fundamentals of

Human Resource Management 4th

edition

by R.A. Noe, J.R. Hollenbeck, B. Gerhart, and P.M. Wright

CHAPTER 14

Collective Bargaining and Labor

Relations
McGraw-Hill/Irwin

Copyright 2011 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

14-1

What Do I Need to Know?

1. Define unions and labor relations and their
role in organizations.
2. Identify the labor relations goals of
management, labor unions, and society.
3. Summarize laws and regulations that affect
labor relations.
4. Describe the union organizing process.

14-2

What Do I Need to Know? (continued)

5. Explain how management and unions
negotiate contracts.
6. Summarize the practice of contract
administration.
7. Describe more cooperative approaches to
labor-management relations.

14-3

Role of Unions
In the U.S., most workers act as individuals to
select jobs that are acceptable to them and to
negotiate pay, benefits, flexible hours, and
other work conditions.
At times, workers have believed their needs
and interests do not receive enough
consideration from management.
One response by workers is to act collectively
by forming and joining labor unions.

14-4

Unions and Labor Relations

Unions organizations
formed for the purpose
of representing their
members interests in
dealing with employers.

Labor relations field

that emphasizes skills
managers and union
leaders can use to
minimize costly forms of
conflict (such as strikes)
and seek win-win
solutions to
disagreements.

14-5

Labor relations involves three levels of

decisions:
1. Labor relations strategy

2. Negotiating contracts

3. Administering contracts
14-6

National and International Unions

Most Union members belong to a national or
international union. These unions may be:
Craft unions: labor unions whose members all
have a particular skill or occupation.
Industrial unions: labor unions whose members
are linked by their work in a particular industry.

Most national unions are affiliated with the

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

14-7

Figure 14.1: 10 Largest Unions in the

United States

14-8

Figure 14.2: Union Membership Density among

U.S. Wage and Salary Workers, 1973-2009

14-9

The decline in union membership has

been attributed to:
Change in the structure of the
economy
Management efforts to control
costs

Human resource practices

Government regulation
14-10

Figure 14.3: Union Membership Rates and

Coverage in Selected Countries

14-11

Many Union Workers Hold

Government Jobs

14-12

Impact of Unions on Company

Performance
Harley-Davidson and the
International Association of
Machinists and Aerospace
Workers have cooperated to
produce good results.
In general, though,
companies wishing to
become more competitive
need to continually monitor
their labor relations
strategies.

14-13

Goals of Management
Management goals are to increase the
organizations profits. Managers tend to prefer
options that lower costs and raise output.
When an employer has recognized a union,
managements goals continue to emphasize
restraining costs and improving output.
Managers prefer to keep their organizations
operations flexible.

14-14

Goals of Management (continued)

In their labor relations, managers prefer to:
Limit increases in wages and benefits, and
Retain as much control as they can over work
rules and schedules.

14-15

Goals of Labor Unions

Labor unions have the goals of obtaining pay
and working conditions that satisfy their
members and of giving members a voice in
decisions that affect them.
They obtain these goals by gaining power in
numbers.
Unions want to influence the way pay and
promotions are determined.
14-16

Goals of Labor Unions (continued)

The survival and security of a union depend
on its ability to ensure a regular flow of new
members and member dues to support the
services it provides.
Unions place high priority on negotiating two
types of contract provisions that are critical to
a unions security and viability:
Checkoff provisions
Union membership or contribution provisions
14-17

Goals of Labor Unions (continued)

Checkoff Provision
Contract provision
under which the
employer, on behalf of
the union,
automatically deducts
union dues from the
employees paychecks.

Membership Security
Closed shop
Union shop
Agency shop
Maintenance of
membership

14-18

Goals of Society
The activities of unions and management take
place within the context of society.
Societys values drive the laws and regulations
that affect labor unions.
Societys goal for unions is to ensure that
workers have a voice in how they are treated
by their employers.

14-19

Laws Affecting Labor Relations

National Labor Relations Act
(NLRA) of 1935

Taft-Hartley Act of 1947

Landrum-Griffin Act of 1959

14-20

Laws Affecting Labor Relations (continued)

Right-to-work laws:
state laws that make
union shops,
maintenance of
membership, and
agency shops illegal.

National Labor
Relations Board
(NLRB): Federal
government agency
that enforces the NLRA
by conducting and
certifying
representation
elections and
investigating unfair
labor practices.
14-21

Figure 14.4:
States with Right-to-Work Laws

14-22

Test Your Knowledge

True (A) or False (B)
1. The NLRA established unfair labor practices on the part
of the union.
2. The NLRB determines which states are Right-to-Work
3. In Right-to-Work states, employees do not have to
become members of the union
4. In states without Right-to-Work laws unions can refuse
to hire non-union members.
5. Protection from union misconduct was established by
the Landrum-Griffin Act.

14-23

The Process of Organizing

Signing authorization cards
Petition for election
Election campaign
Election and certification
14-24

Signing Authorization Cards

A document indicating that an employee
wants to be represented by a labor
organization in collective bargaining
Is there sufficient interest on the part of
employees to justify the unit
Evidence of interest when at least 30 percent
of the employees in a work group sign an
authorization card
Usually need 50% to proceed
14-25

Figure 14.5:
Example of an Authorization Card

14-26

Petition for Election

After authorization cards have been signed, a
petition for election is made to the regional
NLRB office
NLRB will ordinarily direct that an election be
held within 30 days

14-27

Election and Certification

NLRB monitors the secret-ballot election on
the set date
Board will issue a certification of the results to
the participants
Majority of the employees vote for union.
NLRB will certify.
Process does not require either party to make
concessions; it only compels them to bargain
in good faith
14-28

Table 14.1: What Supervisors Should and

Should Not Do to Discourage Unions

14-29

Union Strategies
Organizers call or visit employees at home to
talk about issues like pay and job security.
Offer workers associate union membership.
Conduct corporate campaigns.
Negotiate employer neutrality and card-check
provisions into a contract.

14-30

Union Decertification
Taft-Hartley Act made it possible for
employees to decertify a union
Essentially the reverse of the process that
employees must follow to be recognized as an
official bargaining unit
Employees have used decertification petitions
with increasing frequency and success

14-31

Decertification Procedure
At least 30 percent must petition for election
Petition submitted 60-90 days prior to
expiration of current contract
Schedule decertification election
If majority votes against union, employees will
be union free

14-32

Collective Bargaining
In collective bargaining a union negotiates on
behalf of its members with management
representatives to arrive at a contract defining:
Recognition
Management Rights
Union Security
Compensation and Benefits
Grievance Procedure
Employee Security

14-33

Table 14.2: Typical Provisions in Collective

Bargaining Contracts

14-34

Test Your Knowledge: Which of the Following

is an Unfair Labor Practice (ULP)?
1. Enforcing disciplinary policies only to those who have
expressed interest in a union
2. Showing employees articles about negative aspects of unions
that occurred elsewhere
3. Email employees asking them to respond with how they plan
to vote in the union election
4. Tell employees the disadvantages of having a union
5. Enforcing disciplinary policies when deserved to a pro-union
employee
6. Promise employees an additional week of vacation if they
vote against the union
14-35

Bargaining Over New Contracts

Distributive Bargaining
Integrative Bargaining
Attitudinal Bargaining
Intraorganizational Bargaining
14-36

When Bargaining Breaks Down

Strikes
Strike: a collective
decision by union
members not to work
until certain demands
or conditions are met.

Alternatives to Strikes
Mediation
Fact Finder
Arbitration

14-37

Figure 14.6:
Strikes Involving 1,000 or More Workers

14-38

Alternatives to Strikes
Mediation

Fact Finder

Arbitration

Conflict resolution
procedure in
which a mediator
hears the views of
both sides and
facilitates the
negotiation
process but has
no formal
authority to
dictate a
resolution.

Third party to
collective
bargaining who
reports the
reasons for a
dispute, the views
and arguments of
both sides, and
possibly a
recommended
settlement, which
the parties may
decline.

Conflict resolution
procedure in
which an
arbitrator or
arbitration board
determines a
binding
settlement.

14-39

Contract Administration
Contract Administration
Includes carrying out
the terms of the
agreement and
resolving conflicts over
interpretation or
violation of the
agreement.

Grievance Procedure
The process for
resolving unionmanagement conflicts
over interpretation or
violation of a collective
bargaining agreement.

14-40

Figure 14.7: Steps

in an EmployeeInitiated Grievance
Procedure

14-41

Labor-Management Cooperation
Employee involvement in decision
making
Self-managing employee teams
Labor-management problem-solving
teams
Broadly defined jobs
Sharing of financial gains and business
information with employees
14-42

Test Your Knowledge

True (A) or False (B)
1. Mediation requires each party to abide by the
mediators decision.
2. Clearly written contracts require less contract
administration time due to fewer disagreements over
interpretation.
3. Integrative bargaining involves a win-lose approach
because the issues are considered a fixed pie.
4. A union steward represents the issues concerning
union employees and is elected by them.

14-43

Summary
A union is an organization formed for the purpose of
representing its members in resolving conflicts with
employers.
Labor relations is the management specialty
emphasizing skills that managers and union leaders
can use to minimize costly forms of conflict and to
seek win-win solutions to disagreements.
Management goals are to increase the organizations
profits. Managers generally expect that unions will
make these goals harder to achieve.

14-44

Summary (continued)
Labor unions have the goal of obtaining pay and
working conditions that satisfy their members. They
obtain these results by gaining power in numbers.
Societys values have included the hope that the
existence of unions will replace conflict or violence
between workers and employers with fruitful
negotiation.
In contrast to the traditional view that labor and
management are adversaries, some organizations
and unions work more cooperatively.

14-45