A Framework for Human Resource

Management,
4th ed.
Gary Dessler
2006 Prentice Hall

Managing Labor Relations

and Collective Bargaining
Ch 9

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When you finish studying this chapter,

you should be able to:
Discuss the nature of the major federal
labor relations laws
Describe the process of a union drive
and election
Discuss the main steps in the
collective bargaining process

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The Labor Movement

13.2% of workers belong to a union
Union membership peaked at 34% in
1955
Membership has fallen due to shift
from manufacturing jobs and new
legislation

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Why Do Workers Organize?

Workers belief that it is only through
unity that they can get their fair share
of the pie
Protect themselves from arbitrary
managerial whims

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What Do Unions Want?

Union security
Improved wages, hours, working
conditions, and benefits for their
members

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Union Security
Closed shop - Company can hire only
union members
Union shop - Company can hire
nonunion people but they must join
the union
Agency shop - Employees who do not
belong to the union must still pay
union dues
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Union Security
Open shop - up to the workers whether
they join the union
Maintenance of membership
arrangement

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Right to Work
Term used to describe state
provisions banning the
requirement of union membership
as a condition of employment

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The AFL-CIO
American Federation of Labor and
Congress of Industrial Organizations
(AFL-CIO) - voluntary federation of
about 100 national and international
labor unions in the United States
www.aflcio.org/
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Unions and the Law

Until about 1930, employers didnt
have to engage in collective
bargaining with
employees and
were virtually
unrestrained in
their behavior
toward unions
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Period of Strong Encouragement

Norris-LaGuardia Act - guaranteed to
each employee the right to bargain
collectively free from interference,
restraint, or coercion

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Period of Strong Encouragement

National Labor Relations Act
( Wagner Act)
banned certain unfair labor practices,
provided for secret-ballot elections
and majority rule
created the National Labor Relations
Board (NLRB)

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Unfair Employer Labor Practices

Interfere with, restrain, or coerce
employees
Dominate or interfere with either the
formation of labor unions
Discriminating against employees for
their legal union activities.

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Unfair Employer Labor Practices

Discharge or discriminate against
employees simply because they file
unfair practice charges
Refuse to bargain collectively

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Period of Modified Encouragement

Coupled with Regulation
Taft-Hartley Act
prohibits unfair union labor practices
enumerates the rights of employees as
union members
enumerates the rights of employers
allows the president of the United
States to temporarily bar national
emergency strikes
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Unfair Union Labor Practices

1.
2.
3.

Restraining employees from

exercising their bargaining rights
Causing an employer to discriminate
in any way against an employee
Refusing to bargain in good faith

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Taft-Hartley Act
Protected the rights of employees
against their unions
Right-to-work laws
Gave employers full freedom to
express their views concerning union
organization

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Period of Detailed Regulation of

Internal Union Affairs
Landrum-Griffin Act - aim was to
protect union members from possible
wrongdoing on the part of their unions
Bill of rights for union members

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Union Drive and Election

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

Initial contact
Authorization cards
Hearing
Campaign
Election

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Step 1: Initial Contact

Union determines the employees

interest in organizing, and an
organizing committee is established

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Union Salting
Union organizing tactic by which
workers who are in fact employed fulltime by a union as undercover union
organizers hired by unwitting
employers

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Step 2: Authorization Cards

Union must show that a sizable
number of employees may be
interested in being organized
Thirty percent of the eligible
employees must sign

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Insert Figure 9.2

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Step 3: The Hearing

Employer may contest the unions
right, in which case it can insist on a
hearing

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Step 4: The Campaign

The union and employer appeal to
employees for their votes

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Supervisors Role
Supervisors must be knowledgeable
about what they can do to legally
hamper organizing activities, lest they
commit unfair labor practices

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Rules Regarding Literature and

Solicitation
Non-employees can always be barred
from soliciting employees during their
work time
Most employers can bar nonemployees from the buildings work
areas

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Step 5: The Election

Secret ballot
The NLRB provides the ballots as well
as the voting booth and ballot box
It also counts the votes and certifies
the results of the election

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Decertification Elections
Way to legally terminate the unions
right to represent them

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What is Collective Bargaining?

Management and labor are required to
negotiate wages, hours, and terms and
conditions of employment in good
faith
Good faith bargaining - both parties
make every reasonable effort to arrive
at an agreement

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When is Bargaining Not in Good

Faith?
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.

Surface bargaining
Proposals and demands
Withholding information
Dilatory tactics
Concessions
Unilateral changes in conditions
Bypassing the representative

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Bargaining Items
Mandatory
Voluntary
Illegal

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Bargaining Stages
First - each side presents its demands
Second - reduction of demands
Third - subcommittee studies
Fourth - parties reach an informal
settlement
Finally - the parties fine-tune and sign
a formal agreement

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Impasses
Insurmountable disagreements
Occurs because one party demands
more than the other offers

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Third-Party Involvement
Mediation
Fact-finding
Arbitration

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Mediation
Neutral third party tries to assist the
principals in reaching agreement

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Mediation
A fact-finder - neutral party who studies
the issues in a dispute and makes a
public recommendation of what a
reasonable settlement ought to be

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Arbitration
Can guarantee a solution to an
impasse
May be voluntary or compulsory
Binding arbitration - both parties are
committed to accepting the
arbitrators award

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Strikes
Economic strike
Unfair labor practice strikes
Wildcat strike
Sympathy strike

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Picketing
Purpose is to inform the public about
the existence of the labor dispute
Encourage others to refrain from
doing business with employer

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Employer Response to Picketing

Halt operations until strike is over
Contract out work during the duration
of the strike
Continue operations using
supervisors
Hiring replacement workers

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Other Alternatives
Corporate campaign - organized effort
by the union that exerts pressure on
the corporation
Inside games efforts to convince
employees to impede or disrupt
production

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Other Alternatives
Lockout - refusal by the employer to
provide opportunities to work

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Contract Agreement
May contain just general declarations
of policy or a detailed specification of
rules and procedures

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Handling Grievances
Grievance process - steps that the
employer and union have agreed to
follow to ascertain if some action
violated the agreement

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Why the Union Decline?

Proportion of blue-collar jobs has
been decreasing
Intense international competition
Permanent layoff of thousands of
union members
Laws provide protections formerly
provided by unions

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How Unions are Changing

More proactive in terms of
coordinating efforts
Cooperative arrangements

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