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LO 1
While unionization in the private sector is
declining, certain industries, such as the
hospitality industry, are gaining ground in
unionization. If you were a service worker in
a hotel, what factors would make you want to
join a union?
Chapter 14: The Dynamics of Labor Relations: 14.1a Why
Employees Unionize
Book Title: Managing Human Resources
Printed By: Cedric Turner ([email protected])
© 2016 Cengage Learning, Cengage Learning
14.1a Why Employees Unionize
The majority of research on why
employees unionize comes from the
study of blue-collar employees in the
private sector. These studies generally
conclude that employees unionize as a
result of economic need, because of a
general dissatisfaction with managerial
practices, and/or as a way to fulfill social
and status needs. In short, employees

see unionism as a way to achieve
results they cannot achieve acting
individually.
It should be pointed out that some employees join unions
because of the union shop
provisions of the labor agreement. In states where it is
permitted, a union shop (A provision
of the labor agreement that requires employees to join the union
as a requirement for their
employment) is a provision of the labor agreement that requires
employees to join as a
condition of employment. Even when compelled to join,
however, many employees accept
the concept of unionism once they become involved in the union
as a member. The three
primary reasons unorganized workers elect to unionize are:
Economic needs. Dissatisfaction with wages, benefits, and
working conditions
appears to provide the strongest reason to join a union. This
point is continually
supported by research studies that find that both union members
and nonmembers
have their highest expectations of union performance regarding
the “bread and butter”
issues of collective bargaining. It is these traditional issues of
wages, benefits,
and working conditions on which unions are built.
Dissatisfaction with management. Employees may seek
unionization when they
perceive that managerial practices regarding promotion,
transfer, shift assignment, or
other job-related policies are administered in an unfair or biased
manner. Employees

cite favoritism shown by managers as a major reason for joining
unions. This is
particularly true when the favoritism concerns the HR areas of
discipline, promotion,
job assignments, and training opportunities. Furthermore, the
failure of employers to
give employees an opportunity to participate in decisions
affecting their welfare may
encourage union membership. It is widely believed that one
reason managers begin
employee involvement programs and seek to empower their
employees is to avoid
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collective action by employees. For example, one reason
employers in the auto,
semiconductor, and financial industries involve employees in
collaborative programs is
to stifle unionization.
Social and leadership concerns. Employees whose needs for
recognition and social
affiliation are being frustrated may join unions as a means of
satisfying these needs.
Through their union, they have an opportunity to fraternize with
other employees who
have similar desires, interests, problems, and gripes. Such

concerns often revolve
around job insecurity, broken promises, lack of autonomy,
double standards,
hopelessness, humiliation, and lack of recognition. Employees
may join unions to
benefit in the dignity and fairness that organization membership
may provide.
Additionally, the union enables them to put leadership talents to
use as officers of the
union and representatives of fellow employees. One study found
that employees
became union steward (An employee who as a nonpaid union
official represents the
interests of members in their relations with management) so that
they could be seen
as “a fellow your buddies look to” and as a person who “stands
up to the boss.”
Of the factors mentioned above, organizing campaigns based on
social concerns (e.g.,
justice, fairness, and dignity) are more successful than
campaigns based on dissatisfaction
with management or even economic issues. In other words, it is
not the fact that
employees in a particular organization have to pay 20 percent of
their health care premiums
but that management has to pay only 10 percent of theirs.
Chapter 14: The Dynamics of Labor Relations: 14.1a Why
Employees Unionize
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LO 2
What are the privacy settings on your
Facebook page? Do you think your
employer, or prospective employer, should
be allowed to look at it?
Chapter 13: Employees Rights and Discipline: 13.1d Privacy
Rights
13.1d Privacy Rights
According to Janis Procter-Murphy,
employment attorney, “Employee
privacy is recognized as one of the most
significant workplace issues facing
companies today.” The right of
privacy is the freedom from

unwarranted government or business
intrusion into one’s personal affairs. It
involves the individual’s right to be given
personal autonomy and to be left alone. Not surprisingly,
employees strongly defend
their right to workplace privacy. Meanwhile, employers defend
their right to monitor
employees’ activities when they directly affect a business, its
productivity, workplace safety,
and/or morale. So who is right? Employers or employees? Laws
and court cases related
to workplace privacy generally attempt to balance an
employee’s legitimate expectation of
privacy against the employer’s need to supervise and control the
efficient operation of the
organization. In this section, we will discuss some of the most
pressing privacy issues being
debated by employees and employers today and how they are
being resolved.
Substance Abuse and Drug Testing
As you learned, in the United States companies can legally test
workers for drugs. But can
they do so under any and all circumstances? The answer is no.
Certain restrictions apply. In
the private sector, drug testing is largely regulated by individual
states. Pro–drug testing
states generally permit testing, provided that strict testing
procedures are followed. States
such as these sometimes offer employers a discount on their
workers’ compensation
insurance premiums if they take certain steps to maintain a
drug-free workplace, which may
include testing job applicants. By contrast, states with
restrictive drug-testing laws

generally prohibit testing for drugs except in very specific
circumstances and for drugs listed
in state regulations.
Federal regulations and laws restrict drug testing as well. Recall
from Chapter 3 that the
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission does not allow job
applicants to be tested
before they are extended offers. The Americans with
Disabilities Act protects employees
who have been addicted to drugs and are recovering from them.
And some drugs that would
otherwise be illegal, such as opiates and medical marijuana, are
legitimately prescribed for
certain conditions.
Safety Sensitive Positions. Drug testing is most prevalent
among employees in sensitive
positions within the public sector, in organizations doing
business with the federal
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government, and in public and private transportation companies.
Since the passage of the
Drug-Free Workplace Act of 1988, applicants and employees of
federal contractors have
become subject to testing for illegal drug use. Barring state and
federal laws that restrict or
prohibit drug testing, however, private employers generally
have a right to require
employees to submit to the tests. The exception is unionized
workforces. Drug-testing
programs for these employees must be negotiated by their
unions.
Criticisms of Drug Testing. In Chapter 6, we explained that
some recent studies have
failed to show that drug testing makes the workplace safer and
that alcohol appears to
create more problems than drugs. Another criticism of drug
tests, including urinalysis
and hair tests, is that they do not reveal if a person is currently
under the influence of a drug.
Illegal substances remain in urine for various periods of time:
cocaine for approximately 72
hours, marijuana for three weeks or longer. Therefore, an
employee can test positive for
a drug days or weeks after using it but not be impaired on the
job. Alcohol will not show up
in a urinalysis or hair test. For that, a breathalyzer, blood, or
saliva test must be used. The
question becomes, which test should an employer use?
Organizations also have to ensure that any samples taken from
employees are properly
handled and that accredited labs are used to test them. The
results of the tests must be kept
confidential and provided only to those who need to know—for

example, supervisors or HR
staff members—and not to other coworkers or disinterested
managers. Boeing, 3M, United
Airlines, and Motorola use an independent medical review
officer (MRO) to ensure the
integrity of their drug-testing programs. MROs are required in
certain states for tests
mandated by the federal government.
For reasons such as these, companies have become less
aggressive about drug testing
than they were in decades past when the tests first found their
way into the workplace.
Today, most companies only test when reasonable suspicion or
probable cause exists.
According to the Society of Human Resources Management,
drug testing is now by far the
least popular way for employers to deal with substance abuse.
Drug-free workplace policies
or employee assistance services are far more common. A drug-
free policy should state
under what conditions employees may be subject to a drug test,
the testing procedures
used, and the consequences of a positive report. Figure 13.3
shows an example of a drug-
free workplace policy.
Figure 13.3
Recommendations for a Drug-Free Workplace Policy
1. Adopt a written zero tolerance drug-free workplace policy
and provide a copy
to all employees. A signed copy should be placed in the
employee’s personnel
file.

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2. Post “We Are a Drug-Free Workplace” signs where
employees will widely
observe them.
3. Provide employees with substance abuse prevention
educational materials.
Arrange substance abuse awareness training for employees and
managers.
4. Consider performing preemployment drug testing on all new
hires.
5. Advise employees that they are subject to drug testing when
“reasonable
suspicion” exists.
6. Provide for follow-up testing to ensure that an employee
remains drug-free
after return from a substance abuse treatment program.
7. Provide for post-accident drug testing when justified by
property loss or
damage, serious injury, or death.

8. Use only federally or state-approved/certified labs for
analysis.
9. Utilize the services of a medical review officer for all
positive drug test results.
10. Maintain strict confidentiality of all test results. Provide
information only on a
“need-to-know” basis.
11. Apply terms of a written policy strictly, fairly, and equally
among employees
and managers.
© Cengage Learning
Impairment Testing
An alternative to drug testing is to evaluate an employee’s
suitability for work through
impairment testing (Also called fitness-for-duty or
performance-based testing, it measures
whether an employee is alert enough to work) . Also called
fitness-for-duty or performance-
based testing, impairment testing measures whether an
employee is alert enough to work.
One impairment test requires an employee to keep a cursor on
track during a video game–
like simulation. Another testing technique evaluates an
employee’s eye movements. The
employee looks into a dark viewport and follows a light with his
or her eyes. Test results,
when compared against baseline data gathered earlier on the
employee, mimic those of a
sobriety test. One advantage of impairment testing is that it

focuses on workplace conduct
rather than off-duty behavior. Furthermore, it identifies
employees who are impaired
because of problems that a drug test cannot spot: fatigue, stress,
and alcohol use.
Chapter 13: Employees Rights and Discipline: 13.1d Privacy
Rights
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means -

Chapter 14: The Dynamics of Labor Relations: 14.1b Union
Avoidance Practices
14.1b Union Avoidance Practices
Philip Murray, the first president of the United Steel Workers of
America and the longest-
serving president of the Congress of Industrial Organizations
(1940–1952), once stated that
“employers generally get the kind of labor relations they ask
for.” In other words, there
are things companies can do from an HRM perspective to
decrease the chances that their
employees will want to form a union in the first place, thus
avoiding the union organizing
campaign altogether. Specifically, there are six practices or
principles companies can adopt
to decrease the chances of employees wanting to unionize.
The first practice has to do with pay. As discussed in Chapter 9,
not only do above-market
wages and benefits potentially increase performance and
decrease turnover, they also
decrease the likelihood that employees will want to unionize.
For example, very few
companies that have above market wage and benefits policies
have unions.
The second practice is to promote more employees from within
and to do it often. People
like to feel that they are progressing and that there is a chance
for growth and

advancement. Opportunities for career advancement help to
bolster hope and a sense of
equity in work environments where employees who do a good
job are recognized and given
chances to better their positions in the organization.
Third, conduct cultural audits. As discussed in Chapter 2,
cultural audits provide managers
with a picture of what the company needs. It tells management
how employees feel about
what is going on in the organization and the quality of the
working environment.
Organizations can then take this information and facilitate
developmental programs for
employees, focus more on employee needs, and correct
problems before they become too
large. Attitude surveys also provide a way for employees to feel
they are being listened to.
Management must take care with these surveys, however.
Organizations that do not
respond to or act upon this valuable feedback risk developing
even more discontent in their
workforce, as employees feel that their suggestions are not
valued.
The fourth practice is to offer job rotations and training
programs. In Chapter 7 we talk about
effective ways to manage training programs and job rotation
assignments. Specifically, job
rotations help reduce burnout, which can lead to people either
leaving their jobs or feeling
trapped and hopeless. Job rotations also lead to increased
employee satisfaction. If variety
is the spice of life, then job rotation is the spice of work. This
leads to increased commitment
to the organization.

These teachers are exercising their legal rights to protest
perceived unfair
management actions. Perhaps their school system’s
administrators could have
prevented this demonstration by conducting a cultural audit.
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© Atomazul/ Shutterstock.com
Fifth, share information with employees about the state of the
organization. Companies that
practice open book management are more likely to earn the trust
and commitment of their
employees. When difficult times arise, they may be more
willing to take cuts if they can see
that everyone is equally suffering. Finally, organizations should
make sure they have
desirable working conditions. While it is not feasible to make
the working environment
pleasant in all industries, an organization should make sure its
work environment for its
employees is equally desirable as other firms in the same
industry. This means having

appropriate and sufficient lighting, ergonomic work spaces, and
a non-hostile environment.
The computer software programming company, SAS, has shown
that a desirable workplace
not only helps to avoid unions, it improves the productivity of
the employees and decreases
turnover. Some things SAS has done to make the work
environment nice are providing a
piano player during the lunch hour, hiring two full-time artists
to decorate the building and
make it a beautiful place to work, and offering a 50000-square-
foot, state-of-the-art fitness
center with exercise classes free to all employees. With such
desirable work conditions,
even Philip Murray might have said that SAS does not need a
union.
In sum, employers are providing wages, benefits, and services
designed to make unionism
unattractive to employees. In addition, a participative
management style, profit sharing
plans, and alternative dispute resolution procedures (see
Chapter 13) are offered to
counteract the long-established union goals of improved wages
and working conditions. It is
important to recognize that these strategies react to the
conditions cited at the beginning of
the chapter as the main reasons why workers unionize. Because
these conditions are under
the direct control of management, they can be changed to help
discourage or prevent
unionism.
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Small Business Application
Unions and Small Business—Like Water and Oil
While most small businesses are not unionized and prefer it that
way, it is not
uncommon for employees to unionize even when they are small
in number. This is
especially the case as unions are losing ground with large
companies. For example,
building and electrical contractors will often hire people who
are members of a
union, such as the International Brotherhood of Electrical
Workers. The need for
small business owners to work with unions not only makes the
relationship between
employee and employer more formal, it also complicates the
matter.
So why, then, might employees of small businesses want to
unionize? Usually when
businesses are small they are much less formal and more
personal. This informality
presents advantages in being able to adapt to the environment
and devote needed
resources to building the business. However, as small
businesses grow, the benefits
of informality decrease and the costs of having informal

relationships increase.
Some employees may begin to feel singled out—or worse yet,
left out. Such
situations sow seeds of discontent. Employees may feel that
they are not being
treated fairly. If this happens to enough employees, then the
small business is in
threat of becoming unionized. To reduce the threat of
unionization among small
businesses, employers must consider “how” and “when” to
formalize the employer–
employee relationship to ensure equity and fairness. One way to
formalize your
employee–employer relationship is to prepare a personnel
policy manual or
employee handbook. This can help employees know the basic
ground rules, what is
and is not acceptable, and what they can expect from the
company. This handbook
provides a basis for equity and fairness in management
decisions that may affect
the employees. The handbook can include such things as the
company philosophy
(an overall view of what is considered important), criteria for
being hired and fired,
training and growth opportunities that are available to everyone,
vacation and sick
day policies, and grievance procedures and discipline. Be
careful what you say,
however. Some states consider an employee handbook a binding
contract, and if
you veer from the handbook you can potentially be taken to
court.
To know when to implement these policies is also important. A
firm with only a few

employees cannot afford a full-time specialist to deal with
employer–employee
problems. However, as a small firm grows it should start
implementing some of
these policies. Below are a few conditions to help understand
when you should
appoint a human resource manager to deal with these issues:
You have over 100 employees
Labor turnover rate is high or dramatically increasing
You have a difficult time in recruitment and selection of new
employees
Supervisors or key employees need substantial training
Employee morale is low
You operate in a competitive industry for labor
Chapter 14: The Dynamics of Labor Relations: 14.1b Union
Avoidance Practices

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LO 2
What steps should employees take to
unionize? What steps can employers take in
trying to stop the union from organizing?
Chapter 14: The Dynamics of Labor Relations: 14.1c
Organizing Campaigns
14.1c Organizing Campaigns
Once employees desire to unionize, a
formal organizing campaign may be
started either by a union organizer or by
employees acting on their own behalf.
Contrary to popular belief, most
organizing campaigns are begun by

employees rather than by union
organizers. Large national unions such
as the United Auto Workers, the United Brotherhood of
Carpenters, the United
Steelworkers, and the Teamsters, however, have formal
organizing departments whose
purpose is to identify organizing opportunities and launch
organizing campaigns.
Organizing Steps
Terry Moser, former president of Teamster Local 104, once told
the authors that the typical
organizing campaign follows a series of progressive steps that
can lead to employee
representation. The organizing process as described by Moser
normally includes the
following steps:
1. Employee/union contact
2. Initial organizational meeting
3. Formation of in-house organizing committee
4. Election petition and voting preparation
5. Contract negotiations
Highlights in HRM 1
Test Your Labor Relations Know-How
1. An auto mechanic applied for a job with an automotive
dealership. He
was denied employment because of his union membership. Was

the
employer’s action lawful?
Yes
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2. During a labor organizing drive, supervisors questioned
individual
employees about their union beliefs. Was this questioning
permissible?
Yes
3. When members of a union began wearing union buttons at
work,
management ordered the buttons to be removed. Was
management
within its rights?
Yes
4. While an organizing drive was under way, an employer
agreed—as a
social gesture—to furnish refreshments at a holiday party. Was
the
employer acting within the law?
No

5. A company distributed to other antiunion employers in the
area a list of
job applicants known to be union supporters. Was the
distribution
unlawful?
No
6. During a union organizing drive, the owner of Servo Pipe
promised her
employees a wage increase if they would vote against the union.
Can the
owner legally make this promise to her employees?
Yes
7. Do employees have the right to file unfair labor practice
charges against
their employer even when the organization is nonunion?
No
8. The union wishes to arbitrate a member’s grievance, which
management
has demonstrated is completely groundless. Must management
arbitrate
the grievance?
No
9. John Green, a maintenance engineer, has a poor work record.
Management wishes to terminate his employment. However,
Green is a
union steward, and he is highly critical of the company. Can
management

legally discharge this employee?
No
(1)
(2)
10. During an organizing drive, an office manager expressed
strong antiunion
beliefs and called union officials “racketeers,” “big stinkers,”
and a “bunch
of radicals.” He told employees who joined the union that they
“ought to
have their heads examined.” Were the manager’s comments
legal?
No
Step 1.
The first step begins when employees and union officials meet
up to explore
the possibility of unionization. During these discussions,
employees
investigate the advantages of labor representation, and union
officials begin to
gather information on employee needs, problems, and

grievances. Labor
organizers also seek specific information about the employer’s
financial
health, supervisory styles, and organizational policies and
practices. To win
employee support, labor organizers must build a case against
the employer
and for the union.
Step 2.
As an organizing campaign gathers momentum, the organizer
schedules an
initial union meeting to attract more supporters. The organizer
uses the
information gathered in Step 1 to address employee needs and
explain how
the union can secure these goals. Two additional purposes of
organizational
meetings are
to identify employees who can help the organizer direct the
campaign and
to establish communication chains that reach all employees.
Step 3.
The third important step in the organizing drive is to form an
in-house
organizing committee composed of employees willing to
provide leadership to
the campaign. The committee’s role is to interest other
employees in joining
the union and in supporting its campaign. An important task of
the committee

is to have employees sign an authorization card (A statement
signed by an
employee authorizing a union to act as a representative of the
employee for
purposes of collective bargaining) indicating their willingness
to be
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represented by a labor union in collective bargaining with their
employer. The
number of signed authorization cards demonstrates the potential
strength of
the labor union. At least 30 percent of the employees must sign
authorization cards before the NLRB will hold a representation
election.
Step 4.
If a sufficient number of employees support the union drive, the
organizer
seeks a government-sponsored election. A representation
petition is filed with
the NLRB, asking that a secret ballot election be held to
determine whether
employees actually desire unionization. Before the election, a
large publicity
campaign is directed toward employees, seeking their support
and election

votes. This is a period of intense emotions for the employees,
the labor
organization, and the employer.
Step 5.
Union organizing is concluded when the union wins the
election. The NLRB
“certifies” the union as the legal bargaining representative of
the employees.
Contract negotiations now begin; these negotiations represent
another
struggle between the union and employer. During negotiations
each side
seeks employment conditions favorable to its position. Members
of the in-
plant organizing committee and the union organizer attempt to
negotiate the
employees’ first contract. In about one out of four union
campaigns, unions
are unable to secure a first contract after winning a
representation election.
Should the union fail to obtain an agreement within one year
from winning
the election, the Taft-Hartley Act allows the employees to vote
the union out
through a NLRB “decertification” election.
Highlights in HRM 2
A Timeline of Government Involvement in American Labor
Relations
The following timeline covers the period from the first
government-mediated

settlement in 1838, to the creation of Federal Mediation and
Conciliation Service
(FMCS) in 1947, to the West Coast Port Mediation of 2002, to
today.
1838–1900
1838 President Martin Van Buren facilitates a settlement of a
strike by shipyard workers, the first government
mediated labor settlement in America.
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1840 President Martin Van Buren signs an Executive Order
providing a 10-hour workday for employees on federal
public works projects.
1900–1946
1902 In a message to Congress following a strike in the
anthracite coal fields in Pennsylvania, President
Theodore Roosevelt recognizes the public interest in
labor–management relations.
1918 The federal mediation function is born. The U.S.
Conciliation Service is created at the Department of
Labor.

1926 After major rail strikes of the early 1920s, Congress
enacts the Railway Labor Act, establishing the National
Mediation Board with jurisdiction in the railroad industry,
and with the power to prevent interruptions in commerce
in the railroad industry. The law allows railroad unions to
organize and bargain collectively.
1932 Norris/La Guardia (Anti-Injunction Act) enacted to limit
the power of federal courts to issue injunctions in labor
disputes, which would deny workers full freedom of
association, self-organization, designation of bargaining
representatives of their own choosing, or negotiation of
terms and conditions of employment.
1934 The Railway Labor Act is amended to include airlines.
1935 The National Labor Relations Act (Wagner Act) becomes
law, guaranteeing employees the right to organize, and,
if necessary, to government-supervised representation
elections. The act includes the right to bargain
collectively and sets forth prohibitions against employer
interference or unfair labor practices.
1944 The duty of fair representation is first announced in a
1944 Supreme Court case decided under the Railway
Labor Act, Steele v. Louisville & Nashville R.R.
1947–1969
1947 Congress enacts the Labor–Management Relations Act
of 1947 (Taft-Hartley Act). The Federal Mediation and
Conciliation Service is created as an independent
agency of the U.S. government. The agency is given the
mission of preventing or minimizing the impact of labor–

management disputes on the free flow of commerce by
providing mediation, conciliation, and voluntary
arbitration.
1959 Congress enacts the Landrum-Griffin Act (Labor
Management Reporting and Disclosure Act), which
establishes a bill of rights for union members—a right to
sue their union, have a voice in union affairs, and control
of dues increases, among others.
1960 “The Steelworker’s Trilogy”—The Supreme Court hands
down three decisions that give full support to the
arbitration process.
1970–1990
1970 The first mass work stoppage in the history of the U.S.
Post Office occurs. Postal workers in New York walk out.
President Nixon declares a national emergency and
assigns military units to New York City post offices.
1971 The Collyer Doctrine defines the NLRB’s policy on
deferring decisions in unfair labor practice cases until
after parties have been through the grievance arbitration
procedure. Under Collyer deferral, a union is expected to
use its grievance procedure to resolve certain unfair
labor practice issues.

1973 A Relationship-by-Objectives (RBO) program is
developed for use in extreme cases of poor labor–
management relations, when continued deterioration of
the relationship could have a drastic economic effect.
The first RBO program is delivered in Maine on behalf of
the Georgia-Pacific Company and Paperworkers Local
27.
1975 FMCS officially enters a new arena: Alternative Dispute
Resolution (ADR). Congress passes Public Law 93–531,
directing the service to mediate a 100-year-old land
dispute between the Hopi and Navajo Indian Tribes in
Arizona. The rights of unionized employees to have a
union representative present during investigatory
interviews are secured by a 1975 U.S. Supreme Court
ruling (NLRB v. Weingarten, Inc., 420 U.S. 251, 88
LRRM 2689). These become known as the Weingarten
rights.
1981 President Reagan fires striking Professional Air Traffic
Controllers (PATCO) and uses replacement workers.
The Major League Baseball Players Association strikes.
1982 FMCS plays a major part in the creation of the
Independent Mediation Service in South Africa.
1983 FMCS convenes one of the first regulatory negotiations,

mediating between the Federal Aviation Administration
and domestic airlines over flight and rest time
requirements.
1990–2008
1990 Congress enacts the Administrative Dispute Resolution
Act and the Negotiated Rulemaking Act. Both are aimed
at increasing the use of ADR to reduce the cost of
litigation in government and improve government
decision-making.
1993 President Clinton issues Executive Order 12871, which
creates the National Partnership Council and directs
each executive agency to form a partnership with its
employees and their representatives to create a
government that “works better and costs less.”
2002 Peter J. Hurtgen, former chairman of the National Labor
Relations Board, is appointed by President Bush as
FMCS’s 15th director and successfully mediates a
number of national labor conflicts, including the 10-day
West Coast Ports closing in 2002 that cost the national
economy an estimated $1 billion a day.
2004 Director Hurtgen mediates an end to the 141-day
southern California grocery strike, the longest in the
industry’s history.
2008 Director Rosenfeld oversees five days of mediation in
Washington, DC to end a 52-day national strike by
members of the International Association of Machinists
and Aerospace Workers against the Boeing Company
with a tentative agreement announced on October 27,
2008.

2011 FMCS mediates the disputes between NFL owners and
players over health care provisions, rookie salary cap,
and whether to extend the season to 18 games from 16.
Aggressive Organizing Tactics
Without question, a strategic objective of the labor movement is
to become more aggressive
and creative in its organizing tactics. Unions have been shocked
into developing these
“revolutionary” organizing strategies to compensate for a
decline in membership and to
counteract employer antiunion campaigns. (Both topics will be
discussed later.) To
accomplish their agenda of “vitalizing” the labor movement,
unions employ the following
organizing weapons—in varying degrees—to achieve their
goals:
1. Political involvement. Unions have become more selective in
their support of public
officials, giving union funds to candidates who specifically
pledge support for prolabor
legislation. During the 2008 national and local elections, the
AFL-CIO and other large
unions spent a total of about $300 million to help elect
Democratic candidates to the
White House and Congress. Specific efforts focused on

identifying and registering
Democrats to vote. States continue to scramble to tackle large
budget deficits, while
unions are often embroiled in a fight with both Republican and
Democrat governors
over who should shoulder the burdens of budget cuts.
2. Neutrality agreements. Neutrality agreements secure a
binding commitment from the
employer to remain neutral during the organizing drive. The
employer agrees that
managers will not campaign against or disparage the union and
will only provide facts
about the union when questioned by employees. Furthermore,
the employer agrees to
accept a card check to recognize the union if the union produces
sufficient employee
signed authorization cards.
3. Organizer training. Traditionally, organizing has been part-
time work. Today, the AFL-
CIO’s Organizing Institute is actively training a new generation
of professional, highly
skilled, full-time organizers. Organizers who successfully
complete the training
program are usually hired by local and national unions. They
work to assist workers to
gain representation. They do this by educating workers about
their rights, identify and
develop leadership skills, and run campaigns for union
recognition. Starting salaries
range from 30000 to 40000 dollars with great benefits.
4. Corporate campaigns. Unions may enlist political or
community groups to boycott the
product(s) of a targeted company. Other tactics include writing

newspaper editorials
chastising specific company decisions; filing charges with
administrative agencies
such as OSHA, the Department of Labor, and the NLRB; and
pressuring an
organization’s financial institution to withhold loans or demand
payments. According to
the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, “the role of the corporate
campaign is to force
management to accede to union demands for the card check and
neutrality
agreements.”
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5. Information technology. E-mail and the web are fast
becoming effective union
organizing tools. Websites exist that link employees to union
literature, union
membership applications, and individual union web pages.
“Cyberunions” seek to
apply computer technology to all aspects of organizing activity.
Chapter 14: The Dynamics of Labor Relations: 14.1c
Organizing Campaigns

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Chapter 14: The Dynamics of Labor Relations: 14.1d Employer
Tactics Opposing Unionization
14.1d Employer Tactics Opposing Unionization
Employers use a two-pronged campaign to fight unionization.
First, when possible,
employers stress the favorable employer–employee relationship
they have experienced in
the past without a union. Employers may emphasize any
advantages in wages, benefits, or
working conditions the employees may enjoy in comparison
with those provided by

organizations that are already unionized. “While you have a
right to join a union,” the
employers may remind their employees, “you also have a right
not to join one and to deal
directly with the organization free from outside interference.”
Second, employers emphasize any unfavorable aspects of
unionism including strikes, the
payment of union dues and special assessments, and published
abuses of members’ legal
rights, along with any false promises made by the union in the
course of its campaign. Union
rules on member conduct, such as being fined for crossing a
picket line, are emphasized to
employees. Employers may also use government statistics to
show that unions commit
large numbers of unfair labor practices. For example, 6386
unfair labor practices were
charged against unions in 2009; the majority (5017) alleged
illegal restraint and coercion of
employees. Employers may initiate legal action should union
members and/or their
leaders engage in any unfair labor practices (ULPs) (Specific
employer and union illegal
practices that deny employees their rights and benefits under
federal labor law) during the
organizing effort.
Within the limits permitted by the Taft-Hartley Act, employers
can express their views about
the disadvantages of being represented by a union. However,
when counteracting a union
campaign, managers must not threaten employees with loss of
jobs or loss or reduction of
other employment benefits if they vote to unionize. Nor may
employers offer new or

improved employee benefits or higher wages as a means of
getting employees to vote “no
union.” Highlights in HRM 4 lists some of the activities in
which managers or supervisors
should not engage.
Chapter 14: The Dynamics of Labor Relations: 14.1d Employer
Tactics Opposing Unionization
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Chapter 13: Employees Rights and Discipline: 13.1 Employee
Rights and Privacy

13.1 Employee Rights and Privacy
Employee rights (Guarantees of fair treatment that become
rights when they are granted to
employees by the courts, legislatures, or employers) can be
defined as the guarantees of
fair treatment that workers expect in return for their services to
an employer. These
expectations become rights when they are granted to employees
by the courts, legislatures,
or employers. Over the course of the last 50 or so years, various
antidiscrimination laws,
wage and hour statutes, and safety and health legislation have
secured basic employee
rights and brought numerous job improvements to the workers
in the United States.
Included among those rights are the rights of employees to
protest unfair disciplinary
actions, to question genetic testing, to have access to their
personal files, to challenge
employer searches and monitoring, and to be largely free from
employer discipline for off-
duty conduct.
The evolution of employee rights is a natural result of the
evolution of societal, business,
and employee interests. We have already explained that
workplace-privacy issues have
received a great deal of attention lately. For example,
employees may feel they have an
expectation of privacy regarding their personal phone calls
made from work phones, their e-
mail messages sent from computers in the workplace, or
freedom from employers’ random
searches of their personal belongings. However, as attorney
Benjamin J. Cook notes,

“When employers clearly state that there is no expectation of
privacy, it’s hard to argue that
a reasonable person could have such an expectation.” Legal
scholars recognize that the
protection of employee privacy rights extends only so far;
federal and state courts generally
view the privacy rights of employees as minimal.
For example, consider the issue of camera surveillance.
Generally it is legal to install
cameras in the workplace (except for installations in bathrooms
and locker rooms), as long
as employees are informed about them. However, after
pornography was discovered on one
of its computers, a California children’s home for abused
children installed hidden
surveillance cameras in an office shared by two employees. The
person who had accessed
the pornography was never caught. However, the two employees
who shared the office later
discovered the camera and were upset they were being
monitored. They claimed their
privacy rights had been violated, but the Supreme Court of
California ruled against them,
saying that their employer had a legitimate business reason for
conducting the surveillance.
Chapter 13: Employees Rights and Discipline: 13.1 Employee
Rights and Privacy
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LO 1
Are the rights you have as a citizen of the
United States the same as the rights you
have as an employee?
Chapter 13: Employees Rights and Discipline: 13.1a Employee
Rights versus Employer Responsibilities

13.1a Employee Rights versus Employer Responsibilities
Balanced against employee rights is the
employer’s responsibility to provide a
safe workplace for employees while
guaranteeing safe, quality goods and
services to consumers. An
employee who uses drugs may exercise
his or her privacy right and refuse to
submit to a drug test. But should that
employee produce a faulty product as a result of drug
impairment, the employer can be held
liable for any harm caused by that product. Employers must
therefore exercise reasonable
care in the hiring, training, and assignment of employees to
jobs.
It is here that employee rights and employer responsibilities
often come into conflict. When
employers fail to honor the rights of employees, it can result in
costly lawsuits, damage the
organization’s reputation, and hurt employee morale. But the
failure to protect the safety and
welfare of employees or consumer interests can invite litigation
from both groups. In one
case, the retailer Dillard’s was held accountable for the “hostile
propensities” of one of its
sales clerks toward an African American customer. The jury
found that an employer can be
held liable for the discriminatory conduct of its salesperson.
Chapter 13: Employees Rights and Discipline: 13.1a Employee
Rights versus Employer Responsibilities

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