Human Resource Management, 13th Edition (520-555)

15
Labor Relations and

Collective Bargaining
Source: Elaine Thompson/AP Images.
LEARNING OBJECTIVES Company s
1. Give a brief history of the American labor movement. Strategic Goals
2. Discuss the main features of at least three major pieces

of labor legislation.
3. Present examples of what to expect during the union
drive and election.
Employee Competencies
4. Describe five ways to lose an NLRB election.
and Behaviors Required
5. Illustrate with examples bargaining that is not for Company to Achieve
in good faith. These Strategic Goals
6. Develop a grievance procedure.
Employee
S
ome people call Costco The Anti-Walmart, because Relations
S
of how Costco treats its workers and unions.1
tra nviro
For example, Walmart is famously anti-union. In
teg nment
E
atio
ic an
comparison, when California grocery store workers
Compens
picketed several chains a few years ago, Costco Wholesale HR Policies and Practices
d Legal
Corp. avoided the fray, quietly renegotiating a separate Required to Produce
contract with its union employees there. The new contract Employee Competencies
boosted Costco workers wages and the firm s contribution and Behaviors
to their pension plans. Then in October 2011 Walmart
nd nt
Re
m
Pla u
c
a g polev
e
me i
cr
announced it was cutting some employee health care benefits,
nin eD tne emt
and eliminating health insurance for future employees working iarT tn
dna
less than 24 hours per week.2
WHERE ARE WE NOW . . .

Chapter 14 focused on employee ethics and
justice important issues in determining
employees tendencies to join unions. The
main purpose of this chapter is to help you
deal effectively with unions and grievances.
After briefly discussing the history of the
American labor movement, we describe the
basic labor law, including unfair labor
practices. We explain labor negotiations,
including the union actions you can expect
during the union campaign and election.
And we explain what you can expect during
the actual bargaining sessions, and how to
handle grievances.
Access a host of interactive learning aids at

www.mymanagementlab.com to help strengthen
your understanding of the chapter concepts.
MyManagementLab 495
496 PART 5 EMPLOYEE RELATIONS
1 Give a brief history of the

THE LABOR MOVEMENT
American labor movement. Even with the pressures they ve been under the past few years, about 14.7 million U.S.
workers still belong to unions about 11.9% of the total number of men and women
working in this country.3 Many are still blue-collar workers. But workers including
doctors, psychologists, graduate teaching assistants, government office workers,
and even fashion models are forming or joining unions.4 In some industries
including transportation and public utilities, where more than 26% of employees are
union members it s still hard to get a job without joining a union.5 Most union
members are in the public sector, as opposed to the private sector.6
Furthermore, it s a mistake to assume that unions affect employers only
negatively. For example, perhaps by professionalizing the staff and/or systematizing
company practices, unionization may improve performance. Thus in one study,
heart attack mortality among patients in hospitals with unionized registered nurses
was 5% to 9% lower than in nonunion hospitals.7 The accompanying Strategic
Context feature provides another illustration of the potential positives of good
union-management relations.
THE STRATEGIC CONTEXT

The Anti-Walmart
It s not easy competing with Walmart s always-low prices, but Costco may have found a
way. Walmart Stores Sam s Club is actually second in sales to Costco. How does Costco
stay ahead? In part with strong labor relations, low employee turnover and liberal
benefits. 8 For example, Costco pays about 90% of the health insurance costs of its
over 90,000 domestic employees, about $6,000 annually per employee.9 And its
relations with labor unions are comparatively benign. Costco s HR strategy is to fend off
Walmart s low wages and labor costs by eliciting higher productivity and better service
from its employees. The strategy seems to be working. Costco s sales per employee are
about $500,000 a year versus $340,000 at Sam s Clubs.10 Turnover among those
employed with the company at least 1 year is about 6%, far below the retail industry
average.11 Aligning its labor relations strategy with its overall strategic aim to compete
on the basis of better productivity and service seems to be working for Costco.
In any case, support for unions has always ebbed and flowed in America, and today
pressures are building against unions. For example, critical budget problems following
the 2008 2010 recession in states such as Wisconsin and New Jersey prompted those
governments to reduce public employees numbers, pensions, and pay. The number
of U.S. workers belonging to unions actually declined by 612,000 from 2009 to 2010.
We ll look at unions and dealing with them in this chapter.
Why Do Workers Organize?

Experts have spent much time and money trying to discover why workers unionize,
and they ve proposed many theories. Yet there is no simple answer to the question,
partly because each worker probably joins for his or her own reasons.
However, workers don t unionize just to get more pay or better working condi-
tions, though these are important. For example, recent median weekly wages for
union workers was $917, while that for nonunion workers was $717.12 Union workers
also generally receive significantly more holidays, sick leave, unpaid leave, insurance
plan benefits, long-term disability benefits, and various other benefits than
do nonunion workers. Unions also have been able to somewhat reduce the impact
of (but obviously not eliminate) downsizings and wage cuts in most industries.13
Two other factors employer unfairness and the union s power are also important.
In one Australia-based firm, researchers found that individuals who believe that
the company rules or policies were administered unfairly or to their detriment were more
likely to turn to unions. 14 But, to vote pro-union, the employees also had to believe
the union could improve their wages, benefits, and treatment.
CHAPTER 15 LABOR RELATIONS AND COLLECTIVE BARGAINING 497
THE BOTTOM LINE The bottom line is that the urge

to unionize often boils down to the belief on the part of
workers that it is only through unity that they can protect
themselves from unilateral management whims. When
Kaiser Permanente s San Francisco Medical Center cut back
on vacation and sick leave for its pharmacists and other
workers, the pharmacists union, the Guild for Professional
Pharmacists, won back the lost vacation days. As one staff
pharmacist said, Kaiser is a pretty benevolent employer, but
Source: Library of Congress.
there s always the pressure to squeeze a little. 15 One labor

relations lawyer says, The one major thing unions offer
is making you a for cause instead of an at will employee,
which guarantees a hearing and arbitration if you re fired. 16
So, in practice, low morale, fear of job loss, and arbitrary
management actions help foster unionization. Employers
ignore that at their peril.
Making fenders at an early Ford factory in Ypsilanti, Michigan. In some respects, things have not changed in years. Here is
In addition to heavy physical labor, workers faced health how one writer describes the motivation behind the early
hazards poor lighting, dust, and dangerous machinery. (1900s) unionization of automobile workers:
In the years to come, economic issues would make the headlines when union and
management met in negotiations. But in the early years, the rate of pay was not the
major complaint of the autoworkers. . . . Specifically, the principal grievances of
the autoworkers were the speed-up of production and the lack of any kind of job
security. As production tapered off, the order in which workers were laid off was
determined largely by the whim of foremen and other supervisors. . . . Generally,
what the workers revolted against was the lack of human dignity and individuality,
and a working relationship that was massively impersonal, cold, and nonhuman.
They wanted to be treated like human beings not like faceless clock card
numbers.17
What Do Unions Want?

We can generalize by saying that unions have two sets of aims, one for union security
and one for improved wages, hours, working conditions, and benefits for their members.
UNION SECURITY First and probably foremost, unions seek security for them-
selves. They fight hard for the right to represent a firm s workers, and to be the exclusive
bargaining agent for all employees in the unit. (As such, they negotiate contracts for all
employees, including those not members of the union.) Five types of union security are
possible:
1. Closed shop.18 The company can hire only current union members. Congress
outlawed closed shops in interstate commerce in 1947, but they still exist in some
states for particular industries (such as printing). They account for fewer than 5%
of union contracts.
2. Union shop. The company can hire nonunion people, but they must join the
union after a prescribed period and pay dues. (If not, they can be fired.) These
account for about 73% of union contracts.
3. Agency shop. Employees who do not belong to the union still must pay the union
an amount equal to union dues (on the assumption that the union s efforts benefit
all the workers).
closed shop union shop agency shop

A form of union security in which the A form of union security in which the A form of union security in which employees
company can hire only union members. company can hire nonunion people, but they who do not belong to the union must still
This was outlawed in 1947 but still exists must join the union after a prescribed period pay union dues on the assumption that union
in some industries (such as printing). of time and pay dues. (If they do not, they efforts benefit all workers.
can be fired.)
4. Preferential shop. Union members get preference in hiring, but the employer can
still hire nonunion members.
5. Maintenance of membership arrangement. Employees do not have to belong
to the union. However, union members employed by the firm must maintain
membership in the union for the contract period. These account for about 4%
of union agreements.
Not all states give unions the right to require union membership as a condition
of employment. Right to work is a term used to describe state statutory or constitu-
tional provisions banning the requirement of union membership as a condition
of employment. 19 Right-to-work laws don t outlaw unions. They do outlaw (within
those states) any form of union security. This understandably inhibits union forma-
tion in those states. There are 23 right-to-work states.20 Several years ago, Oklahoma
became the 22nd state to pass right-to-work legislation. Some believe that this
combined with a loss of manufacturing jobs explains why Oklahoma s union
membership dropped dramatically in the next 3 years.21
IMPROVED WAGES, HOURS, AND BENEFITS Once the union ensures its
security at the employer, it fights to improve its members wages, hours, and working
conditions. The typical labor agreement also gives the union a role in other human
resource activities, including recruiting, selecting, compensating, promoting, training,
and discharging employees.
The AFL-CIO and the SEIU

The American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations
(AFL-CIO) is a voluntary federation of about 56 national and international labor
unions in the United States. The separate AFL and CIO merged in 1955. For many
people in the United States, the AFL-CIO is synonymous with the word union.
There are three layers in the structure of the AFL-CIO and most other U.S.
unions. The worker joins the local union, to which he or she pays dues. The local is in
turn a single chapter in the national union. For example, if you were a teacher in
Detroit, you would belong to the local union there, which is one of hundreds of local
chapters of the American Federation of Teachers, their national union (most unions
actually call themselves international unions). The third layer in the structure is the
national federation, in this case, the AFL-CIO.
The Service Employees International Union (SEIU) is a fast-growing federation
of more than 2.2 million members. It includes the largest healthcare union, with more
than 1.1 million members in the field, including nurses, LPNs, and doctors, and the
second largest public employees union, with more than 1 million local and state
government workers.22
Union federation membership is in flux. Several years ago, the SEIU, the International
Brotherhood of Teamsters, and UNITE HERE left the AFL-CIO and established their
own federation, called the Change to Win Coalition. Together, the departing unions
represented over one-quarter of the AFL-CIO s membership and budget. Change to Win
plans to be more aggressive about organizing workers than they say the AFL-CIO was.23
Then the UNITE HERE union left Change to Win and rejoined the AFL-CIO, possibly
slowing Change to Win s momentum.
Some people think of the federation (such as the AFL-CIO or SEIU) as the most
important part of the labor movement, but it is not. Thus the president of the teachers
union wields more power in that capacity than in his capacity as a vice president of the
AFL-CIO. Yet as a practical matter, the presidents of the AFL-CIO or SEIU do have
political influence in excess of a figurehead president.
UNIONS AND THE LAW

As noted, the history of the American labor movement has been one of alternate expan-
sion and contraction, in response to public policy changes. Until about 1930, there were
no special labor laws. Employers were not required to engage in collective bargaining
with employees and were virtually unrestrained in their behavior toward unions; the
use of spies and firing of union agitators were widespread. Yellow dog contracts,
whereby management could require nonunion membership as a condition for
employment, were widely enforced. Most union weapons even strikes were illegal.
This one-sided situation lasted until the Great Depression (around 1930).24 Since
then, in response to changing public attitudes, values, and economic conditions, labor
law has gone through three clear periods: from strong encouragement of unions, to
modified encouragement coupled with regulation, and finally to detailed regulation
of internal union affairs. 25
2 Discuss the main features

Period of Strong Encouragement: The Norris-LaGuardia (1932)
of at least three major and National Labor Relations (or Wagner) Acts (1935)
pieces of labor legislation. The Norris-LaGuardia Act of 1932 set the stage for a new era in which union activity
was encouraged. It guaranteed to each employee the right to bargain collectively
free from interference, restraint, or coercion. It declared yellow dog contracts unen-
forceable. And it limited the courts abilities to issue injunctions (stop orders) for
activities such as peaceful picketing and payment of strike benefits.
Yet this act did little to restrain employers from fighting labor organizations by
whatever means they could find. So in 1935, Congress passed the National Labor
Relations (or Wagner) Act to add teeth to Norris-LaGuardia. It did this by (1) banning
certain unfair labor practices, (2) providing for secret-ballot elections and majority rule
for determining whether a firm s employees would unionize, and (3) creating the
National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) to enforce these two provisions.
UNFAIR EMPLOYER LABOR PRACTICES The Wagner Act deemed statutory

wrongs (but not crimes) five unfair labor practices used by employers:
1. It is unfair for employers to interface with, restrain, or coerce employees in
exercising their legally sanctioned right of self-organization.
2. It is unfair for company representatives to dominate or interfere with either the
formation or the administration of labor unions. Among other specific manage-
ment actions found to be unfair under these first two practices are bribing
employees, using company spy systems, moving a business to avoid unionization,
and black-listing union sympathizers.
3. Employers are prohibited from discriminating in any way against employees for
their legal union activities.
4. Employers are forbidden to discharge or discriminate against employees simply
because the latter file unfair practice charges against the company.
5. Finally, it is an unfair labor practice for employers to refuse to bargain collectively
with their employees duly chosen representatives.
Unions file an unfair labor practice charge (see Figure 15-1) with the National Labor
Relations Board. The board then investigates the charge and decides if it should take
action. Possible actions include dismissal of the complaint, request for an injunction
against the employer, or an order that the employer cease and desist.
preferential shop Norris-LaGuardia Act (1932) National Labor Relations Board (NLRB)
Union members get preference in hiring, This law marked the beginning of the era The agency created by the Wagner Act
but the employer can still hire nonunion of strong encouragement of unions to investigate unfair labor practice charges
members. and guaranteed to each employee the and to provide for secret-ballot elections
right to bargain collectively free from and majority rule in determining whether
right to work interference, restraint, or coercion. or not a firm s employees want a union.
A term used to describe state statutory
or constitutional provisions banning the National Labor Relations (or Wagner) Act
requirement of union membership as a This law banned certain types of unfair
condition of employment. practices and provided for secret-ballot
elections and majority rule for determining
whether a firm s employees want to unionize.
FIGURE 15-1 NLRB Form 501:

Filing an Unfair Labor Practice FORM NLRB 501 FORM EXEMPT UNDER
(2 81) 44 U.S.C. 3512
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
CHARGE AGAINST EMPLOYER
INSTRUCTIONS: File an original and 4 copies of DO NOT WRITE IN THIS SPACE
this charge with NLRB Regional Director for the CASE NO. DATE FILE
region in which the alleged unfair labor practice
occurred or is occurring.
1. EMPLOYER AGAINST WHOM CHARGE IS BROUGHT
a. NAME OF EMPLOYER b. NUMBER OF WORKERS EMPLOYED
c. ADDRESS OF ESTABLISHMENT (street and number, d. EMPLOYER REPRESEN- e. PHONE NO.

city, State, and ZIP code) TATIVE TO CONTACT
f. TYPE OF ESTABLISHMENT (factory, mine, wholesaler, g. IDENTIFY PRINCIPAL PRODUCT OR SERVICE

etc.)
h. THE ABOVE-NAMED EMPLOYER HAS ENGAGED IN AND IS ENGAGING IN UNFAIR LABOR PRACTICES WITHIN THE
MEANING OF SECTION 8(a), SUBSECTIONS (1) AND OF THE NATIONAL
(list subsections)
LABOR RELATIONS ACT, AND THESE UNFAIR LABOR PRACTICES ARE UNFAIR LABOR PRACTICES AFFECTING
COMMERCE WITHIN THE MEANING OF THE ACT.
2. BASIS OF THE CHARGE (be specific as to facts, names, addresses, plants involved, dates, places, etc.)
BY THE ABOVE AND OTHER ACTS, THE ABOVE-NAMED EMPLOYER HAS INTERFERED WITH, RESTRAINED, AND
COERCED EMPLOYEES IN THE EXERCISE OF THE RIGHTS GUARANTEED IN SECTION 7 OF THE ACT.
3. FULL NAME OF PARTY FILING CHARGE (if labor organization, give full name, including local name and number)
4a. ADDRESS (street and number, city, State, and ZIP code) 4b. TELEPHONE NO.
5. FULL NAME OF NATIONAL OR INTERNATIONAL LABOR ORGANIZATION OF WHICH IT IS AN AFFILIATE OR

CONSTITUENT UNIT (to be filled in when charge is filed by a labor organization)
6. DECLARATION
I declare that I have read the above charge and that the statements therein are true to the best of my knowledge and belief.
By
(signature of representative or person filing charge) (title, if any)
Address
(telephone number) (date)
WILLFULLY FALSE STATEMENTS ON THIS CHARGE CAN BE PUNISHED BY FINE AND IMPRISONMENT
(U.S. CODE, TITLE 18, SECTION 1001)
Such complaints are commonplace. For example, in 2011, the American Guild
of Musical Artists said it would file an unfair labor charge against the New York
City Opera if the latter carried through on its plan to cut staff and move to new
quarters.
FROM 1935 TO 1947 Union membership increased quickly after passage of the
Wagner Act in 1935. Other factors such as an improving economy and aggressive
union leadership contributed to this rise. But by the mid-1940s, after the end
of World War II, the tide had begun to turn. Largely because of a series of massive
postwar strikes, public policy began to shift against what many viewed as union
excesses. The stage was set for passage of the Taft-Hartley Act.
Period of Modified Encouragement Coupled with

Regulation: The Taft-Hartley Act (1947)
The Taft-Hartley (or Labor Management Relations) Act of 1947 reflected the public s
less enthusiastic attitude toward unions. It amended the National Labor Relations
(Wagner) Act by limiting unions in four ways: (1) prohibiting unfair union labor
practices, (2) enumerating the rights of employees as union members, (3) enumerating
the rights of employers, and (4) allowing the President of the United States to bar
temporarily national emergency strikes.
Unfair Union Labor Practices

The Taft-Hartley Act enumerated several labor practices that unions were prohibited
from engaging in:
1. First, it banned unions from restraining or coercing employees from exercising
their guaranteed bargaining rights. (Some union actions courts have held illegal
include stating to an anti-union employee that he or she will lose his or her job
once the union gains recognition, and issuing patently false statements during
union organizing campaigns.)
2. It is also an unfair labor practice for a union to cause an employer to discriminate
in any way against an employee in order to encourage or discourage his or her
membership in a union. For example, the union cannot try to force an employer
to fire a worker because he or she doesn t attend union meetings or refuses to join a
union. There is one exception: Where a closed or union shop prevails (and union
membership is therefore a prerequisite to employment), the union may demand the
discharge of someone who fails to pay his or her initiation fees and dues.
3. It is an unfair labor practice for a union to refuse to bargain in good faith with the
employer about wages, hours, and other employment conditions. Certain strikes
and boycotts are also unfair practices.
4. It is an unfair labor practice for a union to engage in featherbedding (requiring an
employer to pay an employee for services not performed).
RIGHTS OF EMPLOYEES The Taft-Hartley Act protected the rights of employees

against their unions in other ways. For example, many people felt that compulsory
unionism violated the basic right of freedom of association. Legitimized by
Taft-Hartley, new right-to-work laws quickly sprung up in 19 (now 23) states (mainly in
the South and Southwest). In New York, for example, in many printing firms you can t
work as a press operator unless you belong to a printers union. In Florida, such union
shops except those covered by the Railway Labor Act are illegal, and printing shops
typically employ both union and nonunion operators. Even today, union membership
varies widely by state, from a high of 26.8% in New York to a low of 3.2% in North
Carolina.26 The Taft-Hartley act also required the employee s authorization before the
union could have dues subtracted from his or her paycheck.
In general, the Labor Relations (Taft-Hartley) Act does not restrain unions from
unfair labor practices to the extent that the law does employers. It says unions may not
restrain or coerce employees. However, violent or otherwise threatening behavior or
clearly coercive or intimidating union activities are necessary before the NLRB will find
an unfair labor practice. 27 Examples include physical assaults or threats of violence,
economic reprisals, and mass picketing that restrains the lawful entry or leaving of a
work site.
Taft-Hartley Act (1947)

Also known as the Labor Management
Relations Act, this law prohibited unfair union
labor practices and enumerated the rights
of employees as union members. It also
enumerated the rights of employers.
RIGHTS OF EMPLOYERS The Taft-Hartley Act also explicitly gave employers

certain rights. First, it gave them full freedom to express their views concerning union
organization. For example, as a manager you can tell your employees that in your
opinion unions are worthless, dangerous to the economy, and immoral. You can even
(generally) hint that unionization and subsequent high-wage demands might result
in the permanent closing of the plant (but not its relocation). Employers can set forth
the union s record concerning violence and corruption, if appropriate. In fact, the
only major restraint is that employers must avoid threats, promises, coercion, and
direct interference with workers who are trying to reach a decision. There can be
no threat of reprisal or force or promise of benefit.28
Furthermore, the employer (1) cannot meet with employees on company time
within 24 hours of an election or (2) suggest to employees that they vote against the
union while they are at home or in the employer s office (although he or she can do so
while in their work area or where they normally gather).
NATIONAL EMERGENCY STRIKES The Taft-Hartley Act also allows the U.S.
President to intervene in national emergency strikes. These are strikes (for example,
by railroad workers) that might imperil the national health and safety. The President
may appoint a board of inquiry and, based on its report, apply for an injunction
restraining the strike for 60 days. If the parties don t reach a settlement during that
time, the President can have the injunction extended for another 20 days. During this
last period, employees take a secret ballot to ascertain their willingness to accept the
employer s last offer.
PERIOD OF DETAILED REGULATION OF INTERNAL UNION AFFAIRS:

THE LANDRUM-GRIFFIN ACT (1959) In the 1950s, Senate investigations
revealed unsavory practices on the part of some unions, and the result was the
Landrum-Griffin Act (officially, the Labor Management Reporting and Disclosure Act)
of 1959. An overriding aim of this act was to protect union members from possible
wrongdoing on the part of their unions. Like Taft-Hartley, it also amended the
National Labor Relations (Wagner) Act.
First, the law contains a bill of rights for union members. Among other things, it
provides for certain rights in the nomination of candidates for union office. It also
affirms a member s right to sue his or her union and ensures that the union cannot
fine or suspend a member without due process.
This act also laid out rules regarding union elections. For example, national and
international unions must elect officers at least once every 5 years, using a secret-
ballot mechanism. And it regulates the kind of person who can serve as a union
officer. For example, it bars persons convicted of felonies (bribery, murder, and so on)
from holding union officer positions for a period of 5 years after conviction.
Senate investigators also discovered flagrant examples of employer wrongdoing.
Employers and their labor relations consultants had bribed union agents and
officers, for example. That had been a federal crime starting with the passage of the
Taft-Hartley Act. But Landrum-Griffin greatly expanded the list of unlawful employer
actions. For example, companies can no longer pay their own employees to entice
them not to join the union, and must report use of labor consultants.
3 Present examples of what

THE UNION DRIVE AND ELECTION
to expect during the union It is through the union drive and election that a union tries to be recognized to repre-
drive and election. sent employees. Supervisors need to understand this process, which has five basic
steps.29
Step 1. Initial Contact

During the initial contact stage, the union determines the employees interest in
organizing, and establishes an organizing committee.
The initiative for the first contact between the employees and the union may
come from the employees, from a union already representing other employees of the
firm, or from a union representing workers elsewhere. In any case, there is an initial
contact.
Once an employer becomes a target, a union official usually assigns a representative
to assess employee interest. The representative visits the firm to determine whether
enough employees are interested to make a campaign worthwhile. He or she also iden-
tifies employees who would make good leaders in the organizing campaign and calls
them together to create an organizing committee. The objective here is to educate the
committee about the benefits of forming a union and the law and procedures involved
in forming a local union.
The union must follow certain rules when it starts contacting employees. The
law allows organizers to solicit employees for membership as long as the effort
doesn t endanger the performance or safety of the employees. Therefore, much
of the contact takes place off the job, perhaps at home or at eating places near work.
Organizers can also safely contact employees on company grounds during off hours
(such as lunch or break time). Yet, in practice, there will be much informal organiz-
ing going on at the workplace as employees debate organizing. Sometimes the first
inkling management has of the campaign is the distribution or posting of handbills
soliciting union membership.
Much soliciting today will be via e-mail, but prohibiting employees from sending
pro-union e-mail messages on company e-mail is easier said than done. You can t
discriminate against union activities, so prohibiting only union e-mail may violate
NLRB decisions. And barring workers from using e-mail for all non work-related
topics may be futile if the company actually does little to stop it.
LABOR RELATIONS CONSULTANTS Both management and unions typically

use labor relations consultants. The consultants may be law firms, researchers,
psychologists, labor relations specialists, or public relations firms. Some are former
union organizers who now represent the employers.30
In any case, their role is to provide advice and related services not just when a vote
is expected (although this is when most of them are used), but at other times, too.
For the employer, the consultant s services may range from ensuring that the firm
properly fills out routine labor relations forms to managing the union campaign.
Unions may use public relations firms to improve their image, or specialists to
manage corporate campaigns. (These aim to pressure shareholders and creditors
to get management to agree to the union s demands.)
The widespread use of such consultants only some of whom are actually
lawyers raises the question of whether some have advised their clients to engage
in questionable activities. One tactic, for instance, is to delay the union vote with
lengthy hearings at the NLRB. The longer the delay in the vote, they argue, the more
time the employer has to drill anti-union propaganda into the employees.
UNION SALTING Unions are not without creative ways to win elections. The
National Labor Relations Board defines union salting as placing of union members on
nonunion job sites for the purpose of organizing. Critics claim that salts also often
interfere with business operations and harass employees.31 The U.S. Supreme Court
ruled that union salts are employees under the National Labor Relations Act; the
NLRB will require that employers pay salts if they fire them for trying to organize.32
For managers, the solution is to make sure you know whom you re hiring. However,
not hiring someone simply because, as a member of the local union, he or she might be
pro-union or a union salt would be discriminatory.33
national emergency strikes Landrum-Griffin Act (1959) union salting

Strikes that might imperil the national Also known as the Labor Management A union organizing tactic by which workers
health and safety. Reporting and Disclosure Act, this law aimed who are in fact employed full-time by a union
at protecting union members from possible as undercover organizers are hired by
wrongdoing on the part of their unions. unwitting employers.
Step 2. Obtaining Authorization Cards

For the union to petition the NLRB for the right to hold an election, it must show that
a sizable number of employees may be interested in organizing. Therefore the next
step for union organizers is to try to get the employees to sign authorization cards
(see Figure 15-2). Among other things, these usually authorize the union to seek a
representation election and state that the employee has applied to join the union.
Thirty percent of the eligible employees in an appropriate bargaining unit must sign
before the union can petition the NLRB for an election (although in Figure 15-2 this
employer has agreed with SEIU to recognize the union without a follow-up vote if a
majority of employees sign the authorization cards).
This is a dangerous time for supervisors. During this stage, both union and
management use propaganda. The union claims it can improve working conditions,
raise wages, increase benefits, and generally get the workers better deals. Management
can attack the union on ethical and moral grounds and cite the cost of union
membership. Management can also explain its accomplishments, express facts and
opinions, and explain the law applicable to organizing campaigns. However, neither
side can threaten, bribe, or coerce employees. And an employer (or supervisor) may
not make promises of benefits to employees or make unilateral changes in terms and
conditions of employment that were not planned to be implemented prior to the
onset of union organizing activity.
STEPS TO TAKE Management can take several steps with respect to the authori-
zation cards. For example, the NLRB ruled an employer might lawfully inform
employees of their right to revoke their authorization cards, even when employees
have not asked for such information. The employer can also distribute pamphlets that
explain just how employees can revoke their cards. However, the law prohibits any
material assistance to employees such as postage or stationery.
Similarly, it is an unfair labor practice to tell employees they can t sign a card. What
you can do is prepare supervisors so they can explain what the card actually authorizes
the union to do including seeking a representation election, designating the union as
bargaining representative, and subjecting the employee to union rules. The latter is
especially important. The union, for instance, may force the employee to picket and
fine any member who does not comply with union instructions. Explaining the serious
legal and practical implications of signing the card can thus be an effective weapon.
One thing managers should not do is look through signed authorization cards if
confronted with them by union representatives. The NLRB could construe that as
an unfair labor practice, as spying on those who signed. Doing so could also later
form the basis of a charge alleging discrimination due to union activity, if the firm
subsequently disciplines someone who signed a card.
During this stage, unions can picket the company, subject to three constraints:
(1) The union must file a petition for an election within 30 days after the start of
picketing; (2) the firm cannot already be lawfully recognizing another union; and
(3) there cannot have been a valid NLRB election during the past 12 months.
FIGURE 15-2
Authorization Card
Source: http://www.seiu503.org/
admin/Assets/AssetContent/
7c8327d7-9acf-4ebd-b068-
c536cbe80e2a/546bfa9e-94e2-495f-
9d30-54cc81f55e47/
65ff6bf4-a58b-4cf8-b1cc-
cd159b9c42b5/1/web%20
ojdcard.pdf, accessed 1/15/10.
Step 3. Hold a Hearing

Once the union collects the authorization cards, one of three things can occur. If the
employer chooses not to contest union recognition at all, then the parties need
no hearing, and a special consent election is held. If the employer chooses not to
contest the union s right to an election, and/or the scope of the bargaining unit, and/or
which employees are eligible to vote in the election, no hearing is needed and the
parties can stipulate an election. If an employer does wish to contest the union s right,
it can insist on a hearing to determine those issues. An employer s decision about
whether to insist on a hearing is a strategic one. Management bases it on the facts
of each case, and on whether it feels it needs more time to try to persuade employees
not to elect a union.
Most companies do contest the union s right to represent their employees, claiming
that a significant number of them don t really want the union. It is at this point that the
National Labor Relations Board gets involved. The union usually contacts the NLRB,
which requests a hearing. The regional director of the NLRB then sends a hearing
officer to investigate. The examiner sends both management and union a notice of
representation hearing (NLRB Form 852; see Figure 15-3) that states the time and place
of the hearing.
The hearing addresses several issues. First, does the record indicate there is
enough evidence to hold an election? (For example, did 30% or more of the
employees in an appropriate bargaining unit sign the authorization cards?)
Second, the examiner must decide what the bargaining unit will be. The
bargaining unit is the group of employees that the union will be authorized
to represent and bargain for collectively. If the entire organization is the bargaining
unit, the union will represent all nonsupervisory, nonmanagerial, and noncon-
fidential employees, even though the union may be oriented mostly toward
blue-collar workers. (Professional and nonprofessional employees can be included
in the same bargaining unit only if the professionals agree.) If your firm disagrees
with the examiner s bargaining unit decision, it can challenge the decision. This
will require a separate NLRB ruling.
The NLRB hearing addresses other issues. These include, Does the employer
qualify for coverage by the NLRB? and Is the union a labor organization within the
meaning of the National Labor Relations Act?
If the results of the hearing are favorable for the union, the NLRB will order hold-
ing an election. It will issue a Notice of Election (NLRB Form 707) to that effect, for
the employer to post.
Step 4. The Campaign

During the campaign that precedes the election, union and employer appeal to
employees for their votes. The union will emphasize that it will prevent unfairness,
set up grievance and seniority systems, and improve wages. Union strength, they ll
say, will give employees a voice in determining wages and working conditions.
Management will stress that improvements like those don t require unions and
that wages are equal to or better than they would be with a union. Management
will also emphasize the financial cost of union dues; the fact that the union is an
outsider ; and that if the union wins, a strike may follow. It can even attack the
union on ethical and moral grounds, while insisting that employees will not be as
well off and may lose freedom. But neither side can threaten, bribe, or coerce
employees.
authorization cards bargaining unit

In order to petition for a union election, The group of employees the union will be
the union must show that at least 30% authorized to represent.
of employees may be interested in being
unionized. Employees indicate this interest
by signing authorization cards.
FIGURE 15-3 NLRB Form 852:

Notice of Representation
FORM NLRB-852
Hearing (6-61)
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
BEFORE THE NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
Case No.
NOTICE OF REPRESENTATION HEARING

The Petitioner, above named, having heretofore filed a Petition pursuant to Section 9 (c) of
the National Labor Relations Act, as amended, 29 U.S.C. Sec 151 et seq., copy of which Peti-
tion is hereto attached, and it appearing that a question affecting commerce has arisen concern-
ing the representation of employees described by such Petition.
YOU ARE HEREBY NOTIFIED that, pursuant to Section 3(b) and 9(c) of the Act, on the
day of , 20 , at
a hearing will be conducted before a hearing officer of the National Labor Relations Board upon
the question of representation affecting commerce which has arisen, at which time and place the
parties will have the right to appear in person or otherwise, and give testimony.
Signed at on the day of , 20
Regional Director, Region

National Labor Relations Board
Step 5. The Election

The election occurs within 30 to 60 days after the NLRB issues its Decision and Direc-
tion of Election. The election is by secret ballot; the NLRB provides the ballots (see
Figure 15-4), voting booth, and ballot box, and counts the votes and certifies the results.
The union becomes the employees representative if it wins the election, and win-
ning means getting a majority of the votes cast, not a majority of the total workers in
the bargaining unit. (Also keep in mind that if an employer commits an unfair labor
practice, the NLRB may reverse a no union election. As representatives of their
employer, supervisors must therefore be careful not to commit unfair practices.)
Several things influence whether the union wins the certification election. Unions
have a higher probability of success in geographic areas with a higher percentage
of union workers. High unemployment seems to lead to poorer results for the union,
perhaps because employees fear that unionization efforts might result in reduced job
security or employer retaliation. Unions usually carefully pick the size of their bargaining
unit (all clerical employees in the company, only those at one facility, and so on) because
the larger the bargaining unit, the smaller the probability of union victory. The more
workers vote, the less likely a union victory, probably because more workers who are not
strong supporters vote. The union is important, too: The Teamsters union is less likely
to win a representation election than other unions, for instance.34
FIGURE 15-4 Sample

NLRB Ballot UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
National Labor Relations Board
OF FI CI AL SE CRE T BALL OT
FOR CERTAIN EMPLOYEES OF
Do you wish to be represented for purposes of collective bargaining by
MARK AN S IN THE SQUARE OF YOUR CHOICE
YES NO
DO NOT SIGN THIS BALLOT. Fold and drop in ballot box.

If you spoil this ballot return it to the Board Agent for a new one.
4 Describe five ways to lose an

How to Lose an NLRB Election
NLRB election. Over the years, unions typically won about 55% of elections held each year.35 According
to expert Matthew Goodfellow, there is no sure way employers can win elections.
However, there are several sure ways to lose one.36
REASON 1. ASLEEP AT THE SWITCH In one study, in 68% of the companies

that lost to the union, executives were caught unaware. In these companies, turnover
and absenteeism had increased, productivity was erratic, and safety was poor. Grievance
procedures were rare. When the first reports of authorization cards began trickling back
to top managers, they usually responded with a barrage of letters describing how the
company was one big family and calling for a team effort. 37
REASON 2. APPOINTING A COMMITTEE Of the losing companies, 36% formed

a committee to manage the campaign. According to the expert, there are three problems
in doing so: (1) Promptness is essential in an election situation, and committees are
notorious for moving slowly. (2) Most committee members are NLRB neophytes. Their
views therefore are mostly reflections of hope rather than experience. (3) A committee s
decision is usually a compromise decision. The result isn t necessarily the most knowl-
edgeable or most effective one. This expert suggests giving full responsibility to a single,
decisive executive. A human resource director and a consultant or adviser with broad
experience in labor relations should in turn assist this person.
REASON 3. CONCENTRATING ON MONEY AND BENEFITS In 54% of

the elections studied, the company lost because top management concentrated on the
wrong issues: money and benefits. As this expert puts it:
Employees may want more money, but quite often, if they feel the company treats
them fairly, decently, and honestly, they are satisfied with reasonable, competitive
rates and benefits. It is only when they feel ignored, uncared for, and disregarded
that money becomes a major issue to express their dissatisfaction.38
REASON 4. DELEGATING TOO MUCH TO DIVISIONS For companies

with plants scattered around the country, unionizing one or more plants tends
to lead to unionizing others. The solution is, don t abdicate all personnel and
industrial relations decisions to plant managers.39 Dealing effectively with
unions monitoring employees attitudes, reacting properly when the union
appears, and so on generally requires centralized guidance from the main office
and its human resources staff.
The other side of the coin is this: What can unions do to boost their chances
they ll win the election?
Evidence-Based HR: What to Expect the Union

to Do to Win the Election
A researcher analyzed data from 261 NLRB elections. She found that the best way for
unions to win is to pursue a rank and file strategy. It includes union tactics such as the
following:40
1. Reliance on a slow, underground, person-to-person campaign using house
calls, small group meetings, and pre-union associations to develop leadership
and union commitment, and prepare workers for employer anti-union strategies
before the employer becomes aware of the campaign.
2. The union will focus on building active rank-and-file participation, including an
organizing committee reflecting the different interest groups in the bargaining unit.
3. The union will press for a first contract early in the organizing process.
4. The union will use inside and outside pressure tactics to build worker commitment
and compel the employer to run a fair campaign.
5. There will be an emphasis during the organizing campaign on issues such as respect,
dignity, and fairness, not just traditional bread-and-butter issues like wages.
The Supervisor s Role

Supervisors are an employer s first line of defense in the unionizing effort. They
are often in the best position to sense evolving employee attitude problems,
for instance, and to discover the first signs of union activity. Unfortunately,
there s another side to that coin: They can also inadvertently hurt their employer s
union-related efforts.
Supervisors therefore need special training. Specifically, they must be knowledge-
able about what they can and can t do legally to hamper organizing activities. Unfair
labor practices could (1) cause the NLRB to hold a new election after your company
has won a previous election, or (2) cause your company to forfeit the second election
and go directly to contract negotiation.
In one case, a plant superintendent reacted to a union s initial organizing
attempt by prohibiting distribution of union literature in the plant s lunchroom.
Since solicitation of off-duty workers in nonwork areas is generally legal, the
company subsequently allowed the union to post literature on the company s
bulletin board and to distribute literature in nonworking areas inside the plant.
However, the NLRB still ruled that the initial act of prohibiting distribution of
the literature was an unfair labor practice, one not made right by the company s
subsequent efforts. The NLRB used the superintendent s action as one reason for
invalidating an election that the company had won.41
SOME TIPS Supervisors can use the acronym TIPS to remember what not to
do during the organizing or preelection campaigns.42 Do not Threaten, Interrogate,
make Promises to, or Spy on employees (for instance, do not threaten that you will
close or move the business, cut wages, reduce overtime, or lay off employees).
Use FORE for what you may do. You may give employees Facts (like what signing
the authorization card means), express your Opinion about unions, explain factu-
ally correct Rules (such as that the law permits permanently replacing striking
employees), and share your Experiences about unions.
Rules Regarding Literature and Solicitation

The employer can legally take steps to restrict union organizing activity.43
1. Employers can always bar nonemployees from soliciting employees during their
work time that is, when the employee is on duty and not on a break.
2. Employers can usually stop employees from soliciting other employees for any
purpose if one or both employees are on paid-duty time and not on a break.
3. Most employers (generally not including retail stores, shopping centers, and
certain other employers) can bar nonemployees from the building s interiors
and work areas as a right of private property owners.44
4. Employers can deny on- or off-duty employees access to interior or exterior areas
only if they can show the rule is required for reasons of production, safety, or
discipline.
Again, such restrictions are valid only if the employer doesn t discriminate against
the union. Thus, if the employer lets employees collect money for baby gifts, to sell Avon
products or Tupperware, or to engage in other solicitation during their working time,
it may not be able lawfully to prohibit them from union soliciting during work time.
Here is one example of a specific rule aimed at limiting union organizing or activity:
Solicitation of employees on company property during working time interferes
with the efficient operation of our business. Nonemployees are not permitted to
solicit employees on company property for any purpose. Except in break areas
where both employees are on break or off the clock, no employee may solicit
another employee during working time for any purpose.45
Decertification Elections: Ousting the Union

Winning an election and signing an agreement do not necessarily mean that the union
is in the company to stay. The same law that grants employees the right to unionize also
gives them a way to terminate legally their union s right to represent them. The process
is decertification. There are around 450 to 500 decertification elections each year, of
which unions usually win around 30%.46 That s actually a more favorable win rate for
management than the rate for the original, representation elections.
Decertification campaigns don t differ much from certification campaigns.47
The union organizes membership meetings and house-to-house visits, mails literature
into the homes, and uses phone calls, e-mails, NLRB appeals, and (sometimes) threats
and harassment to win the election. Employers cannot legally start the decertification
process, but once started management uses meetings including one-on-one meetings,
small-group meetings, and meetings with entire units as well as legal or expert
assistance, letters, improved working conditions, and subtle or not-so-subtle threats to try
to influence the votes.48
THE COLLECTIVE BARGAINING PROCESS

What Is Collective Bargaining?
When and if the union becomes your employees representative, a day is set for
management and labor to meet and negotiate a labor agreement. This agreement will
contain specific provisions covering wages, hours, and working conditions.
What exactly is collective bargaining? According to the National Labor Relations Act:
For the purpose of [this act,] to bargain collectively is the performance of the
mutual obligation of the employer and the representative of the employees to meet
at reasonable times and confer in good faith with respect to wages, hours, and
decertification collective bargaining

Legal process for employees to terminate The process through which representatives
a union s right to represent them. of management and the union meet to
negotiate a labor agreement.
terms and conditions of employment, or the negotiation of an agreement, or any

question arising thereunder, and the execution of a written contract incorporating
any agreement reached if requested by either party, but such obligation does not
compel either party to agree to a proposal or require the making of a concession.
In plain language, this means that both management and labor are required by law
to negotiate wage, hours, and terms and conditions of employment in good faith.
5 Illustrate with examples

What Is Good Faith?
bargaining that is not Good faith bargaining is the cornerstone of effective labor management relations.
in good faith. It means that both parties communicate and negotiate, that they match proposals
with counterproposals, and that both make every reasonable effort to arrive at an
agreement. It does not mean that one party compels another to agree to a proposal.
Nor does it require that either party make any specific concessions (although as a
practical matter, some may be necessary).49
How can you tell if bargaining is not in good faith? The following are some examples.
Surface bargaining. Going through the motions of bargaining without any real
intention of completing an agreement.
Inadequate concessions. Unwillingness to compromise, even though no one is
required to make a concession.
Inadequate proposals and demands. The NLRB considers the advancement
of proposals to be a positive factor in determining overall good faith.
Dilatory tactics. The law requires that the parties meet and confer at reasonable
times and intervals. Obviously, refusal to meet with the union does not satisfy
the positive duty imposed on the employer.
Imposing conditions. Attempts to impose conditions that are so onerous
or unreasonable as to indicate bad faith.
Making unilateral changes in conditions. This is a strong indication that the
employer is not bargaining with the required intent of reaching an agreement.
Bypassing the representative. The duty of management to bargain in good faith
involves, at a minimum, recognition that the union representative is the one
with whom the employer must deal in conducting negotiations.
Withholding information. An employer must supply the union with information,
upon request, to enable it to discuss the collective bargaining issues intelligently.
Of course, requiring good faith bargaining doesn t mean that negotiations can t
grind to a halt. For example, in 2011, the National Football League accused the NFL
Players Association of not bargaining in good faith, using delays to run out the
clock so that the players association could bring a suit against the NFL.50
The Negotiating Team

Both union and management send negotiating teams to the bargaining table, and both
teams go into the bargaining sessions having done their homework. Both sides today
devote much time to preparations, because contracts today tend to be more detailed
and complex. Union representatives will have sounded out union members on their
desires and conferred with representatives of related unions.
Both sides will use several techniques to prepare for bargaining. First, they prepare
the data on which to build their bargaining positions.51 From compensation survey
sources like those we discussed in Chapter 11, they compile data on pay and benefits that
include comparisons with local pay rates and to rates paid for similar jobs within the
industry. Data on the distribution of the workforce (in terms of age, sex, and seniority,
for instance) are also important, because these factors determine what the company
will actually pay out in benefits. Internal economic data regarding cost of benefits,
overall-earnings levels, and the amount and cost of overtime are important as well.
Management will also cost the current labor contract and determine the
increased cost total, per employee, and per hour of the union s demands. It will
use information from grievances and feedback from supervisors to determine what
the union s demands might be, and prepare counteroffers and arguments.52 Other
popular tactics include attitude surveys to test employee reactions to various sections
of the contract that management may feel require change, and informal conferences
with local union leaders to discuss the operational effectiveness of the contract and
to send up trial balloons on management ideas for change.
HR AS A PROFIT CENTER
Costing the Contract
Collective bargaining experts emphasize the need to cost the union s demands
carefully. One says,
The mistake I see most often is [HR professionals who] enter the negotiations
without understanding the financial impact of things they put on the table. For
example, the union wants three extra vacation days. That doesn t sound like a
lot, except that in some states, if an employee leaves, you have to pay them for
unused vacation time. [So] now your employer has to carry that liability on their
books at all times.53
Bargaining Items
Labor law sets out categories of specific items that are subject to bargaining: These are
mandatory, voluntary, and illegal items.
Voluntary (or permissible) bargaining items are neither mandatory nor illegal;
they become a part of negotiations only through the joint agreement of both manage-
ment and union. Neither party can compel the other to negotiate over voluntary items.
You cannot hold up signing a contract because the other party refuses to bargain on a
voluntary item. Benefits for retirees might be an example.
Illegal bargaining items are forbidden by law. A clause agreeing to hire union
members exclusively would be illegal in a right-to-work state, for example.
Table 15-1 presents some of the 70 or so mandatory bargaining items over which
bargaining is mandatory under the law. They include wages, hours, rest periods,
layoffs, transfers, benefits, and severance pay. Others, such as drug testing, are added as
the law evolves.
Bargaining Hints
Expert Reed Richardson has the following advice for bargainers:
1. Be sure to set clear objectives for every bargaining item, and be sure you under-
stand the reason for each.
2. Do not hurry.
3. When in doubt, caucus with your associates.
4. Be well prepared with firm data supporting your position.
5. Strive to keep some flexibility in your position.
6. Don t concern yourself just with what the other party says and does; find out why.
good faith bargaining illegal bargaining items mandatory bargaining items

Both parties are making every reasonable Items in collective bargaining that are Items in collective bargaining that a party
effort to arrive at agreement; proposals are forbidden by law; for example, a clause must bargain over if they are introduced
being matched with counterproposals. agreeing to hire union members by the other party for example, pay.
exclusively would be illegal in a
voluntary (or permissible) bargaining items right-to-work state.
Items in collective bargaining over which
bargaining is neither illegal nor mandatory
neither party can be compelled against its
wishes to negotiate over those items.
TABLE 15-1 Bargaining Items

Mandatory Permissible Illegal
Rates of pay Indemnity bonds Closed shop

Wages Management rights as to union affairs Separation of employees
Hours of employment Pension benefits of retired employees based on race
Overtime pay Scope of the bargaining unit Discriminatory treatment
Shift differentials Including supervisors in the contract
Holidays Additional parties to the contract such
Vacations as the international union
Severance pay Use of union label
Pensions Settlement of unfair labor charges
Insurance benefits Prices in cafeteria
Profit-sharing plans Continuance of past contract
Christmas bonuses Membership of bargaining team
Company housing, meals, Employment of strikebreaker
and discounts
Employee security
Job performance
Union security
Management union
relationship
Drug testing of employees
Source: Carrell, Michael R.; Heavrin, Christina, Labor Relations And Collective Bargaining: Cases, Practices,
And Law, 6th Edition, © 2001. Reprinted by permission of Pearson Education, Incl, Upper Saddle River, NJ.
7. Respect the importance of face saving for the other party.

8. Be alert to the real intentions of the other party not only for goals, but also for
priorities.
9. Be a good listener.
10. Build a reputation for being fair but firm.
11. Learn to control your emotions and use them as a tool.
12. As you make each bargaining move, be sure you know its relationship to all
other moves.
13. Measure each move against your objectives.
14. Remember that collective bargaining is a compromise process. There is no such
thing as having all the pie.
15. Try to understand the people and their personalities.54
16. Remember that excessive bargainer transparency and openness can backfire.55
Impasses, Mediation, and Strikes

In collective bargaining, an impasse occurs when the parties are not able to move further
toward settlement. An impasse usually occurs because one party is demanding more
than the other will offer. Sometimes an impasse can be resolved through a third party
a disinterested person such as a mediator or arbitrator. If the impasse is not resolved in
this way, the union may call a work stoppage, or strike, to put pressure on management.56
THIRD-PARTY INVOLVEMENT Negotiators use three types of third-party

interventions to overcome an impasse: mediation, fact finding, and arbitration. With
mediation, a neutral third party tries to assist the principals in reaching agreement.
The mediator usually holds meetings with each party to determine where each stands
regarding its position, and then uses this information to find common ground for
further bargaining. The mediator is always a go-between, without authority to dictate
terms or make concessions. He or she communicates assessments of the likelihood of a
strike, the possible settlement packages available, and the like.
In certain situations, as in a national emergency dispute, a fact finder may be
appointed. A fact finder is a neutral party who studies the issues in a dispute and
makes a public recommendation for a reasonable settlement.57 Presidential emer-
gency fact-finding boards have successfully resolved impasses in certain critical
transportation disputes.
Arbitration is the most definitive type of third-party intervention, because the
arbitrator often has the power to determine and dictate the settlement terms. With
binding arbitration, both parties are committed to accepting the arbitrator s award.
With nonbinding arbitration, they are not. Arbitration may also be voluntary or
compulsory (in other words, imposed by a government agency). In the United States,
voluntary binding arbitration is the most prevalent.
There are two main topics of arbitration. Interest arbitration centers on working
out a labor agreement; the parties use it when such agreements do not yet exist or
when one or both parties are seeking to change the agreement. Rights arbitration
really means contract interpretation arbitration. It usually involves interpreting
existing contract terms, for instance, when an employee questions the employer s
right to have taken some disciplinary action.58
SOURCES OF THIRD-PARTY ASSISTANCE Various public and professional
agencies make arbitrators and mediators available. For example, the American
Arbitration Association (AAA) represents and provides the services of thousands
of arbitrators and mediators to employers and unions. The U.S. government s Federal
Mediation and Conciliation Service provides both arbitrators and mediators (see
Figure 15-5).59 In addition, most states provide arbitrator and mediation services.
STRIKES A strike is a withdrawal of labor. There are four main types of strikes.
An economic strike results from a failure to agree on the terms of a contract. Unions
call unfair labor practice strikes to protest illegal conduct by the employer.
A wildcat strike is an unauthorized strike occurring during the term of a contract.
A sympathy strike occurs when one union strikes in support of the strike
of another union.60 For example, in sympathy with South Korean Hyundai workers,
the United Auto Workers organized a rally outside of Hyundai s technical center
in Superior Township, Michigan and took steps to hold other rallies.61
The likelihood of and severity of a strike depends partly on the parties willingness
to take a strike. 62 For instance, a number of years ago major-league baseball owners
impasse interest arbitration unfair labor practice strike

Collective bargaining situation that occurs Arbitration enacted when labor agreements A strike aimed at protesting illegal conduct
when the parties are not able to move further do not yet exist or when one or both parties by the employer.
toward settlement, usually because one party are seeking to change the agreement.
is demanding more than the other will offer. wildcat strike
rights arbitration An unauthorized strike occurring during the
mediation Arbitration that interprets existing contract term of a contract.
Intervention in which a neutral third party tries terms, for instance, when an employee
to assist the principals in reaching agreement. questions the employer s right to have taken sympathy strike
some disciplinary action. A strike that takes place when one union
fact finder strikes in support of the strike of another.
A neutral party who studies the issues in a strike
dispute and makes a public recommendation A withdrawal of labor.
for a reasonable settlement.
economic strike
arbitration A strike that results from a failure to agree
The most definitive type of third-party on the terms of a contract that involve
intervention, in which the arbitrator usually wages, benefits, and other conditions
has the power to determine and dictate the of employment.
settlement terms.
FIGURE 15-5 Online Request

Form for Federal Mediation
were willing to let players strike and lose a whole season, because they had consistently
agreed that the players had been ruining the game by getting too much money and that
only a hard line against such excesses would stop that.63
The number of major work stoppages (strikes involving 1,000 workers or more)
peaked at about 400 per year between 1965 and 1975, and today average around 20.
Picketing, or having employees carry signs announcing their concerns near the
employer s place of business, is one of the first activities to occur during a strike. Its
purpose is to inform the public about the existence of the labor dispute and often to
encourage others to refrain from doing business with the struck employer.
Employers can make several responses when they become the object of a strike. One
is to shut down the affected area and halt operations until the strike is over. A second is
to contract out work in order to blunt the effects of the strike. A third response is to
continue operations, perhaps using supervisors and other nonstriking workers to fill
in for the striking workers. A fourth alternative is hiring replacements for the strikers.
Diminished union influence plus competitive pressures now prompt more employers
to replace (or at least consider replacing) strikers with permanent replacement workers.
One study of human resource managers found that of those responding, 18% would
Picketing is one of the first

activities to occur during a
strike. The purpose is to inform
the public about the labor
dispute.
Source: Dennis MacDonald/PhotoEdit.

not consider striker replacements in the event of a strike, while 31% called it not very
likely, 23% somewhat likely, and 21% very likely. 64 When the NFL locked out
players in 2011, they also implied that they might use replacement players.65
Employers generally can replace strikers. In one very important labor relations
case known as Mackay, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that although the National
Labor Relations Act does prohibit employers from interfering with employees right
to strike, employers still have the right to continue their operations and, therefore, to
replace strikers. Subsequent decisions by the National Labor Relations Board put
some limitations on Mackay. For example, employers cannot permanently replace
strikers who are protesting unfair labor practices, and must rehire strikers who apply
for reinstatement unconditionally.
STRIKE GUIDELINES FOR EMPLOYERS When a strike is imminent, the employer

should make plans to deal with it. For example, as negotiations between the Hibbing
Taconite Steel Plant in Minnesota and the United Steelworkers of America headed
toward a deadline, the firm brought in security workers and trailers to house them.
Two experts say that, with a strike imminent, following these guidelines can minimize
confusion:
* Pay all striking employees what you owe them on the first day of the strike.
* Secure the facility. Management should control access to the property. Consider
hiring guards to protect replacements coming to and from work, if necessary.
* Notify all customers, and prepare a standard official response to all queries.
* Contact all suppliers and other persons who will have to cross the picket line.
Establish alternative methods of obtaining supplies.
* Arrange for overnight stays in the facility, and for delivered meals, if necessary.
* Notify the local unemployment office of your need for replacement workers.
* Photograph the facility before, during, and after picketing. If necessary, install
videotape equipment to monitor picket line misconduct.
* Record all facts concerning strikers demeanor and activities and such incidents
as violence, threats, mass pickets, property damage, or problems.
* Gather the following evidence: number of pickets and their names; time, date,
and location of picketing; wording on every sign carried by pickets; and descriptions
of picket cars and license numbers.66
picketing
Having employees carry signs announcing
their concerns near the employer s place
of business.
OTHER WEAPONS Management and labor each have other weapons to break
an impasse and achieve their aims. The union, for example, may resort to a corporate
campaign. A corporate campaign is an organized effort by the union that exerts
pressure on the employer by pressuring the company s other unions, shareholders,
corporate directors, customers, creditors, and government agencies.67 Thus, the
union might surprise individual members of the board of directors by picketing their
homes, and organizing a boycott of the company s banks.68 The head of the United
Auto Workers recently said the union planned to begin a new campaign to organize
hourly factory workers at foreign-owned car plants in the United States. As part of its
campaign, the union began picketing the U.S. dealerships for Hyundai, Daimler,
Toyota, and Nissan.69
Inside games are another union tactic. Inside games are union efforts to convince
employees to impede or to disrupt production for example, by slowing the work pace,
refusing to work overtime, filing mass charges with government agencies, refusing to do
work without receiving detailed instructions from supervisors, and engaging in other
disruptive activities such as sick-outs.70 Inside games are basically strikes albeit
strikes in which the company continues to pay the employees. In one inside game
at Caterpillar s Aurora, Illinois, plant, United Auto Workers grievances rose from
22 to 336. The effect was to tie up workers and management in unproductive endeavors
on company time.71
Improving Productivity through HRIS

Unions Go High-Tech
E-mail and the Internet means unions can send mass e-mail announcements
to collective-bargaining unit members and use e-mail to reach supporters and
government officials for their corporate campaigns. For example, the group trying
to organize Starbucks workers (the Starbucks Workers Union) set up their
own Web site (www. starbucksunion.org). It includes notes like Starbucks managers
monitored Internet chat rooms and eavesdropped on party conversations in a covert
campaign to identify employees agitating for union representation at the
coffee chain, internal emails reveal. 72
For their part, employers can try to break an impasse with lockouts. A lockout is
a refusal by the employer to provide opportunities to work. It (sometimes literally)
locks out employees and prohibits them from doing their jobs (and being paid). In
2011, the National Football League (NFL) locked out football players when the two
sides couldn t agree on a new contract.73 The NLRB views lockouts as an unfair labor
practice only when the employer acts for a prohibited purpose. It is not a prohibited
purpose to try to bring about a settlement on terms favorable to the employer. Lock-
outs are not widely used today; employers are usually reluctant to cease operations
when employees are willing to continue working.
Both employers and unions can seek a court injunction if they believe the other
side is taking actions that could cause irreparable harm to the other party. An
injunction is a court order compelling a party or parties either to resume or to desist
from a certain action.74
The Contract Agreement

The actual contract agreement may be a 20- or 30-page document; it may be even
longer. It may contain just general declarations of policy, or detailed rules and
procedures. The tendency today is toward the longer, more detailed contract. This is
largely a result of the increased number of items the agreements have been covering.
The main sections of a typical contract cover subjects such as these: (1) management
rights; (2) union security and automatic payroll dues deduction; (3) grievance proce-
dures; (4) arbitration of grievances; (5) disciplinary procedures; (6) compensation rates;
(7) hours of work and overtime; (8) benefits: vacations, holidays, insurance, pensions;
(9) health and safety provisions; (10) employee security seniority provisions; and
(11) contract expiration date.
6 Develop a grievance
DEALING WITH DISPUTES AND GRIEVANCES
procedure. Hammering out a labor agreement is not the last step in collective bargaining. No labor
contract can cover all contingencies and answer all questions. For example, suppose the
contract says you can only discharge an employee for just cause. You subsequently
discharge someone for speaking back to you in harsh terms. Was speaking back to you
harshly just cause ?
The labor contract s grievance procedure usually handles problems like these.
The grievance procedure provides an orderly system whereby both employer and
union determine whether some action violated the contract.75 It is the vehicle for
administering the contract on a day-to-day basis. Remember, though, that this
involves interpretation only: it usually doesn t involve negotiating new terms or
altering existing ones.
Sources of Grievances
From a practical point of view, it is probably easier to list those items that don t
precipitate grievances than to list the ones that do. Employees may use just about
any factor involving wages, hours, or conditions of employment as the basis of a
grievance.
However, certain grievances are more serious, since they re usually more difficult
to settle. Discipline cases and seniority problems including promotions, transfers, and
layoffs would top this list. Others would include grievances growing out of job evalu-
ations and work assignments, overtime, vacations, incentive plans, and holidays.76
Here are three examples of grievances:
* Absenteeism. An employer fired an employee for excessive absences. The em-
ployee filed a grievance stating that there had been no previous warnings related
to excessive absences.
* Insubordination. An employee on two occasions refused to obey a supervisor s
order to meet with him, unless a union representative was present at the meeting.
As a result, the employee was discharged and subsequently filed a grievance
protesting the discharge.
* Plant rules. The plant had a posted rule barring employees from eating or drinking
during unscheduled breaks. The employees filed a grievance claiming the rule was
arbitrary.77
A grievance is often a symptom of an underlying problem. Sometimes, bad
relationships between supervisors and subordinates are to blame: This is often the
cause of grievances over fair treatment, for instance. Organizational factors such as
ambiguous job descriptions that frustrate employees also cause grievances. Union
activism is another cause; the union may solicit grievances from workers to under-
score ineffective supervision. Problem employees are yet another underlying cause
of grievances. These are individuals, who, by their nature, are negative, dissatisfied,
and prone to complaints. Discipline and dismissal, discussed in Chapter 14 (Ethics),
are also both major sources of grievances.
corporate campaign inside games injunction

An organized effort by the union that exerts Union efforts to convince employees A court order compelling a party or parties
pressure on the corporation by pressuring to impede or to disrupt production for either to resume or to desist from a certain
the company s other unions, shareholders, example, by slowing the work pace. action.
directors, customers, creditors, and
government agencies, often directly. lockout grievance procedure
A refusal by the employer to provide oppor- Formal process for addressing any factor
boycott tunities to work. involving wages, hours, or conditions of
The combined refusal by employees and employment that is used as a complaint
other interested parties to buy or use the against the employer.
employer s products.
The Grievance Procedure

Most collective bargaining contracts contain a specific grievance procedure. It lists the
steps in the procedure, time limits associated with each step, and specific rules such as
all charges of contract violation must be reduced to writing. Virtually every labor
agreement signed today contains a grievance procedure clause. (Nonunionized
employers need such procedures, too, as explained in Chapter 14, Ethics.)
Union grievance procedures differ from firm to firm. Some contain simple,
two-step procedures. Here, the grievant, union representative, and company
representative meet to discuss the grievance. If they don t find a satisfactory solution,
the grievance goes before an independent, third-party arbitrator who hears the case,
writes it up, and makes a decision. Figure 15-6 shows a grievance record form.
At the other extreme, the grievance procedure may contain six or more steps. The
first step might be for the grievant and shop steward to meet informally with
the supervisor of the grievant to try to find a solution. If they don t find one, the
FIGURE 15-6 Sample Online

Grievance Form
employee files a formal grievance, and there s a meeting with the employee, shop
steward, and the supervisor s boss. The next steps involve the grievant and union
representatives meeting with higher-level managers. Finally, if top management and
the union can t reach agreement, the grievance may go to arbitration.
Guidelines for Handling Grievances

The best way for a supervisor to handle a grievance is to develop a work environment
in which grievances don t arise in the first place. Hone your ability to avoid, recognize,
diagnose, and correct the causes of potential employee dissatisfaction (such as unfair
appraisals or poor communications) before they become grievances.
Given that many factors including union pressures prompt grievances, it
would be naïve to think that grievances arise only due to supervisor unfairness.
However, there s little doubt that the quality of the interpersonal relations among
you and your subordinates will influence your team s grievance rate. You should be
thoroughly familiar with our discussions of supervisory fairness in Chapter 14,
Ethics.
The supervisor is on the firing line and must steer a course between treating
employees fairly and maintaining management s rights and prerogatives. One
expert has developed a list of supervisor do s and don ts as useful guides in handling
grievances.78 Some critical ones include:
Do:
1. Investigate and handle each case as though it may eventually result in arbitration.
2. Talk with the employee about his or her grievance; give the person a full hearing.
3. Require the union to identify specific contractual provisions allegedly violated.
4. Comply with the contractual time limits for handling the grievance.
5. Visit the work area of the grievance.
6. Determine whether there were any witnesses.
7. Examine the grievant s personnel record.
8. Fully examine prior grievance records.
9. Treat the union representative as your equal.
10. Hold your grievance discussions privately.
11. Fully inform your own supervisor of grievance matters.
Don t:
1. Discuss the case with the union steward alone the grievant should be there.
2. Make arrangements with individual employees that are inconsistent with the
labor agreement.
3. Hold back the remedy if the company is wrong.
4. Admit to the binding effect of a past practice.
5. Relinquish to the union your rights as a manager.
6. Settle grievances based on what is fair. Instead, stick to the labor agreement.
7. Bargain over items not covered by the contract.
8. Treat as subject to arbitration claims demanding the discipline or discharge
of managers.
9. Give long written grievance answers.
10. Trade a grievance settlement for a grievance withdrawal.
11. Deny grievances because your hands have been tied by management.
12. Agree to informal amendments in the contract.
THE UNION MOVEMENT TODAY AND TOMORROW

About 35% of the non-farm U.S. workforce belonged to unions in the 1960s. Today,
that figure is about 12%. Why has this drop occurred and what is the future for the
union movement?
Why Union Membership Is Down

Several things contributed to union membership declines. Laws like OSHA and
Title VII reduced the need for union protection. Increased global competition and
new technologies like just-in-time production systems forced employers to reduce
inefficiencies and cut costs often by reducing payrolls by automating or by
sending jobs abroad. New foreign-owned auto plants from Toyota and Daimler
largely stayed union free. Only about 15% of U.S. workers now work in
manufacturing and construction, so unions traditional membership sources
shrank. The 2008 recession triggered budget cuts in both the public and private
sectors, prompting anti-union public policy attitudes, and the loss of about one
million public sector union jobs.
All of this squeezes unions. For example, for years the head of Ford s United
Auto Workers union fought for increased benefits for his members. More recently, he
urged his colleagues to accept productivity-enhancing plans, such as outsourcing
Ford s factory jobs to lower paid workers. Ford is in a desperate situation, he says.
If this company goes down, I want to be able to look in the mirror and say I did
everything I could. 79
An Upswing for Unions?

However, the news is not all bleak. For one thing, we saw that it s not unusual for
public policy attitudes to rotate from pro- to anti-union, and back. For another, the
membership drop masks unions real impact. Union membership varies widely
by state, so unions are still quite influential in some states (such as Michigan
and New York). Furthermore, about 35% of the nation s blue-collar workers in
particular those in manufacturing and construction jobs belong to unions.
Furthermore, a slight majority of all union members (about 51%) are now white-
collar workers, which suggests unions are tapping this growing portion of the
workforce. For example, an optical physicist at the National Aeronautics and Space
Administration is also the president of his local union.80 White-collar union
members include about 40% of all college faculty members, 45,000 physicians, and
50,000 engineers. Almost 100,000 nurses belong to unions (as do most major league
baseball, football, basketball, and hockey players). And, we ll see that unions themselves
are becoming much more aggressive.
Unions are making inroads into

traditionally hard-to-organize
worker segments like profes-
sionals and white-collar workers.
Source: Stephen Chernin/iStockphoto.com.
Card Check and Other New Union Tactics

Unions are pushing Congress to pass the Employee Free Choice Act. This would
make it more difficult for employers to inhibit workers from organizing. Instead of
secret-ballot elections, the act would institute a card check system. Here, the
union would win recognition when a majority of workers signed authorization
cards saying they want the union. (Several large companies, including Cingular
Wireless, have already agreed to the card check process.)81 The act would also
require binding arbitration to set a first contract s terms if the company and union
can t negotiate an agreement within 120 days.82
Unions are also using class action lawsuits to support employees in nonunion-
ized companies to pressure employers. For example, unions recently used class
action lawsuits to support workers claims under the Fair Labor Standards Act and
the Equal Pay Act.83 As another example, UNITE filed a $100 million class action
suit against Cintas Corp. Then, Cintas workers in California filed a lawsuit claiming
that the company was violating a nearby municipality s living wage law. UNITE
then joined forces with the Teamsters union, which in turn began targeting Cintas
delivery people.84
UNIONS GO GLOBAL Walmart, a company that traditionally works hard to pre-

vent its stores from going union, recently had to agree to let the workers in its stores in
China join unions. Walmart s China experience stems in part from efforts of global
union campaigns by the Service Employees International Union (SEIU). These cam-
paigns reflect the belief that, as SEIU puts it, huge global service sector companies
routinely cross national borders and industry lines as they search for places where
they can shift operations to exploit workers with the lowest possible pay and benefits.
SEIU is therefore strengthening its alliances with unions in other nations, with
the goal of uniting workers in specific multinational companies and industries
around the globe.85 For example, SEIU recently worked with China s All China Feder-
ation of Trade Unions (ACFTU) to help the latter organize China s Walmart stores.86
Recently, the United Steelworkers merged with the largest labor union in Britain to
create Workers Uniting to better help the new union deal with multinational
employers.87 And the UAW is training activists about how to organize rallies and
protests in support of union campaigns, and sending them abroad to help organize
workers at car plants overseas.88
So, any company that thinks it can avoid unionization by sending jobs abroad
may be in for a surprise. In fact, more U.S. companies are bringing jobs back home,
in part due to rising wages abroad.
High-Performance Work Systems, Employee

Participation, and Unions
Many employers encourage employees to work together in teams. The aim is to help
solve work-related problems and create high-performance work systems. In one such
program, at UPS, hourly employees in self-directed teams establish priorities on how
to do their jobs. Many unions believe that the result, if not the motive, of such
programs is to usurp unions traditional duties.
That presents a problem for employers. The National Recovery Act (1933) tried
to give employees the right to organize and to bargain collectively. This triggered an
increase in unions that were actually company-supported sham unions aimed at
keeping legitimate unions out. Subsequent legislation outlawed such sham unions.
Employers can take steps to avoid having courts view their participation
programs as sham unions. For example,89
* Involve employees in the formation of these programs.
* Continually emphasize to employees that the committees exist only to address
issues such as quality and productivity, not to deal with mandatory bargaining-type
items such as pay.
* Don t establish such committees when union organizing activities are beginning
in your facility.
* Fill the committees with volunteers rather than elected employee representatives,
and rotate membership.
* Minimize management s participation in the committees day-to-day activities.
A recent review of union research and literature provides an additional insight. The
author concludes that unions that have a cooperative relationship with management
can play an important role in overcoming barriers to the effective adoption of
practices that have been linked to organizational competitiveness. 90 However, she
also concludes that employers who want to capitalize on that potential need to change
their way of thinking, avoiding adversarial industrial relations and emphasizing a
cooperative partnership.
REVIEW
MyManagementLab Now that you have finished this chapter, go back to www.mymanagementlab.com
to continue practicing and applying the concepts you ve learned.
CHAPTER SECTION SUMMARIES

1. The labor movement is important. About 14.7 million from soliciting other employees when both are on duty
U.S. workers belong to unions around 11.9% of the time and not on a break.
total. Workers unionize not just to get more pay or 4. The employer and union hammer out an agreement via
better working conditions; employer unfairness and the the collective bargaining process. The heart of collec-
union s power are also important. Unions aim for union tive bargaining is good faith bargaining, which means
security, and then for improved wages, hours, and work- both parties must make reasonable efforts to arrive at
ing conditions and benefits for their members. Union agreement, and proposals are matched with counterpro-
security options include the closed shop, union shop, posals. Both negotiating teams will work hard to under-
agency shop, preferential shop, and maintenance of stand their respective clients needs and to quantify their
membership arrangement. The AFL-CIO plays an demands. In the actual bargaining sessions, there are
important role in the union movement as a voluntary mandatory bargaining items such as pay, illegal bargain-
federation of about 56 national and international labor ing items, and voluntary bargaining items such as
unions in the United States. benefits for retirees. If things don t go smoothly during
2. To understand unions and their impact, it s necessary collective bargaining, the parties may utilize third-party
to understand the interplay between unions and the intermediaries, including mediators, fact finders, and
law. In brief, labor law has gone through periods arbitrators. Strikes represent a withdrawal of labor.
of strong encouragement of unions, to modified encour- There are economic strikes resulting from a failure to
agement coupled with regulation, and finally to agree on the terms of the contract, as well as unfair labor
detailed regulation of internal union affairs. Today, the practice strikes, wildcat strikes, and sympathy strikes.
legal environment seems to be moving toward During strikes, picketing may occur. Other tactics
increased encouragement of unions. Historically, the include a corporate campaign by the union, boycotting,
laws encouraging the union movement included the inside games, or (for employers) lockouts.
Norris-LaGuardia and National Labor Relations 5. Most managers become involved with grievances during
(Wagner) Acts of the 1930s. These outlawed certain their careers. Most collective bargaining agreements
unfair employer labor practices and made it easier for contain a specific grievance procedure listing the steps in
unions to organize. The Taft-Hartley or Labor the procedure. In general, the best way to handle a griev-
Management Relations Act of 1947 addressed keeping ance is to create an environment in which grievances
unions from restraining or coercing employees, and don t occur. However if a grievance does occur, things to
listed certain unfair union labor practices. In the do include investigate, handle each case as though it may
1950s, the Landrum-Griffin Act (technically, the Labor eventually result in arbitration, talk with the employee
Management Reporting and Disclosure Act) further about the grievance, and comply with the contractual
protected union members from possible wrongdoing time limits for handling the grievance. On the other
on the part of their unions. hand, don t make arrangements with individual employ-
3. When unions begin organizing, all managers and super- ees that are inconsistent with the labor agreement or
visors usually get involved, so it s essential to understand hold back the remedy if the company is wrong.
the mechanics of the union drive and election. The 6. Membership is down but in some ways unions are
main steps include initial contact, obtaining authoriza- becoming more influential today, so it s important to
tion cards, holding a hearing, the campaign itself, and understand the union movement today and tomorrow.
the election. Supervisors need to understand their role For example, unions are becoming more aggressive in
at each step in this process. Follow the acronym TIPS terms of pushing Congress to pass the Employee Free
do not threaten, interrogate, make promises, or spy. And Choice Act, which, among other things, would enable
follow FORE provide facts, express your opinions, employees to vote for the union by signing authorization
explain factually correct rules, and share your experi- cards, rather than going through a formal union election.
ences. Managers need to understand rules regarding New union federations, such as Change to Win, are being
literature and solicitation. For example, employers can more aggressive about organizing workers, and unions
always bar nonemployees from soliciting employees are going global, for instance, by helping employees in
during their work time, and can usually stop employees China organize local Walmart stores.
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
1. Why do employees join unions? What are the advantages 5. Explain in detail each step in a union drive and
and disadvantages of being a union member? election.
2. Discuss five sure ways to lose an NLRB election. 6. What is meant by good faith bargaining? Using examples,
3. Describe important tactics you would expect the union explain when bargaining is not in good faith.
to use during the union drive and election. 7. Define impasse, mediation, and strike, and explain the
4. Briefly illustrate how labor law has gone through a cycle techniques that are used to overcome an impasse.
of repression and encouragement.
INDIVIDUAL AND GROUP ACTIVITIES

1. You are the manager of a small manufacturing plant. The (3) write four multiple-choice exam questions on this
union contract covering most of your employees is about material that you believe would be suitable for inclusion in
to expire. Working individually or in groups, discuss how the HRCI exam; and (4) if time permits, have someone
to prepare for union contract negotiations. from your team post your teams questions in front of the
2. Working individually or in groups, use Internet resources class, so the students in other teams can take each others
to find situations where company management and the exam questions.
union reached an impasse at some point during their 4. Several years ago, 8,000 Amtrak workers agreed not to
negotiation process, but eventually resolved the impasse. disrupt service by walking out, at least not until a court
Describe the issues on both sides that led to the impasse. hearing was held. Amtrak had asked the courts for a
How did they move past the impasse? What were the final temporary restraining order, and the Transport Work-
outcomes? ers Union of America was actually pleased to postpone
3. The HRCI Test Specifications Appendix (pages 633 640) its walkout. The workers were apparently not upset
lists the knowledge someone studying for the HRCI certifi- at Amtrak, but at Congress, for failing to provide
cation exam needs to have in each area of human resource enough funding for Amtrak. What, if anything, can an
management (such as in Strategic Management, Work- employer do when employees threaten to go on strike,
force Planning, and Human Resource Development). not because of what the employer did, but what a third
In groups of four to five students, do four things: (1) review party in this case, Congress has done or not done?
that appendix now; (2) identify the material in this chapter What laws would prevent the union from going on
that relates to the required knowledge the appendix lists; strike in this case?
EXPERIENTIAL EXERCISE
The Union-Organizing Campaign at Pierce U.
Purpose: The purpose of this exercise is to give you practice cards. Zimmer even observed this during working hours as
in dealing with some of the elements of a union-organizing employees were going about their normal duties in the dormi-
campaign.91 tories. Zimmer reports that a number of her employees have
come to her asking for her opinions about the union. They
Required Understanding: You should be familiar with the told her that several other supervisors in the department had
material covered in this chapter, as well as the following told their employees not to sign any union authorization
incident, An Organizing Question on Campus. cards and not to talk about the union at any time while they
INCIDENT: An Organizing Question on Campus: Art Tipton were on campus. Zimmer also reports that one of her fellow
is human resource director of Pierce University, a private supervisors told his employees that anyone who was caught
university located in a large urban city. Ruth Zimmer, a talking about the union or signing a union authorization card
supervisor in the maintenance and housekeeping services would be disciplined and perhaps dismissed.
division of the university, has just come into Art s office Zimmer says that her employees are very dissatisfied with
to discuss her situation. Zimmer s division is responsible for their wages and with the conditions that they have endured
maintaining and cleaning physical facilities of the university. from students, supervisors, and other staff people. She says that
Zimmer is one of the department supervisors who supervise several employees told her that they had signed union cards
employees who maintain and clean on-campus dormitories. because they believed that the only way university administra-
In the next several minutes, Zimmer proceeds to express tion would pay attention to their concerns was if the employees
her concerns about a union-organizing campaign that has had a union to represent them. Zimmer says that she made a
begun among her employees. According to Zimmer, a repre- list of employees who she felt had joined or were interested in
sentative of the Service Workers Union has met with several of the union, and she could share these with Tipton if he wanted
her employees, urging them to sign union authorization to deal with them personally. Zimmer closed her presentation
cards. She has observed several of her employees cornering with the comment that she and other department supervisors
other employees to talk to them about joining the union and need to know what they should do in order to stomp out the
to urge them to sign union authorization (or representation) threat of unionization in their department.
How to Set Up the Exercise/Instructions: allotted discussing the issues. Then, outline those issues,
Divide the class into groups of four or five students. as well as an action plan for Tipton. What should he
Assume that you are labor relations consultants the do next?
university retained to identify the problems and issues If time permits, a spokesperson from each group
involved and to advise Art Tipton on the university s rights should list on the board the issues involved and the group s
and what to do next. Each group will spend the time recommendations. What should Art do?
APPLICATION CASE
NEGOTIATING WITH THE WRITERS GUILD OF AMERICA
The talks between the Writers Guild of America (WGA) and the WGA leadership. . . . The WGA leadership apparently
the Alliance of Motion Picture & Television Producers has no intention to bargain in good faith. 96 As evidence, the
(producers) began tense, and then got tenser. In their first producers claimed that the WGA negotiating committee left
meeting, the two sides got nothing done. As one producer one meeting after less than an hour at the bargaining table.
said, Everyone in the room is concerned about this. 92 Both sides knew timing in these negotiations was very
The two sides were far apart on just about all the issues. important. During the fall and spring, television series pro-
However, the biggest issue was how to split revenue from new duction is in full swing. So, a strike now by the writers would
media, such as when television shows move to DVDs or the have a bigger impact than waiting until, say, the summer to
Internet. The producers said they wanted a profit-splitting strike. Perhaps not surprisingly, some movement was soon
system rather than the current residual system. Under the discernible. In a separate set of negotiations, the Directors
residual system, writers continue to receive residuals or Guild of America reached an agreement with the producers
income from shows they write every time they re shown (such that addressed many of the issues that the writers were
as when Seinfeld appears in reruns, years after the last original focusing on, such as how to divide the new media income.97
show was shot). Writers Guild executives did their homework. Then, the WGA and producers finally reached agreement.
They argued, for instance, that the projections showed The new contract was the direct result of renewed negotia-
producers revenues from advertising and subscription fees tions between the two sides, which culminated Friday with a
had recently jumped by about 40%.93 marathon session including top WGA officials and the heads
The situation grew tenser. After the first few meetings, one of the Walt Disney Co. and News Corp. 98
producers representative said, We can see after the dogfight
whose position will win out. The open question there, of
course, is whether each of us takes several lumps at the table, Questions
reaches an agreement, then licks their wounds later none the 1. The producers said the WGA was not bargaining in
worse for wear or whether we inflict more lasting damage good faith. What did they mean by that, and do you
through work stoppages that benefit no one before we come think the evidence is sufficient to support the claim?
to an agreement. 94 Even after meeting six times, it seemed 2. The WGA did eventually strike. What tactics could the
that, the parties only apparent area of agreement is that no producers have used to fight back once the strike began?
real bargaining has yet to occur. 95 What tactics do you think the WGA used?
Soon, the Writers Guild asked its members for strike 3. This was a conflict between professional and creative
authorization, and the producers were claiming that the people (the WGA) and TV and movie producers.
guild was just trying to delay negotiations until the current Do you think the conflict was therefore different
contract expired (at the end of October). As the president of in any way than are the conflicts between, say, the
the producers group said, We have had six across-the-table Autoworkers or Teamsters unions against auto and
sessions and there was only silence and stonewalling from trucking companies? Why?
the WGA leadership. . . . We have attempted to engage on 4. What role (with examples) did negotiating skills seem
major issues, but no dialogue has been forthcoming from to play in the WGA producers negotiations?
CONTINUING CASE
CARTER CLEANING COMPANY
The Grievance said George. I m really upset, but around here the store
On visiting one of Carter Cleaning Company s stores, manager s word seems to be law, and it sometimes seems
Jennifer was surprised to be taken aside by a long-term like the only way anyone can file a grievance is by meeting
Carter employee, who met her as she was parking her car. you or your father like this in the parking lot. Jennifer was
Murray (the store manager) told me I was suspended for very disturbed by this revelation and promised the
2 days without pay because I came in late last Thursday, employee she would look into it and discuss the situation
with her father. In the car heading back to headquarters, she 2. Based on what you know about the Carter Cleaning
began mulling over what Carter Cleaning Company s alter- Company, outline the steps in what you think would be
natives might be. the ideal grievance process for this company.
3. In addition to the grievance process, can you think of
Questions anything else that Carter Cleaning Company might do to
1. Do you think it is important for Carter Cleaning Company make sure grievances and gripes like this one are expressed
to have a formal grievance process? Why or why not? and are heard by top management?
TRANSLATING STRATEGY INTO HR POLICIES & PRACTICES CASE

THE HOTEL PARIS CASE
The Hotel Paris s New Labor Relations Practices were already unionized, and unions in this area were quite
The Hotel Paris s competitive strategy is To use superior guest active. For example, as they were surfing the Internet to better
service to differentiate the Hotel Paris properties, and to thereby gauge the situation, Lisa and the CFO came across an interest-
increase the length of stay and return rate of guests, and thus ing Web site from the Boston Hotel Employees and Restaurant
boost revenues and profitability. HR manager Lisa Cruz must Employees Union, Local 26 (http://hotelworkersrising.org/
now formulate functional policies and activities that support Campaign/). It describes their success in negotiating contracts
this competitive strategy by eliciting the required employee and their accomplishments at several hotels, including ones
behaviors and competencies. managed by the Westin and Sheraton chains. The CFO and
Lisa Cruz s parents were both union members, and she Lisa agreed that it was important that she and her team
had no strong philosophical objections to unions. However, as develop and institute a new set of policies and practices that
the head of human resources for the Hotel Paris, she did feel would enable the Hotel Paris to reduce the likelihood of
very strongly that her employer should do everything legally further unionization and deal more effectively with their
possible to remain union-free. She knew that this is what the current unions. They set about that task with the aid of a
hotel chain s owners and top executives wanted. Furthermore, labor management attorney.
the evidence seemed to support their position. At least one
study that she d seen concluded that firms with 30% or more Questions
of their eligible workers in unions were in the bottom 10% 1. How should the details of the Hotel Paris s strategy
in terms of performance, while those with 8% to 9% of eligible influence the new union-related HR practices (perhaps
workers in unions scored in the top 10%.99 The problem was such as grievance procedures) it establishes?
that the Hotel Paris really had no specific policies and proce- 2. List and briefly describe what you believe are the three
dures in place to help its managers and supervisors deal with most important steps Hotel Paris management can take
union activities. With all the laws regarding what employers to reduce the likelihood unions will organize more of its
and their managers could and could not do to respond to a employees.
union s efforts, Lisa knew her company was a problem waiting 3. Write a detailed 2-page outline for a What You Need to
to happen. She turned her attention to deciding what steps she Know When the Union Calls manual. Lisa will distribute
and her team should take with regard to labor relations and this manual to her company s supervisors and managers,
collective bargaining in the United States. telling them what they need to know about looking out
Lisa and the CFO knew that unionization was a reality for for possible unionizing activity, and how to handle actual
the Hotel Paris. About 5% of the hotel chains U.S. employees organizing process related supervisory tasks.
KEY TERMS
closed shop, 497 National Labor Relations decertification, 509
union shop, 497 Board (NLRB), 499 collective bargaining, 509
agency shop, 497 Taft-Hartley Act (1947), 501 good faith bargaining, 510
preferential shop, 498 national emergency strikes, 502 voluntary (or permissible)
right to work, 498 Landrum-Griffin Act (1959), 502 bargaining items, 511
Norris-LaGuardia Act (1932), 499 union salting, 503 illegal bargaining items, 511
National Labor Relations authorization cards, 504 mandatory bargaining items, 511
(or Wagner) Act, 499 bargaining unit, 505 impasse, 512
mediation, 512 economic strike, 513 corporate campaign, 516

fact finder, 513 unfair labor practice boycott, 516
arbitration, 513 strike, 513 inside games, 516
interest arbitration, 513 wildcat strike, 513 lockout, 516
rights arbitration, 513 sympathy strike, 513 injunction, 516
strike, 513 picketing, 514 grievance procedure, 517
ENDNOTES
1. For example, see http://articles.money 18. Arthur Sloane and Fred Witney, Labor org/steps-form-union, accessed June 29,
central.msn.com/Investing/Extra/Costco Relations (Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice 2011.
TheAntiWalMart.aspx?page=1, accessed Hall, 2007), pp. 335 336. 30. Kris Maher, Unions New Foe: Consul-
June 29, 2011. 19. Benjamin Taylor and Fred Witney, Labor tants, The Wall Street Journal, August 15,
2. Christine Frey, Costco s Love of Labor: Relations Law (Upper Saddle River, NJ: 2005, p. B1.
Employees Well-Being Key to Its Suc- Prentice Hall, 1992), pp. 170 171; www. 31. Some Say Salting Leaves Bitter Taste for
cess, www.seattlepi.com/default/article/ dol.gov/whd/state/righttowork.htm, Employers, BNA Bulletin to Management,
Costco-s-love-of-labor-Employees-well- accessed June 5, 2010. March 4, 2004, p. 79; and www.nlrb.gov/
being-key-1140722.php, accessed June 29, 20. www.dol.gov/whd/state/righttowork. global/search/index.aspx?mode=s&qt=sal
2011; Steven Greenhouse and Reed Abelson, htm, accessed June 5, 2010. (Indiana ting&col=nlrb&gb=y, accessed January 14,
Wal-Mart Cuts Some Health Care Bene- applicable only to school employees.) 2008. For a management lawyer s pers-
fits, The New York Times, (October 21, 21. Paul Monies, Unions Hit Hard by Job pective, see www.fklaborlaw.com/union_
2011), pp. B1,5 Losses, Right to Work, The Daily salt-objectives.html, accessed May 25,
3. www.bls.gov/news.release/union2.nr0. Oklahoman (via Knight Ridder/Tribune 2007.
htm, accessed June 5, 2011. Business News), February 1, 2005. 32. Spurned Union Salts Entitled to Back
4. Ibid.; Union Membership Rises, Compen- 22. www.seiu.org/our-union/, accessed June 1, Pay, D.C. Court Says, Affirming Labor
sation & Benefits Review, May/June 2008, 2011. Board, BNA Bulletin to Management,
p. 9. 23. Steven Greenhouse, 4th Union Quits June 21, 2001, p. 193.
5. Ibid. AFL-CIO in a Dispute over Organizing, 33. D. Diane Hatch and James Hall, Salting
6. Stephen Greenhouse, Most US Union The New York Times, September 15, 2005, Cases Clarified by NLRB, Workforce,
Members Are Working for the Govern- p. A14. August 2000, p. 92. See also www.fklaborlaw.
ment, New Data Shows, The New York 24. Some trace early U.S. labor relations com/union_salt-objectives.html, accessed
Times, January 23, 2010, pages B1 B5. legislation back to a fire at the Triangle May 25, 2007.
7. Michael Ash and Jean Seago, The Effect of Shirtwaist factory in 1911. Following that 34. Edwin Arnold et al., Determinants of
Registered Nurses Unions on Heart Attack tragedy, in which 146 people died, New Certification Election Outcomes in the
Mortality, Industrial and Labor Relations York State passed a number of legal Service Sector, Labor Studies Journal 25,
Review 57, no. 3 (April 2004), pp. 422 442. reforms covering not only safety but also no. 3 (Fall 2000), p. 51.
8. http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/ issues such as low wages, child labor, and 35. Number of Elections, Union Wins
Investing/Extra/CostcoTheAntiWalMart. long hours. New York City and New York Increased in 2002, BNA Bulletin to
aspx?page=1, accessed September 15, State soon adopted 36 new laws, and Management, June 19, 2003, p. 197.
2011. many view these laws as the basis for and 36. This section is based on Matthew Good-
9. Ibid. precursor to the U.S. labor legislation fellow, How to Lose an NLRB Election,
10. Ibid. efforts that began in earnest in the 1930s. Personnel Administrator 23 (September
11. Ibid. The Birth of the New Deal, The Economist, 1976), pp. 40 44. See also Matthew Good-
12. www.bls.gov/news.release/union2.nr0. March 19, 2011, p. 39. fellow, Avoid Unionizing: Chemical
htm, accessed June 1, 2011. 25. The following material is based on Arthur Company Union Election Results for
13. Dale Belman and Paula Voos, Changes in Sloane and Fred Witney, Labor Relations 1993, Chemical Marketing Reporter 246
Union Wage Effects by Industry: A Fresh (Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, (July 18, 1994), p. SR14; Gillian Flynn,
Look at the Evidence, Industrial Relations 2001), pp. 46 124. When the Unions Come Calling,
43, no. 3 (July 2004), pp. 491 519. 26. www.bls.gov/news.release/union2.nr0. Workforce, November 2000, pp. 82 87.
14. Donna Buttigieg et al., An Event History htm, accessed June 1, 2011. 37. Ibid.
Analysis of Union Joining and Leaving, 27. Michael Carrell and Christina Heavrin, 38. Ibid.
Journal of Applied Psychology 92, no. 3 Labor Relations and Collective Bargaining 39. Harry Katz, The Decentralization of
(2007), pp. 829 839. (Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, Collective Bargaining: A Literature
15. Kris Maher, The New Union Worker, 2004), p. 180. Review and Comparative Analysis,
The Wall Street Journal, September 27, 28. Sloane and Witney, Labor Relations, p. 121. Industrial and Labor Relations Review 47,
2005, pp. B1, B11. 29. For examples from the unions point of no. 1 (October 1993), p. 11; and F. Traxler,
16. Robert Grossman, Unions Follow Suit, view, see www.twu.org/international/ Bargaining (De)centralization, Macro-
HR Magazine, May 2005, p. 49. steps, accessed June 29, 2011; www.opeiu. economic Performance and Control over
17. Warner Pflug, The UAW in Pictures org/NeedAUnion/StepstoCreatinga the Employment Relationship, British
(Detroit: Wayne State University Press, UnionWorkplace/tabid/71/Default.aspx, Journal of Industrial Relations, 41, no. 1
1971), pp. 11 12. accessed June 29, 2011; and http://ufcwone. (March 2003), pp. 1 27.
40. The following are adapted and/or quoted 49. www.nlrb.gov/nlrb/shared_files/brochures/ 61. www.autoblog.com/2010/12/06/report-
from Kate Bronfenbrenner, The Role of basicguide.pdf, accessed January 14, 2008. uaw-to-hold-sy mpathy-strike-
Union Strategies in NLRB Certification 50. For preceding examples of bad-faith for-hyundai-workers-in-korea/, accessed
Elections, Industrial and Labor Relations bargaining see Carrell and Heavrin, June 1, 2011.
Review 50 (January 1997), pp. 195 212; Labor Relations and Collective Bargaining, 62. This is based on Arthur Sloane and Fred
see also, J. Fiorito, et. al., Understanding pp. 176 177; see also www.bloomberg. Whitney, Labor Relations (Upper Saddle
Organising Activity Among US National com/news/2011-02-14/nfl-files-unfair- River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2010), p. 213
Unions, Industrial Relations Journal, 41, labor-practice-charge-against-union. 63. Ibid.
no. 1 (January 2010), pp. 74 92. html, accessed June 1, 2011. 64. Striker Replacements, BNA Bulletin to
41. Frederick Sullivan, Limiting Union 51. John Fossum, Labor Relations (Dallas: Management, February 6, 2003, p. S7.
Organizing Activity Through Supervi- BPI, 1982), pp. 246 250; Arthur Sloane 65. http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/
sors, Personnel 55 (July/August 1978), and Fred Witney, Labor Relations, op cit., 2011/03/21/league-doesnt-rule-out-
pp. 55 65. See also Edward Young and pp. 197 205. replacement-players-during-lockout/,
William Levy, Responding to a Union- 52. Boulwareism is the name given to a strat- accessed June 29, 2011.
Organizing Campaign: Do You and Your egy, now generally held in disfavor, 66. Stephen Cabot and Gerald Cuerton, Labor
Supervisors Know the Legal Boundaries by which the company, based on an Disputes and Strikes: Be Prepared,
in a Union Campaign? Franchising exhaustive study of what it believed its Personnel Journal 60 (February 1981),
World 39, no. 3 (March 2007), pp. 45 49. employees wanted, made but one offer at pp. 121 126. See also Brenda Sunoo, Man-
42. Ibid., pp. 167 168. the bargaining table and then refused to aging Strikes, Minimizing Loss, Personnel
43. Jonathan Segal, Unshackle Your Super- bargain any further unless convinced by Journal 74, no. 1 (January 1995), pp. 50ff.
visors to Stay Union Free, HR Magazine, the union on the basis of new facts that 67. Some labor lawyers report an increase in
June 1998, pp. 62 65. See also www.nlrb. its original position was wrong. The the use by unions of corporate campaigns.
gov/workplace_rights/nlra_violations.as NLRB subsequently found that the Janet Walthall, Unions Increasingly
px, accessed January 14, 2008. practice of offering the same settlement Using Corporate Campaigns, BNA Bul-
44. Whether employers must give union to all units, insisting that certain parts of letin to Management, February 16, 2010,
representatives permission to organize on the package could not differ among p. 55.
employer-owned property at shopping agreements, and communicating to the 68. For a discussion, see Herbert Northrup,
malls is a matter of legal debate. The U.S. employees about how negotiations were Union Corporate Campaigns and Inside
Supreme Court ruled in Lechmere, Inc. going amounted to an illegal pattern. Games as a Strike Form, Employee Rela-
v. National Labor Relations Board that Fossum, Labor Relations, p. 267. tions Law Journal 19, no. 4 (Spring 1994),
employers may bar nonemployees from 53. Kathryn Tyler, Good-Faith Bargaining, pp. 507 549.
their property if the nonemployees have HR Magazine, January 2005, p. 52. 69. Matthew Dolan, UAW Targets Foreign
reasonable alternative means of commu- 54. Reed Richardson, Collective Bargaining Car Plants in US, The Wall Street Journal,
nicating their message to the intended by Objectives (Upper Saddle River, NJ: December 23, 2010, p. B3.
audience. However, if the employer lets Prentice Hall, 1977), p. 150. Both sides 70. Northrup, Union Corporate Campaigns
other organizations like the Salvation will try to manipulate the media to and Inside Games, p. 513.
Army set up at their workplaces, the NLRB jockey for better positions; for example 71. Ibid., p. 518.
may view discriminating against the see J. McCafferty, Labor-Management 72. www.starbucksunion.org, accessed
union organizers as an unfair labor prac- Dispute Resolution & the Media, Dispute January 14, 2008.
tice. See, for example, Union Access to Resolution Journal, 56, no. 3 (August/ 73. The Owners Take a Punt, The Econo-
Employer s Customers Restricted, BNA October 2001), pp. 40 47. mist, March 12, 2011, p. 40.
Bulletin to Management, February 15, 55. Many negotiators pride themselves on 74. Clifford Koen Jr., Sondra Hartman, and
1996, p. 49; Workplace Access for Unions being open, honest, and straightforward Dinah Payne, The NLRB Wields a
Hinges on Legal Issues, BNA Bulletin in their negotiations, but at least one study Rejuvenated Weapon, Personnel Journal,
to Management, April 11, 1996, p. 113. suggests that this can backfire. Specifically, December 1996, pp. 85 87; and D. Silver-
45. Union Access to Employer s Customers people who are inclined to be straightfor- man, The NLRA at 70: A New Approach
Restricted, pp. 4 65. The appropriateness ward may also develop a greater concern to Processing 10(j)s [NLRA at Seventy
of these sample rules may be affected for their counterpart s interest, which in conference in New York City, 2005],
by factors unique to an employer s turn can lead to greater concession Labor Law Journal, 56, no. 3 (Fall 2005),
operation, and they should therefore be making during the negotiation. D. Scott pp. 203-206.
reviewed by the employer s attorney DeRue et al., When Is Straightforward- 75. Sloane and Witney, Labor Relations, 10th
before implementation. ness a Liability in Negotiations? The Role ed., pp. 221 227.
46. Clyde Scott and Edwin Arnold, Deau- of Integrative Potential and Structural 76. Carrell and Heavrin, Labor Relations and
thorization and Decertification Elections: Power, Journal of Applied Psychology 94, Collective Bargaining, pp. 417 418.
An Analysis and Comparison of Results, no. 4 (2009), pp. 1032 1047. 77. Richardson, Collective Bargaining by
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pp. 6 20;www.nlrb.gov/nlrb/shared_ impasses and union management 78. M. Gene Newport, Supervisory Manage-
files/brochures/rpt_september 2002.pdf, conflict can leave union members ment (St. Paul, MN: West Group, 1976),
accessed January 14, 2008. demoralized. See, for example, Jessica p. 273; see also Walter Baer, Grievance
47. Carrell and Heavrin, Labor Relations and Marquez, Taking Flight, Workforce, Handling: 101 Guides for Supervisors,
Collective Bargaining, pp. 120 121. June 9, 2008, pp. 1, 18. (New York: American Management Associ-
48. See, for example, David Meyer and Trevor 57. Fossum, Labor Relations, p. 312. ation, 1970); and Mark Lurie, The Eight
Bain, Union Decertification Election Out- 58. Carrell and Heavrin, Labor Relations and Essential Steps in Grievance Processing,
comes: Bargaining Unit Characteristics and Collective Bargaining, p. 501. Dispute Resolution Journal, 54 no. 4
Union Resources, Journal of Labor Research 59. http://fmcs.gov/assets/files/annual%20 (November 1999), pp. 61 65.
15, no. 2 (Spring 1994), pp. 117 136; Arthur reports/FY2006_Annual_Report.pdf, 79. Jeffrey McCracken, Desperate to Cut
Sloane and Fred Witney, Labor Relations, accessed January 14, 2008. Costs, Ford Gets Union s Help, The Wall
(Upper Saddle River, NJ: 2007), p. 96. 60. Fossum, Labor Relations, p. 317. Street Journal, March 2, 2007, pp. A1, A9.
80. Kris Maher, The New Union Worker, 86. Mei Fong and Kris Maher, US Labor 92. Chris Pursell, Rhetoric Flying in WGA
The Wall Street Journal, September 27, Chief Moves into China, The Wall Street Talks, TelevisionWeek, July 23, 2007,
2005, pp. B1, B11. Journal (Asia), June 22 24, 2007, p. 1. pp. 3, 35; Peter Sanders, In Hollywood, a
81. The Limits of Solidarity, The Econo- 87. Steven Greenhouse, Steelworkers Merge Tale of Two Union Leaderships, The Wall
mist, September 23, 2006, p. 34. with British Union, The New York Times, Street Journal, January 7, 2008, p. B2.
82. Kris Maher, Specter Won t Support July 3, 2008, p. C4. 93. Pursell, Rhetoric Flying in WGA
Union-Backed Bill, The Wall Street Jour- 88. Matthew Dolan and Neil Boudette, Talks.
nal, March 20, 2009, p. A3. UAW to Send Activists Abroad, The 94. Ibid.
83. Unions Using Class Actions to Pressure Wall Street Journal, March 23, 2011, p. B2. 95. James Hibberd, Guild Talks Break with
Nonunion Companies, BNA Bulletin to 89. Employer s System of Worker Empower- No Progress, TVWeek 26, no. 38 (October
Management, August 22, 2006, p. 271. ment Does Not Fall Prey to Labor Act, 8, 2007), pp. 1, 30.
Some believe that today, long-term NLRB Rules, BNA Bulletin to Manage- 96. Ibid.
observers see more bark than bite ment, August 2, 2001, p. 241. 97. DGA Deal Sets the Stage for Writers,
in organized labor s efforts to revitalize. 90. Carol Gill, Union Impact on the Effective TelevisionWeek, January 21, 2008,
For example, Robert Grossman, We Adoption of High Performance Work pp. 3, 33.
Organized Labor and Code, HR Maga- Practices, Human Resource Management 98. WGA, Studios Reach Tentative Agree-
zine, January 2008, pp. 37 40. Review 19 (2009), pp. 39 50. ment, UPI NewsTrack, February 3,
84. Andy Meisler, Who Will Fold First? 91. Raymond Hilgert and Cyril Ling, Cases 2008.
Workforce Management, January 2004, and Experiential Exercises in Manage- 99. Brian Becker et al., The HR Scorecard
pp. 28 38. ment (Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice (Boston: Harvard Business School Press,
85. Ibid, p. 6. Hall, 1996), pp. 201 203. 2001), p. 16.

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15

Labor Relations and

2. Discuss the main features of at least three major pieces

WHERE ARE WE NOW . . .

Access a host of interactive learning aids at

1 Give a brief history of the

THE STRATEGIC CONTEXT

Why Do Workers Organize?

THE BOTTOM LINE The bottom line is that the urge

there s always the pressure to squeeze a little. 15 One labor

What Do Unions Want?

closed shop union shop agency shop

The AFL-CIO and the SEIU

UNIONS AND THE LAW

2 Discuss the main features

UNFAIR EMPLOYER LABOR PRACTICES The Wagner Act deemed statutory

FIGURE 15-1 NLRB Form 501:

c. ADDRESS OF ESTABLISHMENT (street and number, d. EMPLOYER REPRESEN- e. PHONE NO.

f. TYPE OF ESTABLISHMENT (factory, mine, wholesaler, g. IDENTIFY PRINCIPAL PRODUCT OR SERVICE

5. FULL NAME OF NATIONAL OR INTERNATIONAL LABOR ORGANIZATION OF WHICH IT IS AN AFFILIATE OR

Period of Modified Encouragement Coupled with

Unfair Union Labor Practices

RIGHTS OF EMPLOYEES The Taft-Hartley Act protected the rights of employees

Taft-Hartley Act (1947)

RIGHTS OF EMPLOYERS The Taft-Hartley Act also explicitly gave employers

PERIOD OF DETAILED REGULATION OF INTERNAL UNION AFFAIRS:

3 Present examples of what

Step 1. Initial Contact

LABOR RELATIONS CONSULTANTS Both management and unions typically

national emergency strikes Landrum-Griffin Act (1959) union salting

Step 2. Obtaining Authorization Cards

Step 3. Hold a Hearing

Step 4. The Campaign

authorization cards bargaining unit

FIGURE 15-3 NLRB Form 852:

NOTICE OF REPRESENTATION HEARING

Signed at on the day of , 20

Regional Director, Region

Step 5. The Election

FIGURE 15-4 Sample

Do you wish to be represented for purposes of collective bargaining by

MARK AN S IN THE SQUARE OF YOUR CHOICE

DO NOT SIGN THIS BALLOT. Fold and drop in ballot box.

4 Describe five ways to lose an

REASON 1. ASLEEP AT THE SWITCH In one study, in 68% of the companies

REASON 2. APPOINTING A COMMITTEE Of the losing companies, 36% formed

REASON 3. CONCENTRATING ON MONEY AND BENEFITS In 54% of

REASON 4. DELEGATING TOO MUCH TO DIVISIONS For companies

Evidence-Based HR: What to Expect the Union

The Supervisor s Role

Rules Regarding Literature and Solicitation

Decertification Elections: Ousting the Union

THE COLLECTIVE BARGAINING PROCESS

decertification collective bargaining

terms and conditions of employment, or the negotiation of an agreement, or any

5 Illustrate with examples

The Negotiating Team

good faith bargaining illegal bargaining items mandatory bargaining items

TABLE 15-1 Bargaining Items