This chapter discusses labor relations and collective bargaining. It covers the historical and legal context of unions in the United States. It describes the union organizing process and how unions are formed through authorization card campaigns and secret ballot elections overseen by the NLRB. The chapter also discusses collective bargaining between unions and management, including bargaining structures, items, and contract clauses. Procedures for resolving disputes like strikes and the grievance process are also outlined.

1. Chapter Fifteen
Labor Relations and
Collective Bargaining

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Chapter Outline
• Historical, Legal, and Global Context of
Unions
• How Unions Are Formed: The Organizing
Process
• Collective Bargaining
• When Collective Bargaining Breaks Down:
Impasse
• When the Meaning of the Contract is in
Dispute: The Grievance Procedure
• The Role of Labor Relations in Human
Resource Management

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Labor Relations in Historical Context
• Historical Context
– American Federation of Labor (AFL) - craft
unions
– Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO)
- industrial unions
– Professional Associations

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Figure 15.1 Union Membership as a
Percentage of the Nonagricultural
Labor Force, 1940-2003
Source: Data points 1980 and earlier compiled from Bureau of Labor Statistics, Handbook of Labor Statistics, 1980, table 165. Data points from 1985 and later
compiled from Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment and Earnings, January 1986, 1991, 1996, 2001, and 2003.

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Legal Context - Private Sector
• National Labor Relations Act (Wagner
Act) of 1935
– Employees have the right to organize and
bargain collectively.
• Labor-Management Relations Act (Taft-
Hartley Act) of 1947
– Employers have rights too
• Both laws are enforced by the National
Labor Relations Board

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Unfair Labor Practices by Management
• Interfere with employee rights to
unionize
• Dominate labor organization
• Discriminate against employees for
legal union activities or sentiments
• Refuse to bargain in good faith

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Unfair Labor Practices by Unions
• Coerce employees to join
• Cause employer to discriminate in favor of
union members
• Refuse to bargain in good faith
• Secondary boycotts
• Excessive dues or fees
• Featherbedding
• Jurisdictional strikes, recognition picketing

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Legal Context - Public Sector
• Executive Orders, Civil Service Reform
Act of 1978, State laws
• Federal Labor Relations Authority
(FLRA)
• Federal employees may not strike and
may not bargain over wages

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Global Context
• US is very lightly unionized, and
bargaining less centralized, than many
developed countries
• European laws often mandate works
councils and co-determination
• There are ethical issues in working
conditions and wages in developing
nations

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How Unions Are Formed: The
Organizing Campaign
• Steps in Becoming Certified as
Exclusive Bargaining Representative
– Authorization Card Campaign
– Petition NLRB for election
– NLRB Determines the Bargaining Unit
– Secret Ballot Election

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Conduct During Organizing
Campaigns
• Management may not threaten, spy, or
promise benefits
• Management may explain why union is
unnecessary/undesirable
• Management must allow union reps
similar access to employees as other
solicitors

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Collective Bargaining
• Structure of Bargaining
– Pattern Bargaining
– Multiemployer Bargaining
• Types of Bargaining
– Distributive
– Integrative
• Types of Bargaining Items
– Mandatory Items
– Permissive Items
– Illegal Items

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Table 15.7 Bargaining Items with
Examples
Source: Adapted from R. Allen and T. Keaveny, Contemporary Labor Relations © 1988 by Addison Wesley Publishing Company. Reprinted with
permission of the publisher.

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Other Contract Clauses
• Management Rights Clause
• Union Security Clauses
– Union Shop
– Agency Shop
– Maintenance of Membership Clause
– Closed Shop

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Table 15.9 Right-to-Work States
Source: Adapted from Labor Management Relations in a Changing World, First ed., p. 69 by Michael Ballot. Copyright © 1992 by John Wiley & Sons,
New York, N.Y. Reprinted by permission of John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

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When Collective Bargaining Breaks
Down: Impasse
• Permanent Replacement of Strikers
• Types of Strikes and Rights of Strikers
– Economic Strikes
– Unfair Labor Practice Strikes
– Wildcat Strikes
– Illegal Strikes

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When Collective Bargaining Breaks
Down: Impasse (cont’d)
• Alternative dispute resolution procedures
• Mediation
– Interest Arbitration
• Conventional Interest Arbitration
• Final-Offer Arbitration
– By Package
– By Issue
• Fact Finding
• National Emergency Dispute Procedures
– Cooling-Off Period

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When the Meaning of the Contract is in
Dispute: The Grievance Procedure
• Steps in the Grievance Procedure
– Aggrieved employee complains
– Supervisor responds
– If employee unsatisfied, writes up
grievance to appeal to higher levels of
management
– If still unsatisfied, may go to arbitration

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Review
• Historical, Legal, and Global Context of
Unions
• How Unions Are Formed: The Organizing
Process
• Collective Bargaining
• When Collective Bargaining Breaks Down:
Impasse
• When the Meaning of the Contract is in
Dispute: The Grievance Procedure
• The Role of Labor Relations in Human
Resource Management