Labor Union Vocabulary

Vocabulary flashcards covering key terms from the transcript about labor unions.

Union

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

Craft union

An organization of skilled specialists in a particular craft or trade

Knights of Labor

The first national labor union; formed in 1869

American Federation of Labor (AFL)

An organization of craft unions that championed fundamental labor issues; founded in 1886

Industrial unions

Labor organizations of unskilled and semi skilled workers in mass-production industries such as automobile manufacturing and mining.

Congress of industrial organizations (CIO)

Union organizations of unskilled workers; broke away from the American federation of labor in 1935 and rejoined it in 1955

Yellow dog contract

A type of contract that required employees to agree as a condition of employment not to join a union; prohibited by the Norris LaGuardia Act in 1932

Collective bargaining

The process whereby Union and management representatives form a labor management agreement, or contract, for workers

Certification

Formal process whereby a union is recognized by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) as the bargaining agent for a group of employees

Decertification

The process by which workers take away a unions right to represent them

Negotiated labor-management agreement (labor contract)

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

Closed shop agreement

Clause in a labor-management agreement that specified workers had to be members of a union before being hired (outlawed by the Taft-Hartley Act in 1947)

Union shop agreement

Clause in a labor-management agreement that says work sets don’t have to be members of a union to be hired, bust must agree to join the union within a prescribed period.

Agency shop agreement

Clause in a labor-management agreement that says employers may hire nonunion workers; employees aren’t required to join the union but must pay a union fee.

Right-to-work laws

Legislation that gives workers the right, under an open shop, to join or not join a union if it’s present

Open shop agreement

agreement in right-to-work states that gives workers the option to join or not join a union, if one exists in their workplace.

Grievance

A charge by employees that management isn’t abiding by the terms of the negotiated labor-management agreement

Shot stewards

Union officials who work permanently in an organization and represent employee interests on a daily basis

Bargaining zone

The range of options between the initial and final offer that each party will consider before negotiations dissolve or reach an impasse

Mediation

The use of a third party, called a mediator, who encourages both sides in a dispute to continue negotiating and often make suggestions for resolving the dispute.

Arbitration

The agreement to bring in an impartial third party (a single arbitrator or a panel of arbitrators) to render a binding decision on 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

Cooling off period

When workers in a critical industry return to their jobs while the union and management continue negotiations

Primary boycott

When a union encourages both its members and the general public not to buy the products of a firm involved in a labor dispute

Secondary boycott

An attempt by labor to convince others to stop doing business with a firm that’s the subject of a primary boycott; prohibited by the Taft-Hartley act.

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

Strikebreakers

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

Sexual harassment

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