Labor Relations & Collective Bargaining

What are economic systems and intentions?

Capitalism = free market (consumers determine the allocation of resources through supply and demand) Socialism = central planning (government decides allocation of resources)

Types of Unions

Craft & Industrial

Yellow Dog Contracts

Employees had to sign a card on which they affirmed they were not members of a union and would not join a union as long as they worked for a company and if they broke the contract they would have given cause for termination of their employment.

Norris-LaGuardia Act

This act restricts the federal courts from issuing injunctions in labor disputes, except to maintain law and order. The act also made yellow-dog contracts illegal.

Certification Process

When the employer denies to recognize the union through the recognition process, the union can petition to the NLRB to receive certification. If 30% of the employees attach their card to a petition to the NLRB and the union has established an appropriate bargaining unit, then the NLRB will hold an election where the winner is the union or no union which receives 51% of the vote, certification lasts one year or until a CBA is met.

Disparate Impact

indirect, unintentional discrimination

Mandatory Bargaining Topics

issues, such as wages, hours, and working conditions, that must be discussed as part of collective bargaining

7 Concepts: Controlling Monopoly Power

keeps both actors from exercising too much power

Business Operation: Power

political power is important to unions because unions need favorable conditions for workers and contracts

Recognition Clause

"Representatives selected by the majority of the employees in a unit appropriate (for collective bargaining), shall be the exclusive representatives of the purpose of collective bargaining"

What are the three executive branch agencies that deal directly with labor relations?

(1) the National Labor Relations Review Board (2) the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service (3) Department of Labor

Taft-Hartley Act

(Labor Management Relations Act of 1947) Created to counterbalance the provisions of the NLRA, and give more to management. The law declared closed shops and automatic check-offs illegal, cited unfair labor union practices, and Protected the rights of employees who chose not to unionize.

What does the industrial relations system consist of?

1. Inputs, which include environmental variables (forces, power, and ideology) and organizational variables (technology). 2. Rules: Substantive, rules for rule making, enforcement rules, rule 3. A set of exchange processes in the industrial relations system (collective bargaining process - organizational - or the legislative process - environmental). 4. Outputs, which consist of collectively bargained rules - organizational - and bargaining legislation ie. Wagner Act - environmental. 5. A feedback loop from the rule of outputs to the environmental and organizational forces that drive the operation of the exchange process.

Fair Labor Standards Act

1938 act, provided national minimum wage, restricted child labor and established overtime and leave.

Micro-Unit

A very small bargaining unity within the organization, which is established by a union because it is easy to get 51% of a very small set of workers → the process is then used to try and gain more support among other workers

Right-To-Work Laws

Allow states to prohibit agreements requiring membership in a labor organization as a condition of employment.

Evergreen Clause

Allows for an agreement to continue for a defined period if the existing agreement is not renegotiated or properly cancelled within a specified time

Wagner-Connery Act

Also known as NLRA. Gave most private sector employees the right to organize into unions, to bargain collectively with employers, to define unfair labor practices by employers, and to create the NLRB. Made management unable to legally discriminate against union members.

Labor Contract

Also known as a collective bargaining agreement, are the result of negotiations between management and the labor union that represents workers within an organization. Negotiators for each party meet to discuss working conditions, wages, benefits and payment of union dues.

Loudermill Rule

An employee must receive notice of severe discipline (termination, demotion, suspension), summary of evidence, the punishment, and a chance to respond (only applicable to public employees because the Bill of Rights only applies to the government).

Decisions Bargaining vs. Impact Bargaining

An employer's duty to bargain arises when (1) the decision itself is subject to bargaining or (2) when the effects of the decision are subject bargaining (related to wages/hours/working conditions) even if the decision itself is non-negotiable.

Railway Labor Act of 1926

Applies only to privately owned but publicly franchised railways and airlines. It set up procedures for determining union recognition by vote of workers, forbade discrimination against union membership and activity and it outlawed company unions. It required management to meet with representatives of employees to hear grievances and set up appeals procedures for arbitration of disputes not settled within unions.

Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA)

Assures safe and healthy working conditions for working men and women by setting and enforcing standards and by providing training, outreach, education and assistance. Applies to private sector, some states have it public.

Civil Service Law

Attempted to eliminate politics from the selection of government employees. Hence, there are civil service examinations for public employees and the at will doctrine was removed after (4 months for some government employees and 1 year for police and fire)

Massachusetts Paid Family and Medical Leave Act

Beginning in 2019, Massachusetts law will stipulate that employees are eligible for up to 26 weeks of medical and family leave per year. The paid part of the law will not take effect until 2021 and the law does not apply to employers with 49 or less employees. Expands the national law.

collective bargaining

Bilateral negotiations b/w labor and management teams over wages, terms, and conditions of employment.

Closed Shop

Businesses that require all of their workers to join a labor union as a precondition of employment and to remain members of the union in order to keep their jobs.

Strikes

Chapter 150E of MA General Law outlaws strikes of any kind. Strikes can include but are not necessarily limited to sit-downs (not working while at work), sympathy strikes (a union strikes in support of a dispute they do not hold with the employer), work-to-rule (taking the contract so literally that it limits the efficiency of work), work-in (employees continue to work through protest), jurisdictional strike, sick-out, picketing.

Mediation

Conducted by state or federal agencies and provides assistance to the parties to find a resolution for their dispute. The mediator gathers facts and evidence from both sides and produces a report which states a position for either side and in the public sector the determination in that report is binding. In the private sector, neither mediation nor fact finding is necessary so strikes can occur.

Weingarten Rights

Created under Wagner Act. If an employee is called in for a conference with private sector mgmt for a discussion that could result in discipline, the employee has the right to ask for a union representative to be present at the discussion. Applies to public sector in MA only.

Grievances

Disputes over the interpretation of an existing contract provision.

Magna Carta

Document providing the right to due process in order to protect property

Massachusetts Equal Pay Law

Employers cannot discriminate against employees because of their gender when deciding and paying wages → the law was amended to include workers who are paid a salary wage less than what they pay employees of a different gender for comparable work

Management Rights

Employers cannot make changes to the 3 core categories of negotiations unless they have negotiated a certain aspect of which into the management rights clause.

US Department of Labor's job in LRCB

Enforce the Landrum-Griffin Act, administer OSHA at the private level, covers public and private sector because of FLSA Serves as the President's official liaison with organized labor and with employers in their collective bargaining capacity.

National Labor Relations Board (NLRB)

Est 1935 by passage of the Wagner Act. Four basic principles guide the NLRB's administration: encourage collective bargaining, recognize majority representation, enforce the law through administrative proce- dures, and impose penalties for violations. Two main purposes: 1. Prevent & remedy ULP. 2. Decide whether groups of employees want labor union representation.

Independent Contractor Law

Established by MWA. To qualify as a contractor the individual must be (1) not supervised or controlled by the employee (2) not do the same function as the employer (3) must be engaged in a business providing the service.

Globe Doctrine

Established by the NLRB allows the board to consult employees and give weight to their wishes when determining an appropriate unit.

Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service

Established under the Taft-Hartley Act of 1947, works entirely through voluntary cooperation of both parties, no power to prosecute or to issue orders, can provide arbitration services.

Concerted Activity

Exists when two or more employees act together to try to improve working conditions, or when a single employee approaches management after conferring with other employees on their behalf or is acting on behalf of other employees (Ex. If two or more employees come to management to discuss better pay or if a single employee does so on behalf of other employees, these parties have engaged in protected concerted activity)

Massachusetts Sick Leave Act

For every 30hrs worked/week, an employee earns 1 hr of sick leave up to 40 hours a year → does not apply to local municipalities unless they opt to adopt it.

Negotiation Process

Guideline: (1) there is a spokesperson from each side, (2) there must be a public comment ground rule in place - especially important in the public sector negotiations since they will be related to public issues, (3) executive session should be established to allow the parties the freedom to negotiate, (4) bargaining occurs a la carte or by package, (5) approval of the agreement - the membership of the union must vote on the agreement in the private sector and in the public sector you need approval from the chief executive body and the legislature needs to provide funds, (6) you may also set a time frame for negotiations

Recognition Process

If 51% of employees in the determined unit come to the employer with their union cards, then the employer can decide whether to recognize the union or not. An affirmative at this point would force the employer to negotiate with the union chosen by the employees. Employees can also strike with 51% of the employees to try and force employer recognition

Card Check Process

If there is no union present, you can file cards and based upon the MA Department of Labors review of the cards, the DLR can mandate certification → need 51% of the proposed bargaining unit, only for MA Public Employees

Impasse

In the public sector there is a mediator but it cannot force the parties to determine an agreement, if they do not agree after working with the mediator the private sector negotiators can move to fact-finding but again are not binded to the results, the last step would be to participate in interest arbitration which only applies to police and fire or move to a strike.

Vacations

In the public sector: 2 weeks your first year, 3 weeks after your 5th year and 4 weeks after your 10th year, standard for Holiday is 11 (the federal holidays), 3 personal days, and 15 days for sick leave. Private sector: collectively bargained for I'd imagine.

Union Security

Includes recognition clause (recognizes union), duration clause (elect to contract), and dues to union. Also what kind of bargaining unit membership (closed or open shop).

Injunctions

Issued by a judge to prevent an act that is not inherently illegal but may cause irreparable harm (judge can also decide whether to withdraw an injunction or make it permanent). Employers threatened with strike action would ask a judge for an injunction against a union. Thus while strikes were not illegal and couldn't be legally forbade, the terms of an injunction could render the effects of making a strike illegal. Norris-LaGuardia Act stiffened the conditions to get injunctions to the point of having the same effect as outlawing them.

Levels of Unions

Local, Natl/Internatl, Intermediate, Fed of Unions

COBRA (Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1985)

Mandates an insurance program which gives some employees the ability to continue health insurance coverage after leaving employment. As an employer, you must notify an employee of their cobra rights. They must be given the opportunity to participate in the employer group health insurance plan for up to 18 months, but you pay 100% of the cost plus 2% in administration fees

Public employee bargaining

No real competitor, taxpayer-funded, elected officials report to citizens Not allowed to strike Fact-finding and advisory arbitration are successful because of political pressure

Section 7K exemption

Overtime is paid using base pay for police officers and other emergency service employees. They get overtime after working 53 hrs a week, or a 178/212 a month.

Unemployment Insurance

Paid for by employer, eligible even if you were terminated for poor performance, established under the New Deal, payment is based on your previous years earnings.

Landrum-Griffin Act

Passed in 1959 to help regulate internal union operations (protect union members from unions), the act amended the Wagner Act and the Taft-Hartley Act and resulted in the limitation of boycotts and picketing, the creation of safe guards for union elections, and the establishment of controls for the handling of union funds. (2 main goals: (1) set minimum standards of democratic procedures, responsibility, and honestly in the internal affairs of unions, and (2) clarify congressional intent in former labor relations policy). Established rights of union members (right to vote on union matters, right to sue the union, etc.), established responsibility of union offices (a lot to do w/communist scare), and protected the union funds for the sole benefit of the union and its members.

Permissive Subjects

Permissive subjects of bargaining are those over which bargaining is neither compelled nor prohibited.

Seven concepts of public interest in labor legislation

Preserving Property Rights, Advancing the Civil Rights of Working People, Keeping the government out of the economic affairs, Lessening Public Inconvenience, Controlling Monopoly Power, Controlling the Business Cycle, and Equalizing Bargaining Power

Immigration Reform and Control Act

Proof of identification necessary to be employed, must provide 2 valid forms of ID which prove that the employee lawfully resides in the US - not properly enforced.

The 5 basic pieces of legislation on collective bargaining

Railway Labor Act of 1926, the Norris-LaGuardia Act of 1932, Wagner Act 1935, (Wagner amendment) the Taft Hartley Act of 1947, and the Landrum-Griffin Act of 1959.

Wage Rate (Regular Pay vs. Base Pay)

Regular Pay overtime consideration means that all other benefits are included in overtime pay. Base Pay overtime consideration only includes the the amount w/o any other compensations.

Interest arbitration

Resolves a dispute over the development of a provision in a contract being negotiated. There is a trial over the impasse and the decision of the panel is binding. There is rarely any interest arbitration in the private sector, because in a capitalist economy the theory is that the parties should decide.

Grievance arbitration

Resolves disputes over the interpretation of an existing contract provision. When an employee believes management has abused the contract agreed upon by both parties they take up a grievance with management. If no solution can be found between the parties, then an arbitrator is appointed by the state or non-profits and that individual determines the service definition which is binding. No appeal can be made on the arbitrators decision, but if either party believes there was misconduct in the procedure of the arbitration then they can appeal.

Social Security

Retirement, disability and Medicare - Must work 10 years to be eligible. Employee and employer each pay 7%

MA Department of Labor Relations

Serves to answer representation questions, addresses unfair labor practices, and administers OSHA at the public level.

Employment Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA)

Sets minimum standards for most voluntarily established retirement and health plans in private industry to provide protection for individuals in these plans

Workers Compensation

State level: Medical bills are fully paid for by the employer, employee has up to one year to file a complaint, even in the employee is negligent, they're covered up to 60% of their salary.

Title VII (7) of the Civil Rights Act

States that it should be unlawful for an employer to fail or refuse to hire an individual, or discriminate against them in terms of compensation, conditions, or privileges becuase of their race, color, religion, sex or national origin.

MA Chapter 151B

States that it should be unlawful for an employer, personally or through its agents, to sexually harass any employee. Makes mgmt liable

3 Basic Concepts of Business Operation

Technology (impacts how labor organizations are formed, unions are divided by skill, has forced making unions to be organized by trade ex. autoworkers), Market (the market must operate to support the relationship between the employer and employee) and Power (political power is important to unions because unions need favorable conditions for workers and contracts).

Employee Rights

The NLRA protects employees from unions and employers so that they are not forced to either join or not join a union. The specific rights are provided under Section 7 of the NLRA and include the right to: 1. Attempt to form a union at their workplace 2. Join a union, even if it's not recognized 3. Assist in union-organizing efforts 4. To engage in group activities (collective activity) 5. To refuse to do any or all of these

What allowed the federal government to emerge as the dominant force in collective bargaining?

The commerce clause of the Constitution allowed the federal government to emerge as the dominant force in collective bargaining

Check-Offs

The employer will deduct the union dues from employee pay-checks so that the union doesn't have to collect (only in MA but may be adopted elsewhere)

At Will

The presumption that there is an ability to terminate the relationship with or without reason at anytime with no notice

Role-Up Costs

The ripple effect of salary or wage increases on the associated compensation and benefits packages (bonus, incentive pay, pension plans, etc.) computed as a percentage of the base pay Unions want longevity increases in % to get roll-up costs, while management preferes fixed $ amounts to avoid them

Appropriate Bargaining Unit

The union must describe the employees it would like to represent (by job classification) when it petitions for certification.

Pensions

There are two different types of pensions a defined benefit plan (the employer pay you a defined benefit as a pension when you retire) and a defined contribution plan (the employer will name an amount to match in a 401K. Defined contribution plans are preferable because there is a chance that the government or company will not be able to fund the pensions once they were redeemed. Pensions are not bargained on in the public sector.

Principled Negotiation

Type of contract negotiation based on four premises: 1) separate the people from the problem, 2) focus on interests, not positions, 3) invent options for mutual gain, and 4) insist on objective criteria

Family Medical Leave Act

Under federal law employees are entitled to 12 weeks of unpaid leave where health insurance remains covered → Applies to public and private employees

Massachusetts Wage Act

Violation of FLSA means paying triple damages and paying the employee's attorney fees. (Must pay non-exempt employees weekly/bi-weekly within 6 days of the close of pay period, discharged employees must be paid in full the day of discharge, 90 day notice to chance payroll procedures if longer than before, vacation and holiday are wage items, 30 min. meal break required for 6 hrs. of work, reporting pay: 3 hrs. pay at least at minimum wage).

Unfair labor practice (ULP)

Violation of rights under labor-relations statutes, specifically section 8 of the NLRA. Examples are: interfering with employees' rights, interfering w/ formation of labor organization, discriminating against organizing employees, and refusing to bargain collectively.

Quid Pro Quo

When an employee is offered or given rewards in exchange for sexual favors OR the employee is threatened with or suffers a tangible job detriment for refusing sexual demands

Decertification Election

When employees decide they do not want to be represented by their union any more. 30% must sign a petition to call for decertification election → 51% of the vote for decertification OR 51% of employees sign the petition to decertify without an election.

Accretion

When the employer adds new employees or positions, the NLRB is able to determine whether or not the additional workers will be members of the bargaining unit.

Hostile Environment

When verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature is so pervasive that it creates a work environment that would be offensive to a reasonable person, but the harassment must create an abusive or offensive work environment

Contract Bar

You cannot challenge the representation during the contract duration, up to 3 years (bars a petition for recertification) Protects employees rights to NOT collectively bargain because it only lasts 3 years no matter how long the contract was supposed to stand for.

7 Concepts: Preserving Property Rights

______ is an "inalienable" right and thus it is the right of management not only to determine what goods or services to produce and how to produce them, but also set wages and employee performance standards, in the public sector one's job is also their property and thus it cannot be taken away from them by the government without just cause.

Disparate Treatment

direct, intentional discrimination

Positional Bargaining

each side takes a position, argues for it, and makes concessions to reach a compromise

7 Concepts: Advancing the Civil Rights of Working People

gives employees the right to bargain collectively only over the conditions of their employment

Business Operation: Technology

impacts how labor organizations are formed, unions are divided by skill, has forced making unions to be organized by trade ex. autoworkers

7 Concepts: Controlling the Business Cycle

maintains wages and keeps down inflation through labor negotiations which mitigates cyclical business

7 Concepts: Keeping the government out of economic affairs

nonintervention in labor relations strengthens the hand of either the management or the union (depends on which party holds office)

7 Concepts: Equalizing Bargaining Power

prevents unfair practices by either actor

right-to-work laws

statutes that prohibit employees from being required to join a union as a condition of employment

Business Operation: Market

the market must operate to support the relationship between the employer and employee

7 Concepts: Lessening Public Inconvenience

under this concept, public policy looks towards preventing strikes and their impacts