Intro to LR - Lecture Outline

1. Intro to LR - Lecture Outline • What Is Labor Relations and Why Study It? • Labor Unions Today: Pros & Cons • Union Membership Participation • Labor–Management Cooperation • National Labor Relations Board (NLRB)

2. LR is very political 2011 - Governors/state assemblies several states enacted legislation to end collective bargaining. These were among the first places to give rise to public sector unions (most notably Wisconsin).

3. What Is Labor Relations? • Labor relations: Any activity between management and unions or employees concerning the negotiation or implementation of a collective bargaining agreement • Collective bargaining agreement:A written and signed document between an employer entity and a labor organization specifying the terms and conditions of employment for a specified period of time • Labor organization: Defined in Sec. 2. [§ 152] of the National Labor Relations Act and means any employee, committee or other organization of any kind in which employees deal with employers concerning terms of employment Samuel Gompers

4. Why Study It? • All workers in the private sector have rights under federal and state laws whether they choose to form a union or not. • If you ever work in the public sector, the odds of your becoming a union member are almost one in two •  Also, indirect effects of LR • Writer’s Guild of America Strike in Hollywood (2007-2008) • New York Transit strike (2008) • United Food and Commercial Worker’s strike (2005) • You’ll better understand today’s workplaces

5. General Pros and Cons of Unions Sec.7. Employees shall have the right to self-organize, to form, join, or assist labor organizations. To bargain collectively through representatives of their own choosing . . . ”

6. Trends in U.S. Union Membership 1-13

7. What sparked the NLRA? • manufacturing plants were oppressive • no continuous employment • no set work hours • extremely intimidating foremen • no socialization, even on break • essentially, lots of indignities, poor wages, unsafe working conditions 1-14

8. Union Membership Rates by State

9. Why the membership decline? • frustration with union leadership • reduced nonunion member interest • increased non-union efforts by management • increased competition from non-U.S. employers 1-15

10. Union Membership Rates by Country

11. Labor–Management Cooperation • Various forms • Voluntary recognition of the union • Performance-based incentive systems • Employee teams • QWL programs • Integrative collective bargaining 1-17

12. National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) • The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) oversees most labor relations activities in the private sector and was created by the 1935 National Labor Relations Act • The purpose of the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) was to minimize industrial strife interfering with the normal flow of commerce 1-21

13. Unfair Labor Practices • The act lists employer activities considered unfair labor practices in violation of those rights: • Interfering with employees’ rights earlier enumerated • Interfering with the formation or administration of a union • Discriminating against union members • Refusing to bargain with employees’ representatives 1-22

14. NLRB - Four guiding principles • encourage collective bargaining • recognize majority representation • enforce the law through administrative procedures • impose penalties for violations 1-22

15. Questions? • Next lecture – Labor History and Law in the Private Sector 1-22