Week 1 Discussion

Legal Influences and Union Representation

With all of the laws that have been established throughout history, one would think union representation should be diminishing. However, this is not the case since many employers do not honor the laws nor consider the welfare of the employees a primary concern. When employees’ bargaining power does not result in competitive wages, a more comprehensive compensation plan, safer work environment, or improvement in the overall working conditions, employees may decide to form a union.

Personal Story

Many years ago, my mother was working at a hospital as a licensed vocational nurse (LVN), and the LVNs felt as though they were being underpaid. So, they went on strike. The strike lasted for three months; during this time, temporary employees were hired. At the end of the three-month strike, all the LVNs who participated in the strike lost their jobs. Collectively, the LVNs worked together for a common cause, but they did not have any union representation. This event that took place more than �fty years ago helped me realize the following facts:

Be sure that the group has union representation before making a collective decision to go on strike.

Understand at-will employment.

Read the employment contract.

With union representation, the employees would have been able to negotiate better wages and would have maintained their employment. Take a moment to re�ect on this scenario. What steps could the LVNs have taken to form a union? How could the management have handled the situation? What would you have done if you were an HR manager for the hospital? As you move closer to your career objective, be sure that you have a thorough knowledge of union formation and the reason employees vote for union representation.

Additional Materials

From your course textbook The Labor Relations Process, read the following chapters:

Legal In�uences

Why and How Unions Are Organized

From the South University Online Library, review the following articles:

Learning Together, Working Together: An Evaluation of Experiences of a Pilot Programme for Partnership between Unions and Management in the Health Service  (https://www.thecampuscommon.com/library/ezproxy/ticketdemocs.asp?

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sch=suo&turl=http://search.ebscohost.com.southuniversity.libproxy.edmc.edu/login.aspx? direct=true&db=eue&AN=77281564&site=eds-live)

Does Organized Labor Have a Future?  (https://www.thecampuscommon.com/library/ezproxy/ticketdemocs.asp? sch=suo&turl=http://search.ebscohost.com.southuniversity.libproxy.edmc.edu/login.aspx? direct=true&db=hus&AN=98502378&site=eds-live)

Unions Find New Ways to Organize  (https://www.thecampuscommon.com/library/ezproxy/ticketdemocs.asp? sch=suo&turl=http://search.ebscohost.com.southuniversity.libproxy.edmc.edu/login.aspx? direct=true&db=bth&AN=90420511&site=eds-live)

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