Labor Relations
© Nancy Brown Johnson, 2000
http://www.americanrightsatwork.org/workersrights/colbert_kyriver.cfm
Learning Outcomes
Students
will be able to explain the
underlying premise of the US labor
movement.
Students will be able to provide an
overview of US labor laws.
Students will be able to explain the reasons
for the decline in the US labor movement
History: Early Union Attempts
Utopian
Schemes
Legislation: Populist Movements
Radical Movements: Syndicalists
Knights of Labor
Abolish
wage system using education
Did not believe in strikes
Organized workers by geography
Strikes gained them members
American Federation of Labor
(AFL)
No
reformist goals-accepted capitalism
Collective bargaining
Strikes
Craft union autonomy
No legislative attempts
Business Unionism
Early Legal Environment
Common
Law
Criminal Conspiracy Doctrine- 1794
Ends/Means Test- 1842
ends
to raise wages
means was the strike
Injunction
Yellow-dog
contract
Norris-LaGuardia
1932
Restricted
use of the Injunction
Made yellow-dog contracts
unenforceable
Neutral
Congress for Industrial
Organization (CIO)
Industrial
v. craft
Kicked out of AFL
Successfully organized auto, steel,
rubber
National Labor Relations Act
NLRA (1935)
Also
Wagner Act
Pro-labor
Provided for union election
Created Employer Unfair Labor Practices
Create National Labor Relations Board
(NLRB) to enforce
Employer Unfair Labor Practices
Cannot
threaten, restrain, or coerce
employees in attempting to unionize
Must bargain in good faith
Employer must not discriminate based upon
union activity
No company unions
Taft-Hartley (1947)
“Slave
labor bill”
Established union unfair labor practices
Federal Mediation & Conciliation Service
(FMCS)
Precluded secondary activity
Right-to-work laws
Landrum-Griffin (1959)
Labor
Management Reporting and
Disclosure Act
Union Financial Reporting
Employee Bill of Rights
Union Representative Elections
Public Sector Laws
Federal
- Civil Service Reform Act 1978
federal
workers could join unions
cannot negotiate wages
cannot strike
State
and Local
enacted
on state by state basis
usually precludes right to strike
Union Membership
Peaked
in 1955 at 35%
Today approximately 12.4%
Public sector workers 37.4 percent
Education, training, and library
occupations 38.1 percent
Reasons for the Decline
Global
Economy
Deregulation
Move from Manufacturing to Services
Laws Providing Employment Protection
More Aggressive Management Tactics
Why People Vote for Unions
Dissatisfied
with wages & working
conditions
Believe union can improve
(instrumentality)
No other choice
Union Effects
Exit/Voice
Voice
Hypothesis
- complain
Exit
- leave
Union Effects
Voice
unions
encourage voice
decreases turnover
increases productivity
Monopoly
unions
raise wages
cause labor market inefficiencies
Contract Negotiation Process
Distributive
bargaining (win-lose)
Integrative bargaining (win-win)
Attitudinal Structuring
Intra-organizational bargaining
Union Bargaining Power
Product Demand is strong
Product Perishability is high
Capital intensive
Replacement workers not available
Single production sites or
Facilities are not very integrated
Lack of product substitutes
Impasse-Resolution Procedures:
Strike Alternatives
Mediation
Arbitration
Grievance
Procedures
Grievance Procedures
1
2
3
4
Oral: supervisor.
Written: higher level manager-steward and
management representative meet.
Written Appeal: top level / labor relations
staff.
Arbitration: final & binding decision.
Measuring Labor Relations
Effectiveness
Strikes
Wages
and Benefits
Productivity
Profits
0
