HRM 4570 ILR Homework 2
Rain Ashbell
16HRM4570ILRCh9.2ContractClausesOnlineLecture2019-20audio1.pptxChapter 9.2
Contract Clauses and Their Administration
Copyright © 2013 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
McGraw-Hill/Irwin
Hi Class, Welcome to Industrial and Labor Relations. Today we are going to discuss Chapter 9 Contract Clauses and Their Administration Part 2
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Union contracts convey rights and obligations to jobs
Unions representing blue-collar workers frequently negotiate wage rates that are tied to specific jobs
Job rights pertains to work assignments
Certain jobs are entitled to perform certain tasks
Unions seek such job rights because of a concern that the employer might whittle away the union-represented jobs by having supervisors expand their duties
Job Rights and Obligations
Unions representing blue-collar workers frequently negotiate wage rates that are tied to specific jobs, not individuals. In other words, holders of a specific job are entitled to a certain wage rate irrespective of their individual characteristics.
Tying wages to jobs rather than individuals is a significant component of the traditional U.S. union contract for blue-collar workers.
Another aspect of job rights pertains to work assignments—certain jobs are entitled to perform certain tasks—which unions seek because of the concern that the employer might whittle away the union-represented jobs by having supervisors expand their duties.
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Subcontracting and outsourcing restrictions try to prevent the loss of union jobs by limiting the farming out of work to other employers
Management might try to replace higher-skilled jobs with lower-skilled, and therefore lower-paying jobs
Skilled workers face the greatest risk of having their jobs diluted and even deleted, so contractual language for job rights is frequently most explicit in guaranteeing certain tasks for skilled job classifications.
Job Rights and Obligations
Subcontracting and outsourcing restrictions try to prevent the loss of union jobs by limiting the farming out of work to other employers.
Another fear that underlies union pursuit of job rights is that management might try to replace higher-skilled jobs with lower-skilled, and therefore lower-paying, jobs; some contracts therefore include general language requiring that a job’s usual tasks be assigned to those jobs.
Skilled workers face the greatest risk of having their jobs diluted and even deleted, so contractual language for job rights is frequently most explicit in guaranteeing certain tasks for skilled job classifications.
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Job Rights and Obligations
Auto Industry Examples
Now let’s discuss two examples of job rights and obligations.
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Job Rights and Obligations
Auto Industry Examples
“When a Skilled Tradesman is assigned a job, he will be able to remove switches, guards, hydraulic lines, air lines, etc., in order to perform his work. He will not repair any portion of the job that is not in his classification. If any wires have to be disconnected, this will be done by electricians. In the event a piece of equipment is either dismantled for moving or a new machine is set up, the appropriate skilled Tradesman will be utilized.”
An auto manufacturing company includes the following job rights and obligations language in the union contract.
“Operators will remove their drill heads when there is a change in operation or going from one part to another as part of their normal setup… . The appropriate skilled Tradesman will be responsible for the removal of drill heads that are being removed for the sole purpose of being repaired. When repairs are completed, it will be the duties of the Tradesman to replace drill heads and make necessary alignment.”
Please note that the union contract specifies what operators can’t do. It helps to protect other workers’ jobs, such as electricians.
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Grocery Store Example
Now let’s discuss another example.
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Job Rights and Obligations
Grocery Store Example
“Food Handler’s work includes marking, stocking, displaying, and weighing of all preprocessed, fresh, frozen, and smoked meat, poultry, and fish, including receiving of meat products, fresh and frozen, the storage of all the above mentioned products, and the cleaning of cases. These employees shall not be allowed to work in the processing areas of the meat department including wrapping or service cases.”
The union contract of a grocery store contains the following language.
“Food Handler’s work includes marking, stocking, displaying, and weighing of all preprocessed, fresh, frozen, and smoked meat, poultry, and fish, including receiving of meat products, fresh and frozen, the storage of all the above mentioned products, and the cleaning of cases. These employees shall not be allowed to work in the processing areas of the meat department including wrapping or service cases.”
The union contract specifies what food handlers can and can’t do.
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Third category of clauses frequently found in collective bargaining agreements gives unions rights and obligation
A recognition clause can help unions maintain their strength by including new occupations within the bargaining unit
Unions are concerned with maintaining recognition rights if a business is sold or if a public sector operation is privatized
Union Rights and Obligations
Third category of clauses frequently found in collective bargaining agreements gives unions rights and obligation
It is probably universal for one of the first sections of the contract to include a recognition clause in which the employer recognizes the union as the exclusive bargaining agent for the bargaining unit and affirms the union’s right to represent the employees.
A recognition clause can help unions maintain their strength by including new occupations within the bargaining unit. A broadly written recognition clause can help unions maintain their strength by including new occupations within the bargaining unit, such as when new positions are created when traditional media companies expand into online ventures.
Unions are concerned with maintaining recognition rights if a business is sold or if a public sector operation is privatized
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To facilitate communication between a union and the employees unions negotiate rights for union leaders to:
Use a bulletin board on company premises
Meet employees at workplace
Union Rights and Obligations
To facilitate communication between a union and the employees unions negotiate rights for union leaders to:
Use a bulletin board on company premises
Meet employees at workplace
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Various legal rulings indicate that a successor employer must recognize and bargain with the union.
Successor clause
To cement a continued recognition, some unions negotiate a successorship clause into their contracts which requires a successor employer to recognize and bargain with the existing union; a strong successor clause further obligates the successor employer to abide by the union contract.
Union Rights and Obligations
Under favorable conditions, various legal rulings indicate that a successor employer must recognize and bargain with the union.
To cement a continued recognition, some unions negotiate a successorship clause into their contracts which requires a successor employer to recognize and bargain with the existing union; a strong succsorship clause further obligates the successor employer to abide by the union contract.
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Union security clauses
Types
A closed shop, requiring the employer to hire only union members
A union shop, requiring employees to become union members after hired in order to keep their jobs
An agency shop, requiring employees to pay union dues after hired in order to keep their jobs
Union Rights and Obligations
Following are the three types of union security clauses which pertain to issues of dues and mandatory membership:
A closed shop, requiring the employer to hire only union members
A union shop, requiring employees to become union members after hired in order to keep their jobs
An agency shop, requiring employees to pay union dues after hired in order to keep their jobs
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Union security clauses
The NLRA outlaws the closed shop;
Right-to-work laws outlaw union and agency shops; however,
In the 28 states that do not have right-to-work laws, unions are allowed to negotiate union or agency shop provisions into their contracts with employers.
The Supreme Court has determined that union shop clauses are enforceable only as agency shops—workers can be forced to pay dues but not to join the union.
Union Rights and Obligations
The NLRA outlaws the closed shop;
right-to-work laws outlaw union and agency shops;
however, in the 28 states that do not have right-to-work laws, unions are allowed to negotiate union or agency shop provisions into their contracts with employers.
The Supreme Court has determined that union shop clauses are enforceable only as agency shops—workers can be forced to pay dues but not to join the union.
Union and agency shop clauses are frequently used in conjunction with a dues checkoff provision in which employees can agree to have their union dues automatically deducted from their paychecks and deposited directly with the union; this gives the union a predictable revenue stream and saves union leaders valuable dues-collecting time and energy.
Unions typically try to negotiate union shop or agency shop clauses (in non–right-to-work states) to counter the free-rider problem of bargaining unit members benefiting from the union without paying for it.
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Union security clauses
Unions typically try to negotiate union shop or agency shop clauses (in non–right-to-work states) to counter the free-rider problem of bargaining unit members benefiting from the union without paying for it.
Right-to-work advocates label this “compulsory unionism” and argue that it violates individual freedoms by depriving workers of their “right to work”—that is, the right to freely choose whether to become union members and pay union dues.
Agency shop payments in the public sector are frequently called fair share payments, and various states have legislated processes for determining their amount.
Union Rights and Obligations
Unions typically try to negotiate union shop or agency shop clauses (in non–right-to-work states) to counter the free-rider problem of bargaining unit members benefiting from the union without paying for it.
On the other hand, right-to-work advocates label this “compulsory unionism” and argue that it violates individual freedoms by depriving workers of their “right to work”—that is, the right to freely choose whether to become union members and pay union dues.
Agency shop payments in the public sector are frequently called fair share payments, and various states have legislated processes for determining their amount.
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Duty of fair representation
This obligation applies to both contract negotiation and administration, though it is frequently discussed in terms of administration
A union “may not arbitrarily ignore a meritorious grievance or process it in a perfunctory fashion” in a discriminatory or bad faith manner
This obligation is universal and does not depend on the presence of specific clauses in a union contract
Union Rights and Obligations
In return for the various rights that a union might be granted by contract clauses, it is obligated to live up to the terms of the complete contract; particularly, unions usually give up the right to strike over grievances and instead must pursue orderly resolution of disputes over the application of the contract through the grievance procedure.
Another union obligation, and a central issue in contract administration for labor unions, is the duty of fair representation—under the NLRA, a union that wins an NLRB election becomes the exclusive bargaining agent for that bargaining unit; the Supreme Court ruled that in return for this privilege of being the exclusive representative, unions have the obligation to fairly and without discrimination represent all bargaining unit employees; this obligation applies to both contract negotiation and administration, though it is frequently discussed in terms of administration.
A union “may not arbitrarily ignore a meritorious grievance or process it in a perfunctory fashion” in a discriminatory or bad faith manner.
Because the duty of fair representation is rooted in Supreme Court applications of labor law, this obligation is universal and does not depend on the presence of specific clauses in a union contract
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Management rights clauses - Embody management’s insistence on maintaining sole authority over traditional management functions
such as hiring, firing, assigning work, determining job content, and deciding what to produce and how and where to make it
Such clauses are found in 80 percent of private sector contracts
Management Rights and Obligations
Union contracts also provide rights to management through management rights clauses which embody management’s longstanding insistence on maintaining sole authority over traditional management functions
such as hiring, firing, assigning work, determining job content, and deciding what to produce and how and where to make it.
Such clauses are found in 80 percent of private sector contracts
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In the public sector, management rights clauses are also frequently found in union contracts
Management rights clauses are now deeply ingrained in U.S. labor relations and are even found in collective bargaining agreements
The reserved rights doctrine of management rights, also called the residual rights doctrine, specifies that all management rights not explicitly limited, restricted, or modified by the union contract are reserved by management;
Management Rights and Obligations
In the public sector, management rights clauses are also frequently found in union contracts, and they are even specified by law in the federal sector by the Civil Service Reform Act and in the state and local sectors by some state bargaining laws.
Management rights clauses are now deeply ingrained in U.S. labor relations and are even found in collective bargaining agreements in which the employer is a union and the workers are regular employees of that union; in such situations the employees are represented by a different union, such as the Office and Professional Employees International Union.
The reserved rights doctrine of management rights, also called the residual rights doctrine, specifies that all management rights not explicitly limited, restricted, or modified by the union contract are reserved by management; the detailed work rules often found in traditional union contracts are a natural reaction by organized labor to this doctrine.
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Management’s obligations under union contracts,
disciplining and discharging workers only for just cause,
using seniority as a factor in layoffs and promotions,
assigning work to specific job classes,
providing call-in pay,
allowing shop stewards to investigate grievances, and the like
Employers are obligated to resolve grievances peacefully through the grievance procedure and to abide by the terms specified not only by the contract, but also by arbitration awards.
Management Rights and Obligations
If management retains authority over all issues that are not limited, restricted, or modified, then unions will seek to explicitly limit, restrict, and modify managerial authority where it serves workers’ interests.
These limitations, restrictions, and modifications largely represent management’s obligations under union contracts, such as disciplining and discharging workers only for just cause, using seniority as a factor in layoffs and promotions, assigning work to specific job classes, providing call-in pay, allowing shop stewards to investigate grievances, and the like.
Employers are obligated to resolve grievances peacefully through the grievance procedure and to abide by the terms specified not only by the contract, but also by arbitration awards.
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The Grievance Procedure
Please click on the video and watch an introduction to Grievance Procedure
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Grievance procedure - The method for resolving rights disputes and grievances over the interpretation, application, and enforcement of union contracts in U.S. labor relations that is negotiated into a contract
Every union contract in the United States contains grievance procedure to resolve allegations by employees or the union
Grievance Procedures
Grievance procedure - The method for resolving rights disputes and grievances over the interpretation, application, and enforcement of union contracts in U.S. labor relations that is negotiated into a contract
Every union contract in the United States contains grievance procedure to resolve allegations by employees or the union
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Nonunion grievance procedures such as open-door policies, peer review panels, or ombudspersons lack due process protections
Formal grievance disputes may be inevitable in unionized workplaces, but the rate at which they emerge is not
Grievance procedure provides employees with due process and gives unions an avenue for pressuring management to further their bargaining goals
Grievance Procedures
Nonunion grievance procedures such as open-door policies, peer review panels, or ombudspersons lack due process protections
Formal grievance disputes may be inevitable in unionized workplaces, but the rate at which they emerge is not
Grievance procedure provides employees with due process and gives unions an avenue for pressuring management to further their bargaining goals
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Rights arbitration - Ensures that the grievance process is fair and respects workers’ rights
This is also called grievance arbitration
Involves a hearing before a third-party neutral (the arbitrator), who issues a decision that is binding on the parties
Focuses on rights disputes
Nearly all contracts in both the private and public sectors include binding rights arbitration as the last step of the grievance procedure
Grievance Arbitration
Rights arbitration - Ensures that the grievance process is fair and respects workers’ rights
This is also called grievance arbitration
Involves a hearing before a third-party neutral (the arbitrator), who issues a decision that is binding on the parties
Focuses on rights disputes
Nearly all contracts in both the private and public sectors include binding rights arbitration as the last step of the grievance procedure
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Interpreting ambiguous contract language
The arbitrator’s task is to interpret the contract and apply it to the situation at hand
Disputes for which the contract is clear are likely to be settled early in the grievance procedure, so arbitrators frequently confront difficult and ambiguous matters of interpretation
Grievance Arbitration
Interpreting ambiguous contract language
The arbitrator’s task is to interpret the contract and apply it to the situation at hand
Disputes for which the contract is clear are likely to be settled early in the grievance procedure, so arbitrators frequently confront difficult and ambiguous matters of interpretation
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Arbitrators’ decisions are based on the common law of the workplace
The written rules and unwritten customs developed in each workplace by the union contract
Grievance Arbitration
Arbitrators’ decisions are based on the common law of the workplace
The written rules and unwritten customs developed in each workplace by the union contract
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Employees, the union, and management meet to resolve disputes over the application and enforcement of the contract.
Typically a multistep procedure in which unresolved grievances are appealed to higher levels in the organization.
The final step is frequently binding rights arbitration.
Grievance Procedure
The Grievance Procedure includes three important steps
Employees, the union, and management meet to resolve disputes over the application and enforcement of the contract.
Typically a multistep procedure in which unresolved grievances are appealed to higher levels in the organization.
The final step is frequently binding rights arbitration.
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Criticisms of grievance arbitration
The bureaucratic nature of traditional grievance procedures and the importance of stewards, union officials, and attorneys rather than individual workers are attacked by labor activists for stifling rank–and-file involvement in unions
It can be lengthy and costly
It is excessively legal, formal, and reactive
Grievance Arbitration
Criticisms of grievance arbitration
The bureaucratic nature of traditional grievance procedures and the importance of stewards, union officials, and attorneys rather than individual workers are attacked by labor activists for stifling rank–and-file involvement in unions
It can be lengthy and costly
It is excessively legal, formal, and reactive
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Most important areas of contract administration is employee discipline and discharge
Employers particularly want to be able to discipline and terminate employees who are substandard performers, and employees do not want to lose their jobs unfairly
Just cause discipline or discharge- There must be valid, job-related reasons for being disciplined or fired
Employee Discipline
Most important areas of contract administration is employee discipline and discharge
Employers particularly want to be able to discipline and terminate employees who are substandard performers, and employees do not want to lose their jobs unfairly
Just cause - There must be valid, job-related reasons for being disciplined or fired
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Grievance Discussion As an arbitrator, how would you rule? Why?
Please work on the five arbitration cases in your lecture notes pack. For each case, please discuss as an arbitrator, how would you rule? Why?
We’ll discuss the answers in class.
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We have come to the end of our lecture today. If you have any questions, please feel free to email me.
See you next class!
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