Definitions

Union
Organizations formed for the purpose of representing their members interests in dealing with employers.

Union Shop
Employees are required to join the union within certain amount of time after beginning of employment

Closed shop (illegal)

Requires employee to be a union member before being hired

Agency shop
Payment of dues to gain representation, but not union member

Collective bargaining
Negotiation between union & management to arrive at contract defining conditions of employment for term of contract and process to administer the contract

Grievance procedure
Process for resolving conflicts over interpretation or violation of contract

The PAST
US Constitution Capitalistic - What government cant do! Workers struggled in 18th and 19th century Move from agricultural to industrial Early unions were unregulated, but late 1800s government-neutral view began to shift With emergence of BIG BUSINESS came different suspicions.
Is workplace activity = criminal conspiracy = interference with owners business operation = illegal!? Factories = labor

1914 Clayton Act first piece of Federal Law exempting most union activities from antitrust liability 1918 War Labor Board WWI
To prevent workplace disputes that may interfere with war effort No enforcement power but recognized labors right to organize

power struggle over restraint of trade and monopolies = Attitudes toward employers started to shift

Government Regulation of Labor Relations

1926 The Railway Labor Act (RLA) (Management-friendly)
Purpose of the act is to avoid service interruptions resulting from disputes between railroads and their operating unions. National Mediation Board National Railway Adjustment Board Shift focus toward shortcomings of the economic system Shift focus toward employee rights
Restricts the ability of employers to obtain an injunction against unions for their lawful activities. Federal policy employees are free to form unions. Yellow Dog Contracts illegal (condition of employment to NOT support or join the union).
(labor-friendly)

1929 GREAT DEPRESSION 25% unemployed 1932 The Norris-LaGuardia Act

Employer Tactics Opposing Unionization

Stressing favorable employer-employee relationship experienced without a union. Emphasize current advantages in wages, benefits, or working conditions the employees may enjoy Emphasize unfavorable aspects of unionism: strikes, union dues, abuses of legal rights Use statistics to show that unions commit large numbers of unfair labor practices.

Initiate legal action when union members and leaders engage in unfair labor practices

Types of Unions
Craft unions
Unions that represent skilled craft workers (electricians) Craft unions created the AFL American Federation of Labor 1886 (great strides in benefiting workers).
Unions that represent all workersskilled, semiskilled, unskilledemployed along industry lines (education workers industrial union) 1938 Congress of Industrial Organization (CIO) focused on unionizing mass production Labor organizations that represent various groups of professional and white-collar employees in labor-management relations.

Industrial unions

AFL-CIO Merged in 1955 and raids on one another stopped Employee associations

The Bargaining Process

Collective Bargaining Process
The process of negotiating a labor agreement, including the use of economic pressures by both parties.
Mandatory subjects terms and conditions of employment Permissive subjects optional employers donations to charity Illegal and prohibited employer can not insist that the union bargain away its status to gain benefit

Bargaining Zone
Area within which the union and the employer are willing to concede when bargaining.

Interest-based Bargaining
Problem-solving bargaining based on a win-win philosophy and the development of a positive long-term relationship.