© 2008 by prentice hall12-1 human resource management 10 th edition chapter 12 labor unions &...

© 2008 by Prentice Hall 12-1

Human Resource Management 10th EditionChapter 12

LABOR UNIONS & COLLECTIVE BARGAINING


HRM in Action: Change to Win Coalition

• New union federation consisting of seven unions that broke from AFL-CIO and formally launched rival labor federation representing about 6 million workers in 2005

• Led by Service Employees International Union • Also included are Teamsters, United Food and

Commercial Workers, Unite Here, Carpenters’ Union, Laborers’ International Union of North America, and United Farm Workers


Union Objectives

• To secure and, if possible, improve living standards and economic status of members.

• To enhance and, if possible, guarantee individual security against threats and contingencies that might result from market fluctuations, technological change, or management decisions.

• To influence power relations in social system in ways that favors and does not threaten union gains and goals.


Union Objectives (Cont.)

• To advance welfare of all who work for a living, whether union members or not.

• To create mechanisms to guard against use of arbitrary and capricious policies and practices in workplace.


Union Growth Strategies

• Strategically Located Union Members • Organizing Several Big Companies at Once

• Pulling Union Through• Political Involvement

• Union Salting• Flooding Community

• Public Awareness Campaigns • Building Organizing Funds

• Befriending Laid-off Workers• Organizing through Card Check


Strategically Located Union Members

• Importance of jobs held by union members significantly affects union power

• Few strategically located union members may exert disproportionate amount of power

• Truckers or dock workers can affect entire country


Organizing Several Big Companies at Once

• Service Employees International Union (SEIU) in Houston organized janitors at several big companies at once

• Negotiated big industry-wide contract

• Eliminates each company’s fear of being undercut by competitors if it allows higher wages

• Companies stay neutral


Pulling the Union Through

• Put pressure on end user of company’s product

• Strike against four Johnson Controls factories that make interior parts for some of country’s best-selling vehicles

• GM and Chrysler played active behind-the-scenes role by pressuring JCI to settle dispute


Political Involvement

• Political arm of AFL-CIO is Committee on Political Education (COPE)

• Union recommends and assists candidates who will best serve its interests

• With friends in government, union in stronger position

• Give money to candidates who pledge to help pass pro-labor legislation


Union Salting

• Process of training union organizers to apply for jobs at company and, once hired, work to unionize

• Supreme Court has ruled employers cannot discriminate against union salts


Flooding the Community

• Process of union inundating communities with organizers to target particular business

• Unions typically choose companies in which nonunionized employees have asked for help in organizing

• Target weak managers’ departments as way to appeal to dissatisfied employees


Public Awareness Campaigns

• Labor maneuvers that do not coincide with strike or organizing campaign to pressure employer for better wages, benefits, and the like

• Alternative to strikes because more employers are willing to replace striking workers

• Employers have less recourse against labor campaigns involving joint political and community groups that support union goals


Building Organizing Funds

• AFL-CIO asks its affiliates to increase organizing funds

• Increase funding to organizing institute, which trains organizers, and launches advertising campaign to create wider public support for unions


Befriending Laid-Off Workers

• AFL-CIO hopes castoffs from Enron, WorldCom, and others will become advocates for organizing

• Fear and stress break down relationships between management and workers


Organizing through Card Check

• Organizing approach where employees sign card of support if they want unionization

• If 50% of work force plus one worker sign card, it is considered a union victory

• Expedited ways of polling workers on union representation but no secret-ballot election takes place


Why Employees Join Unions

• Dissatisfaction with management

• Social outlet

• Opportunity for leadership

• Forced unionization

• Peer pressure


Dissatisfaction with Management

• Compensation

• Job Security

• Management Attitude


Social outlet

• Many people have strong social needs

• Take advantage of union-sponsored recreational and social activities that members and their families find fulfilling

• People who develop close personal relationships will likely stand together in difficult times


Opportunity for leadership

• Some individuals aspire to leadership roles

• Employees with leadership aspirations can often satisfy those aspirations through union membership

• Union also has a hierarchy of leadership that begins with the union steward


Forced Unionization

• In 28 states without right-to-work laws, legal for employer to agree with union that new employee must join union after certain period of time (generally 30 days) or be terminated

• Referred to as union shop agreement


Right-to-Work Laws

• Prohibit management and unions from entering into agreements requiring union membership as condition of employment

• State statutes or constitutional provisions that ban practice of requiring union membership or financial support as condition of employment

• 22 states, located primarily in South and West, have adopted such laws


Peer Pressure

• Some will join a union because they are urged to do so by other members of the workgroup

• May constantly remind an employee that he or she is not a member of the union

• In extreme cases, union members have threatened nonmembers with physical violence and sometimes have carried out these threats


Union Structure

• Local union

• National (or international) union

• American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO)

• Change to Win Coalition


Local Union• Basic element in

structure of American labor movement

• Deals with employer on day-to-day basis


Craft and Industrial Unions

• Craft union - Such as Carpenters and Joiners, is typically composed of members of particular trade or skill in specific locality

• Industrial union - Consists of all workers in particular plant or group of plants (example, United Auto Workers)


National Union

• Composed of local unions, which it charters

• Local union, not individual worker, holds membership in national union

• Service Employees International Union is largest and fastest growing national union (1.8 million members)

• International Brotherhood of Teamsters has about 1.4 million members


American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations

(AFL-CIO)• Represents labor

interests at highest level• Does not engage in

collective bargaining• Financed by member

national unions• Has little formal power or

control • Central trade union

federation in U.S.


The Structure of the AFL-CIO Convention Meets biennially

Executive Council President, Secretary-Treasurer, and 33 Vice Presidents Meets at least three times a year

General Board Executive Council members and principal officer of each international union affiliate

Meets on call of Federation President or

Executive Council

Executive Officers President and Secretary-Treasurer

National Headquarters Standing Committees

Staff Departments

Department or Organization and

Field Services

Regional Directors

Trade and Industrial Departments

Building, Food, Metal, and Maritime Trades,

Industrial Union, Public and Railway Employees, Union

Label

Local Dept. Councils

Affiliated National and International Unions Affiliated State Bodies

Local Bodies

Local unions affiliated directly with AFL-CIO

Local Unions of National and International Unions


Remember the Change to Win Coalition

• New union federation consisting of seven unions that broke from AFL-CIO and formally launched rival labor federation representing about 6 million workers in 2005

• Led by Service Employees International Union • Also included are Teamsters, United Food and

Commercial Workers, Unite Here, Carpenters’ Union, Laborers’ International Union of North America, and United Farm Workers


Collective Bargaining Defined

Performance of mutual obligation of employer and representative of employees to meet at reasonable times and confer in good faith with respect to wages, hours, and other terms and conditions of employment, or the negotiation of an agreement, or any question arising there under, and execution of written contract incorporating any agreement reached if requested by either party, but such obligation does not compel either party to agree to proposal or require making of a concession.


Bargaining Unit

Consists of employees (not necessarily union members) recognized by employer or certified by administrative agency as appropriate for representation by labor organization for purposes of collective bargaining


Steps for Forming a Bargaining Unit External EnvironmentInternal Environment

Signing of Authorization

Cards

Petition for

Election

Election Campaign

Election and

Certification


Signing Authorization Cards

• Document indicating employee wants to be represented by labor organization in collective bargaining

• Is there sufficient interest on part of employees to justify unit?

• Evidence of interest when at least 30% of employees in workgroup sign authorization cards

• Usually need 50% to proceed


Petition for Election

• After authorization cards have been signed, petition for election made to regional NLRB office

• NLRB will ordinarily direct that election be held within 30 days


Election Campaign

• Both union and management usually promote causes actively

• Cannot threaten loss of jobs or benefits

• Cannot misstate important facts

• Illegal to incite racial or religious prejudice


Election and Certification

• NLRB monitors secret-ballot election

• Board issues certification of results to participants

• If majority of employees vote for union, NLRB will certify


Collective Bargaining

• Fundamental to management-organized labor relations in United States

• Process does not require either party to make concessions; only compels them to bargain in good faith


Forms of Bargaining Structures

• One company dealing with a single union

• Several companies dealing with single union

• Several unions dealing with single company

• Several companies dealing with several unions


Collective Bargaining Process

Preparing for Negotiation

Bargaining Issues

Preparing for Negotiation

Reaching the Agreement

Negotiation Breakdowns?

Ratifying the Agreement

Administration of the Agreement

Overcoming Breakdowns

EXTERNAL ENVIRONMENTINTERNAL ENVIRONMENT

Yes

No


Psychological Aspects of Collective Bargaining

• Difficult because process is adversarial situation and must be dealt with as such

• Psychological aspects vitally important


Bargaining Issues

• Mandatory bargaining issues - Wages, hours, etc.

• Permissive bargaining issues - May be raised but neither side may insist that they be bargained over

• Prohibited bargaining issues - Statutorily outlawed


Bargaining Issues

Document that results from collective bargaining process is labor agreement or contract

• Recognition• Management Rights

• Union Security• Compensation and Benefits

• Grievance Procedure• Employee Security


Recognition

• Appears at beginning of labor agreement

• Identifies union that is recognized as bargaining representative

• Describes bargaining unit


Management Rights

Section that is often (but not always) written into labor agreement which spells out rights of management


Union Security

• Closed Shop - Arrangement whereby union membership is prerequisite to employment

• Union Shop - Requires all employees become members of union after specified period

• Maintenance of Membership - Must continue memberships until termination of agreement


Union Security (Cont.)

• Agency Shop - Nonunion members pay union equivalent of membership dues as kind of tax

• Exclusive Bargaining Shop - Company must deal with union that has achieved recognition, but employees not obligated to join

• Open Shop - Equal terms for union members and nonmembers

• Dues Checkoff - Company agrees to withhold union dues


Compensation and Benefits

• Wage rate schedule

• Overtime and premium pay

• Jury pay

• Layoff or severance pay

• Holidays

• Vacation

• Family care


Grievance Procedure

• Means by which employees can voice dissatisfaction with specific management actions

• Procedures for disciplinary action by management

• Termination procedure that must be followed


Employee Security

Seniority - Length of time employee has been associated with company, division, department, or job


Job-Related Factors

Many of rules governing employee actions on job are included


Negotiating the Agreement

• Begins with each side presenting initial demands

• Suggests certain amount of give and take

• Each side does not expect to obtain all demands presented


Example of Negotiating Wage Increase

LABOR Additional Cents per Hour Demanded

MANAGEMENT Additional Cents per Hour Offered

10 15 20 25 30 35 40

10 15 20 25 30 35 40

Bargaining Zone

Bargaining Zone

Labor’s Plan A

Labor’s Plan B

Labor’s Final Offer (before strike)

Management’s Final Offer (before plant lockout)

Management’s Plan B

Management’s Plan A


Breakdowns in Negotiations

• Third party intervention

• Union strategies for overcoming breakdowns

• Management strategies for overcoming breakdowns


Third Party Intervention

• Mediation - Neutral party comes in when impasse has occurred

• Arbitration - Impartial third party makes binding decision to settle dispute

• Sources of mediators and arbitrators - FMCS and AAA


Types of Arbitration

• Rights arbitration - Disputes over interpretation and application of various provisions of existing contract

• Interest arbitration - Disputes over terms of proposed collective bargaining agreements (Rarely used in private sector)


Union Strategies for Overcoming Negotiation Breakdowns - Strikes

• Strikes - Union members refuse to work to pressure management in negotiations

• Halts production, resulting in lost customers and revenue

• Fewer strikes today

• Timing is important

• Unions prefer to strike only as last resort


Trends & Innovations: Virtual Strikes

• Proposed as means to avoid hurting others

• When labor calls a strike then more than labor and management are hurt

• In virtual strike only labor and management suffers

• Worker wages, management salaries, and company profits, go into separate account


Union Strategies for Overcoming Negotiation Breakdowns - Boycotts

• Union members agree to refuse to use or buy firm’s products

• Effect often lasts much longer than strike• Shoppers change buying habits • Example - Coors• Secondary Boycott - Union practice to

encourage third parties to stop doing business with company Illegal


Other Union Tactics

• Byline strike - Newspaper writers withhold their names from stories

• Informational picketing - Union members display placards and hand out leaflets, usually outside their place of business, depicting information union wants general public to see


Management Strategies for Overcoming Negotiation Breakdowns -

Lockout• Lockout - Keep employees out; operate by

placing management and nonunion workers in striking workers’ jobs

• Effective when management dealing with weak union, when union treasury is depleted, or when business has excessive inventories

• Type of industry involved has considerable effect on impact of this maneuver


Management Strategies for Overcoming Negotiations Breakdowns – Continue Operations Without Striking Workers

• Operate firm by placing management and nonunion workers in striking workers’ jobs

• Type of industry involved

• At petroleum refinery or chemical plant, this practice may be quite effective


Ratifying the Agreement

• May be more difficult for union

• Until approved by majority of union members, proposed agreement is not final

• Approval process for management is easier


Administration of the Agreement

• Larger and perhaps more important part of collective bargaining

• Seldom viewed by public

• Agreement establishes union-management relationship for duration of contract


Collective Bargaining for Federal Employees

• Executive Order 10988 established basic framework for collective bargaining in federal government agencies.

• Did not allow bargaining over wage issues


Union Decertification

• Essentially reverse of process that employees must follow to be recognized as official bargaining unit

• Employees have used decertification petitions with increasing frequency and success


Decertification Procedure

• Rules established by NLRB

• At least 30% must petition for election

• Petition submitted 60-90 days prior to expiration of current contract

• Schedule decertification election

• If majority of votes against union, employees will be union free


Management and Decertification

• If management wants union decertified, must be active rather than passive

• Effective first-line supervisors

• Effective communication

• Trust and openness

• Effective compensation programs

• Effective employee and labor relations


Unions Today

• Fall of Big Labor has been dramatic

• Unionized share of private sector workforce is 7.8 percent in 2005


Percentage of the Private Workforce That is Unionized

0

10

20

30

40

1950 1955 1960 1965 1970 1975 1980 1985 1994 2002 2005

Year

Percentage of Workforce40

30

20

10

0

8


A Global Perspective: The ICFTU Says Union Organizing Can Be

Dangerous

• Thousands of trade unionists have been arrested, jailed, tortured, fired, intimidated, and murdered or disappeared, across the world

© 2008 by prentice hall12-1 human resource management 10 th edition chapter 12 labor unions &...

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