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Why Do Employees Join Unions? Employees in the United States seek union

representation when they: are dissatisfied with certain aspects of their

job feel that they lack influence with management

to make the needed changes see unionization as a solution to their

problems

The union’s best ally is bad management.

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Labor Relations and the Legal Environment The Wagner Act (1935), also known as the National Labor

Relations Act, established five unfair labor practices that can be remedied by the National Labor Relations Board: Interfering with, restraining, or coercing employees to keep them

from exercising their rights to form union, bargain collectively, or engage in concerted activities for mutual protection.

Dominating or interfering with the formation or administration of a union or providing financial support for it.

Discriminating against an employee to discourage union membership.

Discharging or otherwise discriminating against an employee who has filed charges or given testimony under the act’s provisions.

Refusing to bargain collectively with the union that employees chose to represent them.

© 2001 by Prentice Hall 15-3

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Labor Relations and the Legal Environment (cont.) The Landrum-Griffin Act (1959) includes these key

provisions: Each union must have a bill of rights for union members to

ensure minimum standards of internal union democracy. Each union must adopt a constitution and provide copies of

it to the Department of Labor. Each union must report its financial activities and the

financial interests of its leaders to the Department of Labor. Union elections are regulated by the government, and union

members have the right to participate in secret ballot elections.

Union leaders have fiduciary responsibility to use union money and property for the benefit of the membership and not for their own personal gain.

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Labor Relations in the United States Business Unionism

Business unionism is unionism that focuses on “bread-and-butter” issues so that workers get a larger slice of the economic pie.

The key concerns of U.S. unions are shop-floor issues that relate directly to workers. U.S. labor laws reinforce this tendency by making wages, hours, and working conditions mandatory topics for bargaining.

Unions Structured by Type of Job In contrast to unions in some other countries, U.S. unions tend to

be organized by type of job (craft unionism and industrial unionism).

Focus on Collective Bargaining Under a collective bargaining system, unions and management

negotiate with each other to develop the work rules under which union members will work for a stipulated period of time.

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Labor Relations in the United States (cont.) Labor Contracts

Labor contracts are an important feature of the U.S. labor relations system. In many other countries, such as Germany and Sweden, working conditions and employee benefits are codified into labor laws, but in the United States labor and management have historically established workers’ economic benefits without government interference.

The Adversarial Nature of Labor-Management Relations and Shrinking Union Membership U.S. labor laws view labor and management as natural adversaries

who will disagree over the distribution of the firm’s profits. For this reason, rules have been put in place so that the pie is distributed peacefully.

The Growth of Unions in the Public Sector As the percentage of unionized workers in the private sector has

declined, the percentage of unionized workers in the public sector has increased substantially.

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Union Membership in the U.S., Union Membership in the U.S., 1930 - 20051930 - 2005

2009: 12.3% of wage and salary ees were union members (7.2% in private sector, 37.4% in public sector)

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Differences Between Public and Private Sector Labor Relations Union membership trends

Service/white-collar Role of Er resistance

Legal framework State laws Bargaining rights Strike rights

Note error @ p. 480: New York and Michigan do not provide limited strike right to public sector ees

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Quick TIPS for Preelection Conduct The acronym TIPS is a quick way to remember the following

guidelines developed by labor lawyers and consultants to guide managers’ preelection conduct:

Threats It is unlawful to threaten employees with theoretical dire

consequences should the union win the election. Intimidation

Employers by law cannot intimidate or coerce employees to vote against the union.

Promises Management cannot promise employees benefits or reward if

they vote against the union. Surveillance

It is unlawful to secretly or overtly spy on organizing meetings.

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Mandatory Bargaining TopicsMandatory Bargaining Topics

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A Union Grievance ProcedureA Union Grievance Procedure

Contract AdministrationContract Administration

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Labor Issues in Nonunion Workplaces

Paid Union Organizers as Job Applicants Must be treated like all other applicants

Protected Concerted Activity Section 7 not restricted to union-related

activity or union-represented Ees Workplace Committees

Labor organization? Dominated by Er?

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LEGAL ISSUES RE: EMPLOYEE INVOLVEMENT

EI and “Company Union” Problem “Labor Organization”

“… any organization of any kind … or Ee representation committee or plan … in which Ees participate and which exists, in whole or in part, for dealing with Ers concerning grievances, labor disputes, wages, rates of pay, hours of employment, or conditions of work.”

Unilateral mechanisms such as suggestion boxes by which individual Ees make proposals are not at issue

Committees acting with authority delegated by management do not “deal with” management

“Unlawful Domination or Assistance” Includes management determination of membership, agenda