Chapter 12: Labor Unions (BUS 2000)

Union

An employee organization that has the main goal of representing members in employee-management bargaining over job-related issues.

Labor unions were responsible for:

• Minimum-wage laws

• Overtime rules

• Workers' compensation

• Severance pay

• Child-labor laws

• Job safety regulations

Public Sector Labor Unions

Public sector union members work for governments as teachers, firefighters, police officers, etc.

What is the union membership rate in the public sector compared to the private sector?

Union membership in the public sector stands at 34 percent compared to 6.7 percent in the private sector.

Collective Bargaining

The process where by union and management representatives form a labor-management agreement, or contract, for workers.

Certification

Formal process whereby a union is recognized by the NLRB as the bargaining agent for a group of employees.

The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB)

was created to oversee labor-management issues and provideguidelines for unionization.

Decertification

The process by which worker stake away a union's right to represent them.

Labor Contract--Negotiated Labor/Management Agreement

An agreement that sets the tone and clarifies the terms under which management and labor agree to function over a period of time.

Union Security Clause

Provision in a negotiated labor-management agreement that stipulates that employees who benefit from a union must either officially join or at least pay dues to the union.

Grievance

A charge by employees that management is not abiding by the terms of the negotiated agreement.

Shop Stewards

Union officials who work permanently in an organization and represent employee interests on a daily basis. In many cases it is a senior worker within the section or department.

Mediation

The use of a third party (mediator) who encourages both sides in a dispute to continue negotiating and often makes suggestions for resolving the dispute.

Arbitration

The agreement to bring in an impartial thirdparty (a single arbitrator or a panel of arbitrators) to render abinding decision in a labor dispute.

Strike

A union strategy in which workers refuse to go to work; the purpose is to further workers' objectives after an impasse in collective bargaining.

Lockout

An attempt by management to put pressure on unions by temporarily closing the business.

Injunction

A court order directing someone to do something or to refrain from doing something. Usually directed to stop unions from going on strike (police and firefighters cannot do so)

Strikebreakers

workers hired to do the jobs of striking workers until the labor dispute is resolved

The Future of Unions and Labor-Management Relations

• To grow, unions will need to include more white-collar, female, and foreign-born workers.

• Unions will need to organize in industries such as health care and information technology.

• Unions will take on a greater role in training workers, redesigning jobs, and assimilating the changing workforce.

Pay Equity or Inequity

• Women earn 79 to 83 percent of what men actually earn.

• This disparity varies by profession, experience, and level of education.

• Young women actually earn 7 percent more than male counterparts due to their higher college graduation rates.

• Women are underrepresented in managerial positions.

Sexual Harassment

Unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature that creates a hostile work environment.

Quid pro quo sexual harassment

Asking for or forcing an employee to perform sexual favors in exchange for receiving some reward or avoiding negative consequences.

Hostile Work Environment Sexual Harassment

is conduct that interferes with a worker's performance or creates an intimidating or offensive work environment.