Union-Management Relations in Action

Union Recognition. One of the first objectives of any union is to be recognized as the bargaining agent for the workers in a shop or plant. This is achieved when workers vote-through an election supervised by the NLRB-on whether or not they want a union and, if so, which one. Once a union is selected, it is, by law, the sole bargaining agent.

Collective Bargaining. Once a union is recog­nized, collective bargaining can begin. The union can negotiate with management to pre­pare a labor contract. Labor contracts typically spell out the privileges and obligations of both parties for a specific period of time. They provide for both "bread-and-butter" issues (wages and hours) and fringe benefits. Fringe ben­efits are items other than wages for which employers have to pay. These include such things as health and hospi­tal programs, vacations, and retirement plans.

Other parts of the contract may provide for grievance procedures and senior­ity. Grievance procedures are steps employees follow if they feel that they have been treated unfairly. Seniority is the importance of a worker's length of service when it comes to questions of raises, promotions, and layoffs. For example, if a plant were about to lay off several assembly-line workers, under the rules of seniority those with the least amount of service would go first.

Settling Labor-Management Disputes. In most instances collective bargaining is successful, and labor and management agree on a new contract. In fact, the number of "work stoppages" and time lost as a result of labor conflicts has declined steadily in recent years. When negotiations fail, however, impartial third parties often are brought in to help settle the dispute. This process may involve concili­ation, mediation, or arbitration. Trained, indepen­dent negotiators work with both sides to reach fair decisions.

• Conciliation means that a third party will try to bring labor and management together to work out their disagreements on their own.

• Mediation requires greater involvement by the third party, who will listen to both sides of the dis­pute and make suggestions for settling it. The suggestions, however, will not be binding on either labor or management.

• Under arbitration, a third party (an arbitrator) will listen to both sides and hand down a decision that is final and binding. Some arbitration cases result in compromises, but in others the arbitra­tors rule for one side or the other. In recent years, many professional baseball players have taken their salary disputes to arbitration.

When Discussions Break Down. When manage­ment or labor feels that neither collective bargaining nor third-party intervention will succeed, they may turn to other means to achieve their goals. In the past, these included intimidation and violence, which sometimes required the state militia or feder­al troops to control. Changes in the law have limited the number of strategies available to both manage­ment and labor. Table 9-16 summarizes these strate­gies and their present status.

Date: 2015-02-28; view: 829