Week 7: The Changing Role of Unions in the American WorkplaceThe Role of Unions in American workplaceBased upon your research into the field pleasediscuss the changing role of unions in the American workplace. Discuss current events surrounding this issue and the role government should play in the process, if any. Do youbelieve the role of unions in the U.S. should increase? What role should HRM personnel play in employee relations within Organizations?
10/5/2020 APUS Content https://apus.brightspace.com/shared/elf/hrmt600/lesson7/index.html 1/14 HRMT600 | LESSON 7: ORGANIZED LABOR Topics to be covered: Labor unions Labor relations and collective bargaining Right to work laws Health and safety in the workplace Many organizations employ individuals who are members of labor unions. When HRM professionals work in such organizations, they must understand labor unions and how this affects labor relations. In addition, they must understand the collective bargaining process and the role they are expected to perform as part of this process. They also must understand legislation affecting labor relations, including right to work laws and how these affect employment processes in states that have such laws. This lesson will provide an overview of labor unions, including a discussion of the purpose they serve in employment processes. This lesson also will discuss labor relations and collective bargaining, including HRM professionals’ responsibilities in these areas. This will include a discussion of applicable legislation, including right-to-work laws. In addition, this lesson will provide a brief overview of health and safety in the workplace. Introduction Overview of Labor Unions 10/5/2020 APUS Content https://apus.brightspace.com/shared/elf/hrmt600/lesson7/index.html 2/14 Trade unions fought to end child labor, such as being done by these boys in an Indiana glass factory. In the public sector, some jobs that are typically represented by labor unions include teachers, firefighters, and police officers. In the private sector, jobs that are often represented by labor unions include carpenters, auto workers, and food service workers. Different types of unions exist. For example, craft unions are organizations that represent workers who are skilled specialists in a specific trade or craft. Industrial unions are organizations that represent both unskilled and semiskilled employees who work in mass production industries, such as mining and factory jobs. 1/5 Types of Unions Some organizations in both the public and private sectors of the U.S. economy include employees who are members of labor unions. Unions are associations that represent their members in negotiations with management over job-related issues, such as the amount of wages that employees will be paid and the specific tasks they will do at work. ‹ › 10/5/2020 APUS Content https://apus.brightspace.com/shared/elf/hrmt600/lesson7/index.html 3/14 NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS ACT LABOR MANAGEMENT RELATIONS ACT LABOR MANAGEMENT REPORTING AND DISCLOSURE ACT HRM professionals in many organizations must deal with unions. To do this, HRM professionals must be familiar with the laws pertaining to labor-management relations. One of the more significant pieces of legislation was the National Labor Relations Act, which was passed in 1935. Also known as the Wagner Act, this legislation gave employees the right to create a labor union or join an existing one. It also gave them the right to refuse to be involved in a labor union. This Act made it legal for union members to elect representatives who would collectively bargain with their managers on their behalf. In addition, this Act made it legal for employees to participate in activities such as boycotts and picketing, as well as strikes (Nickels, McHugh, & McHugh, 2013). A boycott is a ban on certain products. It also refers to a ban on interactions with certain groups, such as managers, or a refusal to follow a specific policy. Picketing refers to the process of assembling near a specific location, such as the home office of an organization, to engage in a protest. Significant Legislation Pertaining to Labor Relations Union Shops and Agency Shops As noted earlier, the Taft-Hartley Act made closed shop agreements illegal. But the Act allowed other types of agreements between employers and unions to continue as legal arrangements. For example, employers and 10/5/2020 APUS Content https://apus.brightspace.com/shared/elf/hrmt600/lesson7/index.html 4/14 unions could agree to union shop clauses as conditions for employment. With a union shop, an individual is not required to be a member of a union to be hired to work in an organization. But once hired, to retain a job, he or she must join a union within a specified period of time (West’s Encyclopedia of American Law, 2005). The Act also allowed agency shop clauses as conditions for employment. With an agency shop, employers and unions agree that employees do not have to be union members to be hired for a job, nor are they required to become formal union members once they are employed. But they do have to pay union dues for as long as they retain their job. The purpose of this is to prevent free riders, which unions argue are employees who benefit from union activities, such as negotiations for higher wages, without making contributions to unions such as the payment of membership dues and other personal resources, such as the time to attend union meetings (West’s Encyclopedia of American Law, 2005). Right-to-Work Laws 10/5/2020 APUS Content https://apus.brightspace.com/shared/elf/hrmt600/lesson7/index.html 5/14 The right-to-work states are shown in teal. As stated previously, the Taft-Hartley Act granted states the authority to pass right-to-work laws. These are laws that forbid employers and unions operating within a right-to-work state from establishing agreements that require employees to become union members and pay union dues to be hired and to retain a job. In addition, employees who become union members have the right to resign their membership at any time during their employment and stop paying membership dues without affecting their job status. At the same time, unions have to represent all employees in a bargaining unit, regardless of their status as union members. Over 20 U.S. states have such laws. Right-to-work states have open-shop agreements, which give workers the option of joining a union if one operates in their workplace, but workers also have the right to refuse to join a union. Right-to-work states prohibit the use of union-security clauses in labor contracts. Such clauses require that employees who benefit from a union cannot be free riders. They are required to join a union or, at a minimum, pay union dues. Right-to-work laws have been the source of many political debates across the United States. Proponents of such laws argue that when individuals who work are required to become members of unions or pay membership dues to unions, their rights as individuals and their freedom to choose associations are violated. In addition, proponents argue that when unions can compel individuals to become members and support their organizations, they become overly powerful both in the workplace and in the political realm (West’s Encyclopedia of American Law, 2005). Opponents of right-to-work laws argue that such laws promote free riders who become an unfair burden to employees who choose to be union members. In addition, opponents contend that right-to-work laws serve to create tension among workers as non-union employees become opposed to employees who are union members. This results in weakening the labor movement (West’s Encyclopedia of American Law, 200). Collective Bargaining 10/5/2020 APUS Content https://apus.brightspace.com/shared/elf/hrmt600/lesson7/index.html 6/14 10/5/2020 APUS Content https://apus.brightspace.com/shared/elf/hrmt600/lesson7/index.html 7/14 Beatrice Webb, a British economist and social reformer, is credited with the first use of ‘collective bargaining’ in 1891 (Legal Dictionary, n.d.) The ultimate goal of unions is to negotiate a legal agreement between labor and an organization’s management that specifies the terms of employment for individuals who work for the organization. This agreement is known as a labor contract and is established through the process of collective bargaining. During collective bargaining, an organization’s management and union representatives will negotiate a variety of issues. For example, they will establish a wage structure that includes details about things such as the conditions under which employees will be paid at piecework rates, when they will receive bonuses and the bonus amounts, and the rates for shift differentials. Piecework refers to systems that pay employees on the basis of the number of items they produce rather than the number of hours they work. Shift differential refers to additional wages that employees receive if they work outside of an organization’s normal business hours. In addition to wages, collective bargaining will cover the benefits that employees will receive, such as health insurance and pension plans. The hours that employees are expected to work and policies regarding time off are another issue handled during collective bargaining. This will include negotiations for the paid holidays that employees will receive, amount of leave such as vacation and sick days and policies for when such leave can be taken, hours to be worked under flextime, periods for mealtimes and breaks, and overtime policies. Collective Bargaining Issues and Results Collective bargaining also covers issues such as how management will handle promotions and transfers, policies for layoffs and recalls, and privileges for seniority. Since some employees will require discipline, negotiations will determine how employees will be punished and at what point they can be terminated. In addition, the collective bargaining process will establish procedures for employees to file grievances, including the mediation procedures that will be used and how arbitration will be handled. Ultimately, the collective bargaining process will result in a negotiated labor contract that specifies the rights that management has as well as the rights of employees. However, once an agreement is reached, further negotiation may be necessary if employees file grievances and it is determined that management is not abiding by the terms of the labor contract. 10/5/2020 APUS Content https://apus.brightspace.com/shared/elf/hrmt600/lesson7/index.html 8/14 Collective bargaining can be handled using one of two approaches. With distributive bargaining, the approach is win-lose. This approach assumes that management and union representatives have irreconcilable differences and if one side wins, the other side loses. This approach tends to be used in organizations with an insufficient amount of resources that each side wants to control. For example, distributive bargaining may occur in local governments with groups such as firefighters who want a level of wages and benefits that the government cannot afford. 1/5 Distributive Bargaining Approaches to Collective Bargaining ‹ › HRM Professionals and Unions 10/5/2020 APUS Content https://apus.brightspace.com/shared/elf/hrmt600/lesson7/index.html 9/14 You can see New York Police Department (NYPD) police officers observing protesters during the New York transit strike in 2005. HRM professionals are involved in all aspects of dealing with unions. This includes abiding by union agreements and following legal requirements, such as right-to-work. This also includes being part of collective bargaining processes and dealing with employee grievances. For each process that involves working with unions, HRM professionals must have knowledge and skills to handle these processes appropriately. For example, if collective bargaining is handled using a distributive bargaining approach, HRM professionals need to be aware that negotiation tactics include overstating demands, withholding information, and assuming a tough stance. With integrative bargaining, the focus is on problem solving using an open dialogue and sharing information (Cascio, 2010). 1/6 Dealing with Unions ‹ › 10/5/2020 APUS Content https://apus.brightspace.com/shared/elf/hrmt600/lesson7/index.html 10/14 The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) enforces the Occupational Safety and Health Act to ensure a safe environment for workers like this one. One of the reasons that unions were started in