Professional Documents
Culture Documents
TERMINOLOGY
Agency shop – a form of union security in which employees who do not belong to the
union must still pay union dues on the assumption that union efforts benefit all workers
Bargaining unit – the group of employees the union will be authorized to represent
Management rights –issues reserved to management that are related to the organization’s
mission, (not subject to bargaining)
Mandatory bargaining issues – terms and conditions of employment such as wages and
hours that must be bargained for
Meet and confer – an approach to labor relations in which the employer consents to a
discussion with representatives of employees regarding terms and conditions of
employment. less favorable to the union than collective bargaining
National Labor Relations Board – administrative agency to conduct representation
elections and adjudicate unfair labor practices of employers
Permissive issues – issues that are neither mandatory nor prohibited under collective
bargaining
Right-to-work laws – state laws forbidding unions and employers to agree on union or
agency shops (permitted under the Taft-Hartley Act)
• Unions developed when workers realized that their skills gave them bargaining
power
• Unions first gained legal existence in 1842
• Full legal support (federal and state) came almost a 100 years later
• Knights of Labor formed in mid-1800s organized non-skilled and semi-skilled
workers
• American Federation of Labor (AFL) gained dominance in late 1800s (crafts and
skilled trades)
• Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO) formed in 1938 by seven national
unions that had been expelled from the AFL (organized on an industry basis)
• Norris-LaGuardia Act of 1932
o Encouraged union activity
o Guaranteed the right to collectively bargain
• Wagner Act of 1935
o Created the National Labor Relations Board
Required most employers and unions to negotiate fairly with each
other until they agree to a contract that spells out the terms and
conditions of employment for workers who are members of the
union
Excludes managers and supervisors
Farm workers
Families of employers
Government workers
Domestic servants
Railroad employees
o Strengthened the Norris-LaGuardia Act
Banned unfair labor practices, such as:
• Interference with, restraint, or coercion of employees while
organizing
• Dominance or interference with the union
• Discriminating against employee for union activity
• Retaliation by discharge or discrimination of employee for
filing an unfair labor practices charge
• Refusal to collectively bargain with employees’ duly
chosen representative
Provided for secret ballot elections
Provided for majority rule for determining whether an
organization’s employees were to unionize
o Established the National Labor Relations Board to monitor this provisions
o Provided a model for public sector labor legislation at the state level
• Taft-Hartley Act of 1947
o Prohibited unfair union labor practices
Unions banned from restraining or coercing employees from
exercising their guaranteed bargaining rights
Union s can not cause an employer to discriminate in any way
against an employee in order to encourage or discourage
membership
Unions can not refuse to bargain in good faith with the employer
about wages, hours, and other employment conditions
• Currently no federal law governing public sector labor relations at the state and
local level
• U.S. Supreme Court held that in National League of Cities v. Usery that the 10th
Amendment grants a substantial measure of sovereignty to the states in
employment matters
• In 1985, the Court reversed itself in Garcia v. San Antonio Metropolitan Transit
Authority. The commerce clause permitted states and local government to be
covered by the provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act
• Meet and confer approach
• Collective bargaining approach
o Union security provisions
Closed shop - (outlawed in 1984) required previous membership
Union shop – mandatory membership within 30 days of
employment
Agency shop – workers may join or not, but must pay dues either
way
Maintenance-of-membership
Checkoff
o Unfair employer practices
Interfering, restraining practices
Interfering or assisting in formation or operation of an employee
organization
Encouraging or discouraging membership in any labor
organization
Discharging or discriminating against an employee because of
filing charges, giving testimony, forming or joining an employee
organization
Denying rights of exclusive representation to the legally designated
bargaining agent
Refusing to follow statutory impasse procedures
Instituting a lockout
Dealing directly with employees rather than with their bargaining
representative
Violating the terms of a contract
o Lawful acts of employers
Free speech
Right to file unfair labor practice charges against union
Facilities use
Disciplinary action
o Unfair union practices
Interfering with, restraining, or coercing public employees in
regard to protecting the exercise of statutory rights
Interfering with, restraining, or coercing a public employer in
regard to protecting the exercise of employee rights or selecting a
bargaining representative
Refusing to meet and bargain in good faith
Refusing to follow statutory impasse procedures
Engaging in or instigating a strike
Interfering with an employee’s work performance or productivity
• Unit determination
o Community of interest
o Bargaining history
o Efficiency of operations
o Unit size
o Exclusion of supervisory employees
• Election and certification
o Determine if employer allows union to represent unit
• Voluntary recognition
• Representation election
• Majority vote required to become exclusive bargaining
agent
o Certification stands for at least one year
o Decertification election required to remove union as a bargaining agent
o The NLRB does not allow an election -
• During the first year that a bargaining unit is represented by a
particular union
• Within a year of the last election held for that bargaining unit
• During a period covered by a union contract
• Contract negotiations
o Impasse resolution
o Mediation
o Fact-finding
o Interest arbitration