Human resrouce management 12th mathis jacson chapter 0017

CHAPTER 17

Union/Management Relations
S E C T I O N 5 Managing Employee Relations

© 2008 Thomson/South-Western All rights reserved.

PowerPoint Presentation by Charlie Cook
The University of West Alabama


Chapter
Chapter Objectives
Objectives
After you have read this chapter, you should be able to:
■ Describe what a union is and explain why employees
join and employers resist unions.
■ Identify several reasons for the decline in union
membership.
■ Explain the acts that compose the National Labor Code.
■ Discuss the stages of the unionization process.
■ Describe the typical collective bargaining process.
■ Define grievance and identify the stages in a grievance
procedure.
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17–2


Nature of Unions
• Union

 A formal association of workers that promotes the

interests of its members through collective action.

• Why Employees Unionize
 They are dissatisfied with how they are treated by

their employers.
 They believe that unions can improve their work
situations.

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17–3


FIGURE 17-1

Factors Leading to Employee Unionization

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17–4


Nature of Unions (cont’d)
• Why Employers Resist Unions
 Unionization constrains what managers can and

cannot do in a number of areas.

 Unionization can result in higher wages and benefits.

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17–5


FIGURE 17-2

Adjusted Union Membership as a Percentage of the Workforce for
Selected Countries

Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Monthly Labor Review, January 2006, 45.

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17–6


Union Membership Globally
• Union membership is falling in advanced
countries.
 High unemployment is creating pressure for change.

• In some countries, unions are closely tied to
political parties.
• Child labor is an issue in some countries.
• Co-determination
 A practice whereby union or worker representatives

are given positions on a company’s board of
directors.

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17–7


U.S. and Global Unionization Differences
Key
Emphases

Economic
Issues

Organization by
Job and
Employer

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Collective
Agreements as
“Contracts”

Competitive
Relations

17–8

FIGURE 17-3

Union Membership as a Percentage of the U.S. Civilian Workforce

Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2007.

© 2008 Thomson/South-

17–9


Reasons for U.S. Union Membership
Decline
Causes of Membership Decline

Geographic
Changes

Industrial
Changes

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Workforce
Changes

17–10

FIGURE 17-4

Union Membership by Industry

Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2007.

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17–11


Union Targets for Membership Growth

Focus of Union Organizing

Health Care
Professionals

Low-Skill
Workers and
Immigrants

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Contingent and
Part-Time
Workers

17–12

Historical Evolution of U.S. Unions
• 1794

Shoemakers’ strike

• 1806

Shoemakers’ strike (“criminal conspiracy”)

• 1886

American Federation of Labor (AFL)

• 1938

Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO)

• 1957

AFL-CIO merger

• 2005

Change to Win Federation (CTWF)

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17–13

Union Structure
• Craft Union
 A union whose members do one type of work, often

using specialized skills and training.

• Industrial Union
 A union that includes many persons working in the

same industry or company regardless of jobs held.

• Federation
 A group of autonomous national and international

unions.

• National and International Unions
 Groups of local union units

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17–14


Union Structure (cont’d)
• Local Union
 A union centered around either a particular employer

or a particular geographic location.

• Business Agent
 A full-time union official who operates the union office

and assists union members.

• Union Stewart
 An employee elected by local members to serve as

the first-line representative of unionized employees.

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17–15


Union-Related Labor Laws
• 1926 Railway Labor Act (RLA)
• 1932 Norris-LaGuardia Act
• 1935 National Labor Relations Act (Wagner Act)
Employee rights to organize
 Employer unfair labor practices
 National Labor Relations Board


• 1947 Taft-Hartley Act
Union conduct
 National emergency strikes
 Right-to-work


• 1959 Landrum-Griffin Act


Union democracy restored

• 1978 Civil Service Reform Act
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17–16


FIGURE 17-5

National Labor Code

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17–17


Employer Unfair Labor Practices
• Interfering with the organizing and collective
bargaining rights of employees.
• Dominating or interfering with any labor
organization.
• Encouraging or discouraging membership in a
particular union.
• Discharging persons for organizing activities or
union membership.

• Refusing to bargain collectively.
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17–18


Taft-Hartley (Labor-Management Relations) Act
• Right-to-Work Laws
 State laws that prohibit contracts requiring employees to join

unions to obtain or continuing employment.

Types of
Shops

Closed Shop

Union Shop

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Agency Shop

Maintenanceof-Membership
Shop

17–19


FIGURE 17-6

Right-to-Work States

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17–20


FIGURE 17-7
Typical
Unionization
Process

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17–21


Organizing Campaign

Holding mandatory
employee meetings.

Employers’ Union
Prevention Efforts

Distributing anti-union
leaflets and letters

Anti-union videos, e-mails,

and other electronic means.

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17–22


Unionization
Authorization
Cards

Salting

Unionization
Efforts
Contract
Negotiation

Bargaining Unit
Composition

Certification
and
Decertification

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17–23

Bargaining Unit Composition
• “Community of Interest”
 Wages, hours, and working conditions
 Traditional industry groupings for bargaining purposes
 Physical location and amount of interaction and

working relationships among employee groups
 Supervision by similar levels of management

• Supervisors and Union Ineligibility
 Supervisors are excluded from bargaining units.

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17–24


Collective Bargaining Issues

Management Rights

Bargaining
Issues

Union Security

Classification of
Bargaining Issues

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17–25