Copyright © 2003 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Chapter
Union Representation
and Collective Bargaining
13
Copyright © 2003 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Factors in Recent Loss of Union Power
 Global
competition
 Nonunion domestic competition
 Deregulation
 The growth of service industries
 Corporate downsizing (depleted membership)
 Willingness of firms to move operations overseas
Copyright © 2003 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Deregulation of Product Markets
 Two
key challenges created by the deregulation of product markets
Market entry is easier
 Low operating costs translate into competitive advantages

 Adaptations
necessary for firms to compete:
Ability to shift rapidly
 Cut costs
 Innovate
 Enter new markets
 Devise a flexible labor-force strategy

Copyright © 2003 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Six Fundamental Features of the
U.S. Industrial Relations System
representation – one and only one union
in a given job territory
 Collective agreements that embody a sharp distinction between
negotiation of and interpretation of an agreement
 Decentralized collective bargaining
 Relatively high union dues and large union staffs
 Opposition by both large and small employers to union organization
 The role of government
 Exclusive
Copyright © 2003 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Unfair Labor Practices Under the Taft-Hartley
Act of 1947
 By
Management:
Interference with, coercion of, or restraint of employees in their right
to organize
 Domination of, interference with, or illegal assistance of a labor
organization
 Discrimination in employment because of union activities
 Discrimination because an employee has filed charges or given
testimony under the act
 Refusal to bargain in good faith
 “Hot cargo” agreements: refusals to handle another employer’s
products because of that employer’s relationship with the union

Copyright © 2003 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Unfair Labor Practices Under the Taft-Hartley
Act of 1947
 By
a Union:
Restraint or coercion of employees not participating in union activities
 Any attempt to influence an employer to discriminate against an
employee
 Refusal to bargain in good faith
 Excessive, discriminatory membership fees
 Make-work or featherbedding provisions in labor contracts that require
employers to pay for services that are not performed
 Use of pickets to force an organization to bargain with a union, when
the organization already has a lawfully recognized union
 “Hot cargo” agreements: refusals to handle, use, sell, transport, or
otherwise deal in another employer’s products

Copyright © 2003 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Landrum-Griffin Act of 1959
It’s an amendment to the Taft-Hartley Act of 1947
 It added the secondary boycott as an unfair labor practice:


A union appeals to firms and other unions to stop doing business with
an employer who sells or handles a struck product
Copyright © 2003 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Rules for Union Organizing Activity
 Well-defined
rules govern organizing activities
Employee organizers may solicit fellow employees to sign
authorization cards on company premises, but not during working time
 Outside organizers may not solicit on premises if a company has an
existing policy of prohibiting all forms of solicitation, and if that
policy has been enforced consistently
 Management representatives may express their views about unions
through speeches to employees on company premises. However, they
are legally prohibited from interfering with an employee’s freedom of
choice concerning union membership

Copyright © 2003 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Management Responses
to the Union Campaign

Tactical Advantages:
May use company time and premises to stress the positive aspects of
the current situation
 May emphasize the costs of unionization and the loss of individual
freedom that may result from collective representation

 TIPS
– management may not threaten, interrogate, promise, or spy
Copyright © 2003 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Themes Emphasized by Unions
During Organizing Campaigns
 Ability
to help employees satisfy their economic and personal needs
 Ability to ensure that workers are treated fairly
 Ability to improve working conditions
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Types of Strikes
 Unfair-Labor-Practice
Strikes
Employees given highest degree of protection under the Taft-Hartley
Act
 Under most circumstances, employees are entitled to reinstatement
once the strike ends
 Management must exercise great caution

NLRB may become involved
 Company liability may be substantial

 Economic

Strikes
Strikers have limited rights to reinstatement
Copyright © 2003 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Types of Strikes

Unprotected Strikes
Includes all remaining types of work stoppages, both lawful and
unlawful
 Employees may be discharged by their employers

 Sympathy

Strikes
The refusal by employees of one bargaining unit to cross a picket line
of a different bargaining unit
Copyright © 2003 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Third-Party Involvement
 Mediation

A process by which a neutral third party attempts to help the parties in
a dispute to reach a settlement of the issues that divide them
 Fact

Finding
Each party submits whatever information it believes is relevant to a
resolution of the dispute; a neutral fact finder then makes a study of the
evidence and prepares a report on the facts
 Interest Arbitration

A process by which a third party hears the positions of both parties and
decides on binding settlement terms
Copyright © 2003 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Grievance Procedures
Procedures – the keystone of industrial relations because
of their ability to resolve disputed issues while work continues
without litigation, strikes, or other radical dispute-resolution
strategies
 Grievance

Advantages
Ensures that the complaints and problems of workers can be heard, rather
than simply allowed to fester
 Formal mechanism to ensure due process for all parties

Copyright © 2003 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.