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• COLLECTIVE BARGAINING
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• Labor relations is more than negotiating
employment contracts
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The Role of Labor Unions
• Although stereotyped with inflated wages
and restrictive work rules, unions typically
– Secure better wages to provide decent living
standards for their members
– Negotiate extensive work rules to protect
members against unfair treatment by management
– Provide voice and representation to individual
workers
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• The realities of labor markets
– Employees have incomplete information about
dismissal policies, accident risks, or pensions
– Individuals without financial resources aren’t
the legal equal of corporations
• Employees are made less mobile by
– Labor markets
– Unvested pension benefits
– Health insurance
– Lack of savings or other resources
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• Superior employer bargaining power can
produce
– Low wages and long hours
– Dangerous conditions
– Arbitrary or abusive supervisory practices
• These conditions undermine
– Trust
– Cooperation
– Motivation
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• The push for equitable employment focuses
largely on minimum standards
– Minimum wages
– Maximum hours
– Minimum safety standards
– Protections against arbitrary discharge
and favoritism
– Restrictions on child labor
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• Democratic Ideals
– Discriminatory treatment and a lack of minimum
standards is counter to the ideals of democracy
– Citizens should be free and equal
– Citizens must have a basic level of material
well-bring to function as political equals
– Equal protection
– Due process
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• Principles of Human Dignity
– Paying unfair wages violates Kant’s philosophy
that actions must treat humanity as an end, not
as a means
– According to Maslow, the workplace should
provide the basics needed for self-development
and actualization
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• Jobs and the Workplace
– The most important site of cooperative
interactivity and sociability with adults, outside
of the family
– Economic inequality exacerbates social
inequalities in
• Schooling
• Health
• Housing
• Political participation
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• Most workers want more influence over
decisions that affect their job or work life
– They would enjoy their jobs more
– Their businesses would be more competitive
• Managers like to deal with workers 1-on-1
– Half of workers prefer dealing with management
as a group
• The Internet and email help workers
exercise their voice
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• If a majority of workers want union
representation
– The employer must bargain with the union over
wages, hours, other terms/conditions
– Workers cannot be fired or discriminated against
for their union support
– Employers cannot threaten employees or take
action to prevent unionization
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Collective Bargaining
• Representatives of the employer and
employees negotiate employment terms
and conditions
– Compensation (economic items)
– Personnel policies/procedures (language issues)
– Employee and employer rights and responsibilities
– Union rights and responsibilities
– Dispute resolution and ongoing decision making
1-13
Collective Bargaining
• The crucial feature of collective bargaining
– Management’s authority to unilaterally establish
the terms and conditions of employment is
replaced by bilateral negotiations
– Workers have a collective voice
• The result of bargaining is a contract
– One page in 1937
– Hundreds of pages and multiple volumes today
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Collective Bargaining
• Pressures for competitiveness and quality
add pressure to collective bargaining
– The need for flexibility (efficiency) clashes with
lengthy contracts with detailed work rules (equity)
– The need for cooperation and employee
involvement clashes with the adversarial
bargaining process
– The need for flexibility and involvement is not
well served by long-term contracts
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Pressure for Reform
• Management’s Perspective
– Adversarial negotiations do not promote trust
and cooperation
– Need to supplement high-level, periodic
negotiations with ongoing low-level
communication and problem-solving mechanism
– Lengthy, detailed contracts inhibit flexibility and
involvement
– Labor laws are outdated
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Pressure for Reform
• Labor’s Perspective
– Labor law is weak
• Penalties are minimal
• Delays are frequent
• Employers can use captive audience speeches
and permanent strike replacements
• Secondary boycotts are prohibited
– Private sector union density is less than 10 percent
– Workers in the global economy need protection
more than ever
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Declining Union Membership
• Private sector union density has been
declining for at least 50 years
– Decline in traditionally unionized industries
– Regional and demographic shifts
– Increased numbers of women in the workforce
– Increased education and skill levels
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Representation Gap
• Employees want more representation in
the workplace than they have
– One-third of nonunion workers would like
a union in their workplace
– Union density is only 10 percent
• Is this related to private section employer
opposition to unionization?
– Also declining in Great Britain
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Global Snapshot of Labor Relations
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Continued Relevance of Labor Relations
• Labor relations continues to be a relevant
and dynamic area of study and practice
– All managers should understand labor relations
– U.S. labor laws affect both union and non-union
workplaces
– Reveals consequences of poorly managed
workforces
– Explains historical, social, and political influences
on business
– Helps everyone understand and resolve conflict
– Reveals how work and business are embedded in
a complex environment
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Continued Relevance of Labor Relations
• Labor relations involves diverse factors
– Market forces
– Managerial strategies
– Forms of work organization
– Constitutional and legal issues
– History
– Questions of human rights
– Negotiation and conflict resolution strategies
– Debates over globalization
– Ethical challenges
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Continued Relevance of Labor Relations
• Underlying labor relations issues
– Goals of the employment relationship
– How labor markets operate
– Major environmental pressures
– Union strategies
– Public policy
