Understanding business 10th chapter 12 union and employee mgt issues

Chapter 12

Dealing with
Union and
EmployeeManagement
Issues

McGraw-Hill/Irwin

Copyright © 2014 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.


Chapter Twelve

LEARNING GOALS

1. Trace the history of organized labor in the United
States
2. Discuss the major legislation affecting labor unions
3. Outline the objectives of labor unions
4. Describe the tactics used by labor and
management during conflicts, and discuss the role
of unions in the future
5. Assess some of today’s controversial employee–
management issues, such as executive
compensation, pay equity, child care and elder
care, drug testing, and violence in the workplace
12-2


Profile

DAVID STERN
National Basketball Association (NBA)

• Started with the NBA as an
outside legal counselor in
1966.
• Spearheaded settlements
between players and coaches
that led to free agency, salary
caps and revenue sharing .
• Commissioner since 1984, he’s
led the league to
unprecedented growth .
12-3


Chapter Twelve

NAME that COMPANY

As the number of women in the workplace began
growing rapidly about 25 years ago, this
company recognized that providing child care
benefits would be a real advantage for
companies. Today it is the largest provider of
child care at worksites, operating about 700
child care centers for 400 companies including
90 companies in the Fortune 500.
Name that company!

12-4


Employee
-Management
Issues

ORGANIZED LABOR

LG1

Unions -- Employee organizations whose main goal is
to represent members in employee-management
negotiations of job-related issues.

•Labor unions were responsible for:
-

Minimum wage laws
Overtime rules
Workers’ compensation
Severance pay
Child-labor laws
Job-safety regulations
12-5


Employee
-Management
Issues

LG1

PUBLIC SECTOR
LABOR UNIONS

• Public sector union members work for
governments as teachers, firefighters, police
officers, etc.
• Many states face serious debt problems and want
to cut labor costs. But states with public sector
unions have limited ability to cut those costs.
• In 2011 Governor of Wisconsin challenged public
sector labor unions by eliminating union
bargaining rights for state and public employees.
12-6


Employee
-Management
Issues
LG1

PUBLIC SECTOR JOBS

12-7


Employee
-Management
Issues

GOALS of ORGANIZED LABOR

LG1

• To work with fair and
competent
management.
• To be treated with
human dignity.
• To receive a
reasonable share of
wealth in the work it
generates.
12-8


The History
of Organized
Labor
LG1

HISTORY of
ORGANIZED LABOR

Craft Union -- An organization of skilled specialists in
a particular craft or trade.

•As early as 1792, shoemakers in a Philadelphia
craft union met to discuss fundamental work issues.

• Work weeks were 60+
hours, wages were low and
child labor was rampant.
12-9


The History
of Organized
Labor
LG1

EMERGENCE of LABOR
ORGANIZATIONS

Knights of Labor -- First national labor union (formed
in 1869).

•Knights attracted 700,000 members, but fell from
prominence after a riot in Chicago.
American Federation of Labor (AFL) -- An
organization of craft unions that championed
fundamental labor issues (formed in 1886).
12-10


The TRIANGLE FIRE
(Spotlight on Small Business)

• On March 25, 1911, 146 women
were killed in a fire at the

Triangle Shirtwaist Company in
New York City.
• The women were trapped by a
door that was kept locked to
prevent theft and taking breaks.
• Today labor leaders say that the
Triangle fire is proof of why labor
unions are crucial to maintaining
workplace balance in the U.S.
12-11


The History
of Organized
Labor

INDUSTRIAL UNIONS

LG1

Industrial Unions -- Labor unions of unskilled or
semiskilled workers in mass production industries.

Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO) -Union organization of unskilled workers; broke away
from the AFL in 1935 and rejoined in 1955 creating the
AFL-CIO, having affiliations with 56 unions with

approximately 12.2 million members.

12-12

Public Sector
Union
Membership

PUBLIC UNIONS

LG1

• For the first time in U.S. history, 7.6 million of the
14.7 union members work in government.
• Taxpayers, not stockholders, are paying the cost
of union workers wages and benefits.
• The huge state and local government revenue
losses caused by the economic crisis put
pressure to reduce wage and benefit costs.

12-13


Labor Legislation
and Collective
Bargaining
LG2

EFFECTS of LAWS on
LABOR UNIONS

• Labor unions’ growth and influence has been

very dependent on public opinion and law.
• The Norris-LaGuardia Act helped unions by
prohibiting the use of Yellow-Dog Contracts -- A
type of contract that required employees to agree to
NOT join a union.

• Collective Bargaining -- The process whereby
union and management representatives form an
agreement, or contract, for employees.
12-14


Labor Legislation
and Collective
Bargaining
LG2

COLLECTIVE BARGAINING
and the PUBLIC SECTOR

• Collective bargaining among public union workers
has become a key issue today.
• One of the issues is the fact that public
employees are paid by the taxpayers.
• When it is perceived that public employees are
winning for better health care, or for more or
better hours of work, and so on, some have
questioned whether or not such negotiations
should be allowed to continue.
12-15

Union Organizing
Campaigns
LG2

FORMING a UNION in the
WORKPLACE

The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) was
created in 1935 to oversee labor-management
issues and provide guidelines for unionization.
•Certification -- The formal process by which a union
is recognized by the NLRB as the bargaining agent for a
group of employees.

•Decertification -- The process whereby employees
take away a union’s right to represent them.

12-16


Union Organizing
Campaigns

WHY JOIN a UNION?

LG2

• Pro-union attitudes

• Poor management/
employee relations
• Negative organizational
climate
• Poor work conditions
• Union’s reputation
• Job security
12-17


Objectives of
Organized Labor
Over Time
LG3

LABOR/MANAGEMENT
AGREEMENTS

Negotiated Labor-Management Agreement
(Labor Contract) -- Sets the terms under which labor
and management will function over a period of time.

Union Security Clause -- Stipulates workers who
reap union benefits, must either join the union, or pay
dues to the union.

12-18


Objectives of

Organized Labor
Over Time

UNION SECURITY AGREEMENTS

LG3

• Closed Shop Agreement -- Specified workers had
to be members of a union before being hired for a
job.

• Union Shop Agreement -- Declares workers don’t
have to be members of a union to be hired, but must
agree to join the union within a specific time period.

• Agency Shop Agreement -- Allows employers to
hire nonunion workers who don’t have to join the
union, but must pay fees.

12-19


Objectives of
Organized Labor
Over Time
LG3

STATES with
RIGHT-to-WORK LAWS

12-20


Objectives of
Organized Labor
Over Time

RIGHT-to-WORK LAWS

LG3

• Right-to-Work Laws -- Legislation that gives
workers the right, under an open shop, to join or not
to join a union.

• The Taft-Hartley Act of 1947 granted states the
power to outlaw union shop agreements.
• Open Shop Agreement -- Agreement in right-towork states that gives workers the right to join or not
join a union, if one exists in their workplace.

12-21


Resolving LaborManagement
Disagreements

RESOLVING DISAGREEMENTS

LG3

Labor contracts outline labor and management’s
rights, and serves as a guide to workplace
relations.
•Grievances -- A charge by employees that
management is not abiding by the terms of the
negotiated agreement.

•Shop Stewards -- Union officials who work
permanently in an organization and represent employee
interests on a daily basis.
12-22


Mediation and
Arbitration
LG3

USING MEDIATION and
ARBITRATION

• Bargaining Zone -- The range of options between
initial and final offers that each side will consider
before negotiations dissolve or reach an impasse.

• Mediation -- The use of a third party (mediator) to
encourage both sides to keep negotiating to resolve
key contract issues.

• Arbitration -- An agreement to bring in a third party
to render a binding agreement.

12-23


Mediation and
Arbitration
LG3

The GRIEVANCE RESOLUTION
PROCESS

12-24


Union Tactics

TACTICS USED in
CONFLICTS by LABOR UNIONS

LG4

• Strikes -- A strategy in which workers refuse to go to
work.

• Primary Boycott -- When a union encourages both its
members and the general public not to buy the products
of a firm in a labor dispute.

• Secondary Boycott -- An attempt by labor to
convince others to stop doing business with a firm that is
the subject of a primary boycott.

12-25