Employer Restrictions and Rights in Unionizing Process & Collective Bargaining - Video & Lesson Transcript - Study

20/03/2015
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Employer Restrictions and Rights in Unionizing Process & Collective

Bargaining
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Instructor: Jared Taylor
Jared Taylor has worked as a course materials manager, writer, editor and transcriptionist. He holds a
master's degree in history.
Employees and employers have rights during unionization attempts and during the collective bargaining
process. In this lesson, you'll learn about the rights of employers, as well as the restrictions to which they are
subject, during these processes.
Employer Rights & Unionization

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Beth is the vice president of human resources for a manufacturing company in northern Ohio.
Certain employees at the company are seeking to bring in a union. The National Labor
Relations Board, which enforces the National Labor Relations Act and conducts elections for
unionization, has set a time for an election so that the company's employees can decide
whether to have union representation. Beth has been given marching orders to try to resist
the unionization effort to the fullest extent permitted by law. Let's see what Beth can and
cannot do.
Unionization: Employer Rights

The National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) governs union organizations and activities. While
the Act restricts the techniques Beth can employ to try to convince her employees not to
unionize, the law also gives some important rights to Beth's employer:
Beth and her employer have the freedom to speak with employees about the company's positions
and feelings towards unions. The communication should be informational only - not an order or
threat. Beth must be objective, accurate and honest in her communications with employees. For
example, Beth may offer the company's opinion that unionization is not in the employee's best
interest and offer objective, accurate and honest information that she believes supports the opinion.
An example of objective information may be unbiased and credible data on wages in the local
community for unionized companies and non-union companies.
Beth can lawfully prevent union organizers from coming on company property.
She can also prohibit workers from engaging in unionization activities during paid working hours.
However, she cannot prohibit such activities during paid breaks - that's the employee's time, not the
company's time.
Unionization: Employer Restrictions

Private sector employees generally have a legal right to bring a union in to represent them in
negotiations with their employer. The NLRA prohibits certain employer behavior to ensure that
employees are free to choose whether to unionize or not. Let's see what Beth cannot do:
She cannot threaten employees with loss of jobs, wages or benets.
She cannot threaten to close the factory down.
She cannot promise benets or other perks to employees to encourage them to oppose unionization.
She cannot interrogate or question employees about their position regarding unionization.
She cannot subject an employee to any adverse employment action because the employee engaged
in a protected concerted activity. Adverse employment actions include things such as terminating,
laying off, transferring, assignment to more dicult work and other forms of punishment. A protected
concerted activity is an activity an employee may engage in without being afraid of employer
retaliation. Attempting to organize is a protected concerted activity.
Collective Bargaining: Employer Rights

Beth's employer lost. The employees voted to form a collective bargaining unit and have a
union represent them through the collective bargaining process. A collective bargaining unit
is a group of employees who bargain about the terms and condition of employment with an
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employer as a group instead of individually. Bargaining with an employer as a unit is called

collective bargaining. Let's see what rights Beth has when negotiating with the union:
She does not have to negotiate over permissive subjects of bargaining. These are matters that don't
directly relate to an employee's job. For example, the union may want management to present more
labor-friendly board member candidates to the shareholders during director elections, but since this
is not directly related to employment, Beth can refuse to negotiate over it.
She can play hardball to pressure concessions at the bargaining table as permitted by labor law. For
example, Beth can have the company start a lockout, which is stopping production so workers can't
work and make a living.
She can also hire replacement workers to work if employees strike. If employees are striking over
economic issues, such as better wages, she doesn't have to bring striking employees back until there's
a vacancy.
She is not required to reach an agreement. If an impasse is reached, then the company can execute
the last offer it presented to the union. Beth must be careful in exercising this right. The union can
disagree that a true impasse has been reached and can le a charge of unfair labor practice with the
NLRB, which will determine whether an impasse has been reached.
Collective Bargaining: Employer Obligations

Beth is subject to certain duties when engaged in collective bargaining. Let's look at the
important ones:
Beth must negotiate with the bargaining unit's exclusive representative. She can't try to get deals with
individual employees.
Beth must negotiate over mandatory subjects of bargaining. Mandatory subjects of bargaining include
subjects that are directly related to employment, such as wages, benets and working conditions.
While she isn't required to reach an agreement, Beth must bargain in good faith. She must act
sincerely and fairly at the negotiating table.
Beth must bring striking employees back who return to work unconditionally and were striking about
unfair labor practices undertaken by the company. This is the case even if it means terminating
replacement workers that were hired during the strike.
Lesson Summary
The National Labor Relations Act protects the right of workers to unionize and collectively
bargain. Employers have both rights and restrictions regarding unionization efforts under the
Act. Employers have the right to:
Communicate their opinions on unions to employees in an honest, objective and non-threatening
manner.
Prohibit workers from engaging in organizing activities during work time, but not during paid breaks.
Employers are also subject to some important restrictions in their attempts to stop
unionization. They cannot:
Threaten employees with loss of jobs, wages, benets or plant closings.
Offer benets or perks in exchange for withholding union support.
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Question employees about their approval or disapproval of unionization.

Subject any employee to an adverse employment action based upon participation in an organizing
activity.
Once union representation is in place, the NLRA provides employers some rights and
obligations in collectively bargaining with the union. Employers:
May only negotiate with the designated union representative.
Are required to negotiate over mandatory subjects of bargaining, but not permissive subjects.
Are not required to reach an agreement, but must bargain in good faith in an attempt to reach an
agreement.
Can engage in lockouts to pressure concessions.
Are permitted to hire replacement workers if employees strike, but must give employees their jobs
back if they unconditionally return to work from a strike based upon an alleged unfair employment
practice.
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Next Lesson (/academy/lesson/bargainingstrategies-in-labor-relations-integrativedistributive.html)

Employer Restrictions and Rights in Unionizing Process & Collective

Employer Rights & Unionization

Unionization: Employer Rights

Unionization: Employer Restrictions

Collective Bargaining: Employer Rights

employer as a group instead of individually. Bargaining with an employer as a unit is called

Collective Bargaining: Employer Obligations

Question employees about their approval or disapproval of unionization.

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