assigment labor relations
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IPPT_Ch01_Budd6e.pptxChapter 1
Contemporary Labor Relations: Objectives, Practices, and Challenges
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Learning Objectives
Understand why studying labor relations is important, and how it can be fascinating.
Define the objectives of the employment relationship and of labor relations.
Describe the basic features of the contemporary United States labor relations system.
Discuss the current pressures on the United States labor relations system.
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Introduction
Labor union: Group of workers who join together to influence the nature of their employment
Collective voice, protection, and influence.
For employers, labor relations are about managing relationships with employees and labor unions in ways that promote organizational goals or cost-effective service delivery
Most nonunion employers try to remain union-free through preventive labor relations strategies.
Some unionized employers try to undermine labor unions by using the same strategies; most deal with unions constructively.
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Objectives of Labor Relations 1
Efficiency: Productive use of scarce resources for economic prosperity.
Equity: Standard of fair treatment for employees.
Voice: The ability of employees to have meaningful input into workplace decisions.
Ideally, efficiency, equity, and voice support each other in a virtuous cycle.
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Aspects of Efficiency, Equity, and Voice in the Employment Relationship
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Objectives of Labor Relations 2
But efficiency, equity, and voice can clash
Equitable treatment might reduce flexibility and efficiency.
Employee voice might make decision making more cumbersome and less efficient.
Unions centralize power to better achieve equity, but become less responsive to individuals.
Labor relations must strike a balance between these conflicting goals
Studying labor relations involves analyzing how employee representation through independent labor unions contributes to achieving a balance among efficiency, equity, and voice.
Course Theme 1
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Objectives of Labor Relations 3
Course Theme 2
United States public policy encourages collective bargaining
Everyone has the right to form and join trade unions for the protection of his or her interests.
But why should society encourage or discourage the formation of labor unions?
Course Theme 3
Alternative perspectives on what labor unions do
Inflate wages and restrict work rules?
Secure better wages, protect against unfair treatment by management, provide voice and representation?
What should unions do?
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Isn’t Efficiency Enough? 1
Efficiency is important to the employment relationship because of its effect on:
Competitiveness.
Economic development.
Economic prosperity.
Many see efficiency as the sole objective of the employment relationship
Business serves society through economic prosperity.
Businesses are not designed to be democratic training grounds.
A company has no obligation to provide personal and moral development.
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Isn’t Efficiency Enough? 2
But workers are human beings, not simply economic factors of production
The quality of employment and the nature of the workplace are important for individuals, families, and society.
Inequality is harmful.
Work is not simply an economic transaction.
Work is a fully human activity such that employees are entitled to fair treatment and opportunities to have input into decisions that affect their daily lives.
Equity and voice provide the social and human boundaries for the drive for efficiency
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Isn’t Efficiency Enough? 3
The lack of at least minimal standards and nondiscriminatory treatment (equity) contradicts the basic ideals of democracy with free and equal citizens, and it violates religious and moral views on the sanctity of human life and human dignity
Employee voice has similar justifications, ranging from moral, religious, and psychological beliefs about the importance of human self-determination to political views of liberty and democracy
Industrial democracy: belief that workers in a democratic society are entitled to the same democratic principles of participation in the workplace.
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Isn’t Efficiency Enough? 4
Equity and voice are also consistent with what workers want
Workers want fairness, justice, and security
Workers want influence over decisions that affect their job or work life
Believe that they would enjoy their jobs more.
Believe that their employers would be more competitive.
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Isn’t Efficiency Enough? 5
But a tension: many workers want to deal with managers as a group whereas managers prefer one-on-one interactions.
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Conflicting Goals Mean Balancing Rights
The greatest challenges in labor relations arise from conflicting goals
Conflicts are generally resolved privately through bargaining and other means by:
Individuals.
Unions.
Companies.
But society establishes the ground rules.
Labor law tries to balance property rights and labor rights in order to promote a balance between efficiency, equity, and voice.
Understanding conflicts between property rights and workers’ rights and the desire to balance them is vital for understanding labor relations.
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Contemporary U.S. Labor Relations 1
Why might society and workers support unionization?
United States labor law assumes that corporations have greater power than individual workers.
Superior employer bargaining power can result in:
Low wages and worker unrest.
Long hours at low pay under discriminatory conditions violate equity.
Employer dictation of employment conditions and autocratic supervision.
Unions are seen as improving the power inequalities and helping strike a balance between efficiency, equity, and voice.
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Contemporary U.S. Labor Relations 2
So United States labor law protects collective voice and union-related activity to strike a balance between efficiency, equity, and voice
Increasing the purchasing power of workers and reducing disruptive strike activity.
Achieving fair standards and protections against exploitation.
Providing democracy in the workplace.
Others oppose unions and legal protections because they believe that there are better ways to achieve the desired objectives
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Contemporary U.S. Labor Relations 3
Collective bargaining: Representatives of the employer and employees negotiate employment terms and conditions
Compensation.
Personnel policies or procedures.
Employee and employer rights and responsibilities.
Union rights and responsibilities.
Dispute resolution and ongoing decision making.
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Contemporary U.S. Labor Relations 4
The crucial feature of collective bargaining
Management’s authority to unilaterally establish conditions of employment is replaced by bilateral negotiations.
Workers have a collective voice.
Union contract: The provisions of a bargain that are written down and bound into a legally enforceable collective bargaining agreement
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Contemporary U.S. Labor Relations 5
Pressures for competitiveness and quality add pressure to collective bargaining
Flexibility clashes with lengthy contracts with detailed work rules.
Cooperation and employee involvement clashes with the adversarial bargaining process.
Lengthy periods between renegotiating contracts do not promote flexibility, involvement, and ongoing communication.
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Contemporary U.S. Labor Relations 6
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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Contemporary U.S. Labor Relations 7
Labor’s perspective
Labor law is weak.
Penalties for violations 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.
Union density: The percentage of workers who are union members.
Workers in the global economy need protection more than ever.
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U.S. Union Membership, 1948 to 2019
Source: U.S. Department of Labor.
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Contemporary U.S. Labor Relations 8
Explanations for long-term private sector union density decline are controversial
Possible explanation 1: Structural shifts
Decline in traditionally unionized industries.
Regional and demographic shifts.
Increased numbers of women in the workforce.
Increased education and skill levels.
But this does not explain why certain groups support or oppose unionization
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Contemporary U.S. Labor Relations 9
Explanations for long-term private sector union density decline are controversial
Possible explanation 2: Demand for union services has declined
Unions not doing a good job of responding to the needs of a changing workforce.
Employers have improved their responsiveness to employees’ needs.
Increased protective legislation has provided a substitute for unions.
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Contemporary U.S. Labor Relations 10
Perhaps a vicious cycle: fewer people experience the benefits firsthand so less likely to support unions.
Another possible vicious cycle: declining union membership means fewer resources to spend on organizing, which leads to further reductions in new financial resources.
Explanations for long-term private sector union density decline are controversial.
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Contemporary U.S. Labor Relations 11
Possible explanation 3: Employer resistance or opposition
American managers are exceptionally hostile toward unions.
Strong tradition of using union avoidance tactics.
Failure to invest in nonunion operations.
Actively fighting organization drives.
Increased anti-union legislation in United States public sector.
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Contemporary U.S. Labor Relations 12
Representation gap
Employees want more representation in the workplace than they have.
One-third to one-half of nonunion workers would like a union in their workplace, mostly in the private sector.
Unions blame employer opposition to unions for the representation gap
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Continued Relevance of Labor Relations 1
Labor relations continues to be a relevant and dynamic area of study and practice
All managers should understand labor relations.
United States 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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In a Nonunion Workplace, Can Managers…? 1
Scenario One: You implement a new pay-for-performance program and five employees together decide to refuse to work until the program is withdrawn. Can you fire the employees?
Scenario Two: You are interviewing applicants for a Web designer position in your organization. One applicant has a Graphic Communications International Union day planner and pen. Can you refuse to hire this qualified individual because you don’t want any union troublemakers in your organization?
Scenario Three: You overhear two employees discussing a union during a break in the employee cafeteria. Can you stop their conversation?
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In a Nonunion Workplace, Can Managers…? 2
Scenario Four: You want to change your company’s health care insurance provider, but only if the employees feel that it is a positive change. Can you handpick an employee committee to represent the other employees in discussions about new health insurance options?
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Continued Relevance of Labor Relations 2
Labor relations involves diverse factors
Market forces.
Individual emotions.
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 3
Underlying labor relations issues
Goals of the employment relationship.
What are they? Should they be balanced?
How employment relationship and labor markets operate.
Major environmental pressures.
Union strategies.
Public policy.
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Accessibility Content: Text Alternatives for Images
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Aspects of Efficiency, Equity, and Voice in the Employment Relationship - Text Alternative
Return to parent-slide containing images.
The important aspects of efficiency in an employment relationship are as follows: profitability, productivity, competitiveness, and economic prosperity. The important aspects of equity in an employment relationship are as follows: living wages, workplace safety, nondiscrimination, and health and retirement security. The important aspects of voice in an employment relationship are as follows: consultation, labor unions, self-determination, and employee free speech.
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U.S. Union Membership, 1948 to 2019 1 - Text Alternative
Return to parent-slide containing images.
The graphical representation is a combination of a cumulative area graph and a line graph.
The cumulative area graph shows the U S union membership in the private sector and the public sector for the years ranging from 1950 to 2015. The x-axis on the cumulative area graph shows the years, and it ranges from 1950 to 2010 at intervals of 10 years and from 2010 to 2015 at an interval of five years. The y-axis on the cumulative area graph shows the U S union membership in millions, and it ranges from 0 people to 25 million people at intervals of 2,500,000 people. The data from the cumulative area graph are as follows:
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U.S. Union Membership, 1948 to 2019 2 - Text Alternative
Return to parent-slide containing images.
A table divided into three columns presents the United States union membership from 1948 to 2019. Column 1 notes the year; column 2 notes the number of union members in the United States private sector in millions; and column 3 notes the number of union members in the United States public sector in millions.
| Year | Number of Union Members in the U S Public Sector (in Millions) | Number of Union Members in the U S Private Sector (in Millions) |
| 1950 | 1 | 13.5 |
| 1960 | 1.1 | 14.4 |
| 1970 | 4.5 | 16.75 |
| 1980 | 6 | 14.75 |
| 1990 | 6.5 | 10 |
| 2000 | 7.25 | 9 |
| 2010 | 7.5 | 7.25 |
| 2015 | 7.25 | 14.7 |
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U.S. Union Membership, 1948 to 2019 3 - Text Alternative
Return to parent-slide containing images.
The line graph shows the percentage of U S union membership in the private sector and public sector for the years ranging from 1950 to 2015. The x-axis on the line graph shows the years, and it ranges from 1950 to 2010 at intervals of 10 years and from 2010 to 2015 at an interval of five years. The y-axis on the line graph shows the percentage of U S union membership, and it ranges from 0 percent to 45 percent at intervals of five percent. The data from the line graph is as follows:
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U.S. Union Membership, 1948 to 2019 4 - Text Alternative
Return to parent-slide containing images.
A table divided into three columns presents the United States union membership from 1948 to 2019. Column 1 notes the year; column 2 notes the fraction of union members in the United States private sector in percentage; and column 3 notes the fraction of union members in the United States public sector in percentage.
| Year | Percentage of Union Members in the U S Public Sector | Percentage of Union Members in the U S Private Sector |
| 1950 | 12.5 | 34.5 |
| 1960 | 10.5 | 32 |
| 1970 | 32.5 | 29 |
| 1980 | 35.2 | 20.5 |
| 1990 | 37 | 12.5 |
| 2000 | 38 | 9 |
| 2010 | 36.5 | 7 |
| 2015 | 35.1 | 6.8 |
The values given in the tables are approximate.
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