Chapter 7 - Union organizing and bargaining structures. The main contents of the chapter consist of the following: Union organizing, nontraditional union organizing tactics, bargaining structure, determinants of bargaining structures, pattern bargaining.
Chapter Union Organizing And Bargaining Structures McGrawHill/Irwin An Introduction to Collective Bargaining & Industrial Relations, 4e Copyright © 2008 The McGrawHill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved 1 3 7 3 Union Organizing • Negotiations cannot take place until a bargaining representative has been certified Normally, a union must win an election to be certified as the exclusive representative of the employees An employer may voluntarily recognize a union if the union can demonstrate that it represents a majority of the employees 1 4 7 4 The Organizing Process • The NLRB is responsible for scheduling representation elections • Before the NLRB will schedule an election, at least 30 percent of the election unit must have signed an authorization card 1 5 Example of informational flyer and authorization card 7 5 1 6 Why workers might want union representation 7 6 • For workers to express a preference of unionizing, they: • Must be deeply dissatisfied with their current employment conditions • Believe that unionization can be helpful in improving those conditions • Must be willing to overcome the negative stereotype of unions held by the population as a whole Also, a worker may be angered by a management decision 1 7 7 7 Union Campaign Practices • Unions commonly rely on organizers to rally employee support during an election campaign They are often paid and fulltime staff who travel to the site Group meetings are often held after work hours in a local church or community room Sometimes unions have an opportunity to move around the plant (often these are craft workers) to spread the message during work hours • The NLRB can eliminate this practice if it interferes with the business operation 1 8 An Example of a Union’s Campaign Literature 7 8 1 9 7 9 Sample of Actual Ballot 1 10 7 10 Management’s Campaign Practices • Management is rarely a passive observer in the election process Management tries to design personnel and other corporate policies in advance of any election to dissuade employees from union representation Businesses do not always have the will or foresight to put all of their defensive policies in place 1 29 7 29 Determinants of Bargaining Structure • Bargaining Leverage Unions can increase their bargaining leverage by organizing a large share of the product market • An early example by John Commons was the shoemakers in Philadelphia In some cases, employers prefer centralized bargaining structures • Employers in the local service industries, such as hotels and local truck haulers, form associations and bargain in multiemployer units to prevent whipsawing 1 30 Centralized Bargaining Can Stabilize Competition 7 30 • Employers in small firms in highly competitive industry may find it advantageous to bargain centrally This prevents whipsawing In the event of a strike, no employer gains advantage In the apparel industry, employers gain stability while union workers have wage standardization that ensures that competition across the firms does not depend on low wages 1 31 7 31 Public Policies • If the NLRB certifies the proper unit as an “industrial” unit, then “craft” structure is precluded The NLRB allowed coalition bargaining at GE, over management’s objections • Meant that several unions would sit at the table even when only one union’s contract was discussed • Arguments against centralization include the reduction in employee free choice and a reduction in the ability of the employee to influence the union 1 32 7 32 Organizational Factors • The growth of large corporations and centralization of management decision making have led unions to seek centralized bargaining structures Unions believe they are better off when bargaining is coterminous with the level at which critical management decisions are made 1 33 Bargaining Structure in the Telephone Industry • The telephone industry illustrates how management organizational structure influences bargaining structure • The gradual centralization of decisionmaking at AT&T led to the merger of unions into the CWA • The breakup of the Bell System into regional phone companies in 1984 forced a return to decentralized bargaining 7 33 1 34 7 34 Bargaining Structure in the Trucking Industry • The trucking industry illustrates how management may attempt to counter union centralization with a centralization of managerial decisionmaking • In the 1950s, James R. Hoffa, president of the Teamsters, sought to improve bargaining power by centralizing the overtheroad truckers • Employers countered by creating a national trucker’s association to centralize bargaining • Many employers left the association when the Teamsters lost members to nonunion firms 1 35 7 35 Coordinated Bargaining • Where no single union dominates a firm’s employees, the AFLCIO has attempted to coordinate bargaining At its peak, the AFCCIO’s Industrial Union Department (IUD) coordinated some 80 contracts with affiliated unions Such agreements were found in electrical products, glass, machinery industries, and in a number of highly diversified conglomerates The IUD was closed in 2000 and coordination now carried out by AFLCIO staff 1 36 The Influence of Diverse Labor and Management Interests • In order to participate in centralized bargaining, unions and managers must give up some of their authority and conform to centralized decisions and leaders • Union leaders’ opposition to consolidated bargaining units or formal union mergers acts as an additional constraint on the centralization of negotiations • Union leaders can lose influence, status, and perhaps even their jobs in consolidation 7 36 1 37 7 37 Resolving Different Issues at Different Bargaining Levels • Even with centralized bargaining, many issues are still negotiated on a local basis In most cases, the master agreement is negotiated at the centralized level and covers broad issues such as wage rates and fringe benefits Issues that are either company or plant specific such as health and seniority provisions are often left to more decentralized bargaining Sometimes individual work groups and supervisors negotiate unwritten side agreements, know as “fractional bargaining” 1 38 7 38 Pattern Bargaining • Pattern bargaining is an informal means to spread the terms of one formal agreement to another It is an informal substitute for centralized bargaining aimed at taking wages out of competition The War Labor Board encouraged pattern agreements in WWII to reduce disputes 1 39 7 39 Patterns within a Firm • Employees in a firm are usually aware of what other employees are receiving in pay and fringe benefits Internal promotion tends to heighten such comparisons It is most common across the bluecollar employees of the same firm • Can also occur where unions represent both blue and whitecollar employees 1 40 7 40 Pattern Bargaining in Other Countries • Japan’s “Spring Wage Offensive” • Management, government, and labor leaders share information and create a general view of the overall rate of wage increase • Then, individual companies and unions negotiate increases that are consistent with the overall rate • Great diversity and decentralization make that impractical in the United States 1 41 7 41 Intraindustry Pattern Bargaining • The greatest extent of pattern bargaining in the U.S. is the intraindustry variety It stabilizes competition over wages Examples are in auto, aerospace, and airlines Intraindustry bargaining has drawbacks • Overextension is likely to reduce employment opportunities, encourage new entrants, and reduce the ability of the union to take wages out of competition which was the original purpose • In moderation, it reduces strikes and establishes norms of equity for workers 1 42 The Trend toward Greater Decentralization • From the 1980s, a number of bargaining units underwent decentralization in their structure • The steel industry is an example • The number of firms in the coal and trucking industries declined substantially as well • There were major declines in the number of workers covered by multiemployer contracts Some of the decentralization in bargaining has been induced by public policies, such as deregulation 7 42 1 43 7 43 Summary • Union organizing and bargaining structures are two central issues that emerge early in the bargaining process • Union organizing determines whether there will be any bargaining, and then the parties decide the structure of the bargaining • The organizing campaign is initiated by the union .. .Chapter Union Organizing And Bargaining Structures McGrawHill/Irwin An Introduction to Collective Bargaining & Industrial Relations, 4e Copyright © 2008 The McGrawHill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved... summer union organizing projects 1 21 7 21 A Rank and File Organizing Approach • Unions that used young, welleducated organizers, involve extensive communication, and have links to community groups achieved aboveaverage success... subcontractors for janitorial services Also use alliances with community groups such as churches to gain public support for organizing 1 20 7 20 The AFLCIO Organizing Institute and the