PART FIVE
EMPLOYEE RELATIONS
C H A P T E R
F i f t e e n
15
Labor Relations
And
Collective Bargaining
Lecture Outline
Strategic Overview
The Labor Movement
A Brief History of the American Union Movement
Why do Workers Organize?
What do Unions Want?
The AFL-CIO
Unions and the Law
Period of Strong Encouragement: The NorrisLaGuardia (1932) and Wagner Acts (1935)
Period of Modified Encouragement Coupled with
Regulation: The Taft-Hartley Act (1947)
Period of Detailed Regulation of Internal Union
Affairs: The Landrum-Griffin Act (1959)
The Union Drive and Election
Step 1. Initial Contact
Step 2. Obtaining Authorization Cards
Step 3. Hold a Hearing
Step 4. The Campaign
Step 5. The Election
How to Lose an NLRB Election
The Supervisor’s Role
Rules Regarding Literature and Solicitation
Decertification Elections: Ousting the Union
The Collective Bargaining Process
What is Collective Bargaining?
What is Good Faith?
The Negotiating Team
Bargaining Items
Bargaining Stages
Bargaining Hints
Impasses, Mediation, and Strikes
The Contract Agreement
Grievances
Sources of Grievances
The Grievance Procedure
Guidelines for Handling Grievances
The Union Movement Today and Tomorrow
Public Employees and Unions
Organizing Professionals and White-Collar Employees
Employee Participation Programs and Unions
In Brief: This chapter gives a brief
history of the labor movement,
outlines the basics of labor law, and
reviews the procedures of labor
elections, collective bargaining, and
contract administration. A look into
the future of unionism is also
attempted.
Interesting
Issues:
Union
membership has declined in the past
few decades. However, unions are
targeting professional and other jobs
not traditionally unionized. Students
need to consider the implications of
this shift as well as the dynamics
driving the shift.
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ANNOTATED OUTLINE
I.
The Labor Movement
A. A Brief History of the American Union Movement – As early as 1790, skilled
craftsmen organized themselves into trade unions, and posted their minimum
wage demands to ensure no member accepted a lesser wage.
Union
membership grew until a major depression around 1837 resulted in a
membership decline. Membership increased as the U.S. entered its industrial
revolution. In 1869, a group of tailors formed the Knights of Labor. They were
interested in political reform and change.
After a period of increased
membership, they dissolved in 1893 after several unresolved issues. In 1886,
Samuel Gompers formed the Labors (AFL), and its aim was to raise its members’
(mostly skilled workers) day-to-day wages and improve their working conditions.
The 1920s was a period of stagnation for the U.S. union movement. As a part of
his New Deal programs, President Roosevelt passed the national Industrial
Recovery Act, which made it easier for labor to organize.
B. 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 and also 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.
C. 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, open shop, and maintenance of membership
arrangement.
2. Improved Wages, Hours, 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.
D. The AFL-CIO
The American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations
(AFL-CIO) is a voluntary federation of about 100 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.
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NOTES
Educational Materials to Use
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II.
Unions and the Law – There were no special labor laws until about 1930, so employers were
virtually unrestrained in their behavior toward unions. 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) companies 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 chose representatives.
2. From 1935 to 1947 – Union membership increased quickly after 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 can not restrain or coerce
employees from exercising their guaranteed bargaining rights; b) unions can
not cause an employer to discriminate in any way against an employee in
order to encourage or discourage his/her membership in a union; c) unions
can not 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); and d) unions can not engage in featherbedding.
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/she can do so
while in their work area or where they normally gather.
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4. National Emergency Strikes – The Taft-Hartley Action 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.
When You’re on Your Own, HR for Line Managers and
Entrepreneurs – Discusses the unexpected lesson in labor relations
many
dot-com
companies,
like
Amazon.com
and
LearnInMotion.com, are learning. Unions are attractive to dot-com
employees because many of the entrepreneurs are focusing their
resources on building scales and meeting customer demands, with
little attention being given to personnel issues.
Dot-com
entrepreneurs need to be proactive by writing policies and practices,
so unions don’t see their companies as being loosely run.

III.
NOTES
Educational Materials to Use
The Union Drive and Election
A. Step 1. Initial Contact – The union determines the employees’ interest in
organizing, 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/she
identifies employees who would make a good organizing committee, and
educates them on the benefits of forming a union, the law and 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. Union salting is a unionorganizing tactic by which workers who are in fact employed full-time by a
union as undercover union organizers are hired by unwitting employers.
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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.
B. Step 2. Obtaining Authorization Cards from interested employees to show that a
sizable number of employees may be interested in being organized is necessary
for the union to petition the NLRB for the right to hold an election. Thirty percent
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 benefit to employees or make unilateral changes in terms and
conditions of employment that were not planned prior to union organizing activity.
C. Step 3. Hold a 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, and/or scope of
the bargaining unit, and/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 Notice of Election to that effect, and send
NLRB form 707 (see Figure 14-6) to the employer to post.
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.
E. Step 5. 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 (see
Figure 14-7), 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 – The five sure ways to lose an election are:
1. Asleep at the switch
2. Appointing a committee
3. Concentrating on money and benefits
4. Industry blind spots
5. Delegating too much to division or branches.
G. The Supervisor's Role –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.
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When You’re on Your Own, HR for Line Managers and
Entrepreneurs: Your Role In the Unionizing Effort - One company
helps its supervisors remember what they may and may not do with
respect to unionization with the acronyms TIPS and FORE.32 For
example, the manager should remember TIPS for what he or she
may not do: threaten, interrogate, promise, or spy. And to
remember what the supervisor may do to discourage unionization,
remember FORE: facts, opinion, rules, experience.
H. 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.
I.
Decertification Elections: Ousting the Union – The same law that grants
employees the right to unionize also gives them a way to legally terminate their
union’s right to represent them, which is known as decertification. Decertification
campaigns don’t differ much from certification campaigns.
The New Workplace: Unions Go Global – Any company that thinks
it can avoid unionization by sending manufacturing and jobs abroad
is sorely mistaken. Some unions are already expanding their
influence abroad. U.S. unions gain several things by forming
alliances with unions abroad. By helping workers in other countries
unionize, they help raise the wages and living standards of local
workers. That may in turn discourage corporate flight from the
United States in search of low wages.

IV.
NOTES
Educational Materials to Use
The Collective Bargaining Process
A. What is Collective Bargaining? – according to the National Labor Relations Act,
“is the performance of the mutual obligation of the employer and the
representatives 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.”
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B. What is Good Faith? – in collective bargaining 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.
1. When is Bargaining Not In Good Faith? – A violation of the requirement for
good faith bargaining may include the following: 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.
C. The Negotiating Team – Both union and management send a negotiating team,
who has done its homework, to the bargaining table.
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 they are introduced by the other party.
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 reduction of
demands; 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. Bargaining Hints – be sure you have set clear objectives for every bargaining
item and you understand on what grounds the objectives are established; do not
hurry; when in doubt, caucus with your associates; be well prepared with firm
data supporting your position; always strive to keep some flexibility in your
position; don’t just concern yourself with what the other party says and does –
find out why; respect the importance of face saving for the other party; constantly
be alert to the real intentions of the other party with respect not only to goals but
also priorities; be a good listener; build a reputation for being fair but firm; learn to
control your emotions - don’t panic; be sure as you make each bargaining move
that you know its relationship to all other moves; measure each move against
your objectives; pay close attention to the wording of every clause negotiated;
remember that collective bargaining negotiations are, by their nature, part of a
compromise process; try to understand people and their personalities; and
consider the impact of present negotiations on those in future years.
G. Impasses, Mediation, and Strikes
1. Third Party Involvement – Three types of third-party interventions are used to
overcome an impasse: mediation, fact-finding, and arbitration. With mediation
a neutral third party 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 unbinding) can guarantee a solution to an impasse
because the arbitrator often has the power to determine and dictate the
settlement terms.
2. Strikes – are 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
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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.
Picketing is one of the first activities occurring during a strike.
3. Other Alternatives – to break an impasse include corporate campaigns and
lockouts. A corporate campaign is an organized effort by the union that
exerts pressure 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.
G. The Contract Agreement Itself may be 20 - 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.

V.
NOTES
Educational Materials to Use
Grievances
A. Sources of Grievances – Employees may use just about any factor involving
wages, hours, or conditions of employment as the basis of a grievance.
B. The Grievance Procedure 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.
C. Guidelines for Handling Grievances
Some Guidelines: Do's and Don'ts – As a manager, do: investigate and handle
each and every case as though it may eventually result in an arbitration hearing;
talk with the employee about his/her grievance; require the union to identify
specific contractual provisions allegedly violated; comply with the contractual
time limits of the company for handling the grievance; visit the work area of the
grievance; determine whether there were any witnesses; examine the grievant’s
personnel record; fully examine prior grievance records; treat the union
representative as your equal; hold your grievance discussions privately; and fully
inform your own supervisor of grievance matters. Don’t: discuss the case with
the union steward alone - the grievant should be there; make arrangements with
individual employees that are inconsistent with the labor arrangement; hold back
the remedy if the company is wrong; admit the binding effect of a past practice;
relinquish to the union your rights as a manager; settle grievances on the basis of
what is fair, stick to the labor agreement; bargain over items not covered by the
contract; treat as subject to arbitration claims demanding the discipline or
discharge of managers; give long written grievance answers; trade a grievance
settlement for a grievance withdrawal; deny grievances on the premise that your
“hands have been tied by management;” nor agree to informal amendments in
the contract.
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The HR Scorecard, Strategy and Results: The Hotel Paris’ New
Labor Relations Practices – The CFO and Lisa agreed that it was
important that she and her team develop and institute a new set of
policies and practices that would enable the Hotel Paris to deal more
effectively with unions. Together, the team developed a 20-page
“What You Need to Know When the Union Calls” manual for Hotel
Paris managers and supervisors. This manual contained three sets
of information. First, it provided a succinct outline of labor relations
law, particularly as it relates to the company’s managers. Second, it
laid a detailed set of guidelines regarding what supervisors could and
could not do with respect to union organizing activities. Third, it
identified all line supervisors as the company’s “front-line eyes and
ears” with respect to union organizing activity.

VI.
NOTES
Educational Materials to Use
The Union Movement Today and Tomorrow
The 1980s and 1990s were hard times for unions. About 35% of the non-farm U.S.
workforce belonged to unions by the 1960s. By 2002, that figure had dropped to
about 13.2%.
A. Public Employees and Unions – If there is a notable bright spot for the union
movement, it’s their success in organizing federal, state, and municipal workers.
With at least 7 million public-sector union members, the public sector represents
at least 44% of total U.S. union membership, and perhaps the union movement’s
biggest potential growth area.
B. Organizing Professionals and White-Collar Employees – Unions are also making
inroads into traditionally hard-to-organize worker segments like professionals and
white-collar workers, as even these employees see their job security and
perquisites under attack. Today, white-collar workers and professionals now
represent close to half of all union members.
Improving Productivity Through HRIS: The Union Organizing
Campaign – Employers are not the only ones benefiting from
improved productivity through HRIS. As one expert recently asked,
“If faster and more powerful ways of communicating enable
companies to compete in a quickly changing and challenging
environment, shouldn’t they also make unions stronger and more
efficient as organizations and workplace representatives?”
C. Employee Participation Programs and Unions – Employee participation programs
are now subject to serious legal challenge under the NLRA as unfair labor
practices because they may be viewed as sham unions. Whether an employer’s
participation program is viewed as an impermissible labor organization revolves
around the dominance and the actual role of the participation committee.
Instituting “Safe” Participation Programs can be facilitated by taking the following
steps: involve employees in the formation of these programs to the greatest
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extent practical; continually emphasize to employees that the committees exist
for the exclusive purpose of addressing issues such as quality and productivity;
do not try to establish such committees at the same time union organizing
activities are beginning in your facility; fill the committees with volunteers rather
than elected employee representatives, and rotate membership to ensure broad
employee participation; and minimize your participation in the committees’ dayto-day activities, to avoid unlawful interference or, worse, the perception of
domination.
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