Chapter Twelve

1. Chapter Twelve EnhancingUnion-Management Relations

2. The Historical Development of Unions • Early History • Knights of Labor-utopian reformation • Goals: to eliminate depersonalization of worker resulting from mass production; to improve moral standards of employees and society • Leaders wanted to change “the system” • Lost public favor after Haymarket riot of 1886 because workers didn’t dislike the system, they just wanted better treatment within it • Did not favor striking

3. The Historical Development of Unions • American Federation of Labor (AFL) • Samuel Gompers-founder • goal of the union should be the those of its members, not those of its leaders. • goal: to improve members’ living standards • Used the strike as an effective labor weapon • Organized labor should play a part in politics • Members were skilled workers

4. Organized Labor Today • Union Membership • Approx. 14.5% of US workers belong to unions • AFL-CIO • The largest union with approx 13.1 million members • Includes actors, construction workers, carpenters, musicians, teachers, postal workers, firefighters, bricklayers, etc • Teamsters • Independent labor organization of professional drivers with approx 1.3 million members • United Auto Workers (UAW) • Represents employees in the automobile industry with approx 748,000 members • Part of AFL-CIO

5. Organized Labor Today • Membership Trends- declined steadily since 1980 • Heavily unionized industries have been decreasing or not growing as fast as non-unionized industries (steel vs hi-tech ind) • Largest employment growth is in service industries, which are typically not unionized • Companies are moving manufacturing to other (less unionized) countries and US regions • To entice better workers, management is providing benefits that reduce employee’s need for unionization

6. Labor-Management Legislation • Fair Labor Standards Act (1938) • Set a minimum wage • Requires overtime rates for work in excess of 40 hours a week • Prohibits the use of child labor Government on the side of workers

7. Labor-Management Legislation Labor-Management Relations Act / Taft-Hartley Act (1947) • Defines refusal to bargain, harassment of non union workers, excessive union dues as unfair labor practices • Gives management right to post pros and cons of union membership during an organizing campaign • Presidential power to temporarily stop strikes that threaten national health and safety • Can work in unionized shop as a non unionized worker Government on the side of business

8. Who Represents the Workers • Bargaining Unit • The specific group of employees to be represented by the union • Jurisdiction • The right of a particular union to organize particular workers • like a police department's ability to arrest you. Cross county lines-new department must make the arrest. • When jurisdictions overlap or are unclear, employees may decide who will represent them

9. Union-Management Contract Issues • Employee Pay • Forms of pay • Direct compensation: wages or salary • Deferred compensation: pension and retirement • Magnitude of pay • Parity with local and national industry pay levels • Real wage protection through cost-of-living clauses • Cost-sharing for benefits

10. Union-Management Contract Issues • Employee Pay • Pay determinants • Management seeks to tie wages to each employee’s productivity • Unions want pay according to seniority. • Management seeks to constrain benefits to only some employees to reward loyalty • Unions want equal application of benefits

11. Union-Management Contract Issues (cont’d) • Working Hours • Overtime • Time worked in excess of 40 hours in one week or in excess of eight hours in a single day • Special hourly rates for weekend or holiday work • The right of employees to refuse overtime • Premium pay for workers on less desirable shifts • Starting times (flex schedules) • Length of meal periods and work breaks

12. Union-Management Contract Issues • Management Rights • The firm wants to control whom it hires, how work is scheduled, how discipline is handled • Unions seek to control these matters and wants management to prove dismissal reasons, evenly distribute work and overtime • Some union executives have been given seats on corporate boards of directors

13. Union Negotiating Tools • Strikes-work stoppages • Picketing-public protesting • Employees hope to arouse public sympathy and encourage the public not to patronize the firm • Non-striking employees will honor the picket line and not report to work • Members of other unions will not cross the picket line to make deliveries or perform services • Wildcat strike • A strike not approved by the striker’s union

14. Union Negotiating Tools • Slowdowns and Boycotts • Slowdown • Workers report to their jobs but work at a slower pace than normal • Boycott • A refusal to do business with a particular firm • Primary boycott: aimed at the employer directly involved in the dispute-work at Ford-don’t buy a Ford • Secondary boycott: aimed at a firm doing business with an employer involved in a labor dispute-work at Ford-don’t buy Firestone Tires • prohibited by the Taft-Hartley Act

15. Management Negotiating Tools • Lockouts and Strikebreakers • Lockout • A firm’s refuses to let employees enter the workplace - Work my way or don’t work at all • Strikebreaker • A nonunion employee who performs the job of a striking union member – Initially temporary but can become a permanent arrangement (scab)

16. Negotiation Middle ground • Mediation and Arbitration • Mediation-informal go-between • The use of a neutral third party to assist management and the union during their negotiations • Arbitration-formal and binding • The use of a neutral third party to decide an issue when the two sides cannot agree