Chapter 14: Collective Bargaining and Labor RelationsAssignment

Which of the following may occur when more than 50 percent of employees in the bargaining unit sign authorization cards?

The union may request that the employer voluntarily recognizes it.

how do unions increase productivity?

They allow workers a greater voice to give suggestions to management.

Which of the following are recommendations made by Fossum for management preparing for negotiation with a union? (Select all that apply.)

Agree upon goals to work toward in the negotiation. Be ready for a strike. Understand how much saying "yes" to union demands may cost the company.

How do unions directly and indirectly affect company profits? (Select all that apply.)

Firms become more competitive when unions are weakened. Strikes can decease profits for suppliers of the struck companies. The research and development budget is lower when there are unions.

Data on strikes confirm which of the following statements? (Select all that apply.)

Scant labor hours are lost to strikes in the overall picture. Strikes are more common among white-collar personnel. Strikes tend to be an exception to normal circumstances.

Unfair labor practices by employers are identified and spelled out in which section of the NLRA?

Section 8

True or false: Most of the day-to-day interaction between labor and management happens at the local union level.

True

True or false: The National Labor Relations Act (NLRA), when passed in 1935, did not spell out any unfair labor practices by labor unions.

True

True or false: The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) does not commence actions when unfair labor practices occur, but instead responds to formal requests for action.

True

Labor-management contracts vary from each other in their ______.

bargaining structure

Taking action on behalf of a group in order to address working conditions is an example of ______, regardless of whether employees are represented by a union or not.

concerted activity

Generally, when management deals with employees, they ______.

deal with them as individuals

Which of the following are objectives for reducing the antagonism in relations between labor and management? (Select all that apply.)

decreasing work rules and increasing management flexibility increasing worker commitment, motivation, and problem solving

As required by the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA), the duty of ______ representation is a requirement for all members of a bargaining unit to have equal access to and representation by the union.

fair

Which of the following are unfair employer labor practices identified in the NLRA? (Select all that apply.)

impeding the creation of a labor union refusing to bargain collectively with certain unions discriminating against workers who are union members

Labor unions' greatest positive contribution to society is _____.

institutionalizing industrial conflict resolution

The American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) represents labor interests at the ______ level.

national

The majority of union members belong to a ______ or international union.

national

When negotiating a first contract, unions are unable to accomplish this task in ______% of cases.

27-37

The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) holds a union representation election when at least ______% of employees in the bargaining unit sign authorization cards?

30

A survey showed that about ______ of nonunion workers were covered in a management controlled representation system.

33%

Although not technically a union, the ______ is an association that works to further the common goals of its member unions at the national level.

AFL-CIO

True or false: The United States has a higher percentage of employees who are unionized than any other country.

False

Which of the following statements describe the situation with public-sector unions? (Select all that apply.)

Local employees strike more than federal employees. Teachers have two of the largest unions in the nation. Federal employee strikes are illegal.

When considering union membership, people question if there is a gap between actual compensation and what they ______.

believe they should receive

Which of the following are outcomes that are pursued by management in labor relations? (Select all that apply.)

control costs increase productivity of workers

The part of the labor-management negotiation process that focuses on dividing a fixed economic "pie" is referred to as ______.

distributive bargaining

Which of the following are outcomes that are pursued by labor unions in labor relations? (Select all that apply.)

increasing compensation determining work rules

Which of the following are programs that seek to decrease the adversarial relationship between labor and management? (Select all that apply.)

labor-management problem solving teams self-managed employee teams profit sharing with employees

Unions have a(n) ______ effect on company profits.

largely negative

When negotiating contracts, Fisher and Ury suggest separating the ______ from the problem.

people

The conflicting goals of employers and unions are resolved ______.

through a negotiation process

Why do unions negotiate checkoff provisions with employers?

to maintain the security and survival of the union

In 2016 most of the strikes in the United States involved ______.

white-collar workers

Dunlop suggested that in an industrial relations system, conflict between ______ is unavoidable.

workers and managers

Which of the following are among the principles suggested by Fisher and Ury in their book Getting to Yes? (Select all that apply.)

Establish that the outcome of the negotiations process should be grounded on an objective benchmark. Brainstorm numerous possibilities before deciding what course to take. Differentiate between the problem and the people involved.

What are the two questions that are asked when people decide to join a union? (Select all that apply.)

Is there a mismatch between employment circumstances and expectations? Is union membership the most effective means of change?

A procedure for resolving collective bargaining impasses in which a person with no formal authority acts as a facilitator and go-between in negotiations is referred to as _________.

Mediation

Which of the following union organizations has the greatest number of members?

National Education Association

Which of the following countries has the lowest unionization rate (union density)?

United States

Of the following, which are basic strategies used by management to avoid unionization? (Select all that apply.)

actively oppose unionization of workforce pay employees equitably

How does increasing foreign competition influence unions?

It increases employer resistance to unions.

If a company has a number of different production facilities, how able would the company be to deal with a workers' strike in a production facility?

very able

Which of the following are conditions under which management can weather a strike? (Select all that apply.)

Demand for a product is not very strong. Unemployment rates are high. A company is not highly labor-intensive.

What are possible reasons why there may be a lack of employees using the grievance procedure? (Select all that apply.)

Employees do not think the negotiations process can be effectual. Employees are afraid to file a grievance.

"Concerted activity" is protected by the ______.

National Labor Relations Act

What legislation, passed in 1935, ensured that collective bargaining would be the favored method to resolve conflict between managers and workers?

National Labor Relations Act (NLRA)

Which of the following statements are true about local unions? (Select all that apply.)

The administration of the union contract is carried out largely at the local union level. The local of an industrial-based union may correspond to a single large facility. The local of a craft-oriented union may cover a region.

What are the three ways in which unions decrease productivity? (Select all that apply.)

The union pay advantage causes employers to use less labor and more capital per worker, which reduces efficiency. Strikes and slowdowns cause lost production. The contract with the union limits the amount and type of work an employee can do.

What were the results when foreign automakers began to present a competitive threat to U.S. companies? (Select all that apply.)

U.S. autoworker employment was reduced. U.S. automakers lost market share.

How do workers feel that union representatives compare to representatives of employees covered by nonunion programs?

Union and nonunion programs represent workers nearly the same.

One aspect of union security, known as a(n) ______, requires an employer to deduct union dues from employees' paychecks.

checkoff provision

Compared to nonunion workers, union members tend to ______.

earn higher wages

One major goal of a labor union in negotiations is bargaining effectiveness, which provides the union the power and influence to accomplish which of the following? (Select all that apply.)

effect changes in the workplace make the voices of the employees heard

Fossum recommends that in preparing for a negotiation that management prepare for a potential strike. Which of the following are actions management might consider when completing this planning? (Select all that apply.)

ensuring facilities' security lining up replacement workers

Labor unions were designed to _____.

equalize the bargaining power of workers and management

The part of the labor-management negotiation process that seeks solutions beneficial to both sides is referred to as ______, bargaining

integrative

The impasse resolution procedure that has a facilitator with no formal authority is called _____.

mediation

Which of the following are examples of union unfair labor practices as defined by the 1947 Taft-Hartley Act? (Select all that apply.)

picketing in a way that prevents nonstriking workers from entering company premises threatening employees with physical violence to coerce them to join the union

Which of the following are reasons management might discourage unionization of its workforce? (Select all that apply.)

profit loss if workers strike fear of being forced to increase employee compensation

Public sector workers have ______.

seen substantial union growth among white-collar workers

In his book Industrial Relations Systems, author John Dunlop identified four elements of a successful industrial relations system, including which of the following? (Select all that apply.)

shared rules of the game a common ideology

An important element in the relative power of employers and unions during collective bargaining is the ability of each party to withstand a(n) ________.

strike

Which of the following is an important component of bargaining power for a union?

the ability to strike

Which of the following employee rights were protected in Section 7 of the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA)? (Select all that apply.)

the right to join a labor union the right to bargain collectively

Which of the following are the major functions of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB)? (Select all that apply.)

to stop labor practices that are unfair to manage and verify representation elections of unions