large urban city. Ruth Ann Zimmer, a supervisor in the maintenance and housekeeping services division of the university, has just come into his office to discuss her situation. Zimmer’s division of the university is responsible for maintaining and cleaning physical facilities of the university. Zimmer is one of the department supervisors who supervise employees who maintain and clean on-campus dormitories.

In the next several minutes, Zimmer proceeds to express her concerns about a union-organizing campaign that has begun among her employees. According to Zimmer, a representative of the Service Workers Union has met with a number of the employees, urging them to sign union authorization cards. She has observed several of her employees “cornering” other employees to talk to them about joining the union and urging them to sign union authorization (or representation) cards. Zimmer even observed this during the working hours as employees were going about their normal duties in the dormitories. Zimmer says a number of employees have asked her for her opinions about the union. They reported to her that several other supervisors in the department had told their employees not to sign any union authorization cards and not to talk about the union at any time while they were on campus. Zimmer also reports that one of her fellow supervisors told his employees in a meeting that anyone who was caught talking about the union or signing a union authorization card would be disciplined and perhaps terminated.

Zimmer says that the employees are very dissatisfied with their wages and many of the conditions that they have endured from students, supervisors, and other staff people. She says that several employees told her that they had signed union cards because they believed that the only way university administration would pay attention to their concerns was if the employees had a union to represent them. Zimmer says that she made a list of employees whom she felt had joined or were interested in the union, and she could share these with Tipton if he wanted to deal with them personally. Zimmer closes with the comment that she and other department supervisors need to know what they should do in order to stomp out the threat of unionization in their department.

How to Set Up the Exercise/Instructions: Divide the class into groups of four or five students. Assume that you are labor relations consultants retained by the college to identify the problems and issues involved and to advise Art Tipton about what to do next. Each group will spend about 45 minutes discussing the issues and outlining those issues as well as an action plan for Tipton. What should he do now? If time permits, a spokesperson from each group should list on the board the issues involved and the groups recommendation. 

This case provides an opportunity for the students to understand the union election process.  Students should begin by understanding the reasons the university would be opposed to the union.  In their role as labor relations consultants, they should begin by explaining the legal obligations and restrictions on the employer in the union organizing process.   The university must understand that some of their tactics could be considered unfair labor practices.  The students should recommend some kind of training for the supervisors and may outline what that training should include. They should also include guidance on informing the employees of what they can and can’t do during the campaign. 

1.     Look at the careers sections of websites for several companies abroad, such as for Wal-mart China (www.wal-martchina.com/english/career/career.htm). What differences possibly caused by cultural differences do you see from what you might expect in the U.S. units of these companies? It appears that issues such as employee respect, ongoing sustainability programs, social responsibility, and environmental programs to support the globe are important issues indicated on the Wal-mart website/China.

2.     Go to websites of vendors such as Kwintessential (www.kwintessential.co.uk/cultural-services/articles/expat-cultural-training.html) who offer cross-cultural training to expatriates going abroad. What sorts of issues do they discuss that expats should be prepared for? Do the vendors differ in how they prepare train expats? If so, how? Cross-cultural training can and does reduce the chances of expatriate relocations going wrong. Employees have now realized the importance of intercultural understanding and its potential impact upon relocations, as highlighted on the website. Cultural training aids the employee and family to better approach and deal with the relocation, ensuring that the negative consequences of “culture shock” are greatly reduced. The vendors offer most of the same programs with some emphasizing more on cultural differences.

1.   What motivated the merger of the AFL-CIO? Clearly, both sides believed in the concept of the power of numbers. The combined union would double both its membership and ability to negotiation on behalf of its members.

2.   Explain the concept of a National Emergency Strike. The Taft-Hartley Act allows the current U.S. president to intervene in a strike that might imperil the health or safety of our nation. The president may appoint a board of inquiry and, based on its report, apply for an injunction restraining the strike for 60 days. During this period, employees are polled in a secret ballot to ascertain their willingness to accept the employer’s last offer.

3.   In teams of five to six students, choose an organization (such as their university, or a company in which one student works), and list the areas in which the union has had an impact. Students should really look into the organization and see what impacts unions have made. Students should outline the current culture of the organization and elaborate on the current employee climate as well as the future of negotiations between administration and the union.

中国经济管理大学

中国经济管理大学|中国经济管理大学|中国经济管理大学|中国经济管理大学培训|MBA实战|中国经济管理大学|MBA培训|硕士研究生|职业资格|管理培训 

中国经济管理大学 官网 ：www.eauc.hk  中国经济管理大学MBA公益课堂

中国经济管理大学 MOOC（慕课站） 美华管理传播网：www.mhjy.net