Bamber CH 3 US Slides

5TH EDITION
INTERNATION
AL
&
COMPARATIV
E
EMPLOYMENT
CHAPTER
3
Edited by Greg J Bamber,

Russell D Lansbury and Nick
Wailes
RELATIONS
Globalisation and
change
Employment Relations in the United

States
Harry C. Catz and Alexander J. S. Colvin
Allen & Unwin, 2011. These slides are support material for International and Comparative Employment Relations 5th
edition. Lecturers using the book as a set text may freely use these slides in class, and may distribute them to students
in their course only. These slides may not be posted on any university library sites, electronic learning
platforms or other channels accessible to other courses, the university at large or the general public.
International & Comparative

Employment Relations 5th edition

Russell D Lansbury & Nick Wailes
Lecture Outline
Key themes
Historical context
The role of the state
US employers
US unionism and revitalisation
Collective bargaining
The 2000s
Variations in employment practices
The Employee Free Choice Act
Conclusions
Chapter 3:
2 United
States
Copyright Allen & Unwin,

2011


Key themes
High diversity of employment conditions in
US system
Relatively low levels of unionisation
compared to other DMEs
Significant differences between union and
non-union sectors
Recent union revitalisation and changed
strategies
Decentralisation of collective bargaining
structures and strategy
Chapter
Possible
regulatory intervention
3:
3
United
States

2011


Historical context
Early unions were formed by and were
exclusive to skilled craftsmen
The dominance of Taylorism or scientific
management undermined the rationale
for mainstream workers to act collectively
to negotiate pay and conditions
Further, early capitalists were politically
powerful and vigorously opposed the union
movement
Even the early successes of the craft
unions were hampered by the organised
Chapter 3:
opposition of employers and anti-union
4 United
States

2011


Historical context
It was not until the Great Depression of the
1930s that unions first began to organise
factory workers
Many circumstances led to successful
organisation during the 1930s including the
Wagner Act 1935 which gave employees the
federally guaranteed right to organise and
strike for the first time
In the 1940s and 1950s the unions continued
to grow although federal legislation restricted
and regulated them
Collective bargaining arrangements secured
during
the war continued in peacetime
Chapter 3:
5 United
The1960s
States
and 1970s saw much of the public

2011



The US state influences industrial relations
beyond its role as an employer in two main ways:
Direct regulation of terms and conditions of
employment
Regulation of the manner in which organised labour
and management relate to each other
Federal and state wage and hour laws provide for

minimum levels of pay and overtime rates,
although many workers are excluded from the
operation of these laws
Employment at will operates in the US
employers do not have to provide just cause for
dismissal, reasonable notice or severance pay on
Chapter 3:
6 United
dismissal of an employee
2011
States



The National Labor Relations Act (also called the NLRA or
Wagner Act) provides a structure of rules establishing
employee rights with respect to collective action
Some of these rules include union certification (by secret
ballot) and the requirement for certified unions and
employers to bargain in good faith
There is debate over whether union certification
procedures unfairly restrict the right of workers to
organise into unions
Employment disputes in the US are resolved through the
general court system or agreed arbitration procedures
and not through specialist tribunals (results are high
costs, long waiting times, greater variability in outcomes)
Chapter 3:
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States

2011

Employers and their

organisations

Employer organisations are relatively

unimportant in the United States as there
have never been national employers
confederations engaging in a full range of
industrial relations activities
However, a number of employer
organisations have focused on union
avoidance measures including anti-union
litigation, lobbying and publicity
campaigns
In contrast to the relative weakness of
Chapter 3:
employer associations, management
8 United
States

2011


US union movement
In 2007, union density was approximately
36% in the public sector and 7.5% in the
private sector
US unions are unique in their approach to
business unionism, where they focus
narrowly on providing benefits to existing
members
American unions have focused mostly on
collective bargaining with an accompanied
strike threat
US unions have not formed a political
Chapter 3:
labour party but often financial contribute
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States

2011


Public sector unionism

There was a rapid increase in public sector
unionism in the 1960s and 1970s
Federal, state and local government
employees are excluded from coverage under
the NLRA. Separate legal relations govern
collective bargaining in each of these sectors
As of 2006, all but nine states had legislation
providing at least some of their state or local
government employees with the rights to
organise and bargain collectively
The public sector is the most heavily
Chapter
3:
unionised
sector in the US, with just over one10 United
States

2011


Structure of the US union

movement
National unions are very powerful as they
dictate strategy, control strike funds and can

establish and disestablish local unions
Local unions usually carry out day-to-day
activities of the union movement including
the enforcement of employee rights under
the collective agreement and usually conduct
bargaining over the terms of new agreements
and any resulting strikes (although this is
sometimes carried out by national unions)
The national centralisation of strike funds has
meant that unions have been able to develop
Chapter 3:
11 United
common rules and to strike effectively
States

2011


The AFL-CIO
The American Federation of Labor-Congress of Industrial
Organizations (AFL-CIO) is a federation of national unions that
includes a substantial share of union members
The role of the AFL-CIO is:
to provide a national political and public voice for the US union
movement
to resolve jurisdictional disputes among members
to enforce codes of ethical practices and policies against racial and
sex discrimination
to provide a link to the international labour movement
In recent years the AFL-CIO has championed new organising

methods which led to the 2005 breakaway of a number of key
national unions, resulting in a new union federation called
Change to Win
Chapter 3:
12 United
States

2011


Union revitalisation
One of the purposes of the AFL-CIO organising initiative is

to diffuse throughout the labour movement successful
organising strategies used by affiliated unions
These strategies include using young, well-educated
organisers and involve extensive direct communication with
prospective members and links to community groups such
as churches
The AFL-CIO tried to modernise and broaden issues that
attract union members (e.g. child care, equal pay)
During the 1990s and early 2000s there was little evidence
that these strategies were working, although in 2007 US
union membership numbers increased by the largest
amount in over 25 years and it was the first time that union
membership rate had increased in 50 years
This growth in service sector unions suggests that some of
these
strategies may be having a positive effect on
Chapter
3:
13 United
membership numbers, although it is too early to tell
2011
States

Formation of the
Change to Win Coalition

Declining membership rates have led to divisions within the

labour movement about how best to rebuild union strength
In 1995, John Sweeney was elected AFL-CIO President after
challenging the existing strategy and direction of the union
movement
In 2005, Sweeneys leadership was similarly challenged as
major unions called for more resources to be directed to
organising and to encouraging the merger of smaller unions
into larger, more powerful unions
In May 2005, four of the major unions the SEIU, UNITEHERE, the IBT and the LIUNA issued a joint proposal for
reform of the AFL-CIO
These proposals were rejected and in June 2005 the four
dissenting unions formed the rival Change to Win Coalition
(CTW)
Chapter
3:
14 United
2011
States
Today the CTW Coalition represents some 6 million US


Implications of the split

A major concern following the split was that the
two federations would compete with each other
and the strength and voice of the union movement
would be weakened
Initial experience suggests that the CTW Coalition
and the AFL-CIO have been able to work together
in some areas, such as political campaigns
Early assessments of the impacts of the spilt are
divided and the effect on membership numbers
and other indicators of success remains to be seen
Chapter 3:
15 United
States

2011


In the non-union sector, pay rates and conditions are
generally imposed unilaterally by the employer
In the union sector, the structure of collective bargaining
is highly fragmented and this fragmentation is
increasing, with most bargaining taking place at the
single workplace level
Despite this fragmentation, there are some common
features of collective bargaining agreements:
They are very detailed
They cover issues of pay, hours of work, holidays, pensions,
health and life insurance, union recognition, management rights,
the role of seniority in determining promotions and layoffs and
paid time off
They detail the handling and arbitration of grievances
Most have a limited duration of one to three years
Chapter 3:
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States

2011
Decentralisation
of collective bargaining
structures


Until the early 1980s, the structure of unionised

collective bargaining was a mixture of multiemployer, company-wide and plant-level bargaining
Since that time, collective bargaining structures
have been progressively decentralised with the
locus of bargaining shifting away from companywide agreements to the plant level
Where company-wide agreements exist, corporate
strategies and product markets have resulted in
greater diversity across companies (reducing
pattern bargaining)
Varying work practices and pay systems have also
contributed to collective bargaining decentralisation
Chapter 3:
17 United
States

2011

initiatives

In recent years, unions have made significant changes to

the process and outcomes of collective bargaining in an
innovative effort to extend their membership base
Corporate campaigns use media, political, financial,
community and regulatory pressures to build bargaining
power
Other strategies link collective bargaining to organising
and political strategies triangulation strategies link
organising, politics and collective bargaining
Cross-national unionism remains an ongoing challenge
for unions to counteract the power of multinational
enterprises (MNEs), outsourcing and international
economic pressures
Chapter 3:
18 United
States

2011


The 2000s
US-based MNEs have faced increasing economic
competition
Rising healthcare costs and benefits have resulted in
tensions in the union sector where employers have not
been able to unilaterally change benefits and/or increase
employee contribution payments as they have in the nonunion sector
Retirement benefits were also a major issue for industries
with sizeable retiree legacy costs
Outsourcing of services to overseas providers was a
growing concern
Despite these various pressures, the US employment
relations system remained relatively stagnant in the 2000s
Chapter 3:
19 United
States

2011


Variations in employment
practices
Employment practices in the US are diverse

due to
varying economic pressures across industries
the presence of a large low-wage, non-unionised
sector where managerial prerogative is high
differences between the union and non-union
sectors including growth in non-union employment
imported employment practices of US-based MNEs
Diversity in employment practices is often

linked to diversity in pay systems
Chapter 3:
20 United
States

2011


The Employee Free Choice

Act
The labour movements major labour law reform initiative,
the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA) is yet to be passed
and, in the event that it becomes law, its impact on union
density and power is presently unclear
The EFCAs major provisions involve:
allowing unions to organise through card check recognition

facilitation of speedy processing of unfair labour practice claims
increased penalties on employers who unlawfully discharge
employees
provision of interest arbitration if the parties are unable to negotiate a
first contract
Whilst some of these changes are significant, they do not

signal a fundamental departure from the current system
and they would not reverse long term trends in
decentralisation, the adversarial nature of the US system or
the lack of mandated employee participation/consultation
Chapter
3:
schemes
21
United
States
2011


Conclusions
Diversity in US employment relations is high and
increasing due to growth in non-union employment
and the wide variety of union and non-union
employment and pay practices
There is wide variation in recent collective bargaining
practices and outcomes
Union revitalisation has resulted in various organising
and bargaining strategies as unions attempt to
extend membership in the face of increasing income
inequality and international pressures
Allen & Unwin, 2011. These slides are support material for International and Comparative Employment Relations 5th
edition. Lecturers using the book as a set text may freely use these slides in class, and may distribute them to students
in their course only. These slides may not be posted on any university library sites, electronic learning
platforms or other channels accessible to other courses, the university at large or the general public.

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5TH EDITION

Edited by Greg J Bamber,

Employment Relations in the United

International & Comparative

Edited by Greg J Bamber,

Copyright Allen & Unwin,

International & Comparative

Edited by Greg J Bamber,

Copyright Allen & Unwin,

International & Comparative

Edited by Greg J Bamber,

Copyright Allen & Unwin,

International & Comparative

Edited by Greg J Bamber,

Copyright Allen & Unwin,

International & Comparative

Edited by Greg J Bamber,

The role of the state

Federal and state wage and hour laws provide for

International & Comparative

Edited by Greg J Bamber,

The role of the state

Copyright Allen & Unwin,

International & Comparative

Employers and their

Edited by Greg J Bamber,

Employer organisations are relatively

Copyright Allen & Unwin,

International & Comparative

Edited by Greg J Bamber,

Copyright Allen & Unwin,

International & Comparative

Edited by Greg J Bamber,

Public sector unionism

Copyright Allen & Unwin,

International & Comparative

Edited by Greg J Bamber,

Structure of the US union

dictate strategy, control strike funds and can

Copyright Allen & Unwin,

International & Comparative

Edited by Greg J Bamber,

In recent years the AFL-CIO has championed new organising

Copyright Allen & Unwin,

International & Comparative

Edited by Greg J Bamber,

One of the purposes of the AFL-CIO organising initiative is

International & Comparative

Edited by Greg J Bamber,

Declining membership rates have led to divisions within the

International & Comparative

Edited by Greg J Bamber,

Implications of the split

Copyright Allen & Unwin,

International & Comparative

Edited by Greg J Bamber,

Copyright Allen & Unwin,

International & Comparative

Edited by Greg J Bamber,

Until the early 1980s, the structure of unionised

Copyright Allen & Unwin,

International & Comparative

Edited by Greg J Bamber,