Bargaining Unit

Group of workers within a plant, firm,

occupation or industry that, on the
basis of commonality of interest or
production process; is determined by
the NLRB to be the appropriate unit for
collective bargaining purposes

Establishing a bargaining unit

Doctrine of Exclusive Representation
Union is the exclusive representative of all
employees in the bargaining unit

Firm must deal with employees as a groupcannot

divide and conquer; cannot enter separate agreements
with subsets of workers
Individual employees can bypass the union in bringing
grievances before the employer, but resolution cannot
be inconsistent with the contract
Exclusivity lasts minimum of one year, maximum of
three
Union membership outside of a bargaining unit has
very little power

Establishing a bargaining unit

Doctrine of Exclusive Representation
Union must provide services to all
employees in the bargaining unit

Establishing a bargaining unit

Importance of the definition of a bargaining
unit
Broader representations means more power
for union; better ability to disrupt production
More diverse means more difficult/expensive
to provide services
Gerrymandering: Firm wants to add groups
that are less likely to vote for the union; union
wants the opposite.
Standardized bargaining unit leads to pattern
bargainingcan set wage standards for the
industry, even for the nonunion sector

NLRB criteria for selecting a bargaining

unit:
(Based on 200,000 existing bargaining

units)
Community of interest doctrine: similarity

of job function, earnings, benefits, hours, required

skills, and supervision; production activities in
close proximity, considerable interaction (KEY)

History of bargaining: If unit had been

organized before, was the unit effective? (LESS

COMMON)

NLRB criteria for selecting a bargaining

unit:
(Based on 200,000 existing bargaining

units)
Employee interests: If two or more

configurations are equally plausible, NLRB may use

the secret ballot to assess employee preferences.
Globe Machinery and Stamping, Co. (1937)

Company organizational structure: NLRB has

decided that bargaining units must be defined on a

case-by-case basis. Workers who otherwise may
not be combined, but who all report to the same
supervisor or work in the same production process
may be combined. (Bendix, 1937)
Bendix (1977): NLRB denied petition for craft unions to
from a separate group because of past plant-wide
bargaining history and joint production activities.

NLRB criteria for selecting a bargaining

unit:
(Based on 200,000 existing bargaining

units)
Union and Firm propose a mutually
satisfactory unit (Stipulated unit)

NLRB must accept if consistent with NLRA

Industry, occupation or firm tradition

Public Interest

NLRB criteria for selecting a bargaining

unit:
(Based on 200,000 existing bargaining
Special

groups:

units)

Craft Workers
Purpose: Craft or skilled may be poorly treated when
majority are unskilled (cross-subsidy of less-skilled)
Petition for craft severance when interest diverge
from the bargaining unit (used sparingly)
Decision depends on (Mallinckrodt Chemical Works, 1966)
firm bargaining history,
industry tradition,
potential for disrupting existing collective bargaining
agreements
Extent of homogeneity, identity among crafts

Union Nonunion wage differential by skill

level

WU/WN

1.
0

Skill Level

NLRB criteria for selecting a bargaining

unit:
(Based on 200,000 existing bargaining
units)

Special groups:
Professionals

Option of staying in larger group or splitting off

(used routinely)

Sec 2(12) of NLRA

Work is intellectual and varied,
Consistent exercise of discretion and judgment,
Requiring advanced specialized knowledge
requiring advanced study

Can be determined at time of certification

election

NLRB criteria for selecting a bargaining

unit:
(Based on 200,000 existing bargaining
Special

units)

groups:

Plant Guards and Security Personnel

Section 9 (b)(3): cannot be in the same
bargaining unit as other workers
Must be represented by a separate
union
Rationale: conflict of interest during strikes
Unfair to plant guards?

NLRB criteria for selecting a bargaining

unit:
(Based on 200,000 existing bargaining units)
Special groups:
Supervisors, Managers, and Confidential
Employees
Not granted rights under Taft-Hartley
amendments (conflicts with freedom of
association)
Conflict of interest

NLRB criteria for selecting a bargaining

unit:
(Based on 200,000 existing bargaining
Special

units)

groups:

Supervisors
Sect. 2(11): Supervisor has
authority to hire, transfer,
suspend, lay off, recall, promote,
discharge, assign, reward, or
discipline, ifexerciserequires
the use of independent judgement.

NLRB criteria for selecting a bargaining

unit:
(Based on 200,000 existing bargaining units)
Special

groups:

Managers
Not granted rights under NLRA. NLRB
vs Bell Aerospace (1974): all managers
excluded, whether supervisory or not.
Managers: those who formulate and
effectuate managerial policies..
Community of interest with executives
of the firm

NLRB criteria for selecting a bargaining

unit:
(Based on 200,000 existing bargaining units)
Special groups:

Confidential Employees
Not granted rights if engaged in
personnel or labor relations
matters.
Conflict of interest regarding
handling of privileged financial or
personnel information

NLRB criteria for selecting a bargaining

unit:
(Based on 200,000 existing bargaining units)
Special groups:
Agricultural Laborers
1975 California statute allows certification, strikes
during harvest.

Part-time vs Casual Employees

Regular (at least 15 days of 90; seasonal with
expectation of rehire) part-time employees that
share community of interest included
Casual: as needed, intermittent, no expectation of
rehire are excluded
Temp service? Probably excluded as nonemployees,
casual, or independent contractors

NLRB criteria for selecting a bargaining

unit:
(Based on 200,000 existing bargaining
Special

units)

groups:

Independent Contractors:

Excluded
Defined by Right to control

Do a job for a price, decide how the work

will be done, purchase materials, hire
others, and depend on profits for income
Covered if under salary, take direction, do
not purchase inputs,
Comparable definition presumably
applicable to temporary employees

NLRB criteria for selecting a bargaining

unit:
(Based on 200,000 existing bargaining
Special

groups:

units)

Health Care Institutions:

Nonprofits excluded initially, added in 1974
Presumptively appropriate units (alternative to case-bycase assessment)
Physicians; Registered nurses; All other
professionals including LPNs; technicians; Clerical;
Skilled maintenance; guards; other nonprofessional

Employers fight thesefragmented votes

Are physicians supervisors? Are RNs supervisors?

Unit Types
Distinguished

by

Size and Scope

Heterogeneity of membership
Centralized vs Decentralized

Unit Types
Craft

Units

Narrow, homogeneous, either

centralized or decentralized
Department

Units

Narrow, heterogeneous, decentralized

Industrial

Units

Broad, heterogeneous, decentralized at

the firm level or centralized

Type of Unions

Federation: AFLCIO

LIUNA

Local

Local

UAW

Local

UFCW

Local

Local

Local

Make up of Local Union

Presiden
t
Staff

Stewards

Unit Types: Single Employer,

Single Location
Narrow scope, heterogeneous, decentralized

Management

Production

Maintenance

U N I O N

Sales

Unit Types: Single Employer,

Multiple Locations
Broad scope, heterogeneous, centralized
U N I O N
Plant 1
Production

Maintenance
Plant 2

Production

Maintenance
Plant 3

Production

Maintenance

Management

Unit Types: Multiple

Employers
Broad scope, heterogeneous workers, but firms
must be similar to one another, most centralized
U N I O N

AS S O C I AT I O N

Firm 1
Production

Maintenance
Firm 2

Production

Maintenance

Management 1

Management 2

Firm 3
Production

Maintenance

Management 3

Unit Types
Coordinated
Multiple

Bargaining: Europe

Unions and Firms

When firms grow: Accretion

If

a firm adds employees into jobs

that fit into a bargaqining unit, these
workers are automatically added
New job titlesfirm and union could
agree, or NLRB may rule
New plantsfirm and union could
agree, or NLRB may rule

When firms merge or are

acquired: Successorships

Successor employer is not obligated by

predecessors agreements
Successor is not obligated to hire workers from
predecessor. If successor does hire employees from
predecessor, cannot discriminate by union interest
If majority of successor employees were covered
under predecessor, and production processes dont
change, then successor is obligated to bargain.
Successor can offer new terms and conditions of
employment
Alter ego employersbankrupt firm reopens with
same management and same lines of business are
obligated by prior agreements