Management 351 – Class 3

Management 351 – Class 3 • Chapters 15 • Reminders • Change/confirm paper length: 4-6 pages • Rework schedule • Matewan is now extra credit • Date changes • Room change requested: denied! • Job available

Unions & Competitive Advantage • Impact on competitive advantage may be either positive or negative depending on the situation • Productivity and profitability • Union companies are more productive • Jobs satisfaction and turnover • Job satisfaction is lower among unionized workers than non unionized workers

Union Membership Patterns • 16.4 MM (15.8% of US Workers) in 1992 • In 1960 it was 31.4% • Most represented employees are in • Government • Manufacturing • Transportation • Public Utilities

Decline in Union Membership • Shift from manufacturing to service industries • Aggressive employer tactics • “Union substitution” and “Union suppression” • Employers have found non-union replacement workers during strikes • 1938 Supreme Court ruling: employers can hire permanent replacements if strike is over economic issues.

Overview of Unions • Union history is a series of balancing actions • Courts generally sided with management • Government generally supported unions • Much of the history is the push from one or the other having more ‘power’

Overview of Unions • 1786 First authenticated strike • 1806 Following strike for higher wages the Cordwainers were tried for conspiracy -- are unions a 'legal combination' to raise wages and injure others? • 1827 First union craftsmen from different trades is formed in Philadelphia.

Overview of Unions • 1852 National Typographical Union -- first national union w/workers from a single trade (still in operation) • 1869 The Noble and Holy Order of the Knights of Labor was organized in Philadelphia • 1877 Federal troops used to quell a railroad strike

Overview of Unions • 1886 AFL organized • Samual Gompers • Loose federation of national and int'l craft unions • Exclusively 'skilled' labor such as carpenters, cigar makers, printers and plumbers. • Did not impinge on autonomy of locals • Did not embrace radical political/economic reform • Favored improved working conditions and collective bargaining

Overview of Unions • 1908 Under restraint of trade provisions of the Sherman Anti-Trust Act, a boycott by the United Hatters was ruled illegal. • 1914 The Clayton Act passed to limit the use of injunctions against unions • 1917 Supreme Court upholds the legality of a 'yellow dog' contract (workers' promise that they would not unionize)

Overview of Unions • 1921 Supreme Court rules that nothing in the Clayton Act legalized secondary boycotts or protected unions from injunctions brought against them for restraint of trade • 1926 Railway Labor Act prohibits employers interference in union organizing of railroad workers and requires collective bargaining • Marked greater acceptance of unions and collective bargaining.

Overview of Unions • 1932 Norris-La Guardia Act • Injunctions only issued if companies can show 'substantial and irreparable injury’ • Outlawed yellow dog contracts

Overview of Unions • 1935 National Labor Relations Act (Wagner Act) established the NLRB and guarantees the rights of workers to organize • Gave workers the right to form unions and bargain collectively without employer coercion: • Interfering with self-organization • Discriminating against employees for engaging in union activities • Refusing to bargain with employee representatives

NLRA Mandates • Established certification elections • Established the NLRB • Labor-Management Relations Act (Taft-Hartley Act) (1947): amended the NLRA. Restored balance between companies and unions. • Established unfair union practices

Unfair Union Practices • Established ability to decertify and unfair practices (coercing employees) • Pressuring employers to discriminate against non-union members • Refusing to bargain in good faith • Forcing employers to pay for unneeded services • Gave President the right to intervene in case of national emergency (Reagan)

Overview of Unions • 1937 After three-month strike (Flint, Michigan) GM agrees to recognize and bargain with the UAW • 1938 CIO is formed • John L. Lewis • Focused on 'unskilled' workers from automobile, coal mining, steel, etc.

Overview of Unions • 1947 Labor Management Relations Act (Taft-Hartley Act) establishes procedures for handling strikes that create national emergencies and unfair labor practices (page 503) • Restraining or coercing employees • Influencing employers to discriminate against non union employees • Refusing to bargain in good faith • Pushing boycotts of companies in dispute • Union shop clauses outlawed • Featherbedding

Union shops and Right-to-Work Laws • Union shop clause: requires that employees join a union w/in 30-60 days of hire • Made closed shops illegal • Right-to-work laws: state law that makes it illegal for unions to include a union shop clause in a contract • Right-to-work states may NOT require union membership but dues may be paid (agency shop clause)

Overview of Unions • 1955 AFL and CIO combine • Membership is voluntary • Locals can affiliate w/out any loss of autonomy • Provides a national forum to pursue a single agenda

Additional Labor Laws • The Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act (Landrum-Griffin Act) (1959): regulated the internal affairs of unions (to fight corruption) • Nomination procedures for offices • Elections guidelines • Disciplining members guidelines • Required submittal of detailed financial reports

Union Structure • Local Unions • Identify and negotiate plant (local) issues in national bargaining agreements • Administer collective bargaining agreements or contracts • National Unions • Basically cover the country in a craft or industry. • Charter most local unions • Provide locals with professional services (bargaining, grievance administration, etc.) • Constrain unilateral action at the local level

Why Unions Happen • Why Workers Unionize • Job dissatisfaction • Union Instrumentality (unions seen as a tool to get things that the workers want) • When people feel powerless on their own • When unions are seen as a way to level the playing field with employers • Predisposition to support unions

How Unions Happen • Petition Phase • Workers express an interest by signing authorization cards • At least 30% of workers must sign the cards to trigger NLRB involvement (generally 50%+ is needed) • Union 'requests' that the employer recognize it

How Unions Happen(Phases 2 and 3) • Election Phase • NLRB conducts representation hearings to determine appropriate bargaining unit • Campaigning (union and employer) • The election • Certification Phase • Simple majority wins

Collective Bargaining • Different types: • Single union or pattern bargaining (all employers -- coal and automotive) • Group bargaining (one employer and many unions -- newspapers)

Collective Bargaining • Three types of bargaining items • Illegal: those things that are set by law • Mandatory: must be bargained upon if raised by either party • Voluntary or Permissive: only bargained if both parties agree • See chart of mandatory and voluntary bargaining items on page 521

Good Faith Bargaining • Failure to bargain in good faith is an unfair labor practice • "To meet at reasonable times and confer in good faith with respect to wages, hours and other terms and conditions of employment' • Surface bargaining • Complicating schedules • Refusing to provide information • Offering no alternatives or counterproposals

Decertification of a Union • Workers become disenchanted (30% of workers) • Workers may petition for election of another union • Employers may initiate: • If unable to negotiate an agreement w/in one year of certification, and • The employer reasonably doubts that the union represents the employee's interests

Management 351 – Class 3