EXAM 1

The Schools of thought for looking at labor relations include

-The Neoliberal School -The Industrial Relations School -The Human Resource Management School -The Critical Industrial Relations School

T/F: Analysts are in complete agreement that the decline in private sector union density is due to increased protective legislation.

False

T/F: Private sector union membership, i.e., union density, has seen a significant increase over the last several decades.

False

The AFL was originally one big labor union that directly represented its workers in negotiations, strikes, and grievances.

False

The Neoliberal School would consider labor unions to be good because they provide for a single point of communication between management and labor.

False

A key perspective of the Neoliberal School is that efficiency, equity, and voice can best be achieved through free-market competition in the labor market.

True

A primary concern of the Knights of Labor was the moral worth of a person

True

An important function of the AFL was to resolve disputes that arose between member unions seeking to represent the same workers.

True

In the current day, one of the things that a labor union can do is to provide a voice for workers in the political arena

True

In the early days of the CIO, on of the key features that distinguished it from the AFL was an acceptance of minorities, immigrants, and women into the union.

True

T/F: Efficiency, as an objective of the employment relationship, is important because it impacts:

-Competitiveness - -

Key Issues in todays labor relations environment include the growing labor market disparities and increased pressures on cost control and flexibility in today's globalized world.

True

Key issues in labor relations in the early 1900's included low wages, long work hours, and unsafe working conditions.

True

Revolutionary unions tend to object to an economic system that allows the means in society to be owned by certain individuals while the rest of society must work for a wage.

True

Some historians argue that the PATCO strike re-established a tone, or pattern of adversarial labor-management relations and union suppression in the U.S. that is still felt today.

True

T/F: A key purpose of a labor union is to create a collective voice, allowing for greater protection and influence.

True

T/F: A lack of equity and voice in the employment relationship contradicts the basic ideals of a democratic society.

True

T/F: A major emphasis in labor relations is to establish a balance among efficiency, equity, and voice.

True

T/F: A union contract documents a legally enforceable collective bargaining agreement.

True

T/F: Collective bargaining, as a practice, involves both the employer and employees in the process of negotiating employment terms and conditions.

True

T/F: Some of the greatest challenges in labor relations arise from conflicting goals.

True

T/F: U.S. labor law protects the collective voice established through union-related activity in order to strike a balance among efficiency, equity, and voice.

True

The "open shop" movement of the early 1900's was a large scale effort by employers to close workplaces to individuals who were unionized or who had an interest in union representation.

True

The Critical Industrial Relations School views the labor problem as essential a class struggle in which the power of the dominant owner class is reinforced by social institutions like the legal system and law enforcement

True

The Great Strike Wave of 1945-46 resulted from pent-up frustrations over declining purchasing power and management attempts to reassert control over management decisions after World War II ended.

True

The Human Resource Management School suggests that the labor problem can be solved by simply being better managers , i.e., if labor is well managed, they won't need or want a labor union

True

The Human Resource Management School views labor unions as unnecessary because effective management practices should overcome the issues that a labor union would try to solve

True

The Industrial Relations School suggests that the labor problem comes from unequal bargaining power between management and labor, therefore, the solution is to balance that inequality is through organizing labor into unions

True

The Knights of Labor is generally considered an example of an "uplift union" due to its mission to elevate the moral, intellectual, and social lives of workers.

True

The aim of welfare capitalism was to increase worker loyalty to the employer and improve supervisory practices that would create a more positive work environment.

True