Tutorial 15
Group Activities
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. (LO 15.5; AACSB: Use of
Information Technology; Learning Outcome: Describe the steps of
collective bargaining process and best practices for handling grievances)
Discussion Questions
1.
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. (LO 15.1;
Learning Outcome: Describe the steps of collective bargaining process
and best practices for handling grievances)
2. Discuss five sure ways to lose an NLRB 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; and 5) delegating too much to divisions or branches. (LO 15.4;
Learning Outcome: Describe the steps of collective bargaining process
and best practices for handling grievances)
3. 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, obtaining news spots, and forming an organizing
committee of employees who they feel will be good leaders. (LO 15.3;
Learning Outcome: Describe the steps of collective bargaining process
and best practices for handling grievances)
4. Briefly explain why labor law has gone through a cycle of repression
and encouragement. Labor law has gone through cycles of repression
and encouragement because of the changing views in Congress, the
public, and the judiciary on the extent to which legalized collective
bargaining is deemed to be a good approach to the economic situation
facing the country as well as the views of personal and corporate rights.
Changing public attitudes, values, and economic conditions clearly impact
labor law, just as they impact law in every area. (LO 15.1; AACSB:
Analytic Skills; Learning Outcome: Describe the steps of collective
bargaining process and best practices for handling grievances)
5. Explain in detail each step in a union drive and election. Each step is
described in detail in the text: 1) initial contact involves the union
determination of the employees' interest in organizing and forming an
organizing committee; 2) obtaining authorization cards is where the union
seeks to obtain enough signatures on authorization cards to petition the
NLRB to conduct an election; 3) holding a hearing is done by the NLRB to
determine the appropriate bargaining unit and the legality of the
authorization cards; 4) the campaign is where both sides present the
issues to convince employees to vote one way or the other; and 5) the
election is conducted by the NLRB through secret ballot. (LO 15.3;
Learning Outcome: Describe the steps of collective bargaining process
and best practices for handling grievances)
6. What is meant by good faith bargaining? Using examples, explain
when bargaining is 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. (LO 15.5; Learning Outcome:
Describe the steps of collective bargaining process and best practices for
handling grievances)
7. 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 lock-out. (LO 15.5; AACSB: Learning
Outcome: Describe the steps of collective bargaining process and best
practices for handling grievances)