11

Managing
Labor
Relations
Copyright ©2017 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or
duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
LEARNING OUTCOMES
1. Describe the role of labor unions in organizations
2. Identify and summarize trends in unionization
3. Discuss the unionization process
4. Describe the collective-bargaining process
5.

3
Copyright ©2017 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part. HRM4 | CH11
LEARNING OUTCOMES (Continued)

5. Discuss how labor agreements are negotiated

6. Describe how impasses get resolved and
agreements are administered
7. Discuss emerging labor union issues in the twenty-
first century
8.

4
Copyright ©2017 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part. HRM4 | CH11
 Labor Relations and Labor Unions
• Labor relations: Process of dealing with employees
who are represented by a union
• Labor union: Legally constituted group of individuals
working together to achieve shared, job-related goals,
including:
– Higher wages
– Better working conditions
•
 Collective Bargaining Agreement
• Process by which managers and union leaders
negotiate acceptable terms and conditions of
employment for union-represented workers
• Known as employee relations in nonunionized
settings
•
Figure A Historical Time Line of Unionization in
the United Sates

Source: Ricky Griffin and Ronald Ebert, Business, 3rd ed., © 1993, p. 264. Reprinted by permission of Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River,
NJ.

Copyright © 2017 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part. 7 HRM4 | CH11
 Legal Context of Unions
• National Labor Relations Act, 1935
– Commonly referred to as the Wagner Act
– Basic purpose was to grant power to labor unions
– Established the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB)
• Labor Management Relations Act, 1947
– Known as the Taft-Hartley Act
– Purpose was to curtail and limit union practices
–
•
 Legal Context of Unions (Continued)
• Landrum-Griffin Act
– Officially called the Labor Management
Reporting and Disclosure Act
– Focused on eliminating various unethical, illegal,
and undemocratic union practices
•
Figure The Basic Structure of a Union

Source: Ricky Griffin and Ronald Ebert, Business, 6th ed. © 2002, p. 278. Reprinted by permission of Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ.

Copyright © 2017 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part. 10 HRM4 | CH11
 Trends in Unionization
• Union membership
– Unionization has increased in the service sector
but not in the rest of the economy
• Union–management relations
– Weaker unions have taken a conciliatory stance
with managers and organizations
• Bargaining perspectives
– Job security is currently a major demand
•
 Steps Employees Use to Form a Union
• Generate interest in union among employees
• NLRB defines the bargaining unit
• Collect signed authorization cards
• Petition the NLRB to hold elections
– Secret ballot election is held
– Simple majority vote elicits certification
•
 Steps Employees Use to Form a Union (Continued)

• Organizers:
– Create rules and regulations to govern union conduct
– Elect officers
– Establish a meeting site
– Recruit members from the labor force in the
bargaining unit
•
 Decertification of Unions
• For decertification to occur:
– No labor contract can currently be in force
– Union must have served as the official bargaining
agent for the employees for at least one year
•
 Collective-Bargaining Process
• Preparing for collective bargaining
• Management and unions must both be adequately
prepared
• Setting parameters for collective bargaining
• Mandatory items: Included as part of collective
bargaining if either party expresses a desire to
negotiate one or more of them
• Permissive items: Included in collective bargaining if
both parties agree
•
Figure The Bargaining Zone

Source: Ricky Griffin and Ronald Ebert, Business, 8th ed. © 2006, p. 229. Reprinted by permission of Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ.

Copyright © 2017 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part. 16 HRM4 | CH11
 Barriers to Effective Negotiation
• Lack of an overlap for the bargaining zones of respective sides
• Difficulty in negotiating in good faith
• Inept negotiators and poor communication between
negotiators
• Impasse: Situation in which one or both parties believe that
reaching an agreement is not imminent
•
 Resolving Impasses
• Objective is to force the other side to alter or redefine its
bargaining zone so that an accord can be reached
• Unions can organize:
– Strikes: Occur when employees walk off their jobs
and refuse to work
• Workers indulge in picketing
– Boycotts and slowdowns as less extreme tactics
•
 Resolving Impasses (Continued)
• Management can organize:
– Lockouts: Occur when an employer denies
employees access to the workplace
– Mediation: Involves a neutral third party listening to
and reviewing information presented by both sides
– Arbitration: Both sides agree in advance that they
will accept the recommendations made by an
independent third-party arbitrator
•
Labor Unions in the Twenty-First Century
• Replacement sources of labor
– Exporting jobs overseas and use of prison labor
• Contingent workers
– Use of independent contractors
• Unions and the electronic age
– Technological advances reduce need for workers
– The Internet challenges no-solicitation rules
– Communication is simpler, which enables democratic
internal policies in unions