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Chapter 12 Employee-Management Issues

Chapter 12 Employee-Management Issues. The History of Labor Unions New Issues in the Workplace. Labor Unions. Originally created to serve as protectors of employees “Safety in numbers” Conditions at the beginning of the 1900s: Average work week: 60-80 hours No overtime

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Chapter 12 Employee-Management Issues

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  1. Chapter 12Employee-Management Issues The History of Labor Unions New Issues in the Workplace

  2. Labor Unions • Originally created to serve as protectors of employees • “Safety in numbers” • Conditions at the beginning of the 1900s: • Average work week: 60-80 hours • No overtime • If you get sick and call in, you’re outta there! • Little to no safety standards

  3. The First Unions • Knights of Labor (1869-1890s) • No child labor, no segregation, equal pay for women (even back then!) • Union Pacific Railroad Strike • 200,000 workers were on strike b/c one person was fired for attending a union meeting on company time • Engineers refused to participate in the strike – did in the union • Haymarket Riot – May 1-4, 1886 • Unions had already marked the day for the day when the 8-hour work day would begin. • 80,000 people marched down Michigan Avenue in Chicago. • Four died when police tried to break up a fight at the McCormick Harvesting Plant as replacement workers crossed picket lines. • On May 4, workers gathered to protest peacefully. • At 10:30, a worker threw a bomb at the police, who were trying to disperse the crowd. • Seven policemen and at least four workers were killed, plus six riot inciters who were sentenced to death. • Monuments at the site have been blown up and desecrated for years since.

  4. The First Unions • Enter Samuel Gompers and the AFL • Gompers – born in England to a Jewish family from the Netherlands! • “The factory was my Harvard and my Yale” • American Federation of Labor • Organized by craft • Supported capitalism • United trade unions under its umbrella • Problems with segregation • Probably too big – didn’t always know what smaller trade unions were doing • Worked hard to pass anti-immigration laws Samuel Gompers 1850-1924

  5. The First Unions • Meanwhile, John L. Lewis and CIO started • Much more aggressive and militant than AFL • Had communist bent to philosophies • Welcomed African-Americans • Originally fought the AFL for members and turf • Organized by industry (UAW, for example) John L. Lewis: 1880-1969

  6. Taft-Hartley – The Turn of the Unions • Caused great dissent and immense leadership turnover in both unions (AFL and CIO) • Allowed right-to-work laws • Penalized unions who refused to sign statements that they were not Communists • AFL and CIO merged to form AFL-CIO in 1955

  7. The AFL-CIO of Today • 10 million workers in 50+ different unions • Until 2005, represented most of the unionized workers in the U.S. • In 2005, many large unions disaffiliated with AFL-CIO • Dissent within the top ranks has weakened its effect • Working more with executives, politics, and economic policy than with workers

  8. Hoffa and the Teamsters • Teamsters Union – originally part of the AFL • Jimmy Hoffa • a former loading dock worker from Detroit • Organized bargaining agreements among drivers and carriers • Made strategic alliances with organized crime • Expelled by the AFL-CIO in 1957 (readmitted in 1985, then dropped out in 2005) • Used the assets of the Teamsters’ pension plans to support the Mafia • Mysteriously disappeared after being let out of prison

  9. Other Important Legislation Affecting Unions and Workers • Norris-LaGuardia (1932) • Employers could not keep employees from joining unions (yellow-dog contracts) • National Labor Relations Act (Wagner, 1935) • Employees could choose to join unions and could collectively bargain • Formed National Labor Relations Board

  10. Other Important Legislation Affecting Unions and Workers • Fair Labor Standards Act (1938) • Set minimum wage for employees and maximum basic hours for employees to work • Landrum-Griffin Act (1959) • Guaranteed the right of the individual worker to participate in union activities

  11. Agreements with Employers • Closed shop agreement • Employers can only hire union members • Made illegal by Taft-Hartley • Union shop agreement • Employees must join union to keep their jobs • Agency shop agreement • Employees do not have to join union, but must pay fees for benefits they receive • Open shop agreement • Employees never have to join a union

  12. Executive Compensation Issues • Executives are paid, on average, 160 times the amount the average worker is paid. • Is this fair? • Drucker’s recommendation: • CEOs should be paid no more than 20 times the salary of the average worker. • Sometimes the average worker would have to work over 50,000 years to make what their CEO made in one year. • Often, the largest disparities are shown in the companies that have the worst performance!! • Bob Nardelli and the $210 million golden parachute

  13. Gender Issues • Pay equity between women and men • Women make about 80% of what men doing the same job make • Why? • Women are still caregiving within the family, so they often take lower-paying jobs or don’t work the hours men do. • The gap closes more every year. • Sexual Harassment • Unwelcome behavior creates a hostile work environment or favors are asked for that constitute a quid-pro-quo arrangement.

  14. Violence Issues • Workplace homicides contribute to 16% of all workplace deaths. • “Going postal” – a postal worker in OK killed 14 workers and himself in 1986 • Must have a policy and procedure set in place for keeping as many workers safe as possible, in the event of a violence break-out.

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